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L returns A's smile, wipes his face on his sleeve and ends up with dirt on the side of his nose. Such is the way of gardening. A little more packing, and their pear-tree is upright and standing proudly.

"It's going to look lovely, A."

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"It already does," A says quietly and intensely. It will be gorgeous, he knows, with all the flowers in full bloom, but, oh, all the potential to it right now is staggering. He reaches for the shovel. "I'll start the holes for the rosebushes. They need names, I think."

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"And in these rows?" Kusuriyuri asks softly. He is almost finished with the second of the three he plans on making before planting again.

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L glances over, then looks to see what's left, in terms of plants, while he picks up his shovels. A can dig one rosebush, he can manage the other.

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"Lavender in those." It's all coming together, and it really is lovely, A notes, digging the hole for a rosebush.

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"As you say," Kusuriyuri murmurs, beginning on the third row.

The kittens, disgusted with their human's preoccupation with dirt, flop down under the pear tree and look pathetically around, begging for attention without appearing to.

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"You're looking for a little bit of attention," L informs the kittens, pausing in his shovelling for a moment to scritch behind Schrodinger, then Einstein's ears.

"Poor things. The catnip is for you, you know."

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"They are greedy," A remarks indulgently, smiling. "They are used to getting my attention easily." And now his attention is focused on digging a hole for the Midnight Blue rosebush.

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Kusuriyuri smiles indulgently. "If they were not happy, they would not use such tricks. They will survive a little busy-ness. Their bath, though," he trails off, at his most serious, and therefore most making fun of A.

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"I'll help with that," L says, picking up his shovel again.

"Most kittens do not like water."

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"They'll like being grimy less," A responds decisively. Schrodinger is flecked with brown all over. It will definitely be bath time after this.

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"There is catnip in the medicine chest. It will make them more amiable to being bathed. And, I think, if you are calm, they will be as well, deshi."

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"One hopes," L agrees, starting again to shovel.

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"They will probably not like it. But they will forgive me." The book on cat-raising has made A more confident. He eyes the hole he's dug, and holds the rosebush in it to see if it's deep enough yet.

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"I am sure of it," Kusuriyuri murmurs as he begins planting the lavender, still humming over it as he does.

"Oh," he murmurs softly. "The tree will need to be watered in." He sets down the plant he is working with and gets up to pour the buckets of water over it. "I will return with more."

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"You're a faster digger than I am," L observes, taking another shovelful out of his. He's not nearly there yet. (Mostly because he stopped to play with kittens.)

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"I don't think this is quite deep enough yet. But almost." A's eager to see everything planted.

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Kusuriyuri returns with water and pours more on the tree before finishing with the lavender and watering it in. "We should rest soon," he murmurs.

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L picks up his rosebush, to see if it'll fit. (It does, he has good spatial sense.)

"I think we're nearly ready. I'll get the water this time."

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Another few shovelfuls, and A's hole in the ground is rosebush-ready as well. "After these, it's only the violets," he observes.

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"Thank you, Ryuzaki-kun," Kusuriyuri murmurs.

To A, he asks, "Did you want the violets in rows? or just planted around the tree?" Either way, the kittens will have to move and will be mildly put out, but will recover soon enough.

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The stream is near enough, and it's no trouble. He nods at Kusuriyuri and picks up the buckets, heading in that direction.

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A pats the earth into place around the rosebush, then looks over to Kusuriyuri.

"Rows, I think, to match the rest of the garden. I'll help."

After all, that's all that's left.

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