a merry little christmas; Closed to Matt and A

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

It's Christmas morning.

Well, it's the morning of the 20th of June. Which is temporarily the same thing in L's room. He props his door open with a stack of books at about ten am, everything clean and tidy, bed shrunk out of the way, chairs and things out for people, tables for the food, and stockings hung over the... well, windowsill. He has no fireplace readily available.

The presents are wrapped and under the tree, too. All he needs are Matt and A.

Comments

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Matt looks suitably impressed. He genuinely is, too - with the mall excursion as well as the gadget. (But mostly the gadget.)

"Good job, man. How much does it hold?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"There were a few different sizes. I got you the 2G size, so you could fit lots of things on it."

He's sure Matt has plenty of cause to transport information between computers.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Awesome. That'll be really useful, A, seriously. And it looks cool."

Which is obviously important.

"So, are you going to open yours?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"I liked that it was useful in more than one way," A said. He's a big fan of that.

"I, oh..." Smiling shyly, he began peeling it open slowly.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"It's not as cool as what you got me, but, y'know. Merry Christmas anyway."

Under the wrapping paper is a cardboard box, and inside the box is a small composting kit, a pair of gardening gloves, a trowel, and a pair of pruning scissors and a tiny watering can (magically shrunk to fit in the box). It's all green, and each item has a small runic motif somewhere on it: bindrunes for good harvests and protection and so on.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

A doesn't care about 'cool'. It's for his garden, tools to help his garden flourish, and A gives Matt a brilliant smile.

"Oh, oh, thank you, thank you, they're wonderful!"

He hadn't even thought of a compost heap; it's a good idea.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Matt shrugs, but the smile is a little contagious.

"I'm really glad you like, man. I figure you probably already have most of this stuff, but... at least now it's in a colour you like?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"And it's mine," A says delightedly. "Just for me."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Well, yeah."

Matt pulls out a cigarette.

"Any new additions planned yet?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"I am not sure yet." A's turning the tools over and over in his hands. "Perhaps mint, or some more fruits, or vegetables. I like growing things that can be made into food."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Herbs and stuff can be used in a lot of cooking, right?"

He takes a long drag. He's been trying to ignore cravings and cut down a little, but Jesus it's a lot of effort for nothing.

"Do you have any vegetables yet?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"Only, only fruits and flowers and herbs... except for peas, that's a vegetable. I don't know what other vegetable to plant."

He lowers his voice almost conspiratorially. "Do you know any vegetables that might be good? I don't think L likes very many."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Uh..."

Vegetables are not Matt's strong point.

"I think carrots can be pretty sweet? I'm not sure, A. It's too bad there aren't really any gardener-types here you could pick stuff up from."

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"Kusuriyuri can recommend more herbs, I know. Perhaps he can suggest vegetables as well."

A looks thoughtful for a moment.

"Tomatoes, perhaps. They are good as a vegetable, but you can make sweet preserves from them as well."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Oh, yeah. Tomatoes are good."

He doesn't really like the taste of them, but they get used in pizzas and put on hamburgers, so they're definitely useful to Matt's mind.

"It's a shame you can't grow sugar here," he jokes.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"I could keep bees, and get honey. I'm not sure if I want to do that, though."

Mostly because bees can sting.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Seems like a lot more work than a garden, yeah." He gives A a smile. "I don't think you need to worry about, like, branching out yet. The garden is awesome enough."

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"I would rather make my garden better," A agrees.

Fresh fruits and vegetables and herbs taste better, but would sugar? A doubts it.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Maybe a greenhouse or something?"

Not for the sugar, just in general.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"For growing plants, in the winter? I think the school has greenhouses, but there is a teacher they belong to, and I don't know who."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Or, like, stuff that doesn't grow in this climate. Bananas or whatever."

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"Bananas?" A laughs a little. "I never thought about growing bananas. Would you like it if I grew some?"

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, why not." He smiles. "I like fruit. There's a shitload of things you could try growning in an artificial environment like that - especially with magic." A pause. "I don't know whether it would work, but..."

If anyone could pull it off, it'd be A.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"I should find out. Find out if I can use part of the greenhouse." He's not even sure who the Herbology professor is, so he doesn't know who to ask, but surely he can find out. "And anything you'd like me to grow, I would, I would, of course."

Even moreso L or Kusuriyuri. He wonders if there's any hot-climate plants they'd like, and if there's a sneaky way he could find out without them knowing.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"If I think of anything I'll let you know," he promises.

Nothing illegal, for L's sake.