The Unpopping of River Tam

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

River found herself in the not unfamiliar state of being utterly disoriented.

This is not logical; there is not enough butter on Serenity to bathe in.
And yet, to spite the illogical bend of the situation, here she was, covered in butter. Did they even have butter?

And, surrounded by popcorn.
There is not enough popcorn on Serenity to fill a room.
This was a highly illogical situation. A distressing one.

"Simon?" she called out, tentatively. She didn't expect an answer. That... was far more distressing than the popcorn.
Don't be irrational, she thought. It was sound advice.
"Simon?!" She called again, louder. Of course, no answer, but she was allowed to be irrational once in a while. But only for a few seconds. If Simon wasn't here, he was obviously elsewhere, so elsewhere she would go. She stepped out of the popcorn room, and dripped down the unfamiliar hallway.

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

"I have a garden here," he said, regaining his composure. "And a greenhouse. And a mangosteen grove. And there are Einstein and Schrodinger," he gestured at the cats, both purring loudly, "and Bernoulli."

And that wasn't counting his friends who were human, or could pass for it.

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

She hummed, the thought of a garden, of a grove, and a greenhouse... wonderful things. Beautiful things she missed out in the black.
"Will you show me?"

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

"Ohhhh..." A's eyes widened, and he smiled broadly. "Oh, oh yes, I, I, I will show you the flowers, and the fruits and vegetables, and the herbs for cooking and for medicine, and the mangosteen grove where it will be warm always."

A always loved showing off his horticultural progress, but this was the first time a pretty girl had asked to see.

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

"Always warm?" a grin pulled across her face. "Sounds like magic. Are the fruits and vegetables good to eat?"

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

"It is magic. It is magic that the grove is here at all. And oh, oh yes, the fruits and vegetables are good, I never, oh, before I had my garden I never knew how good they are when they are freshly grown. Even most of the flowers I grow can be used for food. And I am learning to cook with what I grow."

He thought for a moment and, then, shyly, "The Charentais melons have just become ripe. I haven't tried them yet. Maybe you would like to taste them with me."

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

"I've never had a Charentais melon," she said. She couldn't even imagine what one tasted like. "I'd love to."

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

"You will come to my greenhouse, then," A said, still shy. "I will bring something for us to drink, and maybe some sandwiches, and we will eat melon under the pear tree."

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

"A pear tree..." she made a happy little noise, rocking back and forth on her heels. "I want to meet a pear tree." Then, she ducked her head, a little shy herself. "Thank you, A."

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

A smiled more confidently at that, at the sign that she understood.

"I have other trees to introduce you to also. There is a cherry tree, and a peach tree, and in the greenhouse are a lime tree and a maple tree and a mikan, and soon a clementine tree as well. And there are many mangosteen trees in the grove, and many plants that are not trees."

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

Her eyes brightened as she named off each tree. Just the thought of meeting them all... wonderful.

"Do you... grow strawberries?" she asked tentatively. She knew that when she found Kaylee, Kaylee would want to know about strawberries being easily available.

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

"The strawberries... they, they aren't in the garden, they're on my windowsill in my room. Ryuzaki likes them, so I make sure they grow well for him."

Tentatively, "I don't think he would be unhappy if I gave you some."

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

She beamed at him.
"Book paid us with strawberries and vegetables from the monestary. I was still sleeping, but Kaylee saved some for me without knowing it. And we shared them, it was wonderful."

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

"I, I don't know if they are as good as monastery strawberries. But they are very fresh, and I think they are good. There are blackberries, too, in the garden."

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

"I think they'll be just as good," she said, not losing her smile one bit, "if not better."

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

"There, there will be lots of fruits for you to try," he stammered. "And I will, I, I'll make limeade, with limes from the tree, with lavender in it."

It seemed a logical variation on lavender lemonade.

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

"Lavender?" she looked thoughtful for a moment. "I've never had a drink with lavender in it. I don't think I've ever had lavender..." she could remember smelling it once or twice, one of Inara's oils. "I know it smells lovely."

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

"For Summer Christmas we had lamb seasoned with lavender, and I made lavender jelly to go with it. It was good. Wishbone had some, and he gave some to Schrodinger and Einstein as a present."

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

River hummed again, imagining what it must have tasted like, and the feeling from A was strong enough that she could almost re-live the memory.
"Summer Christmas... what a pretty thought. All the gentleness, none of the cold."

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

"It was the first time I had a Christmas," A confided. "There, there were presents and a tree with things on it, and I surprised Ryuzaki with a strawberry-rose cake." It was a good memory and he smiled. "And now in the mangosteen grove it will be summer on Christmas."

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

"Strawberry-rose?" her eyes went wide, and she clasped her hands under her chin, grinning. "Roses are wonderful! Roses with strawberries... that's amazing."

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

"I have roses in many colors." He liked seeing her smile, he realized. "White and red and purple, and some that are more than one color. Roses, oh, oh yes, they are wonderful. They are pretty and smell nice and can be used for food and for medicine. I will have a new rosebush to plant soon, a new kind of rose that is many colors."

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

"When you get it, may I help you plant it?" her voice was tentative, but hopeful. She hadn't seen something be planted since before the academy. And even then, it wasn't as if her parents let her join in the process; she'd been forced to merely watch.

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

L had helped A plant, and Kusuriyuri. But they didn't seem to have this kind of reverence for the very act of it, although A suspected Kurama would.

But surely Kurama would not ask him if he could help as if it were a favor A were granting.

"I, I, I..." He had to force himself to take a deep breath. "I would like that, if you helped me give the rose a place to grow."

[biblerewrite.livejournal.com]

She just may have hugged him for that, but she didn't know him that well, and she was still kind of slimy, even with the cats doing their best to resolve that issue.
"Thank you," she said instead, her voice very soft. "I would like that very much."

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

A hug, at that point, probably would have startled A into incoherence, so it was probably just as well.

"And you should, should tell me, what kind of fruits and vegetables you like, and flowers. I am always deciding what to plant next."