Fantasy A Shifting World

[Soliloquy]

The restraint was less than favored, but knowing it was needed for her safety quieted any protests Kit might have had. They were inside a large machine, not horribly unlike the one that had colided with her. Being safe could not be confirmed enough for her liking. Not when she knew just what was out there and what could be chasing her.

Shuddering though it'd easily seem like it was from the chill of the blowing air Kit cleared her thoughts, turning to Missulvan and her quieted comments. She hadn't remembered how the story ended, having passed out during it, and now she felt the need to find out just what it was. Though maybe not here with Alex, lest they start raising questions about everything.

The light tug on her lock made Kit look down at it with furrowed brows, finally understanding both what Missulvan was asking and now what Alex had meant. Of course, Missulvan didn't know what she looked like! "Yes. Red hair," she confirmed her suspicions. Were there other things Missulvan needed to know about how she looked? It had felt like she was navigating just fine without having much of an idea in Kit's mind.

Spotting both the bags, Kit nodded, scooping one up in each arm rather than leave Missulvan to struggle with her arms full. "I can help," she insisted. Her brows knitted together at the unexpected difficulty she faced, though she wans't willing to give up or give in. Instead she followed the path up to the front of the house, mindful of a few piece of cracked pavement and stone.

 

[saintaelphaba]

"You overachiever. Thank you." Mag smiled slightly but thought better of stopping her, figuring Kit wanted to make herself useful and not wanting to insult her pride. She unlocked the door, immediately slipping off her shoes as she propped it open with her back, and eased back into the comfort of her own home.

"You can put them here on the table and I'll put them away." Mag went for the sink and started on the dishes from that morning, then seemed to have a second thought. Walking back to the door, she propped it open with a shoe, keeping the screen door in place to enjoy the feel of the afternoon.


Alex had followed behind Kit, keeping an eye on her to make sure she could handle both bags. They stopped once they'd reached the table and began pulling out items. "Have y'all eaten lunch yet, or is that what you're gonna do now? In other words, I should stick around, right?"

"Would I be able to make you leave anyway?"

"No." Alex grinned. "I mean, it's about time you invited me past the kitchen anyway."

They turned to Kit now, starting for the living room. "Hey, what do you like to watch? Mag, can we watch tv?"

Mag groaned from somewhere in the kitchen.

Alex smiled back at Kit. "That sounds like a yes. Come on, show me what's good."

 

[Soliloquy]

Kit was all too eager to set the groceries down, her arms aching from the added weight. Careful not to let anything spill out, she straightened up and stood back as Missulvan stepped in. She'd still yet to explore the many doors and nooks of the kitchen, though something told her she didn't think her curiosity would be explored.

Stepping out of the kitchen, she found her way back to her pile of blankets and pillows. The realization she was still wearing her shoes and it was clear Missulvan did not continue to wear hers inside. Kit ventured back toward the door, setting her shoes at the same spot as the other pair had been abandoned, padding back to her spot with socks still on.

Alex seemed quite eager to talk to Kit, and Kit wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. Alex was nice though, so it couldn't hurt. Remembering just how Missulvan had turned on the light box the day prior, she picked up the long black buttoned device and hit one. Nothing happened. Frowning, she tried a few more. While a light would appear at the top of the buttons, there was still nothing on the screen.

Trying not to panic, Kit looked for something else to distract from the obvious fact she didn't know how to work it. On the couch beside her rest the book from the night prior. Picking it up, she tapped the cover as she had seen Missulvan do. "Red riding hood," she offered with her best smile.

 

[saintaelphaba]

"Oh, don't worry about it," Alex said quickly. "That's the same old box from when we were kids. Might not be the most reliable." They eyed Kit with a sort of puzzled smile, but didn't ask any questions, even though they clearly wanted to. "Yeah, Red Riding Hood. Like you said earlier--oh!" Flipping over the book, they landed on the page with the illustration of the girl with her hair spilling over her shoulders, hood tucked over her head, making her way down a path in the forest. "Do you want me to read it to you?"

Alex began to read, carefully flipping the brittle pages until they reached the end of the story. "I nearly forgot about that bit," they muttered, eyeing the drawing of Red, her grandmother, and the woodcutter standing by the water. Not shown was the body of the wolf at the bottom of the river, weighted down with stones in its belly. "Jeez. Dark shit."

Exhaling deeply, Alex returned to the book, hurriedly thumbing pages. "Anything else in here that doesn't involve getting eaten or dying in a gruesome way?"


"Very few in that book, I think." Fables and fairy tales--did any of them truly end well? "You could try Rumpelstiltskin, but bring it out here. We can have lunch outside on the porch."

Mag propped open the screen door, taking a plate outside with some sandwiches and carrot sticks. She figured it was best to have food that could easily be eaten with hands, especially considering Kit and Alex weren't familiar with each other just yet. Setting the plate on a small table, she pulled up chairs for the others, settling into a rocking chair herself.

 

[Soliloquy]

Kit's attention was held captive once more as she re-heard the story they'd started the night prior but missed an ending of. Alex told the story quite differently than Missulvan, and while still a good story Kit decided she preferred Missulvan's telling. Hers was more like a conversation as she recalled the story whereas Alex simply told the narration.

Perched on her knees, she leaned over to get a good look at the pages while Alex's eyes were dancing along them and reading the words she wished she could. Unfortunately Kit recognized that was something that was beyond Missulvan's abilities to help her learn. Daring a glance away from the book to Alex, she wondered if they could be trusted to ask. Reading seemed to be simple based on all the children that morning who had toted around bibles, making Kit realize she was painfully behind.

Before she could muster the courage to present the question, the story had ended. Kit was left with the final image of the story, tilting her head in question. It did not seem dark. The wolf was cruel and tried to eat the girl! In her mind, the wolf deserved precisely that.

But the talk of food made her interest in the story fade. It had been some time since breakfast and the cookies and pastries only did so much to keep her stomach satisfied. Kit followed the other two outside, mentally acknowledging they were on a porch. The more words she could accumulate, the faster she thought she'd be able to adjust to this strange, wide world. The chairs on the porch were not as comfortable as the couch was, but she settled in nonetheless, eyeing the plate eagerly but waiting for anyone else to take a sandwich before she took one for herself.

 

[saintaelphaba]

"Right, so Rumpelstiltskin." Alex waved a sandwich in the air. "There's this girl named Rumpelstiltskin, and she can make thread out of gold. And one day this king sees her doing it and puts her in a room with this little man."

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Mag frowned. "That's not even how that story goes. Are you even looking at the pages?"

"Don't need to. This one I've got memorized." Alex swallowed. "So this girl, she shows him how to turn gold in straw, but only if he tells her his--oh, wait... Yeah, no, that's not it."

Mag scoffed under her breath.

"I did my best!" Alex's attention turned away from the story. "Sorry, Miss Schoolteacher, it's been a while since I've read any of these. Jeez, do you really sit around at home all buttoned up like that? At least undo the first one."

There was a small scuffle between the two ("You don't need them up to your neck, you look like my grandmother!") that ended with Mag's foot shoving Alex away and three buttons loosened.

"Ew, okay, okay. Truce." Alex pushed her foot away, scooting their chair closer to Kit. "I'll stay with you instead. You're cute and much nicer to me. Thanks for the cookie, by the way." They turned to Kit with a grin, giving her a quick once-over in curiosity. "How'd you end up here, anyway? You two met somewhere?"

 

[Soliloquy]

Torn between the newest story and her sandwich, Kit finally decided she could enjoy both. Much like Missulvan was, she relaxed as much as the chair allowed, watching as Alex animatedly tried to tell the most confusing story yet. Thankfully it didn't seem to last long when Missulvan pointed out it was nothing but a lie.

Finishing off a sandwich in a relatively normal time, Kit eyed the plate for a second. Since the others were still enjoying their first, she grabbed the orange sticks instead, enjoying the crunching snap they had in her mouth while watching them bicker. Their merriment and her snack ended quite quickly when the attention turned back to her. Alex was asking questions - again - and she was trying to figure out what she wanted.

Her mouth opened once or twice as she struggled with words. Kit's gaze shifted out to the gate and then hesitantly over to Missulvan. Everything was still pieces, and they weren't even pieces she knew she could safely share with someone. Missulvan had told her they needed to be careful so They wouldn't find her. Shifting in her seat, Kit avoided Alex's gaze. "Staying with Missulvan," she murmured half under her breath.

 

[saintaelphaba]

"Well, yeah, I know, but--" Mag shot them a look, and Alex ceased their line of questioning. "Sorry. I was just wondering."

"Kit is a friend from out of town, and she's staying with me for a while. That's all."

"Okay, nice. Got it." Alex nodded and smiled at Kit, still confused but not pushing the subject further. "Wait--you call her Miss Sullivan? Mag, you give your friend that mouthful?"

"It's not as if my first name is any shorter."

Alex shrugged, getting up from their chair. "If you say so. Well" --they stretched-- "I hate to eat and run, but my class starts in half an hour, so I better get on it. Kit, it was nice meeting you--call me if you ever want to get out and do something fun, yeah? Mag can give you my number."

"I don't know if Kit's up to that just yet, but we'll certainly keep that in mind." Mag stood up from her chair, arms folded across her middle, then added quietly, "Thanks."

Alex gave one last smile as they hopped down the porch steps, skipping the last one entirely. "Don't do the buttons for our next date. It puts me off."

"Go close the gate behind you!"

Mag shook her head as the car engine started somewhere in the distance, the bass of the radio audible even with the doors closed. "Pain in the ass," she muttered, but wore the slightest smile. She shook her head, walking back to the patio and sitting on the floor by Kit's seat, leaning her head back against the chair.

"Alex can be a little much. I hope they didn't bother you." Mag folded her legs beneath her in a crossed position. "Busy day, hmm? I think we deserve to take it easy for the rest of the afternoon. It's a nice day to be outside."

 

[Soliloquy]

Kit had to admit that s nice as Alex was, she was grateful when they were left alone. Her chest rose and fell with an elongated sigh to know that Alex has not seemed overly suspicious, at least as well as she was able to determine. The fact that her social interactions were limited to few prior to her arrival wasn't dwelled on, meaning her judgement of actions was quite narrow.

"Alex is nice," she hummed her approval, watching Missulvan with increased interest. The visit had raised a few questions, no doubt, though she didn't even know where to start. She'd just opened her mouth when a rustle from a nearby brush caught her attention and jerked it right away.

A sleek, black figure moseyed her way through the garden with little regard to where her paws landed. Her coat glistened in the early afternoon sun, occasionally disturbed by foliage or dirt that had gathered in whatever adventures were taken prior to her arrival. Dark golden orbs watched the two on the porch, slowing her strut as a new scent caught her attention.

Kit met the cat's gaze just as her tail twitched back and forth. "Cat," she beamed happily, a declaration that was met with a soft mewl. Rather than continuing at her slowed pace, Hecate took the remaining distance to the porch at a sprint, bouncing right past Mag and up to Kit's lap. "Hello, cat." Her purrs were so loud Kit could feel the vibrations with each pet, chuckling as she was greeted.

 

[saintaelphaba]

"Oh, that's fine of you, showing up when food's around. Where have you been?" Hecate had a collar and bell, but no tag: the bell was to let Mag know of the cat's comings and goings rather than a sign of ownership. She might be gone for days at a time, but she always came back, usually with friends to boot. She was alone this time, but appeared to have found a friend in Kit. Her purrs were a low rumbling from above on Kit's seat.

"She's usually not too warm around strangers. Guess you're a good egg. Come on, then"--this clearer and addressed to the cat--"eat if you're going to eat, rotten thing."

Mag went back into the house, returning with a can of chicken she emptied into a small bowl that was by the door. She doubted Hecate would want it anytime soon, though, seeing as she was wrapped up it Kit's attention. The two of them together spurred another thought--one that had been turning in her mind since yesterday, but one she barely even knew how to voice. Alex was gone now, so she decided to try.

"Kit," Mag started, pulling her chair across from the girl's, "I have something I need to tell you. Well, ask you. And I need you to do your best to answer, please."

 

[Soliloquy]

In fact Hecate had on intentions of moving for the time being, though she did spare a rather spirited meow at Mag's comment. There were more important things than food just then, even if she couldn't tell! The cat did several laps back and forth from one arm rest to the other of Kit's chair. Paws perched daintly at the edge while she looked up with a quizzical glance even for a cat.

"She will eat later," Kit could tell from her new friend. Her hand ran gently along the cat's back, letting the end of her tail curl up around her wrist with each pet before returning to her head. Whether or not this was typical cat behavior was beyond her, only enjoying the constant rumble of her affection.

Looking up at Missulvan's question, Kit shifted nervously. The motion caused Hecate to slip directly on to her lap, facing Mag as if to be a barrier between teh two. "Okay...ask.." The apprehension in Kit's tone was present on the mere fact that Missulvan seemed to be on edge herself.

 

[saintaelphaba]

"Oh, did she tell you?" It was meant as a joke, but then another wild thought occured to her--did she? She shook her head as if clearing that nonsense away, unwilling to let speculation carry her away until she had solid answers.

"I'm not sure how to ask you this, but I'll try." Mag shifted in her seat, incredulous that they were even having such a conversation. "The night before yesterday, I was riding home with Thomas, and it was raining. He ran into a cat. We went to see if it was still alive, and it was, but it was badly injured. All of its paws, its ears--its side, a long gash. Right here." She laid her hand against the spot on her own body. "So I picked it up and took it home.

"I cleaned it up as best I could, wrapped its side, and put it on the bed with me. The next morning, it's gone, and you're there instead." She took a breath. "Kit, did you--" She stopped, unable to ask the question she was getting at, wording it as vaguely as possible instead. "Would you know anything about that?"

 

[Soliloquy]

Kit wasn't quite sure how she could explain how she knew what Hecate had planned when it came to dining on the tinned chicken. There certainly hadn't been words that popped into her head, and yet the feline's intentions were more than clear to the young woman. It was just a connection she seemed to have with animals that she'd discovered and elected not to tell Them.

Pets for Hecate continued as Missulvan presented her thoughts, though they started with a recant of the other half of how their story began. Kit listened with interest, confirming her suspicions that it had been a car that had collided with her. Her cobalt gaze was trained as Missulvan described the wounds Kit knew were her own, nodding occasionally.

When the big question dropped, well...Kit didn't see it as a big question at all. In fact, she would have thought Missulvan already knew that seeing as she seemed to know everything. "Kit was cat," she said simply, assuming that answered her question.

 

[saintaelphaba]

Kit said it so simply, so easily, that Mag couldn't bring herself to think the girl was lying. She'd known--or at least suspected--this was true, but her own sense had kept her from truly believing it. But here it was, laid out plain as day. Did this explain anything or only draw more questions? She couldn't tell yet.

Mag leaned forward, hands covering her face, letting out an audible sigh that was partly a groan. "Okay." She set her hands back in her lap, straightening once again. "Okay. No, wait. Wait a minute. Why....?" She tried to collect her thoughts, managing to organize them just barely. "How... how did you do it? Turn into the cat, I mean. How did you--you've done it before?"

Suddenly, a more pressing question came to mind, more urgent now that she knew (barely) what the girl could do. "Kit--who did you run away from?"

 

[Soliloquy]

Both Hecate and Kit watched Mag as she seemed to struggle to digest everything. Kit began to wonder if she shouldn't have told her after all. She'd been safe with Missulvan, but what if now she was too much of a danger and would need to be rid of? Would Missulvan call Them to come and take her away?

The question of how she why she did it wasn't really a question. Why did she do it? "Cat is fast," she tried to explain, though didn't feel like it would get across. And how? "Just...do. Kit is cat."

If only Missulvan could show her, that would have been so much easier than trying to find words! But that was one obstacle she wasn't going to be able to cross. Instead, she had to try and communicate verbally which wasn't her forte. Clearing her throat she looked about nervously. "They had Kit. Cuts." She thought on it further and came to a word she'd heard plenty of times. "Test Kit."

 

[saintaelphaba]

Test. That word slid into place and the rest followed. She still didn't know everything Kit was trying to say, but by now she had a fairly clear idea. It was still too strange--too impossible (too coincidental!)--but there it was. A runaway was one thing; that could be dealt with. People knew how to deal with a case like that. But whatever Kit's case was, that was unprecedented.

"Okay." Mag tried again. "So you turned into a--cat..." She felt ridiculous even saying it. "...to run away fast enough from the people who cut you and put you through tests. And now you're hiding from them and we need to keep them from finding you. Is that right?"

She breathed deeply again, thinking. There were several more questions, but she didn't know if she could take in any more information and if Kit could even give her the answers she was looking for. Even if she could--but, no, that was enough. Kit, despite closing up at questions, had told her at least this much. She wanted answers, but now wasn't the time. Kit didn't need an interrogation. She needed to know she was safe.

She couldn't think of anything coherent to say that wasn't a query, so she stood from her seat, crossing the short distance between the two of them, and pulled Kit to her. She hunched slightly as if to curl herself in closer to the girl, pressing her close. She'd brought in Kit to help her back to health and give her a home, and she couldn't go back on that now. Cat or girl, Kit was here to stay.

 

[Soliloquy]

At least it seemed like Missulvan was able to keep up with just what was being discussed. Kit wasn't sure how else she'd be able to explain herself if it was needed, so knowing they'd at least managed to get that far was something. She gave Hecate a few more pets, only mildly aware of just how insane this all seemed.

"Yes. They want Kit back." She didn't have to be there to know that. Even as she was slipping past the barbed fence she could hear the alarms sounding. So loud, so frightening. She didn't look back, only ran until her feet felt ready to cave on her. If she hadn't been hit by Thomas' car, they very well might have.

The realization that they were still after her settled once more, something she'd chosen to ignore. Would they be able to find her here? Would that be a danger to Missulvan, who couldn't recognize them? "They...They will want Kit back," she sighed in half defeat, letting her body be enveloped by the embrace that was happened.

Pulling back so that she could look up at her kind hostess, Kit fought off a wave of emotion that pained her more than any cuts or blisters ever had. "Is...Is safe for Missulvan?" She shifted uneasily against her hold. "Kit can leave..." She didn't know where she'd go or what she'd do, but if it meant keeping Them from Missulvan, she'd find a way.

 

[saintaelphaba]

"We'll be safe." How, she wasn't sure. She only knew that if someone came for Kit, they would fight tooth and nail to keep her from being taken. Whatever they needed to do to keep her safe, to keep whoever it was from finding her, they would do. "You don't have to go. We're going to be fine."

They can't take her. The thought came unbidden, and she was surprised at the strength of it. The more she considered it, the truer it felt--whatever she had to do to keep it from happening, she'd figure it out.

Finally, Mag pulled back, holding Kit at arm's length, as if unwilling to let go. "Ah, okay. God. I need to move." She swiped quickly at her face with the back of her hand, eventually releasing Kit. "I need to do something. The rest of the weeds won't pull themselves." A light breeze blew past, ruffling her bangs and rattling the wind chimes overhead, and she began to calm down. This was her home, and it was Kit's home too. They would do whatever it took to keep it that way.

"Come on, let's go inside and get changed into something more comfortable. You can come with me into the garden if you want."

 

[Soliloquy]

She wouldn't have to leave? Kit was grateful for Missulvan and her kindness in that moment. Even after two nights of resting in the house, Kit knew she was still in no condition to travel. Not only that, she wasn't even sure she would know which direction was best to go if she did leave. The collision had left her quite disoriented and none of the trees looked the same now as they had during that rainy night.

We're going to be fine. The words were beyond reassuring and Kit put full faith in them. At some point during their silent bonding, Hecate decided this was enough bonding. Agile paws bounced off the chair and down to the bowl where the processed chicken waited. Kit was going to question if the cat would be staying when Missulvan spoke and they were on the move once more.

"Garden?" Her interest was piqued. She also didn't fully undersatnd what was being suggested by comfortable. The clothes they were wearing had seemed quite suitable, even matching those at that morning's big event. She had noticed that Alex was not dressed similar to them, though. Perhaps another Alex thing? Regardless, she followed after Missulvan into the house and back toward her bedroom.

 

[saintaelphaba]

"Yes, out back. Where all the plants are. Have you seen the garden beds yet?" Their earlier conversation and the threat of losing Kit had left her antsy, and the resulting stream of conversation was more to take her mind off it than anything else. "The ones in planters up front are easiest to tend to; the ones in the beds take more time. My dahlias are getting taken over by weeds and I need to pull those. I'll show you what everything is, if you like."

Mag gradually slowed her speech, returning to a lighter tone. She'd been called an eager beaver by kind folk and a workaholic by the less kind, but she felt better when she was busy, bustling from one activity to the next at a quick pace. She realized too late that that might only serve to agitate Kit further, so she did her best to slow down once they got to her room.

"You can put on your t-shirt from earlier, if you want. It's okay if you get that dirty. We'll probably be deep in some soil, fair warning." Mag unbuttoned the last of her buttons, pulling it over her head and exchanging it for a casual tee dress that reached her ankles.

 

[Soliloquy]

Kit was content to listen to Missulvan as she chatted away once more. It was much better than her being left to just her own thoughts. No time for her to worry about Them possibly making their way closer to her if she was just too focused on everything Missulvan had to show her.

Gardens were where plants were. Did that mean the woods was just full of gardens? That thought nearly made sense until Missulvan said they were in beds. Kit's gaze feel on the raised and soft surface she had seen the morning prior. Interesting...there didn't seem to be any plants in it. But maybe the bed at the garden would have less piIlows. After all, she didn't expect Missulvan to lie to her.

Following Missulvan's example, Kit worked to remove her dress. It turned out the buttons were much easier to remove rhan they were to close. Finding the shirt from earlier, Kit pulled it back on, though she didn't quite see a difference in how the two felt. Smiling even if it couldn't be seen, she looked readily to the door. "Garden to pull weeds." She was catching on to this all!

 

[saintaelphaba]

"All right, that should be good. No, wait, your legs need to be covered. Hold on." Mag shifted through a wardrobe door, coming up with a worn pair of pants. "Like the underwear, remember, pull them all the way up. But not with your shirt inside of it." Once the pants were on, she pulled the drawstrings as tightly as possible without hurting the cuts along her body. "Tiny little thing," she muttered teasingly, mostly to herself. She'd been only a bit bigger than Kit when she herself was a child, but Kit was presumably older than Mag had been at that size, and severely malnourished. She thought briefly of taking Kit to a doctor, but wasn't sure if that was the wisest idea, knowing what she did now.

Mag started back for the door, taking some tools off the porch and carting them in her arms. "These are the container ones," she said, gesturing to the plants lining the porch. "Tomato, pepper, cucumber, sweet potato--geraniums, petunias, euphorbia. Those other containers are empty, don't worry about them for now." She quickly took the three steps down the porch, heading toward the other side of the yard, assuming Kit was following behind. Vaguely aware of herself "bustling," she stopped halfway down the path, waiting for Kit to catch up. The garden she knew as well as her own hand, but Kit didn't. After a brief moment, she continued down the path at a more relaxed pace, making sure was Kit closely behind. The rocky path made little noise beneath her bare feet.

Soon they came to the planter beds, the metallic wind chime at the other end of the house alerting them that they'd arrived at the spot. Most things in the garden were ornamental but purposeful, functioning as guides and landmarks. The plants themselves were chosen intentionally as well, the ones with the stronger scents placed further apart so she knew just where she was in the yard.

"Right, so, the dahlias. They're these tall ones here with circular flowers, smell kind of bitter when you get close to them. Look at how the leaves are shaped." Mag cupped her hand around a sprout, coaxing it out from where it twined around the stake. "The dahlias are the only things growing in this bed, so anything that doesn't look like these will need to be pulled. Here." Reaching into the collection of tools, she produced a pair of gloves, helping Kit pull one over each hand and get her fingers through. Dahlias were something of a tricky, fussy plant, and their flowers in particular often took her the longest. Kit might have been unfamiliar with them, but she also had sight as her advantage. "These need to stay on your hands, so you don't get hurt. Remember: pull only the things that don't look like these. Gently."

Mag pulled on her own glove, keeping one hand free to identify the leaves. She removed one weed as an example, carefully navigating around the plant, working her way through the rest of the weeds.

 

[Soliloquy]

The list of plants and vegetables went so quickly there was no possible way that Kit could keep up with it all. In fact the only one she recognized from being said before was potato, but that was as a soup! This was a leafy green maze of mystery in her mind. Still, Missulvan could navigate it with more than ease, unable to see where she was going but knowing precisely where everything was.

Tailing along after, Kit greatly enjoyed the sight of the colorful blooms. She reached out to touch a few as they walked, though kept turning her attention forward to the path and where Missulvan was leading her. Once more her gaze fell on the odd metal contraption that was making such odd noises. Kit nearly stepped over to it until the sound of directions pulled her back in tow.

Suited with the gloves, Kit looked down at them with disapproval. They were no better than socks and shoes for her hand, she huffed under her breath. But if there was a risk of being hurt, she would do as she was told. Moving her hands proved to be much more difficult with the gloves on, and Kit decided they would be coming off as soon as she was told she could.

After taking in the direction of just what she was needed to do , Kit moved on to a nearby bloom. Her fingers struggled to find the base of the step, catching a whiff of the bitter smell as she leaned in. Face scrunched she pushed on, soon coming across the invasive 'weed' as it was called. Her first plant took several minutes to pull it out, her hands mistakeningly grabbing leaves instead of the stem which would only break off. Eventually it was done, and she looked down at her work with pride. It was only a split second later that she realized there were dozens more to get to! Brows furrowing with determination, she went back after the next plant. "Dahlia food?" Would it taste as unpleasant as it smelled? Kit didn't think she wanted to find out what flavor it had...

 

[saintaelphaba]

"No, those are toxic. Don't eat that," Mag said quickly, unsure if Kit had the flower anywhere near her mouth. "They do more damage to animals than people if they're eaten, but don't test it." Another strange thought entered her head: how would something like that work for Kit, anyway, if she could be both human and animal? In any case, the dahlias weren't to be eaten. Kit understood that.

"Some of the plants you can eat, but not all the parts," she continued, carefully navigated through the leaves. "The fig tree, orange tree, apple tree--the two peach ones by the doorway--and the vegetable containers on the other side of the yard. When it's their season to grow, you can pick the fruit. But some plants are just here because they're nice to have around. They smell good and they're pretty."

For a while she continued on in silence, murmuring half to herself about the dahlias--when to prune them, when to pull the tubers, whether you wanted to grow several small flowers or a few big ones. She usually enjoyed the quiet work, but now spoke every so often out of a sense of polite necessity. What else was there to talk about? She wasn't one for conversation, and often the only talking points she could think of were things she knew about, be it the garden or music or the books she taught.

After a few more yanked weeds, she stopped, wiping her wrist against her forehead. It occurred to her that Kit didn't need her habitual busyness; that maybe what she needed more than a task was the time to take things in stride. She was sure Kit had had her fair share of tasks enough as it was already.

"Kit? I can do the rest of these on my own and you can look around. I'll be fine here. You go ahead. Just watch your step."

 

[Soliloquy]

Toxic? That word quickly came to mean unsafe for curious Kit, putting to rest any thoughts she had of finding out if the dahlia tasted pleasant or not. Instead, she took another handful of the plucked weeds and added them to the growing pile. It was just to look pretty (clearly not smell good) which was an interesting thought. After all, Missulvan had no way of knowing if they looked good or not, did she?

The offer to return inside was considered shortly. She could go sit on the comfortable couch and relax, or maybe even explore the room more. Or she could stay out here and enjoy her time with Missulvan, standing on the stone path and occasionally the welcoming earth that her socks sunk into (given no instructions to remove them). It was nice outside, the sun warming her face without growing unpleasant thanks to a small breeze.

"Stay help," she brushed aside the offer. There was no way of her knowing just how long it might take, but in truth she had nowhere better to be. She could linger outside, working on the invasive weeds and listening to Missulvan murmuring to herself now and then. Even if it didn't always made sense, she assumed the more words she heard, the more she could learn to repeat back in proper context.

Circling back to an earlier thought, she glanced over at Missulvan, pausing in her motion of plucking the dahlia free. "Plants are pretty," she began before realizing it wasn't quite what she needed to voice her thoughts. "How Missulvan know plants pretty?"