Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2012 14:25:51 GMT -6
His sight, utter darkness. His touch, the air of the room and the vines against his back. His smell, that of moisture and growing flora. His taste, the cactus juice he'd blended with jasmine tea last night. His hearing... something dripping, and the circulation of the air in the room. It was all pretty much perfect, the perfect setting for a good night's sleep in the back of his flower shop, aside perhaps for the taste he had in his mouth. The excitement provided by the cactus juice melded with the calmness of the tea had knocked him right out the night before, it wasn't a beverage he'd try again anytime soon... But aside from that, he was sleeping very well.
That was until a series of things happened. For starters, a ray of light conveniently angled at his face came through the window and turned his darkness into... an unpleasant feeling against his eyelids. It made him want to turn around, but his makeshift hammock disagreed, and he began slipping between two lianas in an uncomfortable fashion. And since bad things always occurred three at a time, he began hearing the buzzing of some insects against the window, either trying to come in or to get out. That was his cue, the day had officially started.
Riku opened his black eyes, as slowly as his laziness and omnipresent sleepiness imposed, and moved his left leg all the way through the vines of his hammock, allowing the rest of his body to follow it just as lazily. Sleeping on a bed - on his bed - had been an option last night, as with any other night. But not only did he favor sleeping in a hammock thanks to its comfort, but he was also in no state to walk over to his bed and slip inside. Leaping onto the vines and using his bending to keep them steady was a lot easier.
Once his entire body was on the ground, the young florist inhaled deeply, using the bit of moisture and big amount of air inside his lungs to keep his sleepiness at bay long enough, and pushed himself up to a crouching position. From this point of view, he looked at the room he was in to assess what tasks would be required and in what order. Since the sun had hit his face, he could assume that he'd have to open his shop in the next hour, which meant he would have to carry the stands of flowers out front. But before that, he needed to water them and evacuate all the moisture from the shop, while not forgetting to give the proper lighting to the plants that needed it as they stayed here in the back... Especially the moon flowers.
It already felt tiring. Fortunately, he did not have any gardening duties to perform today. He was not really in shape for this. Mustering more strength, he stood up entirely and began stepping towards the door with the intent of getting some breakfast... But realizing he needed to do something else first, he stopped his advance and passed a half asleep gaze over the window. With his right hand pointing towards it, he made a circling motion that bent a liana in its direction, lifting the window pane to allow insects to get through. He then proceeded through the door.
Twenty minutes later, he came back completely clean and awake, apparently have eaten breakfast, taken a soothing shower and dressed in his usual green and brown garb. And so, with much motivation and confidence, he began watering every one of the flowers with his bending. Gently and with much care, he walked past each row of plants with floating orbs of water in his hands, and hosed the flower pots just the right amount. It made his mood rocket to feel how the plants were being rejuvenated, to sense the water moisture in the air being slowly replaced by the feeling and scent of living vegetation... at least that's how he was taking it.
One of his carnivorous plants closed itself. Riku chuckled at the sight, wondering if there could one day be an insect that would figure out that carnivorous plants were dangerous for its kind, and maybe warn the others... It made him remember about his past, and about his family. That rift between both his parents that even they didn't know about, the fact that they could both, at any given time, become predator and prey by accident and end up making the second worst mistake they ever made... It was a sad situation, and a heavy, burdening truth for Riku to keep. His smile quickly faded, as he once again reminded himself that they were better off not knowing about one another. They were both carnivorous plants in this case, and he wouldn't let them risk eating each other. The situation was complicated enough as it stood.
Every window of the shop was then opened, and within the following twenty minutes, he managed to carry all the crates of flowers from the backroom to the front store - trying to put his ordeal in the back of his mind had made it simpler and faster. All that was needed now was the customers. The front door was wide open, the panda lilies were beautiful and welcoming, the moon flowers were shyly blooming on the top shelves, the cacti were carefully displayed against walls, where nobody could get hurt unless they wanted to, jasmine flowers were almost everywhere in the shop, and so on. It had been such a hassle to acquire some of these specimen and keep them alive... But they were selling rather nicely.
The doors were now open. A smile on his face, Riku decided to make the flowers happy with a series of qigong moves. Even though it was mostly a motion to make chi circulate, he doubted the flowers would mind that detail. A bit of Tai Chi made everyone feel better.
That was until a series of things happened. For starters, a ray of light conveniently angled at his face came through the window and turned his darkness into... an unpleasant feeling against his eyelids. It made him want to turn around, but his makeshift hammock disagreed, and he began slipping between two lianas in an uncomfortable fashion. And since bad things always occurred three at a time, he began hearing the buzzing of some insects against the window, either trying to come in or to get out. That was his cue, the day had officially started.
Riku opened his black eyes, as slowly as his laziness and omnipresent sleepiness imposed, and moved his left leg all the way through the vines of his hammock, allowing the rest of his body to follow it just as lazily. Sleeping on a bed - on his bed - had been an option last night, as with any other night. But not only did he favor sleeping in a hammock thanks to its comfort, but he was also in no state to walk over to his bed and slip inside. Leaping onto the vines and using his bending to keep them steady was a lot easier.
Once his entire body was on the ground, the young florist inhaled deeply, using the bit of moisture and big amount of air inside his lungs to keep his sleepiness at bay long enough, and pushed himself up to a crouching position. From this point of view, he looked at the room he was in to assess what tasks would be required and in what order. Since the sun had hit his face, he could assume that he'd have to open his shop in the next hour, which meant he would have to carry the stands of flowers out front. But before that, he needed to water them and evacuate all the moisture from the shop, while not forgetting to give the proper lighting to the plants that needed it as they stayed here in the back... Especially the moon flowers.
It already felt tiring. Fortunately, he did not have any gardening duties to perform today. He was not really in shape for this. Mustering more strength, he stood up entirely and began stepping towards the door with the intent of getting some breakfast... But realizing he needed to do something else first, he stopped his advance and passed a half asleep gaze over the window. With his right hand pointing towards it, he made a circling motion that bent a liana in its direction, lifting the window pane to allow insects to get through. He then proceeded through the door.
Twenty minutes later, he came back completely clean and awake, apparently have eaten breakfast, taken a soothing shower and dressed in his usual green and brown garb. And so, with much motivation and confidence, he began watering every one of the flowers with his bending. Gently and with much care, he walked past each row of plants with floating orbs of water in his hands, and hosed the flower pots just the right amount. It made his mood rocket to feel how the plants were being rejuvenated, to sense the water moisture in the air being slowly replaced by the feeling and scent of living vegetation... at least that's how he was taking it.
One of his carnivorous plants closed itself. Riku chuckled at the sight, wondering if there could one day be an insect that would figure out that carnivorous plants were dangerous for its kind, and maybe warn the others... It made him remember about his past, and about his family. That rift between both his parents that even they didn't know about, the fact that they could both, at any given time, become predator and prey by accident and end up making the second worst mistake they ever made... It was a sad situation, and a heavy, burdening truth for Riku to keep. His smile quickly faded, as he once again reminded himself that they were better off not knowing about one another. They were both carnivorous plants in this case, and he wouldn't let them risk eating each other. The situation was complicated enough as it stood.
Every window of the shop was then opened, and within the following twenty minutes, he managed to carry all the crates of flowers from the backroom to the front store - trying to put his ordeal in the back of his mind had made it simpler and faster. All that was needed now was the customers. The front door was wide open, the panda lilies were beautiful and welcoming, the moon flowers were shyly blooming on the top shelves, the cacti were carefully displayed against walls, where nobody could get hurt unless they wanted to, jasmine flowers were almost everywhere in the shop, and so on. It had been such a hassle to acquire some of these specimen and keep them alive... But they were selling rather nicely.
The doors were now open. A smile on his face, Riku decided to make the flowers happy with a series of qigong moves. Even though it was mostly a motion to make chi circulate, he doubted the flowers would mind that detail. A bit of Tai Chi made everyone feel better.