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[chlorophylliac]

Since the vampire and now the angel have both resigned their posts but thoughtfully left the door unlocked, I'm adopting the greenhouse and garden.

At least, until one of you idiots decides I'm turning them into my own personal fortress and threatens to hose me down with herbicide.

[Or, more pragmatically, until another Warden gets a key. Of course she can't access the gardening tools, but…she's not the kind of person to be inconvenienced by that.]

[Private to Zev]

There's enough space to seed some of the excess from our collection. Do you have any preferences? I can make chemical adaptations to the soil as necessary.

[Private to Morgana]

I've heard you returned.

Do you remember anything?

[Open spam]

[It's raining lightly on deck, the shower a soft constant drumbeat on the glass overhead. Ivy's still damp from crossing the deck to get here, but the rain and the humidity inside the greenhouse are pleasant, even rejuvenating.

All she's got to do today is basic maintenance. She's mapping plants and soil types in a notebook, occasionally deadheading the spring-flowering plants, and checking for early indicators of disease. Nothing so far; Castiel knew his work. Still, it's nothing to reach into the more vulnerable species and rethread a few strands of DNA, decreasing their susceptibility.

Not having access to the greenhouse equipment cupboard is only irritating insofar as it's also where the less dangerous resources - seed trays, watering cans - are kept. So she's liberated both from her own cabin, along with some fertilizer she made herself, and spends a little time readying a few trays to grow seedlings for the outdoor garden.

It's all easy, meditative work, and it would be quiet if not for the hum and chatter of the plants all around her.]

Comments

[godsays]

Yes. [ His tone is careful, slow, as though he thinks the answer is obvious. ]

[chlorophylliac]

Hm.

[She leans one hip against the column, folding her arms.]

These plants contain a green chemical that absorbs sunlight as part of their feeding process. Hence the colors.

[She gives him a look that suggests 'now you explain why your plants aren't green'.]

[godsays]

What about the other ones?

[ He nods towards a set of blooms. ]

Their leaves aren't green.

[ Guess who's never seen a flower before. ]

[chlorophylliac]

They are, but you're looking at the flowers. They're reproductive organs.

[Her brow furrows. What is even going on with the plants in your world, strange man.]

How do plants survive in your world if they're not green and don't flower?

[godsays]

Flowers. [ An unfamiliar word; he tests it, on his tongue.

Looks back to her. ] I don't know. They're ordinary. Brown, or grey. How do these survive ashfalls?

[ And it occurs to him, belatedly, that this is somewhat of a ridiculous question, given that they're indoors. ]

I mean - how would they survive. [ Obviously ashfalls aren't an issue if there's a roof. ]

[chlorophylliac]

[Her expression shifts a little, from plain confusion to academic interest.]

It's possible they wouldn't. That's not a phenomenom I'm familiar with.

[godsays]

Ash doesn't fall here?

[chlorophylliac]

No. Not here, and not on my world.

[Well, volcanic fallout is a thing but it's quite rare.]

[godsays]

So you don't have ashmounts.

[ He's drifting further in. Perhaps acclimating himself to the conversation, and to the plants, at the same time. ]

Are you green for the same reason?

[chlorophylliac]

Yes. [Not a whole lot to elaborate on that point.] What's your name?

[godsays]

Zane.

They look softer, too. The stems seem fragile.

[chlorophylliac]

Some grow more rigid with time. Others are only intended to live long enough to reproduce. [She tilts her head.] What is an ashmount?

[godsays]

[ He reaches out a hand, touches one of the stems. Finger gliding up the curve of it. ]

Mountains. They spew ash - it's always falling from the sky.

Otherwise the sunlight would be too harsh.

[chlorophylliac]

[As she'd suspected, then.]

We call them volcanoes, in my world. Ashfalls are relatively rare, but they're disastrous to the environments they effect - they acidify the water and starve the soil. Almost any plant in here would be smothered and killed.

[godsays]

Then everything in the Final Empire would have died.

[ His fingers tense; he's considering snapping off a stalk. ]

[chlorophylliac]

[Her gaze flickers down to where he's touching the flower stem.]

Don't.

[godsays]

[ He pauses. ]

Why not?

[chlorophylliac]

Because if you kill something just because it can't defend itself then we're going to have a problem.

[godsays]

Breaking one stem will kill it?

[ A genuine question. He's surprised the plants are that weak. ]

[chlorophylliac]

Yes. Some plants are single-stemmed. It's all they have.

[godsays]

Hmm.

[ Well... redemption has to start somewhere.

He drops his hand. ]

So killing things is frowned on here.

[chlorophylliac]

[Her tension visibly unwinds when he leaves well enough alone, her shoulders dropping a little.]

Generally, yes. In self-defense, things are more flexible.

[godsays]

[ She really does care about them, it seems. Odd. That state of mind would be a foreign one for Zane. ]

Is everyone green where you come from?

[ Doesn't seem any more ridiculous a proposition to him as having all the plants be green. ]

[chlorophylliac]

No. I'm unique - a miracle or an abomination, depending on who you ask.

[godsays]

Is it what they call a superpower?

[ He heard the term for the first time in the last day. ]