fandomhighdorms | Student Garden: Friday Afternoon

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Student Garden: Friday Afternoon

After catching up with Grundy and Irene at the park, Dor brought Irene over to the garden so she could see the Xanth trees she had sent to Fandom last month.

"The clothes tree seems to be adapting to Fandom pretty well," Dor pointed out. "And is growing more mundane fashions here which is kind of neat. Plus it's kind of nice to come here if I ever miss home, y'know? Do you like it?"

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green_irene but open to all]

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"Oh, look at that!" Irene commented, fascinated, as she bounced over the the clothing tree to get a better look at the funny adaptations. "Oh, they look very healthy, Dor, I'm impressed! I was half worried you'd have ended up killing them all!"

Dor was distracted for a minute by the bounce... because it was a very nice bounce but got a little defensive regarding the plants.

"Well of course I wasn't going to let them die," Dor said defensively. "Besides there's a girl here who runs a shop in town and I think she's interested in selling the clothes and pies from the trees. It could be a good trade exchange between here and Xanth. I'm sure your father would be happy to hear that."

She hadn't intended it, but the wrinkled look of displeasure on Irene's face caused a small branch of the clothing tree to wilt a little, and she busied herself in trying to green it back up again. "A girl, huh?" she sniffed. Who cared about economics if there were other girls involved.

"A Mundane?" she asked, loftily, as she straightened from the branch and looked over at Dor. She didn't say that she might think that a Mundane was below his interest, of course, but it wouldn't be too far-fetched to glean it from her voice.

Dor recognized the look on Irene's face and quickly back pedaled.

"Yes! She's a mundane," Dor replied quickly. "But she's nice. Actually she reminds me a lot of you and... she has a boyfriend!"

The last bit came out in a rush as he realized that would probably mollify Irene pretty quickly.

However if she found out about the dance lessons from Molly? He was dead meat.

"Dor!" Irene frowned deeply, and then it dropped into a full-on pout. "But she's not me! She can't make nice things like these trees that remind you home grow for you, can she? If she wants to help with trade to Xanth, then you should send her to my father, because that's his business."

"No she can't make things grow like you," Dor reassured her. "But I will be king someday so I need to learn about these things, right? Besides girls here in Mundania are different than in Xanth."

Irene gave a short laugh. "You can say that again!"

Dor laughed a little in relief as he went over to the pie tree to pick ripe one. "Exactly. You should meet some of the girls here, I think you might like them. Some of them are even able to do magic."

"I think," Irene mused, innocently as she drifted over now that there was pie in the picture, since turn-about was fair play, "I'd much rather meet the boys."

"Well you could," Dor said feeling an unreasonable stab of jealousy which caused him to drop the pie he was picking on the ground. "If you really want."

"Oh!" Irene made a quick move to try to stop the pie before was on the ground too long. Then it might bury under the dirt and try to sprout into a new tree, and there weren't nearly as many ripe pies on the tree, so they'd be without one. She quickly swept it up and brushed it off. "Don't be silly, Dor," she said. "I'd like to meet all your friends, boy or girl. But, right now, I just want to eat this pie! It looks really good, but I wonder if the Mundane soil will spoil its taste."

"It tastes just as good as home," Dor assured her. "Though there is a place in town that actually makes the pies themselves and bakes them in an oven. I don't think they are as good myself but everyone here seems to like the place."

"Mundanes!" Irene remarked with fascination. "How they manage without magic is just astonishing! Come on." She gave Dor a quick smile before bouncing over toward the chocolate cherry tree and having a seat. "Let me see if I can get this grass especially long and soft and we can sit and catch up and enjoy that pie! It'll be so nice to have company that isn't an old cranky gnome or a loudmouth little golem!"

She held her hands over the grass around her, encouraging it with a soft little, "Grow."

"Grundy isn't all bad," Dor said watching the grass grow at Irene's command and then taking a seat underneath the tree. "You just let him provoke you too much. If you didn't pay any attention to him he'd go find someone else to annoy."

"But when I try to ignore him," Irene said, "he just gets on my shoulder and pulls at my hair or my ear and makes an awful racket, or does terrible things like trying to translate things no lady should have to hear."

"Well that's usually when I stick his head in Smash's armpit," Dor joked.

"Well, I didn't have Smash with me, now, did I?" Irene asked, laughing a little as she playfully gave Dor's shoulder a shove. "Although I guess I could have just shoved him at Humfry's feet!"

"That would have almost as bad," Dor said nudging her back with his elbow. "How are things back home?"

"Boring," Irene said, pouting prettily and looking over at Dor with wide, green doe eyes. "There's no one nearly as fun without you gone, but at least my mother gives me some damn privacy without you around."

"Your mom never did like me," Dor said with some amusement but looking somewhat entranced by the pout. "I guess with me gone she doesn't have as much to worry about. Not that she ever did."

"She's just mad," Irene lifted her chin, reaching for a bit of pie, "because you can be King and I can't."

And Irene could easily sympathize with Iris there.

"That's just because of the council of Elders and the laws of Xanth," Dor shrugged. "If you weren't a girl you'd be eligible. Your talent certainly merits it."

Irene couldn't help beaming at that, although it was a little bittersweet. "Yeah," she said, "now if only you weren't the only person in Xanth to believe that."

"Anyone who's been on the other side of your plants would no doubt agree with me," Dor teased.

"Oh, it was awful!" Irene laughed. "That carpet! Can't grow many seeds on a carpet! I owe Grundy some plant punishment."

"It's hard to believe I've missed that little loudmouth," Dor said shaking his head. "And... um. You, of course."

"What about the gnome?"

"I'm surprised he's here actually," Dor replied. "I can think of only one other time he left his castle and that was before I was born."

Irene nodded a little. "Do you think it has anything to do with my dad's attempts to trade with Mundania?"

"That and I bet he couldn't wait to try and figure this place out for himself," Dor smirked. "My Dad told me about the time he went with him to discover the source of Magic. He pretended he didn't want to go but really he wanted to figure out the source as well."

"Such a bizarre little gnome," Irene said, shaking her head a little, and then she pointed an accusing finger at Dor. "You're not allowed to be that odd when you're a wrinkled old Magician."

"Well he can't be that odd," Dor replied teasing Irene a little. "He did end up with the Gorgon. Then again if that's how it works maybe being odd isn't that bad..."

"And I hear all she does is clean his socks!" Irene remarked, as if she just could not believe it. "I don't understand how she could do it!" And then she leaned forward, whispering to Dor as if worried the gnome might hear her. "And I think he thinks I'm her, and that's why he won't shut up about them."

"Well he is pretty old," Dor replied with a nod. "You never know what's going on in his head. One minute he's a crotchety old man and the next he's actually being decent."

"But mistaking me for someone who can turn a man into stone?"

"Maybe he wasn't looking at your face," Dor teased.

"Why, Dor," Irene said, playing innocent, and not very well, "whatever do you mean by that?"

"Your mother isn't watching," Dor said giving her a friendly push on the shoulder. "You can drop that act."

"Oh, well, in that case," Irene said, closing her eyes and leaning in to give Dor a kiss.

This was a cautious thing to do. After all Dor had on numerous occasions gotten kissed only to end up getting bitten... and not for fun.

But he did lean in, and kissing contact would be made.

And, look at that, not so much as a nibble.

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Student Garden: Friday Afternoon

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