The Garden, Monday

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

There were no classes today, so, of course, Cassidy was in the gardens.

She was focusing on the land and the plants because it was a really great way to help her suppress the emotions she was feeling and pretend that she was in denial as to what was happening this week. The air was cooler than usual and so she was tugging at the small and annoying weeds that seemed to crop up whenever she turned her back on them.

Some people drank when they were sad and upset, Cassidy worked herself into exhaustion. It was what she did.

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[endsthegame]

Going to work meant passing by the garden - at least if you got up as early as Ender did and took as much time to get there.

He paused when he noticed Cassidy, and checked his watch. He'd have some time.

"Cassidy," he called. "Good morning."

[abitlowkey]

And then suddenly... Loki.

He sat on the edge of the garden, a safe distance from the working. "So much work to maintain," he said in greeting.

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

Cassidy plucked the weed out of the bed and laid it in a pile before looking up. She smiled when she saw Ender.

"Good morning, Ender."

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

She grinned when she heard Loki's voice. Using Craft to push her hair back from her face, she nodded.

"Perhaps so, but I enjoy doing it. Sometimes having my hands busy helps me to clear my head."

[endsthegame]

"You look like you're working hard," he said, walking towards her. "How is the garden coming along?"

[abitlowkey]

He wrinkled his nose at that. "It's very messy. I would rather read."

Or subtly manipulate people into making the garden for him.

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

"I'm repressing," she answered him honestly. "It's going well and it's not too hot out here today." She smiled. "I met two new friends who like gardens, too."

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

She laughed. "Well, I love reading, too, as you know. Just sometimes, the land helps me to work through things in my head if I have the land to work on."

And it kept her mind and soul from fracturing like it had in the other world.

[endsthegame]

Ender smiled back at her. "That can be a good antidote to departure anxiety," he said. "Who are they?"

[abitlowkey]

"You sound like mine brother," Loki said, flopping backwards with a sigh. "I will never understand the lure that the soil of Midgard holds. The people are far more interesting."

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

"Evan and Karolina," she said, calling in a cloth to clean her hands. "They came in here last week and I enjoyed talking to them."

She vanished the cloth. "New friends do not making saying good bye to old ones, easier, though."

[endsthegame]

"I'll be here until Thursday if you'd like to drop by at any point," Ender offered. "But I know that's not much of a consolation."

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

Cassidy shook her head, calling in her lemonade and two classes. "It's not just a liking for it that I have," she explained. "Where I am from, a Queen needs to have regular connection to the land. It keeps us and our powers settled."

She offered him one of the glasses.

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

Cassidy smiled faintly. "Of course I will. We have to have at least one more talk before I say goodbye." She shrugged a little. "I'm not ... I've never really been good at saying goodbye."

[abitlowkey]

Oh, like Loki would turn it down. "What does it feel like?"

[endsthegame]

"You and most people on the island," Ender said, but there wasn't any real accusation in his voice. "I know it's hard letting people go."

He'd just had to learn how to at a very young age. It didn't bother him these days, the goodbyes. Most of them, anyway, and he had successfully avoided the worst one.

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

She had never been asked to explain what it felt like before, so after Loki took his glass, Cassidy spent a moment trying to put what she felt into words.

"It's almost like you can the land's heart beating beneath you," she finally started. "Just like all of us, the land can bleed, but her blood looks different than anyone else's. Her life and heartbeat is in the soil, the moisture of the soil and all of the things that grow within her." She took a drink from her glass. "If I bleed into the land, it gives her power, as well, my power, and it makes what grows where I have shed blood be that much more healthy. We Queens can heal the land and the hearts of our people... and taking care of the land helps us take care of our witches and our warriors and everyone else in our community. We draw power from the land and in turn, the land helps us keep a grasp on who we are."

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

She nodded. "It really is and this week, two of my best friends are leaving. It's hard."

Especially since she only knew that she would for sure see one of them again one day.

[endsthegame]

"But you're not losing your memories of either of us," Ender said gently. "Which is what we've really got in the end."

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

"Losing the memories of those that are important to me would be as bad as having my mind fracture."

No, the fracturing would be worse, but the memory thing was still up there.

[endsthegame]

"I see you've mastered hyperbole," Ender said fondly.

[abitlowkey]

"It sounds terribly old." Most magic was, though. Old rituals dressed up for modern consumption these days. This possibly why he enjoyed social media so much. Itwasas close to worship as many still practiced.

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

Cassidy blushed. "At least I'm not trying the denial part too much?" She shook her head. "Besides, who else would have thought to teach me that there were more to tactics than weapons?"

For which she wouold forever be grateful because she had hated the idea that you could only hurt someone else to take care of your people and get what you needed.

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

She nodded. "Where I am from, it really is."

She needed to learn more about the social media.

Or socializing, period.

[endsthegame]

Ender quirked a smile. "Time and experience," he said. "Hurting others... I wouldn't say it's not in your nature, because we all carry a small piece of that within us for when we need it. But your piece is awfully small."