Flowers in a stick Finished

Alina couldn't tear her eyes away from the boy who seemed to carefully transplant each flower he found, roots and all, into a makeshift trough he made from a half-rotted away tree trunk. Originally, Alina hadn't planned on analyzing this boy so carefully, but the way he handled the flowers, and took such care caused Alina to smile softly at his actions. He loved flowers, she knew that for sure. No one else would handle them so carefully or so beautifully. It reminded her of her brother, when she would ask him to rearrange her garden for her.

Alina skipped softly over to him, where he was leaned over, adjusting a beautiful gray-colored flower into the trunk. In Alina's hand was a bright red daffodil that she had found near the Great Lake, a rare one that grew hidden beneath bushes. Originally she had planned on planting this one in the Herbology Professor's garden, but the moment she saw this boy's project, she knew it had to be here. Alina cleared her throat. "Hello! I was wondering if you could add my daffodil to your project?" She asked, voice bright, face smiling. "I noticed you didn't have any bright colored flowers yet, and well, this one has been waiting for a special home," she spoke of the flower like it had a conscious, and well, in her mind, it really did. All plants had feelings. "You have so many beautiful flowers here and this one grew all alone in the bushes. I think she would love a place among other flowers!" Alina giggled, kneeling down.

Kaegen stopped his odd hum, looking up at the girl with the flower. It was bright red, and beautiful. Kaegen smiled at her, and nodded, gesturing to the log. He liked the flower, it would be an interesting contrast to the dull colors he had picked out, a brilliant red star among a grey sky.
His imagination ran with the image, and the more the thought about it, the cooler he thought it would look. His eyes darted about, looking at as many different things as he possibly could, never satisfied with focusing on the thing directly in front of him, always flashing from one side to the other, then back in front. They settled for a moment on the girl, before returning back to the flower, then to the stick.
"What's your name?"
His voice sounded like a quiet breeze. A whisper from some other place, some place that wasn't where he was kneeling. Everything about the boy was designed for surviving. His voice itself was hard to pinpoint, hard to track. He knew how to move quietly, and did so without thinking. Every motion he made was smooth, natural. Something that was supposed to be there. Kaegen thought a little about what he just said, and realized that she had given him a flower. At the very least he should give her a good introduction first. Standing up, and holding his eyes still, Kaegen introduced himself as best he could.
"Kaegen Deathmote Fens-Born Scarf-Wielder at your service."
If she was planning on sticking around, he should probably find her something to dig with. Kaegen thought about the spades by the herbology classroom, then decided against it. She probably just wanted to talk, anyway.

The boy seemed so lost in thought, as he gazed at the flower to his project, to the flower and back at her. He was thinking, analyzing. Alina cocked her head to the side with a smile, waiting patiently for the boy to answer. Instead, a soft voice drifted out asking for her name. She almost didn't hear it at first, and thought maybe it was the wind. Alina opened her mouth to answer, but instead the boy stood up, his expression soft as he introduced himself. "Kaegen Deathmote Fens-Born Scarf-Wielder at your service." He said, and Alina couldn't stop the grin on her face.

"That's quite the name!" She replied, setting the daffodil down, and dusting her dirty hands off on her skirt. She did a short little curtsy. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, my name is Alina Korin Ambrosia." Straightening herself, she brushed away some hair that had fallen in her face. "Would it be okay if I put her with the others?" She asked, setting the pretty little red flower in the trough.

"Oh! Look at that one!" She exclaimed, rushing a few feet away to kneel down next to a bright yellow forget-me-not. Already Alina began to claw and dig carefully around the flower, taking care not to damage any roots. "What do you plan on doing with all of these once you get enough? Are you creating a garden?" She asked him, as she made her way back to settle the yellow flower in with the others. Alina looked down at her hands, caked and covered in dirt. The underside of her nails looked horrible, but it wasn't anything a good scrub couldn't clean. Absently, she brushed her hair from her face.

What was he planning to do with them? Well, honestly they were going to be decoration for his lair. Sort of a little something to make it more of a home. He had dug a hole, and gotten a huge log in front of it. The whole arrangement was underneath a little tree, and Kaegen had thought that some flowers would make it seem more comfortable. And so he had gone out on a mission to find some. He would leave a unclear path through the flowers, so he wouldn't crush them, he could sit in his tree and watch them sway in the wind. He missed the dull flowers bowing to wind, back at home he had found a patch of dry grass, full of flowers. He would go there to think, and found it hard to without his familiar spot.
But what would he tell this girl? He couldn't very well tell her that he had spent weeks scraping in the dirt and slowly shifting a tree trunk to make a den.
"Nice to meet you, I'm going to plant them by the lake. Please, go ahead."
He pointed at some loose dirt in the stick, for her to plant the red flower in. If she came with him when he planted them, it wouldn't matter. His hole was hidden enough, it was more or less safe.

"By the lake?" Alina echoed excitedly. "Do you have a secret garden there? Can I see it?" The questions poured out of her in the excitement. She nestled her flower into the dirt along with the others, taking care not to disturb them. She sighed happily. "My mama used to have a garden back in Cyprus, she grew the most beautiful lilies there and lots of dittany. My brother and I always got into a lot of trouble when we were younger, and would come home scraped up and bruised." Alina laughed at the memories, as she closed her eyes to bask in the warmth of the sun.

She trailed after the boy, hands clutched behind her. "I was hoping to create my own garden here. I was actually planning on asking the Herbology professor if I could." Not that she knew if the professor would say yes. There probably wasn't even enough room in the greenhouses for a small garden she wanted. Maybe she could create a secret one, like Kaegan did. Alina wandered off to the side, picking out another pretty flower, this time yellow to add to the collection. "Do you have a favorite flower, Kaegan?" Alina asked softly, as she nestled the little yellow one in with the others.

It was nice, he thought. Nice to be talking to someone who talked so much. It gave the ravenclaw boy more to listen to. Besides, he didn't have to talk as much, which was nice. It was fun to just walk and listen to her, his whispery voice saying replies at intervals, and maybe a few more questions.
"Not secret, and not yet."
That was true, the garden wouldn't be secret. It was going to be a little slice of home, of peace. If anyone wanted to take advantage of it they could.
"Where's cyprus?"
This was something interesting. Cyprus sounded far away, it sounded like somewhere on the other side of the water, where the foreign countries were. Or maybe just a town in ireland. Kaegen wasn't entirely sure what irish town names sounded like, and for all he knew cyprus would fit in.
A favorite flower? That was a question he didn't know a good answer to. There were so many kinds, and he didn't really know their real names. If he saw something, he used to give it a name he came up with. There was almost no one to talk to about them, so there was no point in remembering, or even learning, their proper names.
"I don't know. What's yours?"
Was he supposed to have a favorite flower? Maybe he was. Was it weird that he didn't have one? And if it was weird, was it a good weird or a bad weird.

"Where's cyprus?" He asked, and she thought his voice sounded curious. He had asked her a question! She was excited that she was finally getting conversation out of him. "Cyprus is in the Mediterranean. I guess simply, it's very, very south of England. The waters there are warm all year round and are usually very light blue, and the sun shines almost every day. It's very popular place for tourists." Her mind travelled back to all the tourist friends she made when she was younger, and the sadness she felt when they left and she would never see them again.

"I don't know. What's yours?" Another question! If she didn't know any better, he was warming up to her. His answer to her question made her think long and hard. "Mm," she murmured, following behind him slowly. "I don't really know, I can't choose a favorite, I feel like the other flowers will get jealous if I do!" She laughed softly, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I think maybe wildflowers are my favorite. Just because they grow wherever they want, under whatever conditions they want and they're still beautiful and prized. I kind of want to be like that as a girl when I grow up. Free and wild."

She turned to look at him. "My parents, actually my mama, she's quite controlling. Ever since I didn't get into Slytherin, she hasn't said a word to me and...I feel kind of free. Does that make sense? Do you have parents like that?" She murmured, finding yet another flower to add to his secret garden.

Very far south? How far was that? Farther than hogwarts? Well, no. He had learned that there was much, much more south of hogwarts. She was from beyond. Beyond anything Kaegen had ever known. He would go to cyprus one day, see what it was like. Maybe go explore the rest of the world, gain all the power he could. There were other schools, if he could find a way into them, could he gain their secrets, their power? It would be hard, they no doubt had a multitude of defensive wards. But if he was good enough, then maybe. He could learn how to be a curse breaker. He could learn how to be mist. traveling anywhere. Learning anything.
A wildflower, free and wild. That made sense, it was a nice dream. A dream that Kaegen could probably realize. But he was too scared. He didn't know if he could survive the world beyond. He wanted to make sure that he could survive. Survive anything.
The next question was more personal, or at least it would be to most people. Kaegen wasn't attached to his parents, he loved them, but more out of duty. To give something back.
"My mother and father weren't there. Sometimes on holidays, and my birthday. What do you mean by free?"
He didn't really know where they went, or what they did. He didn't really care either way. They came back for him, every year. Sometimes more than that, on holidays. But always on his birthday.

Kaegen seemed lost in thought, replaying her words over in his head while they walked on, wandering endlessly through trees and brush and paths. She didn't mind, she found his company enough. There was something calming about the boy, something that made her feel like even though he never said much, he understood and that spoke volumes to her. Alina was used to being brushed off at how much she talked and chattered. She appreciated that he was content to listen and offer small tid-bits of words.

"My mother and father weren't there. Sometimes on holidays, and my birthday. What do you mean by free?" Alina thought, chewing the bottom of her lip. There were so many answers, so many ways to tell him. Which was right for her? "I guess...it's like being a bird," She said, gesturing to the faint dots that scattered the sky above them. "They aren't chained to any place, to any time, to any responsibility," She murmured, shrugging. "They just are, and they go wherever they please, wherever they want." She turned to him.

"I want to be free. No parents to control me, or ghosts to haunt me. I just want to be wherever," Alina started, tugging on a piece of her hair. "I dunno if that makes sense. Now that I say it out loud, I sound so silly," she blushed, tucking her dirty hands in her pockets. "I'm sorry you never had a good relationship with you parents. After rmy...brother died, my parents were never the same. I felt alone most times," Alina's voice had taken on a tone of sadness and sorrow, one that she had tried hard to hide and keep tucked within herself. It had flowed out and she wasn't quite sure she could stop it.