[PQ] [RQ] a rose by any other name is a scandal

Lena

let me wander
with the ones

As the birds dispersed, Lena would’ve continued right along with the prior plans, wholly unbothered by the whole thing, and always content to take her time with gardening. That was when the magic truly happened – but it seemed directions were about to alter and change course. Pausing momentarily, she surveyed options and choices, figuring any of them would bring about positive machinations – when Colt seemed inclined to choose her.

She hadn’t heard much of the grousing and complaining, but it was clear from the Accepted’s brusque display. “All right,” she smiled, striving to encourage compassion and patience in a world of constant apprehension and tribulations. “I can shift into my fox form, and dig, if you’d like to plant?”

Presuming that’d be fine – she did exactly that, immediately adjusting to the ivory vulpine conjectures, paws going to the nearest portion of dirt and beginning to sift quickly, efficiently, with claws.

--

Lena partners up with Colt and offers to dig spots for the flowers.

who are tangled in stars
and tethered to promise

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

Alys doesn’t need to apologize as far as Sunjata’s concerned. She’s done a perfect job so far, even if it would take them a decent amount of time to get done. It just meant that they could be extra sure they’d done as good of a job as possible. “Do you?” Sunjata calls back to Colt with a crooked but shit eating grin.

And when the new plan is brought out and Colt’s out here not only talking shit about how they were doing it but his height now? Oh, it’s on. “Yeah, we’ll see about that!” He can’t help the chuckle that leaves him as he turns to his Seer with that same amused smile.

As Colt picks Lena, he gestures for Alys to join him, quite content with this turnaround (because yeah he might be of the mind to fuck with Colt a little too much has they been paired together). “You could’ve had farmers join us but I bet you she’d still complain.” It’s clear he’s not bothered by it. If anything he finds it kind of funny.

Either way, Sunjata picks the opposite path and drops low, low enough to start carving a few piles with his dragon tipped hands for Alys to finally be able to plant her roses.

---

Sunjata digs for Alys after pitching a bit of shit to Colt!

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

'Cause I don't remember who I was before you

Listening to the banter between Sunjata and Colt was bemusing, to say the least. She could feel their emotions as clearly as though they were her own, and despite the absolute shit they were giving each other, the seer could feel no true malice in it.

At her suggestion, Colt snagged Lena as a partner, and the Attuned rapidly volunteered to dig. This combination was a winning approach, and the pair were certainly starting out with an advantage, given that Alys had barely even begun to plant her own flowers. The seer joined her Archon, puzzled by his amusement but not inclined to look too deeply into it. As he dug scoops from the earth, she dropped flowers into the holes left behind, and the four of them continued in this manner for a time as the storm rolled closer and the wind began to pick up.

As the teams grew further apart, each with their own little trail of wagons to keep them company, they would each run into their own problems. Colt and Lena would come upon a patch of rocky terrain that made digging difficult; they would either need to go around it or find a way to till up the rocks. Sunjata and Alys, on the other hand, would find that one of the donkeys pulling their carts was spooked by the sudden wind, and have to decide how to calm the poor creature before moving on.

---

Round 4!

Colt and Lena have found rocky soil. Go around or till up the rocks - up to you!

Sunjata and Alys have a spooky donkey - better calm the poor thing down before he tries to bolt with the flowers!

Painted all my nights a color I have searched for since

Alys

Colt

"Remember to separate the lights from the darks when you're doing my laundry Flood!" she shouts back, overly sweet to curb the urge for anything else. Though, she rounds on Lena with a newfound fervor, her previous desire to be done bundled with ire at the current speed, now doubled down on the absolute need to vanquish Sunjata and his goddamn smug face.

"Yes!" she exclaims with a clap of approval to Lena's idea, taking over the batch of Lena's flowers too as the Attuned shifted into an adorable fox. On they went, a respectable speed at last, with Lena tilling the ground with efficiency that kept Colt working hard behind her to place and plant the flowers for continued survival at this new home. Which is good too, because the storm is pressing in faster than Colt thought. She grits her teeth at it, willing it to hold steady. As luck would have it, thats' when Lena's pace slowed beneath the harder ground.

"What happened?" she asks, joining Lena's side with a frown. She can feel it underfoot, can see the tiny paws struggling, and she sighs heavily. "Fuck!" Colt seethes, stamping her boot heel into the rocky surface. After a minute of chewing on her frustration, Colt mutters, "I say we go around it. Would take too much time to clear it and flowers will likely struggle to take root anyway." Colt glances around for a moment, then points. "Look, there, the grass seems fuller and healthier, I bet that's back to more normal soil."

She throws a competitive glance over her shoulder at Sunjata and Alys, horribly satisfied to find they too have hit a roadblock. Their donkey looks fit to bolt, and Colt's smile turns wicked, well aware she could be of assistance to their plight, but why in the world would she do something like that with victory on the line (yeah yeah everyone's on the same team). "Even the asses can't stand you!" she taunts over the distance, laughing as she turns back to Lena, ready to resume beyond the rocks.

---

Colt suggests they go around and points out a spot, then mocks Sunjata.

I ain't gonna be that easy to leave
I'm gonna make you miss me

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

“I think I’ll mix them just to see what happens.” Sunjata calls back over to Colt as they split ways, twisting to Alys with a crooked and lopsided smile. Finding the whole interaction pretty amusing before he drops down to start digging. They get further and further away from each other, making decent progress this far until inevitably they don’t. Although, rather than having an environmental issue like how Colt and Lena have encountered rocks, Sunjata notices the wind picking up and the more flighty their donkey becomes.

Colt’s chastising is one that grants her a middle finger from the distance with a soft laugh before Sunjata’s approaching the donkey at its side, cooing some gentle words to try and relax it. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. Just a little bit of wind.” He’s careful to not look at it dead on, lest he cause it to spook more, and approaches slowly in the hopes that maybe his calm voice and companionable demeanor can relax the donkey enough into not running off with their flowers.

---

Sunjata tries to soothe the donkey with soft words and his presence!

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

Lena

let me wander
with the ones

The work flowed smoothly, efficiently, over her dexterous little paws. It was almost soothing, to be able to simply churn through and watch the dirt fly about, unbothered and amused. However, soon it became much more difficult, and her fox eyes narrowed, suspicious; before noticing the strain and labor held a reason for it. The more compact earth, far denser here, made all her attempts almost inane and worthless.

At the other woman’s behest, the Caretaker looked back at the ground. It felt like a shame to give up the portions – but wiser still to conserve her energy, and go around, rather than sacrifice everything for one singular spot. Glancing upwards at Colt, she nodded, before going to where the Accepted pointed, and trying to dig in that area.

--

Lena goes around and tries to dig in a new spot.

who are tangled in stars
and tethered to promise

'Cause I don't remember who I was before you

Thunder rolled in the distance. A brisk wind whipped up, gusting through their gathered flowers. Fortunately, the ones in the wagons didn't go flying with the sudden breeze, and those already planted seemed to be (mostly) well stuck into the earth. Their efforts, thus far, did not need to be redone.

Still, it seemed prudent to hurry through their remaining roses. Colt and Lena, having decided to make their way around the patch of rocky soil, would find that their progress slowed as they had to carve further and further from the original, straighter path. It was, however, easier than going straight through, so even though they lost some time, they did manage to conserve energy - which, if the coming storm was any indication, they were going to need.

Meanwhile, Sunjata and Alys were faced with a spooking donkey. The Flood approached it with warmth and calm as the seer looked on, not wishing to approach lest she scare it further. Instead, she called upon her air magic to divert the wind in their immediate vicinity, coaxing the howling gale into something much more mellow. Between the two of them, the donkey calmed, and they were able to press on without further incident.

---

Round 5!

Colt and Lena are having to go the long way around, so things are going a little more slowly for them.

Sunjata and Alys calmed the donkey and were able to continue without a fuss.

Keep planting!

Painted all my nights a color I have searched for since

Alys

Colt

Still chuckling to herself over her snide remark to Sunjata and his resulting gesture, Colt's attention returns wholly to the task at hand. Lena has gone to where she suggested and the digging did resume with a similar pace, so hurriedly Colt set about to planting and trying to rebuild their efficient pattern from before.

It proved to be less of a subtle curver than she first thought though, the rocky soil mixing in wide an long, chasing them to the outskirts of it with each attempt, making it further and further between them and Sunjata and Alys. Colt spares a glance, seeing the donkey under their control once more, and them pulling ahead. That, combined with the worsening weather, has Colt biting against her lip with all her anxiousness to be done returning. "I can run ahead, help scout out the next patch of good ground, then run back and plant more than one at once in your empty holes, since the digging is the slower part." Colt offers, willing to shoulder a little bit more cardio with hustling back and forth if it'd mean making up lost time, or just stealing more time as a whole. So she does just that, running ahead of Lena while her fox paws carve out hollows for the flowers, Colt marking the place to dig by dropping a flower near it before jogging back to quickly plant three or so back to back in waiting divots.

---

Colt tries to help Lena by scouting out the ground ahead and marking it with a flower, then running back to plant said flowers next to already dug holes, rinse and repeat

I ain't gonna be that easy to leave
I'm gonna make you miss me

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

The thunder continues to roll and Sunjata catches only a glance of it as he tries to block out what’s currently bothering their donkey. Hands back to normal and just as unthreatening as possible for him to be, he can feel the gentle breeze as it passes away from them, keeping the donkey from freaking out too much more. Brushing his hand along its side and up to its face with gentle cooing sounds, pleased when it finally calms down.

It allows them the space to move on further away from where Colt and Lena work, replacing his regular hands for the talons of a dragon’s to carve through the dirt to make more piles for Alys to fill with flowers. And with it, a competitive sense that hopefully they’d win this little battle just so he could shove it in Colt’s face.

---

Sunjata keeps digging for Alys to plant the roses!

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

Lena

let me wander
with the ones

The impending storm simmered on her senses, but she was too preoccupied to be worried about those portions. The slower process, unfortunately, did seem all the more daunting in the face of the upcoming, and potential, deluge, but Colt was shouting more directions, and the Caretaker paused in her ministrations for her ears to shuffle, twitch, back and forth, listening to the new potentials.

She gave a fox nod in understanding, eyes darting back to all the places marked. She hated to think she was slowing the momentum down, so once they began again, she put in faster, swifter work, paws flinging through dirt, loam, and soil, but some portions were still trickier than others, and she could feel some residual fatigue beginning to clamber through her tinier frame.

--

Lena keeps on diggin~

who are tangled in stars
and tethered to promise

'Cause I don't remember who I was before you

Alys planted her way along behind Sunjata, working towards their end goal with a dogged determination. Not that she particularly cared about winning the little competition that seemed to have sprung up between Colt and the Archon, but the storm was, in fact, growing nearer, and all of them were about to be caught in the downpour.

Colt and Lena, having cleared the rocky ground, were making good time - at least, until the deluge began in earnest and soaked the dirt that the little fox was digging at. As it became more and more waterlogged, it would grow heavier and heavier, making the task all the more daunting for the pair - and, therefore, slower.

Alys and Sunjata continued on, but the rain seemed to be heavier just over them, perhaps drawn to the Flood from some affinity for his moniker. Soon, it was almost impossible to see through the rain, or even to hear each other shout through it. Navigating forward was, therefore, going to prove a bit of a challenge.

—-

Round 6!

Colt’s plan works, but it’s starting to rain, making the soil heavier to lift for Lena.

Sunjata and Alys continue on, but it seems to be raining harder on them, and it’s getting difficult to see and hear.

Keep on keeping on.

Painted all my nights a color I have searched for since

Alys

Colt

She is grateful when the rocky terrain finally breaks back to the usual, because all the back and forth is more exhausting than she'd like to admit. She keeps the complaint quiet though, because Lena is equally committed to her burrowing, and she doesn't want their pace to slacken. She just maybe needs to start running in the mornings or something, shit. She's in pretty good shape, she thought, but apparently those are different muscles. Her day to day is more strength related and relies on shorter bursts of speed to cut off unruly livestock, whereas this steady up and down to plant and the cardio from jogging is showing her just where all her weaknesses lie.

Then, it starts pouring. This fucking sucks.

She scowls up at the sky like they're the ones in an argument now, and even goes so far as to fling one of the roses angrily up at the breaking storm. It sails unimpressively, too light to fully communicate her fuck you, and flips rather sadly back into the wet ground. "You couldn't wait a bit longer? Motherfucker," she says with utter exasperation, shaking her head and running a dirty hand through the ends of the soaked gold. So much for all her plans.

She sets her hands on her hips and paces angrily back and forth for a moment, boots stomping through mud, clothes getting thoroughly drenched, each droplet building on her irritation. "We probably don't have to dig now," she sighs at Lena, her hand slapping her wet jeans with an audible smack. "Just poke the stems in the wet ground and move on. That's what I'm gonna do anyway," she mutters, crouching down to begin just that. All the while, a stream of curses floats just under her breath.

---

Colt mad. Colt poke flowers into dirt.

I ain't gonna be that easy to leave
I'm gonna make you miss me

Lena

even when no one was looking
I was still kind

The storm unleashed – as it had sullenly promised – and the mud contorted beneath her paws. She sighed, not displaying her unease or fatigue, and shifted back at Colt’s insistence. Which left her instantly drenched, no longer shrouded by the thick arctic fur. And while hardly ever a complainer, inwardly, she had no predilections of returning home to a nice, warm shower and thick huddle of blankets – and nowhere near tons of mud.

Regardless, she nodded, but had no intentions of leaving a rush job. Each time she crouched down to place a stem, she ensured it was surrounded by hardier soil and firmer portions, so there’d be no risk of it falling over and succumbing to the elements. “At least we don’t have to worry about watering them,” she grinned over at the Accepted, before moving on to the next.

--

Lena shifts back into normal form and keeps planting.

with all of my heart
even when it is invisible

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

Not unused to the rain or working in heavy downpours, it doesn’t seem to perturb Sunjata any. His skin fills with the dark ink of his passive magic, floral designs covering his neck and creeping up his cheeks, covering his arms and hands completely. The dirt grows muddy quickly, and with water already in the air, the Flood sits back from where he’s been digging, glancing over at Alys curiously.

“Let me try to help.” He murmurs, utilizing his water magic to try and make a shield above them so they aren’t so drenched. He continues to make little holes, digging small hole after small hole, making it so Alys can plant them quicker. “Guess we don’t need to water them, huh?” He asks, flashing her a crooked smile.

---

Sunjata uses his magic to try and make a little umbrella of water, 60ft around them to keep the rain from falling on them!

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count