[SE] on the nature of seeds

It is hot. Normally this is a statement that Mateo associates with lazy Longheat days out in the Celestine, or strolls along the beaches of Torchline at the height of midday. But out in Hak Etme, the Furnace puts thos examples to shame, and the boy is shading his eyes as they trudge across the hardpacked ground, a sweltering breeze sending sand tickling across his arms and face.

He's getting a little gangly these days, a growth spurt that speaks of a surge of hormones on the horizon. For now, though, he's merely got one t-shirt on his back and another wrapped around his head, both of them having been dragged from the bag of holding slung across his chest. "Cosa stiamo cercando, papà?" he wonders, wiping sweat from his brow and wishing that Remi had a shadow he could walk in.

i've hidden all my fears in a book for only my eyes to see

Hey, at least he can shade his eyes; Remi on the other hand is forced to wear a hat. Looking like his character from Stardew ridiculous for just how mundane it is to see him in a wide-brimmed straw hat, the Lullaby trudges across the sands with feigned effort. "Lo saprai quando lo vedrai." Remi replies. For as well as Mateo has picked up the travelling tongue, there are certain words and phrases that haven't come up in regular conversation yet, such that the alchemist finds it easier to switch back and forth depending on context.

"Ci sono state voci di piante che crescono e poi muoiono. Out here in the desert that doesn't seem so surprising, but the caravan drivers are surprised by it, so..." Rolling his wrist to indicate so obviously it is surprising, Remi glances over his shoulder at his son. "Naturally I thought you were the best one to show the plants to." He adds, and the sudden rush of pride he feels is so abrupt and bright that he nearly stutter-steps and trips over his own feet.

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Mateo's chapped lips part to bring that up - the part where plants grow and die all the time, especially in the desert - but his father beats him to the punch and he gives a slow tilt of his head, before nodding. "Huh," he says helpfully, skipping a couple of steps to fall in beside Remi and offering a bright smile up at him. "Do you think perhaps it is an invasive species that shouldn't be here?" he asks.

Squinting into the hard packed earth, Mateo blows one of his curls out of his face and shakes his head. "It would be good if we could see some that are growing..." He remarks, not that he can see any around. But perhaps there is a snarl of something in the distance, and the boy would set off after it if it wouldn't exhaust him. "Over there," he says instead, nodding at what he's seen.

i've hidden all my fears in a book for only my eyes to see

"Maybe..." Not only because he loves his son but also because he values his opinion, Remi considers Mateo's suggestion a few beats longer than he might have had someone else said it. "Invasive species tend to go where they can thrive. Unless there is some way of sustaining themselves, it seems strange for this to be happening so unsuccessfully. And—" Adjusting to follow Mateo's new trajectory, Remi finds himself wishing that what he and Fiadh had retrieved from the caravans had been a portable pool. "—from what I think I saw, they are not all the same type of plants."

Which meant it wasn't just a few errant spores or pockets of seeds that made their way here.

'If you get tired, we can stop and rest. I do not want you passing out here, mm?"

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Mateo gives his father's opinion the same level of respect, hmmming to himself and nodding. "That is a good point," he agrees. "And there are different types of plant growing? Che curiosità..." And it's that curiosity which has him trudging along with all the more determination, despite the way his t-shirt darkens with sweat.

"Okay, Pa... I've got water in my bag for us if you want some?" It's a suggestion Mateo will be taking as soon as he can, but for now he's interested in the strange curl of foliage he's coming up on.

It's a vine - or it should be, he thinks, only most of it is completely dried out and only a tiny wisp of green runs through it. "Oh, poor thing," he says, setting down his bag and shifting onto his knees in the dirt. Rummaging in his bag, the water he draws out is (unsurprisingly) donated to the plant first and foremost. "This looks like something I saw in Torchline."

i've hidden all my fears in a book for only my eyes to see

"No, I am alright for now." Remi says appreciatively even as he shakes his head, following in Mateo's shadow as his son hunkers down to inspect the small sprouting trying to grow.

Were this anyone but Mateo and Remi, the expected reaction to pouring water on a plant that was going to die anyways, would surely be don't! Of course this is neither Taliesin's reaction, and rather than scolding his son for wasting water, Remi kneels down as well to better inspect the sprout. "It does look a bit like the scrub vines that try to grow between the jungle and the beach." He says with a slow nod.

"But.." Pressing his fingers into the sand and digging, Remi is able to pull up nearly 6 inches worth of sand before the ground below begins to become even remotely hard. "How did it even take root? It shouldn't have even been able to grow this much."

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Once the plant has received a good watering, Mateo continues to dig in his bag of holding - he even disappears into it (head and shoulders, at least) before withdrawing with a pot full of rich soil and a trowel. "Do you think it was an Abandoned trying to grow things?" he suggests, sifting through the sand with his father until he can ease the vine out, staring the process of replanting it.

"Maybe they were experimenting with seeds, growing them real quick before leaving them?" His nose wrinkles, because he's very unimpressed by that prospect, but it didn't make it any less possible. "This looks like it would have had to have taken root and grown for at least... six weeks, maybe? And it should have died long before that."

i've hidden all my fears in a book for only my eyes to see

'Forse....' Remi says with a thoughtful frown. "It certainly seems like the sort of thing that would require magic." Watching his son tend to the plant that surely had no chance of surviving the week without him, Remi narrows his eyes slightly. "So...magic that makes things grow quickly. And, if it is as you say, it seems to have worked. But what is the point? Why just let it die? What use is the ability to grow things quickly in the desert, if they can never last?" All this is asked of Mateo as if he were an adult who might reasonably know the answers, rather than just a pre-pubescent boy ready to sprout himself.

'Maybe someone worried about agriculture...about being able to grow food. I had heard that the war decimated the continent before...so maybe someone is trying to make sure we have a way to grow food even if things go really badly?"

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"Mmhm," Mateo agrees, though he's busy with a streak of dirt on his cheek, planting the little vine into the pot and making sure it's happy there, before he slips it away into his bag of holding. Another flask of water comes out, Mateo taking a long drink from this one, sitting properly in the sand as he offers it out to his father.

"Or maybe they're just playing or practicing," he murmurs. "If they don't know how to do what they're doing properly, it might just be... happening." He shrugs. "If there was a way to track them with the plants, that would be useful. Oh, what if someone's dropping them from the sky?"

i've hidden all my fears in a book for only my eyes to see

"Grazie." Sipping thoughtfully at the water, Remi pauses to give his son an approving look. "You are very clever, you know that?" Grinning, he nods. "Playing or practicing...I had not thought of that, but it makes sense. I wonder..." Biting at the inside of his cheek, Remi hands back the canteen. "Someone like Finn with his glasses might be able to track them." This is said in a low and almost guilty voice. Mateo of course had been present at the dinner party, and though the boy was likely spared the worst of it, his cleverness extended to more than just plants.

"Forse potrei scrivergli...?" Mumbles rhetorically under his breath, Remi glances up into the cloudless sky. "Could be." He agrees, of the seeds falling from the sky. "But that only explains how the seeds got here. Not how they were able to grow in the first place."

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"Thank you." Mateo beams a dimpled grin up his father, sealing up the flask and packing everything up again into his bag, before straightening back up and slinging it back across his chest. "Oh, the glasses that can see things that aren't there?" he echoes, having heard the tales of the Spyglass long before he had even met Mateo. "Maybe he could. But it's a bit far to come, isn't it?"

He had been present for the very terrible dinner party, and he can absolutely read between the lines, but he instead tips his head back to look at the sky as well. "Oh, I meant the whole plants might have fallen from the sky." He smiles wistfully, like it's a whimsical idea. "But that's probably not so likely. Do you want to look for more?"

i've hidden all my fears in a book for only my eyes to see

'Mmhmm. Those are the ones." As for whether it was too far? "I will leave that up to Finn to decide. He can teleport himself to the Greatwood, but what he does with the information is his call." In another life perhaps Remi might have had this conversation with Finn in a dream. Would have woken up with him in bed with Ronin, only to toss the Spyglass some ill-fitting clothing and setting off to the desert with him. But any chance of such an easy and comfortable friendship had been shred long, long ago. Now the best Remi could offer was an anonymous note.

"Oh, I see." Pausing dramatically, as if plants might begin to rain down upon them, Remi stands. "Yes. Let's see how many different species we can find in...oh, a 30meter or so radius?"

Twitching his lips for a moment, Remi frowns at the ground as a very important question suddenly rears in the back of his mind. Removing his hat to rub at his forehead before replacing it, the alchemist turns toward his son and unintentionally clears his throat. "With the war coming...there have been a few children who have gone to shrines to be aged up....did you have any plans to...?" Trailing off, a brow raised slightly, Remi holds his breath without realizing it.

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"Okay, that sounds like a good idea. I think Stormbreak is a bit busy right now anyway, since..." His brow furrows and he shakes his head, like that idea is a bit too big for him to wrap his head around right now. "Since there is no more Cian," he concludes eventually, pulling the t-shirt from where it's wrapped around his head to wipe off his face and hands.

He hopes that a plant might land on his father, just in case, but he's not holding his breath. Instead, Mateo shuffles away across the sand in search of any other new or interesting species - there's plenty of soil and pots in his bag still, so if he needs to rescue anything else, he can. "Hmm?" He gazes over his shoulder where he's stopped to admire a tiny cactus - a dream cactus, unbeknownst to the boy.

"Oh, no," he says with a snort. "I want to be a botanist, not a soldier. Er, unless..." Straightening up, he seems a bit uncomfortable. "Were you hoping that I would come and fight as well?"

i've hidden all my fears in a book for only my eyes to see

"Mmmmmmm." Remi agrees a touch vaguely; the idea indeed was a big one, and not just for young minds either. "Who knows, maybe Everest will become the next Eye." He suggests, raising his eyebrows as if with serious consideration as he glances down at his son.

Not a very good overseer when it comes to...well, any of his children, Mateo's interest in the cactus goes entirely unnoticed as Remi looks in the opposite direction. Reaching down for a bit of tangleweed—and dismissing it almost instantly—the alchemist sighs with audible relief. "Oh no, absolutely not." He replies immediately. "I do not even want to fight in this." Remi adds with a shake of his head. "I just..I suppose I would understand the urge to want to grow up quickly. Especially if more and more children were doing it." The joy of youth was something that was best appreciated through hindsight he'd learned, but if there was any way to convince Mateo to take his time with his, Remi would indeed try.

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