thenearshore | [open + 1 closed + 1 semi-closed] a pocket full of posies

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[open + 1 closed + 1 semi-closed] a pocket full of posies

Who: A + B: Shun and anyone! C: Shun and Ren, D: Shun and existing CR
What: Shun attempts to relocate a substantial portion of his temple garden to his Near Shore shrine. This goes about as well as you'd expect.
When: June 22nd
Where: A: Nekhbet's Temple and surrounds, B + C: A seemingly innocuous Near Shore park (a.k.a. Nekhbet's shrine), D: Network/anywhere!

A + B: Open

[A: Morning, Nekhbet's Temple]

[There are a lot of things Shun could say about having a rapidly growing garden of funerary and death-themed flowers, and most of them are some form of complaint. However, with recent events on the Near Shore and disappearances on the Far Shore, he's decided it's about time he made his shrine look a bit more lived-in, and if there's any good way to do that, it's hitting two birds with one stone and thinning out his garden to use for decorative purposes. Ignoring the fact that he has no idea how to decorate anything these days, because he'll deal with that hurdle when he reaches it.

The strange hill-shaped temple isn't difficult to spot even from a distance, and the large, tree-enclosed garden to one side even less so. The dwelling vultures are a little agitated today, rustling wings and hopping from tree to tree as they try to get a better look at Shun, who's moving along the edge of the garden with a dagger in hand. With how much the flowers have grown out, there's only an incredibly narrow strip for Shun to walk on between them and the shallow pools flanking the main path, but as always, he walks as if his every step is certain.

At certain plants, he'll stop, either taking one flower stem or a few at once and pushing neatly through them with the knife in his hand. Apparently nobody ever told him pruning shears were a thing, or he just didn't want to bother with that.

There's already a budding line of flowers down the middle of the garden path, loosely arranged by type and then colour, which Shun goes back to add to each time he cuts more. It's probably obvious to most people that he has far too many cut for any purpose other than maybe starting a florist's, but he doesn't seem to care, and the garden barely looks like it's been pruned.

He'll acknowledge anyone who comes to the mouth of the garden...just maybe try not to do it while his back is turned, since he is still holding a knife.]

--

[B: Afternoon, Park/Shrine]

[There's a lot of nice parks around on the Near Shore, and the quiet ones can be especially nice. This one in particular is off a small and relatively low-density street, the entrance flanked by currently unlit lanterns, and looks like the kind of spot someone might elect to have a picnic. There's tables, a large and venerable-looking tree over near the back...and, of course, the tiny shrine building (more the size to house vultures than any kind of human) that looks like it was made by some very dedicated follower, built and painted simply and surrounded by offerings of flowers. Today, there's also a very eye-catching one lying across the shrine "balcony"; a large arrangement of purple and orange flowers, done with not the skill of someone who actually knows what they're doing, but the care of someone determined to do it anyway and make it good.

Also in the park today is Shun, who's commandeered a picnic table with his excessive amount of flowers and is currently sorting through them with a rather critical eye. When he comes across one that looks on the dead or dying side, he runs his fingers carefully up the stem, focusing intently on the flower, and after a few moments, the petals liven up and heal, the natural decay reversing to return them to full bloom.

Unfortunately, the need for focus means Shun isn't in a particularly welcoming mood towards distractions right now, so any Far Shore residents hanging around the park may or may not feel upon them the kind of stare that could probably bore through concrete given long enough.]

If you're just going to be a distraction anyway, you might as well put it to some use over here. [Translation: he's...asking for help. Kind of. Not really, but still.]

[C: Closed to Ren, late afternoon/early evening]

[After several attempts at putting together certain flowers and getting the impression they just look wrong (and that if even someone like him who doesn't really give a damn is noticing, then others certainly will), Shun decides to cut his losses and text maybe the one person he can trust to help with this and be a tolerable presence for the amount of time it will probably take.

So sometime later in the afternoon, Ren gets a text containing a picture of the table overflowing with sorted flowers, and Shun's shrine in the background in the hopes that he'll recognise it from that evening they walked back there.]

Need someone who knows more about how flowers go together than me. I'll explain why if you help.

[D: Closed to existing CR, evening]

[So as it turns out, Shun absolutely cut way too many flowers, and though he definitely knows one person who'll want them, there's still a ton that aren't really spoken for. So anyone Shun knows the name of (or god name, in those cases) and doesn't hate stands a chance of getting a very brief text containing an image of a table still covered in flowers, but with vastly less than there were earlier. There's quite a variety - roses, lilies, crysanthemums, orchids, and so on - and it might be hard to pick up on the funerary and death associations of every single one of them unless one is very well-versed in flower language.]

Trying to get rid of these. Pick some out and you can have them.

[[Any kind of death or funeral-associated flower is fair game to request, even if it's not listed there.]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They do, but you can't expect the inexperienced people to take up that kind of mantle so quickly. The ones of us who are already experienced need to do what we can. [Even in Shun's own case with Fubuki's inexperience, he's been doing what he can to have him learn gradually, because he actually has the opportunity to do that here. Fire-forged ability might be what he tends to advocate, but it doesn't work for everyone.

What she says after that gets a slight frown, though it's hard to tell the reason for it.] You don't need to worry about that.

[It's intentionally vague; not a guarantee he'll stop acting like that, because he knows he more than likely wouldn't uphold it, but he doesn't think it's something she needs to be concerned about regardless.]

[ Unfortunately for Shun, she doesn't agree. Which is why she frowns up at him and scolds him with all the sternness the six-year-old can muster. ]

I'm gonna worry about it anyway! Because I want you to be able to have fun and see pretty things again! It's important.

[Unfortunately, Shun's used to everything from stern scoldings to punches unconscious to almost killing him from his comrades to prove a point, so while Nanako might be impressively serious about it for a six-year-old, Shun remains undeterred.

That is, in terms of actually looking like he cares about the scolding part, because after a moment, he sighs slightly.] You sound like Ren. But if you want that as well, don't expect it to be easy, or you'll be disappointed.

[There's a light caution to his tone there, but it's nothing particularly noticeable.]

Sometimes the best things aren't easy. [ That's what her big brother told her, anyway. Or something like that. ] Ren told you that, too? You should listen to him, too!

[ Or maybe she should go find him so they can tell Shun together. She'll save that as Plan B if Shun keeps doing too much. ]

That's overstating it. [By a lot, as far as Shun's concerned. He highly doubts him having fun could be considered a "best thing".

As for the comment on Ren, a faint look of long-suffering comes into Shun's face briefly.] He doesn't give me much of a choice.

[...For all the exasperation in that remark and the look on his face, there's definitely something a little bit fond about the way he says it as well.]

[ There a moment of hesitation before there's a quiet giggle. Followed by another. Nanako claps her hand over her mouth but it's too late. The expression on Shun's face had told her exactly what he thought about that. Good, she definitely had a Plan B, then. ]

See? He thinks it's good for you, too!

[The sudden outburst of laughter at least takes the exasperation out of Shun's face, though it's immediately replaced by a faint, somewhat flat confusion, because he feels like he must have missed whatever was supposed to be that amusing.]

What are you laughing at? [He doesn't sound offended, just confused. Nonetheless, he lets out a short breath as he goes on to what she actually said.] A few people seem to. He's the most considerate about it. [In terms of not trying to drag him into things they think are fun that he more than likely would hate.]

Your face. [ At least she's honest about it. ] You just looked so... I don't know a word for it. My big brother gets that look sometimes too, about his friends. But I think it's a good thing.

[Well, at least Shun's not the only person who feels that way about his friends, because he does so more than he'd like to admit.] Exasperated is probably the word, and I'm not surprised you wouldn't know it. [She's young enough that emotional terms taught at that age generally run a bit simpler.] It depends. Sometimes it can be a bad thing, but when it's a friend it might just mean they're doing something you think is strange or unnecessary, but not enough that you're annoyed.

[ She giggles again and smiles up at him. ]

I don't think Ren thinks it's unnecessary. Neither do I!

I don't understand why it matters that much to you both. [It's a genuine sentiment - they might be his friends, but to him, the things they worry about don't seem like a problem. So the amount of times it's been brought up just seems strange.]

Because you do! [ Wasn't that obvious? ] You're our friend! It's important that you're happy!

[As much as he seems to get the part about being a friend and important to them, the last part misses him by a mile, and his brow furrows slightly.]

I'm fine with the way things are, so it should be okay. [He's not happy with it, but he's okay with it, considering. That's all he really feels he needs.]

It's not. [ She sounds really determined about it too. ] I want you to be able to smile about things too.

I do smile about things sometimes. [Point: missed, though that might be partially because Shun doesn't want to disappoint her by outright saying he's not sure he's capable of recovering to that degree while he's here. Still...] I don't think I can promise anything.

[ She considers that for a moment before impulsively reaching out to hug him. ]

It's okay. You don't have to promise. But I'm gonna try to make you smile anyway.

[ That's her promise. ]

But for now I can just pick up some flowers to take home.

[At least this time, it's a bit less sudden, so Shun is prepared enough to not react to the hug but for the usual slight twitch at the contact. There's something rather soft about his expression, now - it's probably a naive hope to have, but maybe Nanako can find ways to try and help him that people closer to his age wouldn't come up with.

For now, though, he's still not so convinced it'll pay off for her, so rather than bring the mood down again, he simply nods at her return to the topic of flowers.]

You can pick anything you like. I'm not going to be using them.

Okay. I'll take some so you don't have so many.

[ Releasing him, she wanders over to where he has them all laid out and starts picking ones out in the colors that catch her eye. ]

[While she picks out flowers, Shun simply watches, noting choices of colours or types of flower or similar. It doesn't seem like there's much rhyme or reason to it, but nonetheless, he leans in a bit after a while.]

If you want me to arrange them for you as well, Ren showed me how to do it earlier.

Arrange them? [ She pauses in picking out the brightest flowers, glancing back over her shoulder at him. There's a look of surprise on her face. ] Ren did? Okay! I don't really know how to do that.

It's mostly just matching colours and sizes to make something that draws the eye. [That is said in the most dictionary definition tone possible, as if Shun has difficulty recognising what constitutes that sort of thing himself. Still, he remembers the sorts of things Ren was doing earlier.] All they're for is to look at, so they might as well do that job as best they can.

[ Coming up with an armful of brightly-hued flowers, Nanako blinks up at him curiously. ]

Show me?

[Bright colours aren't Shun's forte, but he did make the offer, so he might as well try to figure something out with them. After a few moments of looking over the selection, he threads out three particularly large ones in relatively close colours.]

These ones are a similar colour and size, so they can go together in the middle. If you have any others that are only a little smaller, we can start to make a shape around them with those, and put the smallest ones on the outside at the end.

[ She watches with avid interest as he explains, gaze flicking between those he pulled out and the rest meant to go around them. ]

Hmm. Okay. So like these then? [ She starts pulling out ones that look like they match, finding them to be smaller than the three Shun picked out first. ]

[There's a short nod at the ones she picks out, and Shun starts to make a ring around the original three with the matching ones. It's kind of hard to do a colour sequence with the eclectic selection, but he does at least make sure no two of the same colour are right next to each other.]

I think we can just keep going like that. You've picked a lot of different ones, so there's only so much we can do to make them blend together.

[Despite that, it looks surprisingly okay so far.]

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