thenearshore | [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

[ 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.]

I like lots of colors. [ She agrees, as if this were the only reason. Who knows, maybe it was. ] I think it looks pretty!

I'll take your word for it. [Since he still can't really tell beyond the fact that he's not getting that vague sense he was getting with some of the ones he was doing earlier that it's just wrong. In any case, he takes a couple more flowers from what's in Nanako's hand and starts to finish up that first ring.] Since you're the one who came to get it, if you like it that's what matters most anyway.

[ She giggles quietly. ]

They're pretty flowers that are a gift from you. I would like it anyway!

[There's a momentary hesitation at that, like Shun isn't quite sure what to think of it, but he keeps going as if the pause never happened.]

I don't really get what difference being a gift from me makes. [He doesn't sound like he has an actual problem with the remark, it just sounds very much like what he says - that he doesn't get it.]

Mmmmm. It's because you're my friend. That makes gifts from you special.

[ That totally helps, right? ]

[Not really, judging by the way Shun pauses again. He can kind of understand it, but at the same time, doesn't really.]

It was an open offer. I'm just trying to get rid of them. [His tone isn't aggressive, but there's definitely an air of him trying to establish that this isn't as nice a gesture as she seems to think it is. People getting the wrong idea about him being nice is always apt to bring out an answer like that.]

I know, but they're still from you. And you're making them all pretty in an arrangement, too!

[ It's a nice gesture, Shun. Deal with the gratitude. ]

[Dealing with gratitude is something Shun's not entirely sure he's ever going to get used to again. Though he continues arranging the flowers, he's quiet for a moment or two before offering only a somewhat cryptic answer.]

If that's how you want to look at it.

It is. [ She nods emphatically at that as she watches him. ] Thank you, Shun!

[Since Shun isn't much inclined to actively reject thanks from Nanako, he goes silent again after that, passing it off as focusing on the flowers as he starts to get to the smallest ones at the outside. He still doesn't think it's that big a deal, and having two people in one day offer him genuine thanks over arranging flowers for them is a bit much for him at this point.

As he finishes the arrangement, he reaches for the coil of string he's been using to tie most of the bunches, pauses for a moment, then passes over it in favour of a spool of gold ribbon that's sitting almost out of sight amongst the flowers on the table. He might have some difficulty cutting with one hand, but that's not the kind of thing that usually stops him, and after a moment of consideration, he just puts a finger on the ribbon and decays a hairline crack into it that serves to separate it as well as a pair of scissors would.]

If you have any use for ribbon, you can take the roll of it as well if you want. I only got it for this.

Really? [ She peers at it. ] Okay, I bet I can find something to use it for! If you're sure.

I'm sure. I don't use that sort of thing. [He'd offer her the black roll as well, except he figures Ren might want to use it when he gets the leftover flowers.

Picking up the bit of ribbon he cut off, he wraps it a few times around the arrangement before tying it up. He's done enough bows today that it looks at least relatively well-done.]

Here. [He offers her the arrangement.]

Ooooh. [ She reaches out to carefully accept it, looking them over before beaming at him. ] They're perfect! Thank you, Shun!

[Again, he's not quite sure how to respond to the thanks, and his gaze slips towards the window after a moment or two of somewhat awkward silence.] Make sure you get back to your brother's temple quickly. It's late.

[ She nods enthusiastically. And he's spared a hug this time because her arms are now full. ]

I will! I can poof there. Have a good night, Shun!

[ And with a wave of the flowers she holds, she steps back and teleports out of his temple. Probably much to his relief. ]

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

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