Active Magic (TatlTails and othyrworld)

Madi knew Flora couldn't be completely alright, not after such a huge draining of magic, but she also knew the emotional pros had to outweigh the physical and magical cons. So she did not try to argue with the fairy, especially because said fairy was clearly resting and taking care of herself to some degree. Instead, she just started backing up towards the house, and let the two relaxing girls know "I'll c-call you in wh-when lunch-ch is ready."

That should be enough time for Flora to rest and the two to have some time to relax. A couple hours at most, depending on when and what Luke felt like cooking. They'd be fine outside, in their own space with the person they trusted. It'd be good for them. Hopefully, if nothing went wrong. Which it wouldn't, so shut up intrusive thoughts.
 
"Thank you," Sequoia shouted, furiously waving goodbye. Flora chuckled at her enthusiasm but settled down soon after. She was nearly euphoric, but all she really wanted was some sleep. A good long nap would do her a world of good, especially because she didn't want to be useless for the rest of the day. "Want me to tell you a story?" Sequoia asked, like the little mind reader she was. Flora nodded, making herself comfortable as Sequoia began. It didn't really matter, though. Before Sequoia had even started, she was drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

Sequoia would've been offended if Flora hadn't been so obviously tired. She smiled, quietly braiding her friend's hair and watching the sky, waiting for lunch to begin.
 
The sun was high in the sky by the time anyone came out to check on the girls, no one willing to interrupt their moment until it was absolutely necessary. Jacqueline was the one to do the deed, since it was agreed that she'd had the best luck so far getting the two to open up. She almost wanted to back out when she saw how peaceful they both looked sitting under the new tree, but she also knew it would be rude and frankly ridiculous to keep them from eating lunch just because they seemed happy.

...Even though Flora was asleep, but it was worth telling at least Sequoia. She'd just tell her quietly.

In order to do so, Jacqueline walked into the garden, watching her step and making sure not to make too much noise. Once she was close enough to speak to Sequoia without raising her voice at all, she gave the girl a smile and told her "Lunch is ready, if you would like to come inside. If not, that's alright too, but I thought you'd like to know."
 
"Dude, I'm always ready." Sequoia swatted Flora on the head a couple times until the fairy woke up, looking confused and just the slightest bit terrified. At least until she realized where she was. She let out a yawn and stretched, wincing when her shoulder popped. She could feel the magic thrumming through her veins again, so she figured she must've been resting for a few hours at the very least. She could've slept for a few more.

"Is lunch ready?" She asked, adding "Oh yeah, do you have a favorite flower?" When she noticed Jaqueline was standing in front of her. She didn't really want to stand yet, but Sequoia yanked herself to her feet and pulled Flora up with her.

"What's for lunch?" Sequoia asked, brushing stray leaves out of her hair while Flora flattened out her skirt and worried over a few grass stains.
 
Jacqueline took a step back while Sequoia woke Flora up and pulled the both of them to their feet, not wanting to be in the way while Flora was still out of it. She blinked with surprise at the first question, and murmured "Oh! Well..." as she thought the question over.

"I guess I find roses quite lovely." She pondered, tilting her head thought her decision over. "I also have a soft spot for lotuses, but they only really grow well on water so I haven't seen many in a while. Both are beautiful, though. Why do you ask?"

But then as soon as that question was out of her mouth, she remembered Sequoia had asked a question as well, so she quickly made sure to address her and not be rude. "Oh! Sorry, uhm, I think Luke said he was making something called mushroom risotto. It smelled delicious, whatever it was."
 
Sequoia didn't know what mushroom risotto was either, but based on Luke's waffles it would probably be great. She said as much as she hurried into the kitchen, leaving Flora and Jaqueline in her dust. Flora laughed. She'd only been awake for three seconds and Sequoia was already running off ahead. It was her way. "Don't eat everything before we get there!" Flora yelled, smiling when Sequoia gave exaggerated thumbs up in response.

She answered Jaqueline's question after a few seconds. "I wanted to know what to grow. I have so much space now." She sounded much cheerier than normal and realized it was because she felt good for the first time ever. Well, the first time she could even remember. "I could grow you some lotus' if you want me to."
 
Jacqueline couldn't help a little giggle as Sequoia ran off into the house, but her focus moved right back to Flora as soon as she spoke up. And... she wanted to grow lotuses for Jacqueline's sake? That was so sweet of her!

"Oh, thank you," She replied to the fairy, blushing pink and trying not to get flustered. "But you really don't have to. This is your garden, you should grow your favorite flowers. Besides, you would need to have a pond around to grow lotuses properly and I wouldn't want you to go through the hassle of figuring out how or where to do it. Thank you so much though, it really is a kind offer."
 
"Oh no, it's no trouble," She replied. "I'm really just looking for things to grow. I have so much space now." She absentmindedly called a rose from the dirt, making sure it was a bright yellow color. She rolled it over in her fingers, careful not to prick herself on the thorns. Roses had always been easy for her to call, most flowers were, and she considered growing a few white and pink roses. She held the rose out to Jacqueline with a questioning look, quietly asking if she would like it.
 
Jacqueline couldn't help a little gasp when an adorable little yellow rose just... popped up out of the ground! A barely-audible coo followed the gasp, as Flora reached down to pick the flower she'd grown. And then Flora offered it to her! At least that's what it seemed like. Just in case it wasn't what it seemed, Jacqueline took her time accepting the flower, so if Flora wanted to, she could pull back or stop her from taking what wasn't hers.

If the flower was indeed being offered as a gift, then as soon as it was in her hand Jacqueline beamed and said "Thank you so much, it's adorable! If you like these, then please grow as many as you want."
 
Flora ducked her head, accidentally letting a wave of hair cover her blushing face. "Thanks," she said, pushing the hair out of her eyes and continuing onward. "If you want me to give you some, It's no trouble. I can grow these in a heartbeat." To illustrate her point, she grew a small patch of 15 or so roses in the yard, feeling slightly drained afterward. Perhaps she hadn't recovered as much magic as she thought. She hurried inside after that, hoping Jaqueline hadn't noticed. Questions thrummed through her head (Oh god, what if I'm loosing my magic, what if I'm stuck half human, what if, what if, what if), but she did her best to push them aside, bursting into the kitchen and grabbing Sequoia's hand.

"Hey, it's ok," Sequoia soothed, wrangling her into a chair and praying this wouldn't turn into an episode. It was too soon after freedom for them to be having issues.
 
Luke knew what to do when it came to food. At lunch time, even upset people would feel better after some food. Flora looked a little upset when she walked inside, so he made sure to give her and her friend some risotto as soon as they sat down.

"It's mushroom-flavor," He made sure to tell them while he set down the food. "'Cause I heard fairies like mushrooms an' Flora's a fairy so I make Flora some mushrooms. Madi likes mushrooms too, so I think S'oya likes mushrooms too. Hope ya do, sorry if ya don't. Hope it's yummy anyway."
 
Flora smiled weakly at Luke, soothed by his simple kindness. "Thanks, Luke. It smells wonderful." Her voice held a tinge of worry, but she pushed it down, taking a small spoonful. It was wonderful, just like breakfast had been. It was clear Luke was an A+ cook. She'd never heard about fairies loving mushrooms, but judging by this meal it was definitely true. Or Luke was just that good. She was pretty sure it was the second.

Sequoia had taken a large bite of risotto, moaning in pleasure when she registered the taste. "This is soooooo good! Luke, you're amazing." She began scarfing down the rest of the meal, leaving little room for further conversation.
 
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"Really?" Luke beamed, just as happy with the compliments as he'd been that morning. He didn't even move from his spot until Madi came into the room and nudged him out of his little happy place. But when she did that, he went back to the risotto and served up the rest of the servings. One for Madi, one for Dagger, (he hadn't come in yet but he would soon, he usually wasn't far away from Madi) and one for Jacqueline. She did come back in right away, with a pretty flower behind her ear, and thanked him when she took her bowl. Luke only took his own bowl when everyone else's food was taken care of. Dagger's bowl was left out on the counter, but everyone else and Luke got to sit at the table together. That was the best part of lunchtime, the sitting together.
 
Flora gave a polite yes, shooting a glare at Sequoia who had been about to speak with her mouth crammed full of food. Sequoia settled for nodding vigorously and she cleaned her plate, relieved that Dagger was nowhere to be seen. She didn't need another huge blowup today, especially after the weird half apology thingy she said right before she and Flora visited Jacqueline. Jaqueline who Flora appeared to have given a flower. Very cute. Sequoia wondered if she could still make flower crowns, and then how long fresh flowers would last.

Flora turned to Luke. "What's your favorite kind of flower?" She asked, hoping for a suggestion for her garden. It would still be quite empty, even when she grew roses. Perhaps she could try some hyacinths. Maybe narcissus flowers? She had time to choose, so she didn't stress too much.
 
"Uuhhhm..." Was Luke's first reply to the question, his head tilting to the side as he thought it over. Favorite flower... Oh! "I like squash blossoms. Always wanted'a try an' cook with 'em, but they real e'spensive so I haven' yet. Aaaan' I like lilies, remind me'a my mama. Why?"
 
"I need to figure out what to grow," She replied, taking another bite of risotto. Squash blossoms weren't her favorite flowers, but she was quite fond of lilies. They were beautiful and easy for her to grow and easy to hide under pillows when the ringmaster passed by. She idly wondered how many preserved lilies she'd left behind under her pillow.

Sequoia finished her food with a satisfied sigh. The plate was licked clean, barest smears of food left behind. "Can I have seconds? Or thirds?"
 
Luke's attention was pulled away from Flora when S'oya asked for seconds, and he hopped right out of his chair to get them. "Oh! Yeahyeahyeah!"

While he was filling her bowl back up with some extra risotto, Dagger walked in the room, in his not-all-cat shape (still wasn't sure how he stopped changing partway like that, Luke sure couldn't do that himself.) He knew which bowl was his though, Luke didn't even have to tell him. So Luke was okay leaving Dagger at the counter and giving S'oya her seconds.
 
"Thank you!" Sequoia cheered, gobbling down the second bowl as soon as it was handed to her. She didn't acknowledge Dagger at all. She just thought about the garden and the oak tree and how wonderful the last few hours had been as she fought not to make a rude comment at him. It was harder than she would've thought.

"It's nice to see you, Dagger," Flora said, nodding in his direction. If he were still extremely mad, he probably wouldn't have shown up. That was a good sign. She remembered to ask him about what she should plant. That should start some kind of small talk. "Do you have a favorite flower?" She wondered if he would want her to grow catnip. Would catnip even work on a neko? She didn't quite know, but it would definitely be rude to ask.
 
Dagger was frankly surprised that either of those girls had spoken to him, but he gave Flora a nod in response to her greeting. If she was going to be cordial, he'd return the favor. It was only people who screwed with him first that got him pissed off. Speaking of whom, he was actually glad that Sequoia was ignoring him.

When Flora asked him what his favorite flower was, however, he was glad he'd taken a bite of food beforehand, because it gave him an excuse as to why he was unable to reply immediately. An excuse other than the real one, which he really didn't feel like admitting. It would just make him sound petty and pathetic to say he was stunned speechless by the fact that the best friend of the girl who hated his guts was planning to do him a favor.

Luckily, that situation could easily be avoided with a moment of clearer thought. Once he'd had a reasonable timeframe to clear both his brain and his mouth, he replied to Flora's question with "This is about the garden you're growing, I assume? Then you don't have to worry, you've already grown my favorite flower."

He didn't even really care much about flowers, honestly. He didn't have much to choose from in regards to preferences, whether his statement to Flora was true or not. But, as stereotypical as it may seem if he ever admitted it out loud... cherry blossom trees reminded him of home. It had been... not unpleasant to catch a glimpse of the tree while on his way to the kitchen. He was not planning to voice any of that to anyone, but he really didn't need anything else from Flora at this point. Especially not any more flowers.
 
Flora hummed in response, turning back to her food. She didn't really want to push a conversation with Dagger, especially now that she knew everyone's preferences and had ideas of what to grow. She was already planning how she would plan things out. She could get Sequoia to raise tiers of earth for a flower spiral, maybe even create some cool flower boxes out of vines or small trees.

Sequoia wasn't content to let the conversation die. She turned to Madi. "You never said what your favorite flower was. Do you have one? I really like Sequoia trees because, hey, namesake, but my favorite flowers are probably those really bright hibiscus flowers. Especially the red ones!"
 
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