The rain will make the flowers grow (RusAme)

[Alfred F. Jones]

Alfred wandered through the hallways of the manor, looking around in awe at his surroundings. Having grown up in a simple working class house, he wasn't used to such grandeur. It took his breath away at times how much all of this must have cost. Paintings on the wall, dark wood panelling, velvet curtains, the works. The library was stocked to its eyeballs with books of all shapes and sizes on any subject imaginable that must have taken several lifetimes to amass, and the conservatory was well stcked with flowers, herbs, and all sorts of other plants bother pretty and useful.

That's where he was now, the indoor conservatory. The fading light of the afternoon filtered through the glass ceiling and bounced off of his golden hair, eyes shining with wonder as he took in the sight of all these plants in one place. Sure, he'd seen plenty of plants, but the only ther place you could see them in such a quantity in doors was the flowershop where that cute Russian guy worked. He so did not just think of him as cute again! But that was no matter, what was important now was the large stock of sunflowers that seemed to be growing in a corner of the greenhouse.

Alfred liked sunflowers. They weren't his favorite (that spot was reserved for daffodils) but they were bright and pretty and the seeds made awesome ammunition after you were done eating the middle part and had to spit out the shell somewhere and there just happened to be an innocent bystander passing by. Maybe that was a little mean, but he always apologised after!

He was so caught up in observing the flowers and herbs and other plants that looked pretty, smelled pretty, or both that he didn't notice that someone else was in the room with him. He wasn't the most observant at the mest of times, but when he was wrapped up in something well...could you really blame him?

[Ivan Braginski]

As soon as he had arrived in the manor, Ivan had resumed his regular habit of avoiding people. This meant making a mental list of places where people usually were. Places like the kitchen, which he didn't feel like going to anyway, or the main hall were crossed off. The library being one of theses places, although Ivan was itching to find out if that huge room full of shelves he was able to see from the windows outside was the library, was avoided as well. He sighed deeply in bliss, knowing that come night he'd creep up there and spend his nights reading.

For now he was somewhere where most people didn't go; a conservatory. The day was a splendid one, and Ivan could feel the suns beams shine through the ceiling, warming his skin. He didn't know why people usually avoided greenhouses, but it was quiet and peaceful, and reminded him deeply of his job. That was good, as his job was relaxing and helped him. Ivan would be probably spending his time here. The air was moist here, good for growing, and he could smell the light sweet scent of flowers.

Standing near his second favorite flowers, the chamomiles, Ivan observed their growth. They were growing nicely, perhaps if he asked nicely he could use some for tea making? Chamomile was very good stomachaches after all. He took a small clipper and began trimming another plant nearby, not noticing the other occuppant of the conservatory until he turned around to grab a smaller set of shears.

Stunned by the other presence standing near the sunflowers, Ivan lightly coughed into his gloves. "Oh..umm..excuse..me" He managed to get out.

[Alfred F. Jones]

Alfred whirled around to the source of the voice, eyes going wide as it registered that he was no longer alone in the room. He stood stock still, caught in the headlights of his embarassment. And it just got worse as he realised it was the Russian guy from the flower shop in town that he'd been stalking. Well...nto stalking exactly. He would come in every once in awhile and buy flowers for his mom or grandma as an excuse to see him and talk to him. That was kind of really stalker-y and creeperish, wasn't it? But give him a break! The guy was totally cute and it wasn't like he'd ever had a crush on anyone before!

He stammered a bit, blushing heavily. "Oh! H-hey, I'm sorry. Didn't see you there." He said, laughing nervously. Shit, he was acting like the girls who came into the garage to talk to him. This wasn't going well at all and they guy probably thought he was stupid and totally obvious. This wasn't going well at all! Goddammit, hwo to break the ice? "So...ah...you...you work at the flower shop, right? Sorry, can't remember your name." That was a lie, his name was Ivan, he'd memorized it, even looked up how to say it correctly online. He was so pathetic. "I'm Alfred, you can call me Al if you want...or not, I guess I don't mind." He did mind, he would probably die of happiness if the guy called him Al. What was he, a 15 year old girl? God.