reason he’d have done it. They were probably really useful, too. Or
department issue.
He shook himself to stop avoiding the question, and
thought back again. “All of them, but the ones in the greenhouse were the
saddest, because they’d been drained and hurt where they thought they were
safe. The clover were sad because of the person, too, is that weird? But the
greenhouse plants didn’t know about that, I mean, as much as a plant knows
things.” Julian looked sheepish.
“You have a metal bird that picks
favourites,” said Lapointe dryly, “I think I can handle the idea of
plants knowing things.”
Julian giggled and sat forward to eat a bit more of
his roll. “Anyway, I’ve always gotten the impression plants don’t really
get upset when we pick them for things, not the way people think they do, so
there was something about this that upset the natural balance of things. They
were all really happy when Alex helped me save them, too. Surprised, I think,
they’d expected to be left to die.”
“How are they doing now?” asked Thomas.
“Mary Margaret says really well, and we’re
almost ready to re-open. She made me take vacation until everything’s put back
together. They had to dig up all the lucky clover and Sunday Alex and Father
Stephen are going over to do a magical blessing, and then next week we’ll
re-plant with seedlings from other nurseries. It’s too late in the year for
reseeding.” Julian relaxed a little, now that he could push away the
unpleasant memories and go back to more normal things. “Mary Margaret and
I are going to plant a luck-garden at the Temple in exchange.”
“What does Alex get out of it?” asked
Murielle. “Aside from your gratitude, of course.”
Julian giggled. “Mary Margaret lets him use my
employee discount, so he said it’s in exchange for her continued
goodwill.”
“Smart lad,” said Lapointe, amused.
“He’s generous, but he also knows how to make it work for him.”
“Yeah, but he’s getting better about kindness
for its own sake lately,” said Julian, staring fondly into his tea and
thinking of all the little things Alex did for him and their friends.
“He’s still a grumpy bastard when he wants to
be, though,” teased Murielle.
Julian gave her a dry, amused look. “Well,
yeah, my arse isn’t magic.”
Thomas snorted his coffee.
That necessitated a lot of napkins, apologies, and
laughter, and by the time they were all cleaned up, Murielle decided she had
enough for now and paid their tab on the grounds that asking him yet more
questions deserved free food. Julian promised to bring something special on
Saturday to make it up to Thomas, and they all went their separate ways, Julian
catching a cab home while the agents headed back to work.
Horace came and landed on his shoulder just as he
paid, giving the cabbie a start until he figured out that the little bird
wasn’t going to hurt him. Julian chattered at Horace as they headed inside,
feeling for the magic that Alex said would show his moods if Julian could find
it. He wasn’t sure he could sense anything but plants, though sometimes he did
feel like Horace was sending him affection or happiness or smug satisfaction at
doing his job well.
“Emmy sent us a back a letter,” said
Julian, coming into the flat.
Alex was sprawled moodily out on the couch.
“Good news?” he asked, peeking up over the back. “You look
handsome.” Alex was in his customary house-attire of pyjamas and dressing
gown, and looking like something had frustrated him while Julian was gone.
“Thank you, you look cranky,” teased
Julian, coming to claim a kiss once he’d exchanged shoes for slippers.
“Work not going well?”
Alex sighed. “They’re not telling me all the
things I need.”
“Well, I gave you a very good alibi,”
said Julian, coming around to straddle his hips and kiss him properly. “We
were up quite late that night, if you’ll remember,” he purred, nuzzling at
Alex’s
department issue.
He shook himself to stop avoiding the question, and
thought back again. “All of them, but the ones in the greenhouse were the
saddest, because they’d been drained and hurt where they thought they were
safe. The clover were sad because of the person, too, is that weird? But the
greenhouse plants didn’t know about that, I mean, as much as a plant knows
things.” Julian looked sheepish.
“You have a metal bird that picks
favourites,” said Lapointe dryly, “I think I can handle the idea of
plants knowing things.”
Julian giggled and sat forward to eat a bit more of
his roll. “Anyway, I’ve always gotten the impression plants don’t really
get upset when we pick them for things, not the way people think they do, so
there was something about this that upset the natural balance of things. They
were all really happy when Alex helped me save them, too. Surprised, I think,
they’d expected to be left to die.”
“How are they doing now?” asked Thomas.
“Mary Margaret says really well, and we’re
almost ready to re-open. She made me take vacation until everything’s put back
together. They had to dig up all the lucky clover and Sunday Alex and Father
Stephen are going over to do a magical blessing, and then next week we’ll
re-plant with seedlings from other nurseries. It’s too late in the year for
reseeding.” Julian relaxed a little, now that he could push away the
unpleasant memories and go back to more normal things. “Mary Margaret and
I are going to plant a luck-garden at the Temple in exchange.”
“What does Alex get out of it?” asked
Murielle. “Aside from your gratitude, of course.”
Julian giggled. “Mary Margaret lets him use my
employee discount, so he said it’s in exchange for her continued
goodwill.”
“Smart lad,” said Lapointe, amused.
“He’s generous, but he also knows how to make it work for him.”
“Yeah, but he’s getting better about kindness
for its own sake lately,” said Julian, staring fondly into his tea and
thinking of all the little things Alex did for him and their friends.
“He’s still a grumpy bastard when he wants to
be, though,” teased Murielle.
Julian gave her a dry, amused look. “Well,
yeah, my arse isn’t magic.”
Thomas snorted his coffee.
That necessitated a lot of napkins, apologies, and
laughter, and by the time they were all cleaned up, Murielle decided she had
enough for now and paid their tab on the grounds that asking him yet more
questions deserved free food. Julian promised to bring something special on
Saturday to make it up to Thomas, and they all went their separate ways, Julian
catching a cab home while the agents headed back to work.
Horace came and landed on his shoulder just as he
paid, giving the cabbie a start until he figured out that the little bird
wasn’t going to hurt him. Julian chattered at Horace as they headed inside,
feeling for the magic that Alex said would show his moods if Julian could find
it. He wasn’t sure he could sense anything but plants, though sometimes he did
feel like Horace was sending him affection or happiness or smug satisfaction at
doing his job well.
“Emmy sent us a back a letter,” said
Julian, coming into the flat.
Alex was sprawled moodily out on the couch.
“Good news?” he asked, peeking up over the back. “You look
handsome.” Alex was in his customary house-attire of pyjamas and dressing
gown, and looking like something had frustrated him while Julian was gone.
“Thank you, you look cranky,” teased
Julian, coming to claim a kiss once he’d exchanged shoes for slippers.
“Work not going well?”
Alex sighed. “They’re not telling me all the
things I need.”
“Well, I gave you a very good alibi,”
said Julian, coming around to straddle his hips and kiss him properly. “We
were up quite late that night, if you’ll remember,” he purred, nuzzling at
Alex’s
Similar Books
