004

[wavesofjade]

There Has Been An Alarming Rise In The Number Of Patients I Am Seeing Who Have Gained Injuries Thanks To Venturing Too Close To The Forest.
May I Please Remind You, My Dears, That It Is Given The Title Of 'Forbidden' For A Reason.
I Would Hate To See Anyone Severely Hurt.

With That Said I Would Like To Ask A Favour Of Any Herbology Students Willing To Give Me A Little Of Their Spare Time.
I Am In The Process Of Cultivating Several Cuttings From A Flitterbloom And Would Appreciate Any Assistance As It Is Not Something That I Have Attempted Before.
Any Professors Are Also Very Welcome But I Think That You All Have Quite Enough Work!

As Ever The Hospital Wing Is Open To All Of You.
You Do Not Need To Be On Deaths Door In Order To Come And Speak With Me.

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[plushaeusrumpified]

[He goes to write, but there really isn't much more to be said. He sighs, closing the journal.

It's not long after that there's a knock on her door, calling out one simple statement.]

Yo, gardener's here.

[wavesofjade]

[It's a few moments before the door opens and when it does, Dolores smiles warmly and beckons him inside. There's a small white bat clinging to her shoulder, which chitters curiously at the man when he walks in.]

Hello, dear. Can I get you something to drink?

[plushaeusrumpified]

[The sight of the bat on her shoulder gives him pause, and his eyebrows shoot up, though mostly out of curiosity more than anything. He hadn't realized she had bats before.]

Uh, sure, that'd be great. What've you got?

[wavesofjade]

[She shuts the door behind him, looks him up and down a moment, then smiles again.]

Coffee, tea, apple juice or water.

[plushaeusrumpified]

Well if those are the options, AJ wins hands down.

[Where do you think Dave gets his borderline AJ fetish from? That's right. This guy.]

So... I'm gonna stop ignoring the big pink elephant in the room and point out the fact you've got a bat on your shoulder. Just so we're clear, you know that, right?

[wavesofjade]

[Dolores laughs softly, and moves to fetch him some. She might not drink it herself, that often, but the students seemed to like it. And apparently some of the staff, too.]

Mm? Of course.

[A few moments later, she's offering him a glass of juice.]

His name is Zephyr.

[plushaeusrumpified]

[He takes it when she offers.]

Alright, just makin' sure. You mind if I ask why you a bat, of all things? I dunno, you seemed kinda more like a miniature owl type of person or something.

[He takes a sip of his juice, swishing it around in his mouth before swallowing and letting out a content hum.]

[wavesofjade]

I have three.

[She makes a small gesture to a large cage in one corner of the room. The door is open, but there are two bats inside - one a small thing that could easily fit in a child's palm, and the other quite large with long ears.]

I've always kept bats. My parents would have liked me to have an owl, I think, but I never wanted one.

[plushaeusrumpified]

[He casts a glance to the cage she pointed to, before walking over to it to look at them a little more closely. He's never really seen bats up close, so it's pretty interesting, to be honest.]

Huh. Can they deliver mail, or d'you have to use the school owls for that kinda thing?

[wavesofjade]

Zephyr and Scirocco can take lightweight items, but Shade is far too little.

[Moving up beside him, she leans down to look into the cage. The bats ruffle their wings and peer out at them both.

While she's not paying attention, Zephyr creeps over onto Bro's shirt.]

I tend to use the school owls, but most of the people I would be sending mail to are already here.

[plushaeusrumpified]

Oh, okay. Yeah, I didn't figure they w-

[He cuts off as he feels the bat crawling onto him, quirking his head to look over it it, eyes widening slightly.]

...-ould be...able to...

Hi.

[And he's talking to a bat.]

[wavesofjade]

[He is talking to a bat. Zephyr squeaks at him, and Dolores covers her smile with one hand.]

I think he likes you.

[plushaeusrumpified]

You can tell all that by one little squeak?

[He still hasn't moved from his position, afraid it might... do...something, if he moves too much.]

He's not gonna like, poop on me or something, is he?

[wavesofjade]

I can tell because he decided to initiate contact with you, Strider. They're good judges of character.

[The other two bats are squeaking at each other.. and Zephyr makes an attempt to crawl down the back of Bro's collar before giving up and going for his hat instead.]

I don't think so. He's quite well behaved over things like that.

[plushaeusrumpified]

Oh. Well I guess I can't argue with that. I mean, I am pretty damn likeable.

[It's definitely a relief when she tells him it won't poop on him. If there's one thing Bro can't handle, it's bodily waste. That's just a recipe for disaster right there.]

Good, because I'd hate to h- whoa, whoa, whoa, what's it doing?

[No, of course he doesn't sound slightly panicked.]

[wavesofjade]

[She watches him carefully, an amused expression on her face.]

I believe he's climbing onto your hat. Try not to move.

[Of course, she'll remove him if he gets too freaked out.]

[plushaeusrumpified]

But why my hat? [He's not super freaked out right now, just. very, very cautious. He does have the potential to freak out though.] It ain't like I got treats up there! It's not gonna eat my hair, is it? 'Cuz I've heard that some bats eat hair and if he does, then...

[VAGUE AND EMPTY THREAT.]

[wavesofjade]

If he does then I will gently remove him, I will fix your hair, and you will do nothing.

[Her voice is soft, but stern - she won't tolerate anyone inflicting harm on her pets, even theoretically. The little thing doesn't eat his hair, though, but creeps up onto his hat and seems quite content to just.. sit on top of his head, the tiny claws on his wings hooked against the fabric.]

... I can, of course, get him down if you would prefer it. I wouldn't like you to be uncomfortable.

[plushaeusrumpified]

...Right.

[As if he would ever have it in him to hurt one of her pets anyway, even if it gave him a bald spot or something hideous like that. He just waits for it to do... whatever it is it's doing, and then when it gets on top of his hat and doesn't move, he relaxes sort of.

When Dolores speaks, he just shrugs a little hesitantly.]

Uh, no. I mean... if he isn't doing anything up there, I guess he can chillax for a while? Unless he's eating it. If he's eating it, then get him off. But otherwise no, he's fine, I guess.

[Rambling. Rambliiiing. Because having such a delicate creature on him is a little nerve wracking.]

[wavesofjade]

He isn't eating it.

[She smiles and touches his shoulder, oh so gently steering him to sit down. She's not worried about the bat - they can fly if they fall - but more thinking of him. And they do have the plant to deal with.

It's sitting on the coffee table near the sofa, not a very large thing but certainly big enough to be good for pruning, and the tentacle-like plant is swaying slightly. When approached, it has the (perhaps disturbing) tendency to lean towards the person coming near it.]

Are you still willing to help me with this, master gardener?

[plushaeusrumpified]

[It takes a fair bit of control not to breath a sigh of relief at that. Honestly, he's being ridiculous. It's just a little bat. It's not like it's going to hurt him, right? Right. Though honestly the woman seems like such a mama bear sometimes that he wouldn't put it past her to train it into some sort of attack bat. So what if he accidentally does something to set it off?

He lets her guide him over to the table and he sits down, eying the plant as he does so.]

'course I am. I'll whip this thing into shape. Or, y'know. Prune it, I guess.

[There's a pause, as he decides to voice his earlier concern.]

Uh. If he sees me with something even vaguely resembling a weapon, he isn't gonna go into attack mode or something, is he?

[wavesofjade]

[She can't quite help but laugh at that, one hand covering her mouth as she looks between his face and the small mammal on his cap.]

Strider, my dear boy, he's a bat, not a police dog.

[plushaeusrumpified]

Yeah, well... good.

[He isn't sure what more to say on that. He feels relieved, but also embarrassed because he realizes he's being a bit silly. And she laughed.]

You keep talkin' like you're older than me, y'know. You're what, 29? No need to make yourself so old. Give yourself a little credit, you're still young!

[He's coping by swaying the conversation to her.]

[wavesofjade]

[Dolores just smiles, picking a pair of secateurs up from the coffee table. She leans forwards to the flitterbloom and chuckles softly when it shies away from the tool.

When she speaks, it's soft, and she's trusting him with this not because she has wanted eventually tell all of the professors, but because she cares about him and he deserves to know the truth now.]

.. I'm fifty-six.

[plushaeusrumpified]

[When Dolores speaks, Bro honestly can't help but let out a snort that's probably loud enough to startle the bat on his shoulder. Honestly, the thought is ridiculous and he doesn't believe it for a second. At all.]

I've heard about shaving off a few years to try and make yourself sound young, I ain't ever heard adding them. Let alone... what, 20? 25? There's no way. Nope. You're being silly, but I gotta admit it's kinda hilarious.