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Post by Bee on Mar 8, 2008 14:50:40 GMT -5
 The process of moving things to her new garden had been quite an involved one. In the beginning she had sent people to fetch things, but she was extremely unhappy with how they handled her delicate cargo, and eventually she just insisted on doing everything herself. She had never quite comprehended just how expansive her collection was until she had to move it, and she was unwilling to throw anything out. She suspected the plants would be happier here: the garden was enormous, with plenty of room to spread, and the plants that liked the indoors had more than enough space to grow into. They were no longer locked in a shambling apartment with inadequate light and grubby little monsters constantly knocking them over. She could almost hear their murmur of appreciation as they were set on clean window perches and study shelves. She had a few spares that she needed to find places for, though. So she surreptitiously dropped harmless flowers at odd parts of the palace. At present she clutched Eulalie--one of her prettier flowers, named after an old pseudonym that she had almost gone to death with--under one arm, and made her way for the first time to the third floor. There was a small entry way at the top of the stairs, which faded quickly into a library, the largest one Mnem had ever seen. It appeared that the walls of many rooms had been knocked out so the space could be as wide as possible. Shelves dominated. High up, there were windows, but by the time light filtered down it had dimmed. The room was a little on the cool side. She wandered in, looking for a good home for Eulalie. |
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Post by Kasatsu on Mar 8, 2008 15:30:37 GMT -5
The soft tinkling of the bell alerted the mouse to the arrival of a new patron. Scrambling out from under the pile of books she had been busy sorting through she made her way to the entrance, dusting herself off as she went. She had been working on the third floor for quite a while, long enough to have The Queen title change hands and thus long enough to become completely settled in her domain. It had taken quite a while to sort through, wean out the books that were no longer reliable – to be put in storage of course – as well as to rearrange and order new books. Seeing the female at the door she gave the appropriate bow. “Good evening your highness.” she was assuming this was the new King, having heard the whispers of the patrons and servants about the Lady with the Plants. “How can I be of service?” |
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Post by Bee on Mar 8, 2008 15:50:52 GMT -5
Mnem had never seen an Esterberry resident before, but rumors of their intelligence were wide-spread. Appropriate, then, to find one in a royal library. She smiled crookedly.
"Oh, you don't need to do anything for me but accept this gift." She held out Eulalie as though presenting a chest full of gold. "Isn't she lovely? She needs a good home." She glanced around the library. So much space. So many opportunities for flowers. With luck she could sneak quite a few of her little plant orphans up here. The room could use with some brightening up anyway, she rationalized. Some delicate, subtle aroma to compliment the comforting smell of old books.
"I'm afraid I just can't give her the love and attention she needs. I'd stop by and check in on her occasionally, of course, but she really needs constant attention by someone such as yourself."
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Post by Kasatsu on Mar 8, 2008 16:27:58 GMT -5
The mouse found herself taking the plant from the human female with few confused blinks. She did not have any reason as to not grant the request of her better, especially when it was such a simple request . . . and the female would not give her something that was bad right? She sure hoped so.
Recovering from her confusion she offered a smile. “That you very much for the plant. It has been looking a little dull around here, so this should be a good step to cheering this place up, and I am honored that you would give me such a gift. I will be sure to take good care of it. Is there any specific needs it has that I need to know about?” After all it simply would not do to have the plant die because she gave it too much or too little water.
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Post by Bee on Mar 8, 2008 16:51:35 GMT -5
She glanced around the library, and then back at the mouse. "Moderate light," she said, thoughtfully. "Maybe on a higher shelf or something like. Or if you can find a consistent sunbeam, that would do nicely. Plenty of water. Eulalie is a very thirsty little girl. She also likes to be sang to when being trimmed and watered." But then, so did most of her plants, in her head. They were essentially the only things she sang to at all, unless she wanted to calm or utterly depress someone.
She looked at the mouse's desk. Maybe she could bring a few of her more resilient plants in. Her brain was already creating a garden layout. Library garden.
She smiled at the mouse. "Thank you very kindly for taking her in. She'll adore you, I'm sure." She paused. "Ah! How terribly rude of me not to ask. What is your name?"
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Post by Kasatsu on Mar 8, 2008 17:17:27 GMT -5
She nodded her head at the directions she was given in order to take proper care of the plant. She was more than sure that she could find a lovely and appropriate home for the plant.
“I will be sure to find it a good home, Your Highness.” She had turned around to place the plant on her desk when the king asked for her name. Turning back around she gave a bow before replying, “My name is Idril, your Highness”
~~
It had been about a week from the first day Her Highness Mnem had dropped by the library, the mouse stood at her desk surveying the change the new arrangement of plants had caused. Many of her patrons had given a compliment or had murmured, pleased about the small changes. The assortment of plants that Her Highness Mnem had brought to the library really seemed to have helped to cause it to be more relaxing and welcoming then she would have first thought.
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Post by Bee on Mar 8, 2008 17:47:45 GMT -5
She was more than pleased to see how well the library plants were doing. All of them were flourishing, in fact--her garden and indoor plants were happy as well, thriving on fresh air and open space. Other than the odd decorative piece, she was mostly able to keep them into their designated areas and prevent turning every available corridor into a jungle. This wasn't the apartment, after all, where every tiny room could be turned into a deathtrap of flora. A large portion of the palace population would probably not appreciate being attacked by plants, nor would she want to deal with consequences of such a thing.
In addition to checking up on the plants, she was also returning a book--a fun, diversionary little adventure tale that she could hardly remember twenty minutes after finishing. She handed the book to Idril.
"Nice read," she said. Curiously, she added, "Do you happen to have recipes?"
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Post by Kasatsu on Mar 8, 2008 18:21:08 GMT -5
Taking the book she gave a smile, “I am glad to hear that. Recipes, huh? I am sure we are bound to have some lying around in this grand place.” She took a moment to check the general log to help locate where the books they were seeking would be. It only took a moment to find what she was searching for. Turning her attention back to Mnem she replied, “Ah yes, please Your Highness, if you would follow me this way.”
She gave a wave to show in which direction she would be heading so, that the King could follow her, before she led the way to where the books Mnem wanted were located. The mouse had soon discovered after the first day of Her Highness coming to visit that she immensely enjoyed her company and often looked forward to their next meeting.
Arriving at the shelving section she gave a nod towards it, “Here you are”
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Post by Bee on Mar 16, 2008 23:29:15 GMT -5
"Ah, thank you." A cookbook would be useful. She was planning on returning to the City in a little while to see if Minh and the brat were still alive, and Minh tended to get all shirty about abandoment and being left to fend for herself, but Minh was easily distracted by food (as was her spawn), and the easiest way to ensure a pleasant enough visit was to bring home something delicious. Hopefully Elyse was tending to them enough to keep them from starving to death.
She flipped through the book. Pastries. Bread. Excellent. Minh and Thalia loved bread. Thank the gods the brat wasn't allergic to wheat. She looked up at Idril. It really was nice to have an intelligent woman to talk to.
"As I spend so much time in your place, perhaps you'd care to come to mine? We can have a bit of tea in the garden."
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Post by Kasatsu on Mar 24, 2008 16:56:20 GMT -5
“You are more then welcome.” she replied easily, happy that she could have been of service. Leaving Mnem to look at the books, she glanced around to see if there was anything in the area that she needed to take care of.
When Mnem turned her attention back on the small mouse she gave a blink. “Did you find the book you were searching for?” she asked noticing the female’s expression.
At the Kings offer she tilted her head to the side in confusion and ponderment. Well that had been a little unexpected. Sure over the last few weeks they had seen a lot of each other and had talked about various things . . . but she did not expect it to go outside of the work site.
“Well, your Highness,” she started hesitantly before finishing with more confidence, “if it was please you then I would be more then honored.
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