Motivation [Finished]

[Kari Muffin]

Emeraude never really cared about politics. She had just turned to the Courts because of the power they had. She never really thought that the Queen of Hearts would manage to catch her attention. Of course Xiven was special and the rest of the idiots in the palace were a waste of time. This gentlemen, as far as she was told, was not a Heart. He seemed rather interesting even if he was a bit stuffy.

It was a shame there weren't that many Midori's around the court of Hearts. Oh well. The woman continued to lean against the door frame as the man spoke.

Was he actually sorry? He didn't seem to be. "Her Majesty could handle the world coming to end with the grace like no other. Her current situation is just an annoying drop in the bucket. Her son had a little accident, but he should be fine." That poor pitiful little boy was such trouble. As far as Hearts were concerned he was rather sweet... still.

The woman turned on her heal when he had collected his cane. She took up a rather steady pace, probably a bit faster than what someone would normal take strolling down the marble hallway. "How did you manage to tame that nasty little Avington?"

[Lucca]

Graeme frowned slightly at the news...a 'little accident'? He got the odd feeling it wasn't -that- little...but since it was none of his business, and the oddly dressed woman was unlikely to speak any more about it, he smoothed his expression into pleasant neutrality and tried to resist counting the minutes until he could finally retire to his room or, better yet, go home.

"I see," he said, following her out the door...and quickening his pace to keep up. She was certainly walking faster than they were earlier, and the Duck counted his lucky stars that he was in such good shape. He examined her back for a moment, thinking about how this odd woman didn't seem like typical Court material. Than again, who was he to judge, considering he spent so much of his life attempting to pretend the Courts didn't really exist?

He raised an eyebrow at the question, expression inscrutable. "Tame her? I wasn't aware I'd done any such thing," he responded, cane barely touching the floor as he walked. "I just found a rather unusual little girl in the Capital and assisted her in finding what she needed." Hopefully, the woman wouldn't ask what that was, as Graeme was fairly sure that Nerissa wouldn't want that revealed to someone who could then tell her mother.

[Kari Muffin]

"That little terror doesn't like anyone or know the meaning of nice," Emeraude said with a wave of her hand. "She's bitten her siblings, tried to trip several staff members down the stairs, and the list goes on. I would consider the fact that you came to the palace complete unharmed while in her presence a miracle."

She was forgetting something. Had she actually introduced herself to the gentlemen? Maybe? "I don't think I gave you my name, but I'm Emeraude. I'm the Queen's assistant." Giving him the simple story seemed like the best idea. "I tend to get ahead of myself sometimes."

It didn't take them long to get the the largest rose garden in the palace. Several people were amongst the roses, tending to them. "Here we are," she said with a sweeping motion to multitude of flowers. "There's a lovely little bench where you can sit and enjoy the view if you like. There's quite a variety of roses."

[Lucca]

Graeme made a soft sound that could almost have been a snort, privately having his own ideas of why Nerissa might act up so much. No one treated her with the respect she thought she should get, she was surrounded by siblings who seemed far stupider than her (because she had the mind of an adult and they were, presumably, normally developing children), and her parents were probably busy all the time. The little Deer-cat wanted independence, and needed to get out of the Court to get it. So she was happier (marginally) when he met her in the city and treated her mostly as her mental faculties deserved. He wasn't sure how much of this he could get away with saying. So he stuck with the simplest.

"I'm sure she just feels a bit...caged. The average plight of a Courts child, but made a bit worse by her...uniqueness," Graeme said with a light chuckle.

He had actually been just about to politely ask for her name when the woman obliged him by remembering introductions. "Ah, well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Emeraude. I appreciate you showing me around."

Despite all his misgivings, Graeme didn't have to pretend to be impressed when they got to the rose garden...because it literally took his breath away. And that wasn't just the near-overpowering scent of roses, either. The Duck just stared for a moment, and then he slowly moved in, looking around in the sort of awe he usually reserved for finding stashed treasure piles of jewels and gold coins.

He approached one of the bushes and leaned down to inspect one of the large and healthy blooms, reverently reaching out a hand and almost, but not quite, cupping the soft petals.

After a long moment, Graeme turned back to the woman, whose bright colored clothing seemed almost dulled when compared to the vibrant living color all around him. "They're lovely," he managed, "Every bit as lovely as I was told, and far more."

[Kari Muffin]

Caged? That was a laughable notion for while Nerissa was always so foul tempered. She was born like that, and as far as the cyclone could tell there would be no change in that behavior. Nasty Hearts. If only Xiven could get rid of all the bad influences, her life would be so much easier.

Oh well.

Pleasantries aside, the cyclone turned woman watched the man's reaction closely. He actually seemed impressed by the roses. They were terribly pretty despite the whole place being handled by Hearts. They at least knew what they were doing when it came to flowers. Once he spoke she leaned over to gently pull one forward, taking a sniff.

"Lovely, yes. This is why people come from all around to see the gardens, and of course... not everyone has the chance to. The Court isn't always open to such things. You're a very lucky man."

[Lucca]

Graeme glanced over at the woman, a rather bright smile on his bill, though he was slightly amazed she'd be bold enough to actually lay finger to those roses. He'd heard stories...but of course that was long ago, when the last major Highlander dynasty ruled in Hearts. Queen Serafino being the last of those. And he had been -very- protective of the roses. But Xiven seemed a very different person than that...dare he refer to him as a tyrant, even now?...had been.

It may also be a perk of her living in the Palace and being an assistant to the Queen herself. He allowed himself a bow at the words. "I know I am. I never thought I'd actually be here, at the Court of Hearts." Of course, he'd never had the desire to, but that was another matter entirely, and he was sure that Em didn't need to hear his life story.

It was then that he caught sight of something he'd somehow missed before, and froze. Were those...golden roses? Oh, oh they were lovely! He did so love gold...both the color and the currency. Before Graeme knew it, his webbed feet had carried him over to the bush on which the golden roses bloomed, their petals almost seeming to shimmer in the sunlight. "Oh, I'd pay a pretty penny for a cutting of these," he breathed, forgetting that he wasn't alone at the moment. And for him, who only spent where utterly necessary (or deemed so by himself), that was really saying something.

[Kari Muffin]

Modesty. It was such an interesting thing. That's why Cards were so terribly fascinating. She continued to watch the man as he was suddenly distracted. An eyebrow sailed upwards in curiosity.

His words were enough to make her snort. A pretty penny for the roses of the Court of Hearts? That was almost laughable. Xiven may not have been particularly violent over the concept of the roses, but she did take it seriously. After all she didn't even let her special Yarrow lover take a sample. Why a Yarrow?

"I'm sure the gardener would pop you one," she said as she crouched besides the bush. They were rather pretty, though she honestly preferred the red and whites. They were so pretty together despite the simplicity and traditional nature of the arrangement. "The Queen might not chop off your head over it, but considering she didn't let one of the people who had her children take a sample..."

She shrugged.

[Lucca]

Graeme stiffened at the voice beside him, and actually had the decency to blush slightly. It wasn't often he was caught off his guard like that, but then, on his various trips he was usually either alone or with those he could trust to not care so much if he stood on ceremony. His tail wiggled and he hastily backed away from the bush, turning to look nervously at Emeraude.

"Ah, well, I wasn't seriously suggesting...that is, I was only being facetious. I would never presume to actually request such a thing!" the Duck sputtered a bit, clearly nervous. "Merely admiring the lovely varieties of roses in the garden, in my own way." And here he thought he was making a decent impression! Obviously he'd need to guard his tongue a bit more carefully.

The casual way in which the woman mentioned his head being parted from his shoulders was also unsettling, and was quite a bit more like what Graeme had initially expected the titled Court members to speak to him like. His fingers ran over the crook of his cane, orange eyes still uneasy as he waited to make sure he hadn't offended the strange woman.

[Kari Muffin]

Oh how entertaining! She honestly hadn't expected him to react in such a manner. So he wasn't just a stiff old man with no reactions. A wide grin spread across her face. "One joke deserves another, eh? You didn't actually think I was serious, did you?"

She had been, to a point, and she was sure that he had been as well. It was hard not to miss the way he was looking at the golden colored roses. Greed from the looks of it. Joking so lightly over beheading... well she didn't see anything wrong with that. Xiven wouldn't actually take his head for such a trivial matter.

The woman leaned forward to sniff one of the golden roses. Her nose wrinkled in response. They weren't the best smelling things in the garden, but they were pretty in appearance. To each their own, she supposed. "Do yo know anything else about the Court's gardens? Or have you only heard about the famous roses?"

[Lucca]

The grin both relieved the Duck and unnerved him more. Relieved him because it meant that he hadn't done any real social damage with the unguarded comment, and unnerved him because it reminded him of the look he'd once seen on the face of a Bandersnatch. A wild one. Right before it pounced on an unsuspecting mouse.

He laughed, and the sound was high pitched and nervous despite his best efforts. "Ah, heh, no, how silly of me! I'm merely not used to such...witty company." His fingers ran even faster over the cane, nearly a blur. He tried to keep from even looking at the bush again, but as the woman stooped to sniff, his eyes were drawn to the pretty golden roses again; he simply couldn't help it. Two of those bushes in his front yard, by the door...oh, or even better, a row of them all down the path to his front door! All gleaming and golden in the sun and...NO. No no he must not even think it! He liked his head very much where it was and, joking or not, he would not bring it up again.

"Not much else, I'm afraid," Graeme admitted, secretly glad of the distraction from his incriminating thoughts. "The roses are, of course, the most famous of the plants here, and I think everyone in the Highlands has heard of them. But I would like to see what else generations of Heart nobles have cultivated, if you wish to show me." He turned away from the golden roses, feeling the nervous clenching of his muscles calm.