Garden of Pretty Poison (open)

[Indigo]

Working within the sprays of flowers in Yarrow Gardens would be easier, Lilias was sure, once she grew. The scratching rake-like in the earth, the pulling weeds with her beak, would be rendered unnecessary and restore the semblance of beauty and dignity she liked to carry with her at all times. But in spite of her vanity, she liked the work she did for the greenhouse - she would even consider doing it for free, if money were not a necessity.

It was soothing in its way, and there was a small delight she felt in watching the stalks come up from the earth and the blooms slowly unfold. Yarrow Gardens flowers were deceptively beautiful, secretly hardy and dangerous. Much like women, she thought to herself. They carried hidden secrets, delightful beauties, potential poisons. There was a reason a woman was so often described as a flower. And that men are not.

The corvid watered another bloom, a soft pink thing with rounded petals, and set the can down to ruffle her feathers and set them to rights. It was nearly time for lunch, and Lilias felt that after a particularly warm morning she had earned the right to heading out a few minutes early. She clicked her beak in pleasant anticipation of the hour ahead.

[Kitty]

She loved flowers, she really did ... but when it came to growing them she had quite the opposite of a green thumb. Which of course was why she enjoyed her mothers' pottery business. A large portion of their customers used the pots to ship out flowers to other realms, and that meant occasional visits to the gardens themselves. Cheerfully she tiptoed through the flowers and made certain that not even her quills graced the delicate stems. She'd feel bad if even a petal were damaged from her presence ... but oh, they just smelt divine!

And that's about when she noticed that she wasn't alone. She perked up her head, little round ears swiveling forward, and then made her way toward the avian just as chipper as she had been moments ago with only the flowers. In her book you couldn't be anything short of fantastic if you helped raise such pretty things and, since she hadn't been proven wrong yet, she was quite happy to stick with that way of thinking.

Good afternoon!

[Indigo]

Lilias hadn't expected anyone to come while she was at work, and she turned to face the newcomer with a small avian tilt of her head. At the sight of the stranger, she felt her beak curve into a smile of pleasure - and a small measure of fascination. The porcupine was quite a shimmer of bright and lovely colors, a fine example of the Yarrow Gardens pigments, and she walked between the flowers with a kind of care and appreciation Lilias couldn't help but appreciate in turn.

"Good afternoon!" As the porcupine came closer, Lilias noted that suit and rank, not of the Court but still so high above her own. She bowed almost on instinct, neck dipping and wings spreading just a little, though not so much (she hoped) as to make the stranger self-conscious. "I hope the afternoon is finding you well. It's quite a lovely day."

[Kitty]

She dipped her head in return, enjoying the manners of the avian, and halted herself within an acceptable distance. This is when she got a good look at the corvid and was able to appreciate her colors as well .... they were soft and blended so well with one another, almost like a carnation really. That was pretty awesome really, working with flowers and looking like one at the same time. She certainly hoped she didn't look like pottery ... that was ... .not quite so pretty.

You're quite right there, it's a wonderful day to be in the garden!

She peered behind the other woman to glance back at what she'd been tending, maybe it was the flower that was hot this season .... it'd be nice to know what that was going to be this year .... she really hadn't understood the baby's breath fad a while back. Then again ... people liked what they liked ...

What's that you've been tending? I .... oops!

Her mothers would knock her silly if they heard her slip on her manners. It sucked being the daughter of business women sometimes.

My name is Priscilla, what's yours?

[Indigo]

The corvid smiled warmly at the Heart's enthusiasm and her eagerness to be polite. Lilias could be quite gentle when she had a mind to be, when things were going her way - and having a pretty, cheerful guest to the garden, someone who clearly appreciated her efforts and the beauty of the plants, was certainly making things go her way.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Priscilla. I'm Lilias." She inclined her head in a bow again, before indicating with a wing that the porcupine could come nearer and get a closer look. She stepped to one side so the porcupine could see what she had been working on.

"This is a camellia. They're less thorny than a lot of Yarrow plants, but very hardy, and useful because they can be used for tea and tea oil." She inclined her head towards the other Card to gauge Priscilla's interest, not wanting to bore her if she just enjoyed pretty blossoms, and not the science of it. "Do you like to garden as well?"

[Kitty]

She tiptoed a little closer and stretched a bit to properly see what the avian was so kind to show her. Not the prettiest of flowers but oh, did she ever love the tea from this specific plant.

The tea is tasty, I've never seen the plant it comes from. Well... aside from the little pictures on the tea boxes of course. The real thing is so much more interesting then a flat, lifeless drawing.

At the corvid's next question she almost laughed before shaking her head, an amused little grin resting on her muzzle.

Oh, nope .... I try and steer clear of it myself. I can't seem to grow even a weed. I'd rather look at other people's pretty gardens then kill my own.

She laughed a bit to herself, it was funny to her at least.

I'm good with pottery though, so I can ship flowers without killing them. I let our gardener have all the fun with our personal flowers though. Do you do any gardening in your spare time as well?

She tilted her head to the side ever so slightly. Did gardeners ever really get tired of .... well, gardening? She'd never thought to ask before now.

[Indigo]

Lilias laughed brightly, though not unkindly, as Priscilla described her complete lack of a green thumb. She knew that some Cards had that problem, but felt so at home in a garden herself that she could hardly imagine it.

"Oh, I'm sure you're just fine - gardening's a lot like a recipe, really, you just learn which plants need what measure of water, or sun... And then you give it a delicate touch." She smiled encouragingly. "Just by how you respect them, you should be good at that!"

She considered the next question, knowing that she one day wanted a greenhouse of her own - but she mainly wanted the freedom to experiment, to create hybrids and test the potency of Yarrow flowers'...particular qualities.

"I do a little planting here and there at home, but one day I'd like the space for my own garden. Here I am just chirping along about me, though! Pottery, you said? A flower's only as lovely as how it's displayed. Perhaps I've seen some of your work before."

[Kitty]

You're assuming that I can cook. I'm lucky to boil water correctly..

She laughed lightly and shook her head ever so slightly. Yes, there were a lot of things she should be able to do and just wasn't able ... but that made her appreciate those who could all the more. And in turn she believed it made her enjoy her life here even more ... she just never got tired of all the flowers no matter how many times she'd seen the same varieties.

A new greenhouse is always wonderful for a visit. The familiar ones are to but... new ones have that extra little ... spice to them.

Perhaps when the avian opened up her own, she'd be sent to go give it a look? Didn't sound like a bad afternoon to her ... something to look forward to really.

Oh yes, perhaps you have! We primarily work with the shipping of our exported flowers and herbs, but we do sell decorative pieces locally. I .... want to expand those sales to the capitol but my mothers aren't so keen on the matter. They're not quite as open minded about who can and cannot make purchases.

She rolled her eyes after the statement, her mothers were weird.