With this last touch it would be finished. 

The trees in his little orchard varied in age from a few years, which were growing whippish and tall by now, to a few months which were little more than green shoots. They all had two thing in common however: first he had planted each and every one of them, and second, they were all Jacanda trees. Each was purple and beautiful and so Inarian you could almost taste it as well as smell it. Some facets of his home had changed beyond his recognition, but not this one. Come what may Jacanda trees still blossomed every spring; they had before him and they would after. It was a brief comforting thought among much darker ones that chased about his old soul. 

He hoped Kita would like it. He would take her there, try and show her. She would not understand... She would be frightened and confused, but he would tell her anyway, maybe, just maybe, she would have one of those rare moments where the fog cleared and it was truly her. 

Finally the little tree came free and he lifted it, carrying it as gingerly in his mouth as if it were a pup. It was a short walk to where he was going, to the edge of the forest where the trees thinned, giving way to grasses, gorse, sedge, sand and the glass bright ocean beyond. He paused to take it in, as much caught by the beauty of the scene as by his tiredness from his exertions. Old age had dimmed his eyes in one way and opened them in another - Had the world always been this beautiful? Or was it only now that he knew he would shortly be leaving it that he clung to every detail? 

He would not let them be parted. Not at the last. She was his Kita, he her Blaise. 

When he shuffled on again his steps did not take him quite so far as the water, instead they were directed to a grass bluff that was topped with a clearly unnatural hummock made of a mottled mixture of bare earth and patch worked slabs of turf. He scaled the feature, his old bones protesting at the incline, and deposited the tree into a prepared hole dug into the top. Carefully, he scraped the loose soil back into the hole with arthritic paws and pressed it around the roots, packing them firmly. "You grow up big and strong, you hear me?" He murmured, giving the earth one last firm press, as if imbuing it with what little strength he had to spare. "Soon it will be your turn to watch over me."

When death finally came their cairn would be ready, even if he was not.

"It will be one of the purples ones yes? Like the others? Have you planted all of these yourself? I've never met someone who keeps a garden like myself, other than doctors that is..."

"Hmmm, oh yes and yes? Yes to both." Blaise was suprised but not startled by the appearance of the stranger and her strange garb. He had seen enough in his long life that he was a little past being startled by anything. He tilted his head slightly as he looked at the petite creature before him and wondered how long she'd been watching him, not that he cared, if she thought he was a crazy old guy who talked to trees it didn't bother him - Though he would have prefered to be described as eccentric. "But I'm no kind of Doctor, an enthusiast I guess you'd call me? Been a little project of mine. Keeps me busy, keeps me sane. Don't think they have any medicinal properties, do they? Just very lovely to look at." There was a story behind each sapling, each was grown from the seeds of specifically chosen trees. This one was from his favourite border post, those two from the tree over his childhood den, another four from the trees in the glade he had married Kita in. It was soppy and sentimental and he kept that information to himself.

"OH! I'm sorry, I'm Iaera! One of the visitors from Gemini, I got so caught up looking at this grove I forget to introduce myself Mr....?"

"Blaise is me." He gave her a smile and a stiff wag of his tail that was more to do with arthritis than lack of warmth. Iaera sat and Blaise sat too, though he took a bit longer to fold his old bones than her. "Ah yes, Gemini and your famous 'party'." Blaise said with a small chuckle. "I've heard of little else since you all arrived. Felix -my son- wants to go and thinks the more times he asks the more likely I am to say yes." He gave her a lopsided smile and shook his head. "Must have been a full hour since he last pestered me to ask. He's slipping." He added dryly.

"You have a garden? In Gemini?" Blaise asked, genuinely interested in horticulture. It was a pleasent chat that distactred him from darker thoughts and he embraced it fully. "What sorts of things do you grow in yours?"

OOC: No worries! There is no rush on this thread ^^ Also this is my first attempt at code. If it hurts youre eyes or doesn't work right please let me know.

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"Unfortunately my healing knowledge is limited to basic wounds and relief for sleeping trouble. I've also never encountered trees like this, do they have a special name?"

“Still useful!” He commented on her skills. ”They do indeed – Jacanda trees. That which makes Inaria so famously purple." He followed her gaze up to the purple canopy. It was very lovely, even seeing it every day he never got bored of it.

"I see! I do recall Felix arriving when we did. We expect a lot of good fun, I'm excited, I've never been to a party!"

”Hope he behaved himself.” Blaise said earnestly, where Felix was concerned there was a 50/50 chance he was going to do something that would result in Blaise getting an angry visit from someone or other. ”He has a tendency to be a bit… Mouthy.” If that’s what telling an upstanding member of society they have a ‘stick up their arse’ could be described as. He was getting better though. Slowly . “Not sure it’s the best idea to let him go anywhere he could get into actual trouble.” The again it could be the making of the boy. Blaise knew his kids were growing up, they were nearly adults now, they could make their own bad choices soon. Besides, that and -as Felix had pointed out- he had been younger than Felix was now when he had been sent on his first mission, though during the war it had been more of a needs must situation. ”Does sound fun though!”

"Ah mostly aesthetic plants! I have a limited herbal knowledge, so most of my plants are flowers or grasses. I have the loveliest pink tall grass starting to come up. And lilies, they are my favorite. Ivys around my den, roses, hydrangea, daises. A little of everything, though I try to keep plants I know to be toxic nearer to the briers to discourage others from accidentally getting into them."

He nodded along with understanding, "I had some lillies but they died, don't think they like the soil just here, must be a bit too dry and sandy, they grow fine elsewhere." He was enjoying this horticultural chin wag. "Your garden sounds beautiful, and a bit of daring too with the plant choices, there's nothing toxic here…” He looked around realising he had never really considered if what he was planting was deadly or not, his only criteria had been pretty. ”…I hope.” He should probably check that.

”Tell you what - Would you like a Jacanda tree for your garden?" Blaise asked, the idea striking him as he had looked around at the many saplings, "I've got far too many and a small one should travel okay, they haven’t got a great deal of roots yet. A little bit of Inaria can grow in Gemini then. Could be a nice little reminder of your time here and ever-."

”Dad!”

"Hey Kiddo!" Blaise beamed at Mimsy’s arrival and wagged his tail in sync with hers. When she came over and nudged his cheek he responded by lifting his head to trap her head under his chin for a moment and giving it a firm squeeze with a small growl of affection. ”-Everyone you met.” Blaise finished over Mimsy’s head before releasing her.

”Heya! My name's Mimsy, pleased to meetcha!”
"Hallo Mimsy! It is a pleasure for me as well! I am Iaera, visiting from Gemini."

Mimsy was so polite, where had he gone wrong with Felix? He gave her a proud nudge with his nose. "We’re talking gardens and I’ve offered her a Jacanda tree for hers back in Gemini.” Blaise explained to Mimsy, quickly catching her up on the conversation so she could take part. ”And hey, if you ever come back this way,” He addressed Iaera again, ”maybe you could bring us something that only grows in Gemini?"

"Mim could plant it here and watch it grow." He realised at that moment he was talking about the future with the presumption he wasn’t in it, he knew he would not be in it for ever, or probably even long, but it was the certainty of how he spoke of that now surprised him. When he was young he had always imagined he would be frightened of death and fight it, but now he though it sounded very peaceful. He didn’t want Mimsy to know that though. Kita and he had their family late in life and their kids were growing up, but they were not so grown up they didn’t need him quite yet. ”Can’t get these delicate paws dirty grubbing about in the mud!” He excused his previous comment with a joke and showed off his grubby toes to Mimsy by wriggling them in her face.

"They can grow like our packs’ alliance!" He added with a raised eyebrow and slightly embarrassed drop of his head to let Iaera know he knew just how twee that sentence was. Though he was only half joking. While his friendliness, interest and offered gift to Iaera were genuine he also knew Inaria needed strong allies for its future security and he was just as invested as anyone else in making sure that happened. He looked at Mimsy fondly. His future was in Inaria after all. "You’d never guess I used to do this diplomacy thing for a living.”