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sweetpinkpixie · 10-05-2022, 12:47 AM

Visiting Florean Fortescue's for a tasty treat? In the shop just to meet and greet with friends? Either way, you'll probably be looking for a place to sit down. If the weather's warm enough, or you're just looking for some fresh air, you'll love to sit at one of the many outdoor patio tables the parlour has to offer. Each table is circular in shape, with a number of comfortable wooden seats surrounding it. Depending on the time of year, you just might find a bouquet of fresh flowers sitting in the middle of the table you're seated at.

If the sun is too bright, you'll want to open the umbrella-style top mounted on your table. Otherwise, leave the umbrella closed and pushed down to enjoy the sunny day. At each table, you'll find a menu showcasing all the tasty flavours available at Florean Fortescue's. A napkin dispenser can also be found at every table, just in case you have to clean up any ice cream accidents that do tend to happen.

WhittyBitty · 04-13-2026, 04:53 AM

It was a beautiful day, so Aurora was making sure to enjoy that by sitting outside in the sunshine and having some ice cream.

She had gotten some of her school shopping done, though she still needed to get new books and a few other things. She also wanted to get Oreo some treats, and maybe a toy as well.

But for now she wanted to enjoy herself, and hopefully she would see some of her friends. But if not that was alright. There would be plenty of time for her to see them before term started.

And she was more than happy to eat her ice cream and look at one of her herbology books. Right now she was reading xeranthemum facts. Even though she already knew all this, she still loved to read all about plants. Besides, it was good for her to keep on top of all this with NEWTs coming up at the end of next term.

sweetpinkpixie · 04-13-2026, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhittyBitty

It was a beautiful day, so Aurora was making sure to enjoy that by sitting outside in the sunshine and having some ice cream.

She had gotten some of her school shopping done, though she still needed to get new books and a few other things. She also wanted to get Oreo some treats, and maybe a toy as well.

But for now she wanted to enjoy herself, and hopefully she would see some of her friends. But if not that was alright. There would be plenty of time for her to see them before term started.

And she was more than happy to eat her ice cream and look at one of her herbology books. Right now she was reading xeranthemum facts. Even though she already knew all this, she still loved to read all about plants. Besides, it was good for her to keep on top of all this with NEWTs coming up at the end of next term.

The sun found him long before he found her.

It clung to his shoulders, warmed the back of his neck, caught in his hair in a way that should have felt comforting and familiar, but instead it only made him more aware of the strange, hollow restlessness sitting beneath his ribs.

Diagon Alley bustled around him in that easy summer way, full of movement and laughter and the quiet excitement of a new term on the horizon. Normally, he would have drifted through it with purpose... picking up supplies, getting distracted by shop windows, perhaps even pocketing something small and botanical along the way.

Today, he wandered. Not aimlessly, exactly.... just… without direction that meant anything.

His OWL results sat somewhere in the back of his mind like a bruise he kept pressing just to make sure it still hurt. Mum and dad had done what they could to assure him that they were not catastrophic, that he had shown great growth... but he knew the truth of what lay beneath all that. The results were just… not enough. Not for the version of himself he had built so carefully over the years, the one who knew where he was going, who had roots sunk deep into a future that felt certain.

Now... well, now it felt like he’d misjudged the soil entirely.

Like something that had been meant to grow straight and steady had instead stalled, caught in a kind of inbetween. Not quite broken, not quite thriving. Just… suspended. A chrysalis, he thought, though without the comfort that word was supposed to carry. Transformation implied direction. Purpose. The quiet promise of something better waiting on the other side.

This just felt like being stuck.

He exhaled slowly, dragging a hand through his hair as his gaze drifted not really looking for anything in particular until—

She sat a little ways off, sunlight gathered around her like it had chosen her specifically, ice cream in hand, a book open in her lap. Something in his chest eased, just a fraction, before seizing up again ― speaking of suspended growth.

He hesitated for half a second, maybe more. That same instinct to turn away, to give her space, to not bring whatever this quiet, tangled thing inside him was into something so… bright. But then again, if there was anywhere a chrysalis might survive long enough to become something else, it was probably somewhere near sunlight.

And she had always been that, hadn’t she?

He shifted his weight, then finally let his feet carry him closer, the movement a little tentative at first before settling into something masquerading for casual.

"Xeranthemum?" he ventured softly as he came within earshot. A small smile followed, one with his usual gentleness but a little crooked at the edges. "I should've guessed."

Why, of all topics, should he have guessed xeranthemum? Couldn't tell you. He was just desperately trying to make conversation.

WhittyBitty · 04-15-2026, 09:02 PM

Hearing his voice, Aurora was suddenly happy in the way she only was when he was around; her day had just gotten so much better. "Nyle! Sit with me?" He didn't have anywhere else that he needed to go, did he? She really hoped he didn't, but she would understand if he had other things to do. Maybe they could make plans for later then?

Glancing towards him, she couldn't help noticing that he looked really cute - something that she had noticed more and more - and instantly felt her face heating up. Aurora quickly glanced back at her book and hoped that it wasn't obvious that she was feeling flustered.

Xeranthemum... yes. Of course.

"I already know so much about them, but I do love reading all about plants. Even if I could rattle off facts about them all day." Aurora smiled, though she was still feeling off balance.

She hoped it was okay to start talking about plants again. Even if just a little. Upsetting Nyle was the last thing that she wanted to do. And if he didn't want to talk about plants, she would be more than happy to talk about anything else with him.

sweetpinkpixie · 04-17-2026, 01:52 PM

Nyle didn't hesitate.

"Yeah — of course," he smiled, hesitating for a fraction of a second before slipping his bag off his shoulder and setting it on one of the empty seats at the table.

He settled carefully in the seat across from her, long limbs folding in with that practiced awareness of how much space he took up, though something in his posture eased the moment he was there. Her words about xeranthemum pulled a small smile from him and he rubbed the back of his neck while nodding his head.

"I know."

Aurora wasn't synonymous with xeranthemum, but she was the whole flora category.

"Germination... has been on my mind a bit more lately," he added, almost cautiously, testing the ground as much as the topic. His fingers brushed absently against the edge of the table, tracing random patterns as a means to occupy his hands. "My aunt, one of them, runs a bakery, and I'm staying with her for this week and the next. Been helping out in the mornings." He huffed a laugh. "Unironically very similar to Herbology. Seeds, yeast—same principle, really. You're creating the right conditions, and then waiting. Temperature, timing, balance… if any of it's off, it just... doesn't take."

He might be lucky to produce one batch of rolls by the end of his time with her. Iris, of course, took to it all like a vine finding its trellis.

"But—um—sorry, I'm a bit out of practice with proper plant facts," he added, a little sheepish now, though his mouth tipped into a faint smile. "I wouldn't mind hearing you rattle them off. If you want to."

WhittyBitty · 04-18-2026, 01:52 AM

It was a relief that Nyle hadn’t seen how much he effected her. Unless he had, and because he was so incredible and kindhearted, he ignored it. Aurora was not going to analyze it, and instead she’d just be really happy that he was here with her. She relaxed and offered him a smile before going back to her ice cream.

Of course if anyone would get the love of reading about plants, it was him. It made her smile again.

Germination certainly was an interesting topic, and she wondered what had caused him to think about it more. Oh. She nodded as he talked about helping his aunt out at her bakery. She was glad to hear that he and Iris were getting to help out like that, and it sounded like fun. It would be lovely to go there, but she worried that she might be a distraction. ”That’s like how I used to help my grandmother out at her restaurant. Sometimes I had no idea what I was doing, but she always was wonderful about it.” Of course Aurora had always tried her best. But yes… germination. ”It really is amazing… doing what you can and showing up continuously. Nurturing something and watching it grow. Doing everything you can to make it thrive, hoping for the best.” And of course it wasn’t always literal. It could work metaphorically as well.

She had the go ahead to talk about plant facts. Aurora was more than happy to knowing that he was okay with it. And since she was reading about xeranthemums, why not talk about them?

”Okay.” BEAM. ”Well, xeranthemum means ‘dry flower’. The name derives from Greek and reflects the fact that they have papery bracts and retain their colour and shape for years after being dried. They’re ‘paper flowers’. This makes them popular in dry flower arrangements. They’re commonly referred to as annual everlastings or imortelle, and are a part of the family Asteraceae. Xeranthemum annuum is the most widely cultivated species. In the summer and autumn they have daisy-like everlasting flowers in white or shades of pink, red, magenta-violet, purple, and lavender. Their leaves are grey-green or silvery-grey. The leaves have a soft downy texture, and a linear to elliptic shape. They’re native to Eastern Europe and Western Asia, where they are cultivated as garden plants. They like full sun and well-drained, average-to-poor quality soil.”

Wow, was she ever rattling on about flowers. Basically being a walking textbook. She knew Nyle wouldn’t care, in fact he had been the same as her. But she didn’t want to dominate the conversation with flower facts. She gave him a sheepish smile, and ran her hand through her hair. ”They also symbolize immortality, eternity, and unwavering love?” That last bit was more of a question, because she wasn’t sure. Aurora was far from a plant symbolism expert. But if that was the case… they were truly very special in another way. They were very romantic flowers.

”I recently added some to my garden, and they look lovely in their new home.” Which was why she was reading up about them again in the first place. She would love it if he ever wanted to see them and her garden in general. He was always welcome to. That, and her greenhouse. She hoped he knew that.

sweetpinkpixie · Today, 10:10 AM

Nyle listened the way he always did, like each word had somewhere to settle and was something to be treasured. And, for a moment, it felt… familiar. Not just familiar but easy. The rhythm of it. The sharing of plant facts and quiet ― and not-so-quiet ― enthusiasm. It was the kind of conversation that didn't need to prove anything to anyone... because it already made sense to the people in it... and a small ― proper ― smile found its way onto his face.

They'd probably both been capable of reciting most of this to each other in their sleep. He'd said as much not long ago, and about xeranthemum, of all things. About how he would be more likely to ramble on about xeranthemum for hours before he'd ever have hope in answering a Bronze Knocker-like riddle.

But… maybe that wasn't really the point.

His fingers traced absently along the edge of the page she'd been reading from, careful not to intrude or bend the pages in anyway. He wasn't really sure why he was reaching out to touch her book, if he was being honest.

His gaze dipped briefly, her earlier words about nurturing and hoping lingering somewhere deeper than he let on ― something quiet in him threatening to deliquesce if he looked at it too directly.

"Professor Amstern said something… similar, actually," he nodded. "Not about xeranthemum...but about what you said earlier...about things needing time. And care. Not just once, but… consistently." A faint huff of breath slipped past his lips, softer than a laugh. "I think I'd forgotten that for a while."

His thoughts were a bit fragmented, if that was not obvious.

He let his gaze fall back to the open book between them, shoulders curling in just slightly as if it were something safer to focus on. His fingers lifted, absently threading into his growing dusty blond hair.

"They are sometimes referred to as 'immortelles'," he elaborated, quiet confidence threading back in in voice ― floriography was a speciality of his, after all. "So...xeranthemum does carry associations with immortality and eternity... mostly because of how well it holds its form when dried. It doesn't… decay the way other flowers do. It keeps its shape. Its color. Almost like it refuses to acknowledge time passing."

His expression softened a bit more as he glanced at her, his hand ceasing its nervous ruffling in his hair, slowly slipping free and then down to his knee where it rubbed idly. Something in his expression softened, the nervous tension easing as his hand stilled completely.

"In floriography, it's often tied to remembrance. Not just love that lasts, but memory that endures. The kind that doesn't fade, even when everything else moves on. Unwavering love fits into that, but it's… not exclusive to that emotion, it can mean something quieter than the way people usually mean it. Less about declaration and more about constancy." He drew in a breath — small, but absolutely necessary. "Which feels rather fitting for something that thrives in poor soil and still manages to look perfect."

His thumb worried the edge of his sleeve lightly as his gaze flickered up again, a touch more hesitant now that he'd stepped out of something familiar.

"And—" he started, then paused, shifting his weight where he sat. "I'd like to see them. If you don't mind. Your garden, I mean. If the offer still stands."

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