Green Thumb
By: Albedosreqium / Soyna
Setting: After Dirge and Advent are said and done.
Rating, Genre and Warnings: PG. Friendship/Humour. Genesis has an attitude problem and there is some mild swearing.
Characters: Genesis, Angeal, Sephiroth and Zack make appearance in this fic.
Disclaimer: All related Final Fantasy names and characters are copyrighted by the almighty Square Enix©. I do not profit from this endeavour.
bSummary and Additional Information: For nobuddy-else who won a contest on DeviantArt and requested this little story.
Genesis is offended that Angeal doesn't think that he has a green thumb and proves him wrong. Boy, does he ever.
The table was covered in small pots from Angeal's latest mission. He was beaming as he was talking about the plants, and Genesis refrained from rolling his eyes. He never understood why Angeal found plants so interesting.
They sat in a pot of dirt, they had to be watered all the time, and all it did was sit there and clutter up his apartment with a musty smell. He knew Angeal loved the plants and loved taking care of them. He said something about it being relaxing.
Genesis would rather just read a book to relax.
"I brought everyone back a small piece of Reagan Green sprout! They're lucky plants. If you take care of them well they will grow into strong, bright yellow flowers before they produce a Green." Angeal started to hand out small pots that were about the size of teacups that all had a small, green stick in it.
It hardly looked like a plant.
"There! I expect everyone to take care of their plant!" Angeal said as he went back to the table where there were still five more pots.
Genesis frowned. He looked at the other men in the room. Zack was happily smiling and talking to Cloud about how he had a perfect place by the window. Cloud was whispering that he would have to keep it at Zack'ss place because it would die in the barracks, as there were no windows in the barracks, and the guys there would water it with beer. Sephiorth had an unsure look on his face and was holding it as though it were going to stain his clothes. Even Reno had one, and in a loud voice Reno asked, "So, can we smoke the Green?"
Angeal scowled at Reno who promptly shrank under his gaze. "No, you may not smoke the Green or the flower. It is not that type of plant."
The group laughed.
Genesis was not amused.
"Where is mine?" Genesis asked, interrupting their mirth. Angeal didn't hand him one and it seemed that he didn't have any indication that he was going to.
Angeal look up at him sheepishly. "Well, Gen, it is just that there is only so many."
"Bullshit," Genesis said as he pushed himself from the wall. "There are still five more plants on your table."
Sephiroth spoke up, holding his plant out to Genesis. "You are welcome to …"
Angeal raised his hand. "No, Sephiroth. That's yours. Genesis, you are not known for your green thumb. The last plant I got you, you killed it within days of it sitting in your apartment."
Genesis straightened his back and rolled his shoulders. "I had a mission, is all. I was away for too long and someone," he turned his eye toward Zack, who at least had the courtesy to blush, "didn't do as he promised and take care of my apartment while I was away."
"And what about that fern that I got you last year?" Angeal said.
"Fern?" Genesis had to think for a moment. "There must have been something wrong with the soil in the pot. It didn't look healthy when I brought it home."
Angeal sighed. "Do I have to bring up the garden?"
Genesis set his jaw and crossed his arms. That was years ago and in Banora, and he did not want to share the story with all the other curious ears in the room. "No, you don't have to bring up the garden."
"So, Genesis has a black thumb, eh?" Reno said as he examined his plant. "How can you screw up growing plants? All ya have ta do is water it, give it sunlight and replant it once every couple years," Reno said as he twirled the pot in his hand, "when it's the type that you don't smoke."
"I do not have a black thumb!" Genesis said and stalked forward. He pushed past Angeal. "And I will prove it." He grabbed a pot off the table and held it up triumphantly. "You will see. I will have the best one out of the bunch."
Zack chuckled. "Wanna bet?"
"I'll take it!" Reno jumped in.
"Wait …" Angeal said trying to stop them from talking.
"What is the wager?" Genesis said as he turned to Zack.
"You will bake us your famous Banora apple pie," Zack said quickly.
Reno grunted. "Great, always thinkin' with your stomach there, Zackers."
"Fine. If I win, I want each and every one of you to buy me a bottle of flavoured vodka!"
"Every plant that grows better than your gets an apple pie, then," Reno countered.
They all looked at each other for a moment before Genesis extended his hand to Zack. "Deal!" Zack and Genesis shook hands on it.
"I can't wait for my pie," Reno said smugly and got a glare from Genesis.
Sephiroth frowned. "Don't we get a say in this endeavour?"
Genesis turned on Sephiroth. "No! I will prove to you all that I do not have a black thumb!"
Angeal sighed and looked like he was going to argue the point of the silly bet, but Genesis was quick in responding. "We shall see whose plant is the best after one month, shall we? Good. I will see you gentlemen later."
Genesis stormed out of the room with the plant in a red pot.
Cloud whispered, "That's expensive."
Reno patted the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry, he won't win."
Sephiroth looked at his plant. "Are we at a disadvantage or advantage over the fact that his pot was red while all ours are brown?"
They all looked to Angeal for an answer. Angeal looked at the pots on the table and contemplated for a moment, as there was a brown pot among the red that had been for his collection of plants. The others had yet to be delivered to the labs.
"This could be bad," Angeal said.
"How bad?" Zack asked.
Angeal sighed and started to gather the plants that remained and put them in the tray for delivery to the labs. "Well, why don't we wait and see what happens, and hope that Genesis doesn't discover that he has a green thumb after all," Angeal said.
Genesis had the perfect place for the plant. He put the small, red pot with the single green tendril with what looked like a red bud at the end. He thought Angeal said that this thing was supposed to have yellow flowers.
He wasn't going to lose his bet to those buffoons that thought that he couldn't take care of a simple plant. He hadn't had luck in the past, but he had learned a lot from Angeal in the years he had been friends with him.
It couldn't be hard at all.
He watered it and made sure his blinds were open.
He watched as the tendril seemed to move towards the light. He frowned as he looked at the plant. He wasn't sure if that was normal or not. Angeal had mentioned in the past that plants moved with light, so maybe that was all that it was.
He smiled at the thought. He must have a really healthy plant if it moved like that. He put his finger in the soil and saw that it was a little dry, so he went to the kitchen and got a glass of water to ensure that it was watered. He only poured half of it in the pot and left the rest of the glass there.
He would have to look up some information on how much water a Reagan Green plant needed and if there was special fertilizer that he needed to make it grow more efficiently. He was going to show those assess that he could take care of a simple plant.
He used to help in the orchards back home, after all. Trees were easier to take care of, though. They just grew and produced apples. He never remembered if they fertilized them, watered them or replanted any. He only remembered being part of the harvest.
He sighed. "Well, I will prove those guys wrong and make sure that you are the best plant by the end of the month, and I will be stocked with vodka for a good year."
Genesis was dutiful in taking care of his plant and was pleased with how quickly it was growing. It had even grown a few more tendrils that seemed to move around on their own. It was interesting, and he knew he had to be doing something right if it were moving like that.
The others didn't say that their plants were moving.
He even bought a fancy bulb-like apparatus that he stuck in the soil so that he could monitor how much water it was getting, and it seemed to be helping. He also purchased special fertilizer that really seemed to help the plant grow all the more.
When Angeal would ask him how it was going with his plant, he told him that it was fine. The look that he got from his childhood friend told him that Angeal doubted that he was taking good care of his plant.
But he was worried today. He had six tendrils that had small red buds at the end and suddenly there were two that did not have that. He began to worry that he had not put enough fertilizer in, or that maybe he had added too much. Did he give it too much water? Was it warm enough in front of the window?
It still seemed to be a nice shade of dark green and all the parts moved when he touched the tendrils, and they seemed to be comforted by his touch, which was odd, since it was just a plant.
He decided to determine that his plant was growing just fine by checking on the others.
Angeal's was easy to spot. "Is this the plant?"
Angeal hummed as he was watering the multitude of his other plants. "Yes, it is coming along quite nicely. It's already budding and that is quite early for it to do so. It'll only produce a small Green at this rate."
It looked nothing like his plant. It was a single stalk with leaves and it indeed had a small, yellow bulb at the end. He wondered why his was red.
"How is yours coming along?" Angeal asked in a tone that told him that Angeal didn't think his plant was coming along well at all.
"Well, it looks better than yours," he said and started for the door. He wasn't ready to say that his looked extremely different than his. He had to check out the others first before he drew any sort of conclusions.
Zack and Cloud's plants were both in Zack's apartment. They looked very much like the one in Angeal's. They were sitting on his kitchen counter surrounded by chip bags and old unwashed dishes.
"You're a slob, Zack," Genesis frowned as he looked at the mess that the whole apartment was. "I am surprised that there isn't more life forms in here with all this … mess!" He waved his hands as he looked around the room. Clothes, dishes, old food, books, and papers were all over the place.
"It's not that bad," Zack said and put his hand on his hips. "Are you just here to check on my plant or is there something else that you want?"
"Well, I don't want anything out of your coffee pot," Genesis said as he wrinkled his nose towards the counter at a pot that looked like there was moss growing in it.
Zack looked at the pot and had the courtesy to blush at the sight. "Well, I am good at growing stuff."
Genesis raised his eyebrow. "I hope that mould was not intentional."
Zack chuckled a bit and had the grace to look further embarrassed.
"Angeal has never seen this mess, has he?" Genesis said with a growing smile.
"Uh," Zack started.
"If he saw this mess, he would be so disappointed in you. You see how neat he keeps his place, and his office is on the verge of being a clean room." Genesis could see how uncomfortable Zack was becoming with his verbal onslaught. "I do recommend that you clean up this place before Angeal does a surprise visit."
Zack crossed his arms and glared at him. "Quit playing dirty."
"My plant is doing much better than either of those anyway, but getting you in trouble with Angeal is just a bonus." Genesis started walking to the door.
"I doubt it," Zack said. "I bet your plant is dead already and you are going to go to the store and try to buy a replacement. Angeal will know the difference, you know. He knows his plants."
Genesis gave a dismissive wave of the hand. "Think what you will, but I will win that bet." He went to leave the apartment and pulled out his phone. A simple phone call to Angeal to mention that the puppy was distressed about something would get him over there in two minutes.
He then ventured to Reno's plant. Reno was keeping his in his office and it was doing surprisingly well. It had its own stand, light, and watering system.
"Dare I ask what you normally grow with this set up?" Genesis asked as he eyed the display suspiciously.
Reno shook his head. "I wouldn't if I were you, yo," Reno said simply from his desk. It was nearly twice the size of the others and the yellow buds look like they were about to burst.
"I'm lookin' forward to homemade apple pie, yo. I hear them apples this time of year are very sweet," Reno said while he was snapping his gum, and he put his feet on his desk.
"Keep looking forward to it," Genesis said and left the office and went to check on Sephiroth's plant.
Sephiroth kept his in his office as well, and it was sitting awkwardly on a window sill. It looked like it was barely alive. "Have you been tending to it at all?"
"I watered it once. How much water does it need?" Sephiroth said. "I have no problems with buying you a bottle of vodka, Genesis. I'm not good at taking care of plants. I was willing to give it to you, but Angeal is determined to ensure that I am 'connected with Gaia.'"
Genesis laughed. "You better take better care of it, because otherwise he will give you a lecture about how dishonourable it is to let a life, even that of a plant, be wasted."
Sephiroth looked at the plant and then back at him with the same impassive green eyes. "Is yours still alive, at least?"
Genesis scowled. "It's alive and doing better than everyone's but Reno's. But Reno is cheating because he has his attached to some sort of grow-op type equipment."
Sephiroth blinked a few times and then raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know why I call you guys my friends," Genesis said as he stormed out of Sephiroth's office. He swore he heard the man chuckling as he left.
He was going to have the best plant of the bunch. He was going to prove them all wrong.
He got a lamp, like what he saw Reno using, and set it up by his plant. It liked it immediately and all its branches swayed towards the light. He gave the plant some more water and wondered if he should fertilize it some more. He knew that too much fertilizer could burn a plant from past experiences with the garden back home. He wasn't allowed near the fertilizer shed after that.
"Are you still hungry?" He asked of the plant and ran his finger over one of the sprouts that did not have a red bulb at the end. He was shocked when the tendril wrapped around his finger.
"Is that a yes, or a no?"
It didn't move any further, as it kept a grip on his finger and seemed to be basking in the light of the lamp. He sighed and pulled his finger away from it and it seemed reluctant to let go.
He was certain that this was odd behaviour from a plant, but he had other pressing matters to deal with. He was hungry.
He made himself a simple sandwich. He had gone to the deli the other day and was thrilled when they had his favourite cuts of salami from back home. He had layered it heavily on the rye bread, covered it with lettuce, mustard, and cucumbers with some mayo and pepper for the final touch.
He went back to look at the plant. He frowned at it as it seemed to have moved and gotten bigger. There was a much rounder top to the soil than there was before, and it baffled him slightly. He was about to investigate further when his phone rang. He put his sandwich down beside the plant and went to dig his phone out of his jacket, which he had left by the front door.
"That was dirty of you to call Angeal." Genesis couldn't even get a hello out before Zack's voice came over the phone. "He is making me clean my apartment right now and watching my every move."
Genesis smiled and was glad that Zack couldn't see how pleased he was by this turn of events.
"He's not watching you now, is he?" Genesis said and knew that his voice was telling him how amused he was by this.
"He went to get some proper cleaning supplies, but he expects all my laundry to be started when he gets back," Zack said, pouting.
"He was going to find out eventually, you know this, right?" Genesis said with a chuckle. "You better get to it or else he will make you scrub the bathroom with a toothbrush."
"He said I had to replace my toothbrush, as well," Zack grumbled. "I was going to sleep all afternoon!"
"Well, you will sleep better after you get everything cleaned up," Genesis countered. He heard the sound of Angeal calling Zack. He heard Zack swear, a few keys were bashed on his phone and then the line went dead.
"That'll teach him," Genesis said and then turned back to the thought of his food. He was very hungry and anxious to eat.
He was a little confused by the sight that was by his plant when he turned around. His sandwich had been ripped apart. One piece of the bread was thrown to the floor and the other was tossed aside on the small table. The pot that his plant had been in was tipped over and he could see tendrils currently making the piece of lettuce disappear inside of it. One of the red tendrils seemed to be looking at him.
Genesis cautiously approached the table and saw that the plant was looking at him. The red balls were all aimed at him as it was stuffing the salami in a rather large-looking mouth with small, sharp white teeth.
"You do not look like a Reagan Green," he whispered.
It kept chewing rather loudly and with an open mouth.
"Well, that is rather rude of you. You really should eat with your mouth closed."
It didn't listen as it kept chewing on the food.
"You know, I was hungry," he said to the plant as he reached forward and meant to right the upturned pot. He was a little startled when the plant nuzzled his hand and made a small purring sound. He couldn't help but smile at that.
The smile was at first gentle and soft but it quickly turned into a malicious smile. "Angeal would have known what kind of plant you were." He scooped up the little thing that was just bigger than the palm of his hand. He pulled the plant close to his chest and it seemed to cuddle against him before it reached for the lamp.
He put the little thing back down and he watched it waddle and move all the debris that was now on the table. It found a warm spot and settled down. The red beady eyes were looking at him again.
"What do I need to do to make you really big and strong?"
Genesis couldn't wait for this day. He had not told anyone about the fact that his plant was different than the rest. They were all to bring their plants to Sephiroth's office and they were supposed to claim their prizes.
Zack kept gloating about the fact that he was going to eat his pie in one sitting.
"What did you do to your plant?" Angeal's voice sounded horrified as he looked at the pots on the table. Genesis was just outside the door when he heard this.
Genesis could hear Sephiroth's calm voice retaliate, "It's still alive."
Reno and Zack were chuckling and he heard Cloud tell Zack to stop it.
"Did you feed it the vodka?" Angeal said.
"Would it have helped?"
Reno and Zack started to laugh harder, and Genesis thought it was time to enter and claim his prize. He adjusted his plant in his arms and walked into the room.
The laughing stopped cold as they watched him enter and he couldn't help but smile smugly as he looked at Angeal's face. He was seldom shocked, and seeing his jaw nearly touching the floor was pleasing.
"Meet Aloe, everyone," Genesis said as he held up the armload of his plant. It wiggled around in his arms, waving its many tentacles and eye sprouts. "I think I took pretty good care of my plant, wouldn't you agree?"
It was Cloud that broke the shocked stance that the others took. "That's a Malboro!" He sounded slightly alarmed.
"Yes, yes, she is," Genesis said and placed it on the desk beside the other plants where it started to eat them immediately. Genesis assumed that the ones with the small Greens growing on them were Angeal's. "I took care of her and she grew up quite quickly."
"Genesis …" Angeal started, looking baffled as they watched Aloe stuff the small Greens and leaves in its large mouth.
Reno was already across the room with his back against the wall. "That's a monster!" He watched with amusement as Cloud was hiding behind Zack. Zack had recovered and was watching the monster with a wary but curious eye.
"Thank you, Mr. Obvious," Genesis said as he placed his hand on Aloe's head and gave it a pat. It made a small gurgling sound that he recognized as its version of purring. He had actually grown quite fond of the plant now. It was quite affectionate as long as it was fed. "But look at how big she got and she is very healthy."
"Genesis," Angeal said in a firm tone, recovering from the shock. "You can't keep it."
Genesis turned to his childhood friend and crossed his arms. He knew where this was going. "You knew all along that this was a Malboro, and you thought I was going to kill it with my 'black thumb'. Well, look at the good job that I did raising her."
"Well," Angeal started and looked sheepish. It was as Genesis had suspected. Angeal knew all about plants and could tell the difference between a Malboro and a Reagan Green plant.
"I can take care of plants, and Aloe is proof of that," Genesis said.
"That's not a fuckin' plant!" Reno yelled from across the room. "It's a fuckin' monster!" Genesis looked over at the Turk. For a man that was fond of plants and had his own special growing operation, he sure was skittish of this one.
"I don't know if you can really call it a plant," Zack said.
"I raised it! It was in the pot I was given! I win!" Genesis said sternly.
"You took apot," Angeal corrected. "I was trying to teach you a lesson on controlling your temper and …"
"You thought it would be dead in a week, Angeal!" Genesis said. He was a little hurt that his friend thought that he couldn't do a simple task of taking care of a plant, even though his past experiences were less than stellar.
"I thought you would say something if it grew. I have never seen a Malboro grow that fast!" Angeal defended.
"Well, doesn't that tell you something? You shouldn't underestimate me like that!" Genesis said.
"But, you hate plants," Angeal said. "Every time I brought you one before, it would end up fighting for its life back at my apartment. I wasn't shunning you, Genesis!"
It was a true statement. "You could have brought me back something else then!" Genesis said. "Everyone else was getting gifts!"
Zack put his hand over his mouth and looked amused. Reno was looking like he was ready to bolt at any moment. Cloud was still behind Zack, but his focus was not on the conversation at all. He seemed to be looking at the plants on the desk. Genesis just figured that the trooper was scared of the monster.
Angeal's shoulders slumped. "I will not forget to bring you back something that is more suiting for you next time."
Genesis smiled brightly, glad that his point was made. "I believe you all owe me a bottle of vodka, and I believe you should also buy me dinner as I had to spend a little more money on food in the last while since it has been eating me out of house and home!"
That was when they heard a strange cooing sound that could not have come from the plant.
He turned back to the table and it was his turn to be shocked as he saw Sephiroth feeding Aloe his plant with a smile that was rare for the General. He was even running his hands over its head like Genesis did, and it was making that gargling-grumbling sound that it made when it was happy.
"That's a good Mar-Mar," Sephiroth said and scooped the plant into his arms. The plant seemed to enjoy the attention as it wrapped its tentacles securely to the General's arm. "I would much prefer a plant like this, Angeal. This is much more enjoyable that that other stick."
The stunned silence returned to the room as they all watched Sephiroth 'play' with the Malboro.
"Can I keep her?"
Bitchy Genesis… I love bitchy Genesis. So much fun to write. Temperamental is fun to write, just not to deal with.
I love Mar-Mar, don't you. I wouldn't mind one! o.O'