Cacti: Gaara x Kagome
Blinking curiously at the prickly little plant that had been presented to her, Kagome flickered her eyes back up to the aqua stare of the young jinchuuriki waiting for her reaction. Her lip tilting into a sort of half-smile, she said, "It's, uh, it's a cactus."
Gaara's brow creased, as he replied, "Yes," to the obvious assessment.
"Why, uh, why are you giving me a cactus?" she asked, allowing her head to lean to one side in confusion. "I mean," she quickly added when she noticed him beginning to frown in displeasure, "I like it! I do, but, um, you know I can grow pretty much anything with my holy powers, so… I'm just a little confused, I guess?"
"Ah." His expression evened out with the way she quickly tucked the little pot close to her chest, as if she was afraid he might try to take it back if she accidentally offended him. He had not considered that she might find the gesture odd, given the circumstances, but he supposed he had never actually given her anything else before either. "That particular species usually blooms around this time of year, and I thought that you may like to see it when it does."
"Oh," she breathed, looking down at the tiny cactus with newfound interest.
Looking away from the pretty priestess, Gaara gestured toward the plant between them as he said, "And it… it is your birthday soon, so…"
"Gaara!" Her face turned radiant like the sun at the explanation in an instant. Leaning into the slightly younger boy so he had little choice but to focus upon her again, she clicked her tongue teasingly at the light blush that crossed his face. "You know you didn't have to give me anything just because I got you something for your birthday! I didn't even know you knew when my birthday was!"
He tried not to look too terribly guilty, knowing that she would only tease him more if she figured out he had only remembered himself when Temari mentioned it earlier that week.
"I actually forgot all about it," Kagome admitted with a laugh. "I swear the council has me running around everywhere lately. I mean, I know that Suna needs the influx of food, and that importing it from other nations has always been costly, but I only have so much energy to go around before I just want to die."
The red headed boy gave her a startled glance that she did not seem to notice.
"This little guy is wonderful, though, thanks!" the priestess grinned. "I didn't know that you knew anything about plants, Gaara, so I guess I was just a little surprised that you gave me one! I'll make sure to take good care of him, since he's from you!" Kagome's eyes widened a bit then, as she said, "Maybe he'll actually bloom just in time for my birthday. You said it was soon, right? So, there might be a good chance that he'll start flowering just for the occasion, since that's why you gave him to me!"
Happy to simply let her continue rambling, the jinchuuriki nodded a bit as he took in the sight of the pretty dark haired priestess with a cactus that he had personally cultivated. He felt the corner of his lip twitch into a small half-smile, knowing that it would only receive the best care and attention while under her protection.
Just like he had for the last year and a half.
