Note: I am on spring break enjoying a nice case of poison ivy all over my face. I also tend to write when I am dosed up on benadryl or some other pills that make me very tired. Any spelling or grammar corrections will have to be overlooked and left to be edited some other day. This chapter is also more of a filler in my opinion. I didn't realize it until I had already typed it up and seen that there were no major events going on. Hopefully the next one will be more exciting.
Three days had passed since Lillian and Cam had been up on the mountains, and three days had passed since Cam had hugged her. Three whole days and nothing had changed. Lillian was driving herself crazy, wondering if the hug meant something to the florist, or was it simply out of gratitude for her company for the day. She didn't understand, and she knew it was pointless to stay home and fret over it. She wasn't sure if she wanted it to mean something more or not. Annabelle meowed from the floor, and Lillian knew she was hungry. So, putting aside her personal issues, she knew it was time to set about her chores. Dumping a can of food into the tray, she tossed the can in the trash and headed out to her barn.
Her two cows awaited her with hungry moos. She shushed them with pats on the head and soft murmurs of good morning, then tossed some food into their bin. She peeked outside and decided the light sprinkle would not benefit her animals, so she left them to their breakfast and headed to the chicken house to collect eggs and check on their food. They had enough out so she only took the two eggs and left quickly, hoping to not disturb them. Once their feathers were ruffled, they were a noisy bunch to calm down, as she had learned previously. It seemed as if they knew what she disliked, the noise they emitted was not pleasant and they hurt her delicate ears.
Seeing as how her chores were technically done, she headed on over towards the Cafe, wondering if she would run into Cam. She mentally facepalmed, of course she would! He lived there for Goddess's sake! All this inner turmoil was turning her brain to mush.
"Aren't you in a hurry!" Ash exclaimed, having run into Lillian and almost knocked her down. He held her steady with one hand, a green umbrella in the other with a bit of amusement on his face.
"I'm so sorry Ash! I didn't mean to run into you! I was just..." she couldn't really think of how to explain why she had almost run down her friend. "Just lost in thought, I suppose."
"It's alright," he laughed. "Are you headed for Laney's?"
She nodded, "I finished my work today and decided I'd love a piece of cake today," she said with a grin.
Ash grinned too, "now that you mention it, I think I'll go too, I haven't had the pleasure of Laney's masterpiece cakes in forever." In truth, Ash just liked spending time with the farmer. She was fun to be around. Cam was also fun to be around, but he was quiet and reserved. Lillian could hold a conversation easily and make them both laugh.
Lillian and Ash made their way towards Laney's, sharing Ash's umbrella as Lillian hadn't thought to buy one yet. They joked and laughed, and they finally came upon the steps to Laney's. Ash opened the door for Lillian just as Georgia was leaving.
"Oh, hello!" Georgia exclaimed in her little southern twang. "Y'all headed up to see Laney or Cam?"
"Well, we came for the cake," Ash told her, one shoulder shrugging a bit. "But I suppose both?"
"Well, Cam went out up yonder on the mountains today, so it's just Laney and Howard. But have yourselves a good time, I'll be headed home now." Georgia gave Lillian and Ash a little wave as she started towards her little home.
"How about that cake now?" Ash put in as they both went inside.
It was not uncommon to see villager of Konohana fishing on a rainy day. Sheng had told Phillip that the "best time to fish" was on a rainy day. It hadn't occurred to him to get an umbrella for this activity, so he soon found himself drenched as he sat along the creek that flowed through the village. Not one bite, and he was sure Sheng had pulled a prank on him, that devil. The panda-man would get his, Phillip swore. A tug on his line had him wondering if perhaps the panda-man wasn't tricking him after all.
He reeled in his line as Sheng had instructed, excitement flowing through him like waves. He could almost taste the fried fish he would eat. As his hook surfaced, he glared at the boot that had caught his hook.
From behind him, he heard Gombe chuckle. Phillip turned to see the old man. "Well, boy, at least you have a hand in cleaning up our creek," he tried to comfort him.
"I suppose you're right," Phillip sighed, putting away him "catch" and his fishing pole. "I just wish I could catch something edible for once," he told the old man.
"Practice makes perfect," Gombe told him and bid him farewell for the chill of the rain was getting to his old bones. Phillip started his walk back home, passing by Kana's when Kana caught his attention.
"Hey!" Kana called, galloping towards the fence on his favorite horse, Hayete. Phillip had no issues with Kana, he was pretty laid-back and easy to get along with. Phillip hadn't made any attempts to hang out with anyone besides Reina, but that didn't mean he disliked Kana.
"Afternoon, Kana," he called, pausing by the fence.
Kana dismounted and joined Phillip by the fence from inside his pasture. "How is life?" he asked the farmer.
"Life is good," he said truthfully. "My crops will be ready to harvest in less than a week."
"Ah, yes, the plants. What have you been growing for us?" Kana asked curiously.
"A bit of everything," he told the darker boy. "Truthfully, I can't even really remember all that Reina planted."
"That one, she is hard to get along with." Kana made a face, "she is smarter than us, and she reminds us daily."
It took Phillip a minute to understand who the 'us' was, and he figured it meant the entire town. "I don't believe she does," he replied, this time sticking up for Reina. "Or at least she doesn't mean to."
Kana shrugged, "well, good day to you, Phillip. I hope your plants do well. Stop by any time!" he called to him as he was turning to head back inside. The rain had grown a little heavier, which was surely good for his plants. Phillip started walking towards his house, plans of napping on his mind as he closed the door to his house.
It would be another full day before the dark clouds had finally migrated from both villages and the sun peek out. Cheryl was out splashing through the puddles that littered the spots in Bluebell's pathway that was lower than the rest and water gathered in. Lillian walked by the giggling girl with a plan to meet with Ash today. They had discussed hanging around when the sun was up, and today sounded about as good as any for the pair. She met up with the rancher beside his pasture and the two decided to chat by the town statue.
"How are your cows? What were their names again?" he was asking, wondering if the work was too much for her.
She laughed a little, "Pinky and Brian," she told him.
"Brian?" he questioned.
"I couldn't spell 'Brain' when I was little, Phillip made fun of me for it too."
"Speaking of Phillip," Ash hadn't told her of his encounter with her brother, and as he told it, she grew annoyed for him.
"He is so rude sometimes!" she exclaimed, now angry at Phillip. He had no right to march in there and be so rude to her friend. In just two days was the second cooking festival, and oh he'd get it. She would not only kick his sorry butt in the competition, but she'd give him her opinion on the whole situation.
"it's nothing, Lillian, he's just being protective," he tried to excuse her brother, but she wasn't having any of it. "Alright, maybe he was a little unjust, but I'm alright, I'm not mad anymore. So you shouldn't be either," he bumped his shoulder with the girl playfully and she bumped back.
She sighed, "you're right, but I hate it that he was so rude to you." She turned to face him, a smile playing on her lips, "you make it very hard to be annoyed, you know."
"How so?" Ash played along.
"You're too easy to get along with, and you're," she tried to find the right word.
"Dashingly handsome?" Ash offered, making her laugh. "Completely drop-dead gorgeous?" he continued offering. She kept laughing and he joked, "hey! Eyes up here, missy! I know I'm good to look at," he said suggestively, "but I am a person!"
"Hardly!" she snorted.
"That was attractive," he said, joking about her lady-like snort that he thought was pretty cute now.
She laughed again, then tried with her most serious and innocent face. "So I'm attractive now?"
"We're both very beautiful people."
"Our kids would be too beautiful," she joked, bumping shoulders again.
Ash couldn't deny the little skip his heart did at the mention of kids with this woman, but he couldn't decipher exactly why. He hadn't developed feeling for her, he thought. He would know, wouldn't he? Perhaps a visit to Georgia or Laney would benefit. Just when he was about to reply, Cheryl stamped up to the two and folded her arms across her chest, pouting. Cheryl shot daggers towards Lillian, but Lillian didn't look very frightened towards the child.
"Do you need something, Cheryl?" Ash asked, frowning slightly.
"You promised you'd play with me!" Cheryl cried, still pouting and glaring at Lillian.
Ash turned to Lillian, an apology on his lips when she said, "it's alright, we hung out long enough. Cheryl needs some brother-time now. I'll see you tomorrow after work, okay?"
Ash was grateful that Lillian didn't try to fight Cheryl for him, he couldn't imagine that argument. "Looking forward to it," he told her as she retreated. Ash turned to Cheryl and the siblings began a game of tag that would last an hour until the pair went inside in the evening.
Across the mountain, Reina was sitting out by the creek when Phillip surprised her. "I was not expecting you!" she exclaimed, slightly un-amused that he had startled her.
He apologized, a childish grin on his face. "What are you doing today?"
"Nothing interesting," Reina told him, pushing her glasses up her nose and going back to inspecting the plants on the creekbed. She had to make sure that the plant-life was flourishing.
"It looks interesting to you," Phillip sat beside her, trying to communicate. But as he knew, she was sometimes hard to communicate with. But that only made him try harder to reach her. He knew she was afraid of being boring to him, and she really wasn't. He may not be a botanist, but that didn't mean he didn't want to understand.
Reina finally gave in, "I'm studying these plants I introduced to the environment. They seem to be doing excellent, as I expected. My work is done for the day, now." She stood, not appreciating the look on Phillip's face that said he didn't understand very much of what she was doing. "I'm sorry I'm not interesting."
"You're interesting, the work you do is something you love. I envy you, a little." He let out a sigh, "but it's not like I don't like plants."
"Why don't you call off the bet with your sister?" she asked.
"I guess I just didn't want to. Besides my pride getting in the way, I just couldn't imagine living there now." He was being honest, he didn't think he could live there now that he invested so much time into his own farm. Even though he had two animals to care for, he still spent most of his time caring for his plants. Reina had finally talked him into talking to his plants like a crazy person, and he had seen that it does help a little. They stood up a little taller the day after.
"I see," Reina said, and then finished with "I better be heading home. Thank you for stopping by."
"Reina," he called after her retreating figure. She turned around, listening to him. "Do you want to do something with me tomorrow?"
Do something? she thought frantically. Like what? She wasn't sure what he had in mind. "I suppose I'll look into it. Come by at two and we'll figure it out. Good day, Phillip," she turned back around and headed home.
Phillip was excited, he could hardly wait now. A date with Reina! He was inwardly cheering when his thoughts went to an abrupt halt. Date?! He'd worked out a date with Reina?! He started to fret over little things, where to go, what to do, what if's. He was still worrying when he passed by Kana's house.
"Don't worry so much!" Kana called to him from his pasture.
"How did you know?" Phillip questioned in disbelief.
"It was written all over your face," Kana laughed and told the redhead. Phillip saw this reasonable, he wore his heart on his sleeve frequently for all to see. "Don't worry so much, whatever it is, it will be okay."
Phillip smiled, thanking Kana for the advice and walking home, feeling a little better from Kana's reassurance. He slept good and was ready for the next day's activities, all the while counting down the hours until it was time to see Reina.