Chapter 5
It seemed like a challenge to grow such a plant indoors. Laura smiled on the inside. It would be difficult. She liked that.
Laura did not wait until the next evening to inform Ororo of her decision. She lurked in the corner of the kitchen at breakfast, waiting for the last of the teens to disappear off to school. The adults came in to eat then, once the insanity was over and the mansion was quieter. Ororo fixed some oatmeal and sat down at the table with Hank McCoy, Logan, and Professor Xavier. Laura came up silently behind her.
"Rosa hybrid," she said. Ororo jumped slightly and dropped her spoon. She turned to look over her shoulder. Laura moved further into view.
"Pardon?" Ororo asked while wiping up the food she spilt with her napkin.
"Rosa hybrid," Laura repeated patiently, "the hybrid tea rose. That is the plant I claim."
"Are you quite sure? That species is generally grown by experienced gardeners. It takes a lot of time and energy to care for."
"Yes, exactly," Laura said seriously. Professor Xavier smiled but said nothing while Logan just looked confused. "I have a lot of time and energy to spare."
"Very well," Ororo smiled, "then I cede all care of the hybrid tea rose to you. There are a few books on the subject in the library, and I am also available for any questions. Of course you are still expected to assist with the daily work as well."
"Of course," Laura said. Ororo studied her, and then pulled out the chair next to her and handed Laura a banana before returning to her oatmeal. The girl sat down and calmly began to eat, glad for a reason to not converse anymore, already planning her day of doing nothing around rose care.
Conversation rose as the adults discussed various mansion issues while Laura sat, thinking. She had seen the books in the library but dismissed them as literature. Perhaps revisiting them was in order. The plant was not going to catch her off-guard or ignorant. She was going to know every possible thing it could do and be prepared.
By that evening, all of the books on gardening in the mansion library had been dissected and memorized. Laura left the table as silently as she could midway through dinner, grabbed the books she had set aside in the library, and sprinted up the three floors to the attic garden, where she opened them all and began assessing the ugly shrub she had claimed.
When Ororo came up about twenty minutes later, Laura was squatting on the table, pruning the bad branches off the shrub with her own claws. Ororo chuckled quietly and began filling the water bucket and spritzers until Laura had finished.
"Is that enough?" Laura asked abruptly, still staring at the plant with her claws out, posed, ready to cut any sickly twig as soon as she saw it. Ororo came over and studied it. The plant looked a lot better and, Ororo thought, probably felt fairly terrified of the teenage girl.
"Yes, it looks quite nice. Please put your claws away now."
"It looks ugly even with the cutting," she said, hopping off the table and closing the gardening books.
"Perhaps now. You saw the pictures in the books of the roses in bloom? Ororo handed Laura a bucket and spritzing bottle once the books were safely by the door.
"Yes. The roses are colorful and aesthetic but also ugly underneath. If you touch them they make you bleed."
"Is that why you chose the rose over a vegetable or herb?"
"Yes." Laura said. Ororo noted that she almost sounded pleased about this, and stored that observation away for later analysis. They finished working in silence before Laura spoke up again, thoughtful. Ororo was pleased with how Laura had begun initiating conversation with her, and decided to see if that applied to other mansion residents when the chance presented itself.
"What color will the roses be on the shrub?" Laura asked, stabbing holes in a pot of dirt for flower seeds.
"I do not know. I purchased the plant only a few weeks ago. We shall both be surprised in a few weeks when it blooms."