Flora had been digging for what felt like hours, her back finally seeming to break, when Carter stepped down, a girl following hesitantly behind him.
"Flora!" He boomed, his voice loud in the small, dark space. The echo seemed to shake the walls, though she knew they were stable. "Have you met Pony yet?"
"Pony?" She asked, adjusting and trying to clean her glasses. Unable to find a clean bit of clothing to wipe them, she searched for her handkerchief, unable to see. "Why no, I haven't – are you the girl staying at the Inn?"
"Nope – I live with Takakura."
"Oh!" Flora hadn't heard of anyone living there. "How do you know him?" Though her glasses were dusty, the girl seemed to be quite young.
"Family friend."
"So you're a farmer?" Flora pressed, trying to be polite and feeling strange. The girl wasn't forthcoming at all, though her tone was chipper.
"At the moment, a not much of one, but I try." She said cheerfully.
"She came up here to explore and offered her assistance!" Carter seemed to vibrate with excitement. They had so much work to do that there was hardly enough time in the day. Having even one extra pair of hands would lessen their load considerably.
Haphazardly, Carter tutored her through the process of digging and the girl obediently watched and obeyed, working methodically and carefully, just as they would've. Though her fingers were rather clumsy and she was much slower than they, by five PM she managed to dent a huge chunk of the floor.
"Nothing new." She heard Carter say disappointed as she walked outside into the clean air and stretched. One perk of having the waterfall so close was the view – it was gorgeous, and kept the air cool and moist. Carter insisted he'd chosen the site because the earth was richer and easier to move, thanks to the waterfall and the Spring nearby, which he had sworn had once been a part of the river, but Flora thought that the beauty of nature might've moved his stony heart.
Finally clearing her glasses, Flora inspected the girl. A few inches taller than she, thin and athletic, with a thick, dark ponytail and a collected aura. While Flora considered herself pretty social – compared to Carter, who wasn't? – she knew she wasn't the most popular or connected person in Forget-Me-Not. She hadn't even heard of this girl before her.
"So what brings you here?" Flora asked, inviting the girl to speak more about herself.
Shrugging, the girl sagged onto the ground. "Same thing that brought you, I guess. Or not really – the same principle, not the concrete reason. I'm not looking for an ancient civilization beneath Takakura's fields."
With a laugh, Flora smiled and sat next to the girl as Carter moved into the tent, their new helper already forgotten. "Did he ramble to you about that already?" She asked with a wry smile.
Muffing her own responding chuckle, Pony nodded. "It was interesting, though." She objected as Flora giggled.
"He's very… passionate." Flora admitted giddily, thinking of the stoic professor. "We met while I was in grad school. Swept me off my feet – literally. This is supposed to be part of my doctoral thesis, but I keep finding myself staying here and writing more instead of presenting it."
"It is interesting. Even what I found today was cool."
Soon, despite her original intent, Flora found herself ranting about the archeological difficulties they were facing, as well as the resulting social isolation she felt. They had been there for almost two years, she explained, and they'd made no major discoveries despite their literal daily efforts. Carter hardly slept, hardly ate, and only ever stopped when Van brought his traveling market to town.
Pony asked about Van and Flora launched into a long-winded explanation. By twilight, when Pony had regretfully left, Flora realized she'd spoken about herself the entire time.
The next day, around noon, Pony returned, working quietly and efficiently. The pattern had been set. Flora would determinedly ask about Pony, who would somehow manage to turn the conversation back to Flora. The older woman realized she'd told Pony all sorts of things – about her life in the city, about how she'd met Carter, about why she'd gotten into archaeology, about her longing to make better friends in town, and even trivial things, like her favorite foods, her love of books, her fear of doctors despite the cough she was beginning to get from being underground in the dust so often.
In fact, Flora spoke so often and Pony spoke so little that she felt guilty. How had the girl managed to do it so adeptly? One day, perhaps a week of Pony coming every day, Flora aggressively wanted to know: "Why do you come here every day? Certainly not to listen to me chatter."
Ever serious, Pony had leaned back, feet in the water, hair falling around her dirty face, and had sat. Simply sat on the earth, sat on the thought – held it, considered it, and when Flora was almost ready to repeat herself, the girl said: "To distract myself."
"To distract yourself?" Flora was unsure of what the girl meant. "Don't you have a farm to run?"
"Like I said, I'm not much of a farmer." Flora realized with a start that in their first conversation, Pony had said exactly that. "And between me and my brother-"
"You have a brother? Here?" Flora gaped. She hadn't even known that. Shame flooded her and she blushed.
Grinning at her mortification, Pony nodded. "Yep. His name is Mark. Between the two of us, there's not much to do until the harvest. Mostly we water plans and weed the fields. Our cow – she's not a milk cow, we just let her graze and hang out – and we explore town."
That was more in one comment than Flora had heard in a week. "So why here?"
A shrug. "I like interesting people. You're interesting. Besides, you're about as lonely as I am, and it's always easier to relate to people who are similar to you."
Flora was embarrassed by the acute perception, but also intrigued. "Who else have you spoken to in Forget-Me-Not?"
"I've spent a lot of time on Vesta's farm." Pony's eyes twinkled. Once upon a time, Flora would've sworn that expression was something made-up in romance novels, but the girl's dark eyes damn well did sparkle just a bit. "Marlin and Celia – those two seem a bit lonely too. They're both so quiet it's difficult for them to open up. Introverts, both of them, but with just each other and Vesta, they get a little antsy."
"Why did you come here?"
"Nami mentioned you and I wanted to check it out.
"Nami?" Flora didn't even realize she was bombarding the poor girl with questions. "The girl staying at the Inner inn?"
"Yeah. She's really interesting. I like her a lot."
"Where's she from?"
"She's from the city, too. I'll bring her up here sometime, she would like it. You can talk to her, too, she likes to listen." The impish grin Pony wore told Flora that she'd also noted Flora's tendency to babble – and didn't dislike it.
Most people Flora knew wrote her off as a chatterbox. It was part of the reason why she was so determined to be successful, to prove herself. The 'dumb blonde' stereotype had always haunted her, and now here she was, with one of the most innovative men in the field, working at her dream job. Even if it was hard, sometimes, because she missed her friends and found it hard to make new ones, she wouldn't give it up for the world.
Pony had realized this as soon as Flora had begun talking. It wasn't so much present in her words, as much as how she spoke them. And Pony liked her, and felt for the older woman. "You know what? You should come to the Blue Bar with me tonight. It's nice there."
And it was settled.
X
That night, after stopping at Pony's for a shower – "A real, mechanical shower!" Flora had raved, sick unto death of showering in the waterfall with a bathing suit on – and saying hello to Tilly the cow, Mark the brother, and Takakura the farmer, the two had set off.
By now, Flora had learned to look for clues in Pony's actions. Though young, she had a quiet demeanor that made her seem older, and that allowed her to get along with denizens of the bar, both young and old. Flora was nervous, and had downed a drink before she even realized that Pony was drinking water.
"Are you even old enough to drink?" Flora asked in disbelief, trying to calculate their age difference.
Pony grinned at that. "I'm twenty-four! I just don't drink."
"Eat like a rabbit, too." A voice suddenly grunted from Pony's other side. Flora blinked over and noticed the quiet man had come in – Marlin, from Vesta's farm just south of them. The two had never really socialized before.
"I eat like a person," Pony contradicted, a sudden, large smile crossing her features. "How're you, Marlin?"
"Good." He grunted, as if he didn't mean 'good' at all. Flora felt suddenly shy.
"Hey there!" Another voice appeared – a different bartender than the man who'd just served them. "You're Flora, right? What a pretty name. I'm Muffy!"
The effervescent woman before her began to suddenly chatter on about flowers without pause. Flora was glad for the conversation and launched into it with her own additions about ancient species of flowers in the fossil prints they'd found in the mine.
"I love Goddess Drops." Muffy sighed.
"You know, they evolved from an invasive species from another country, and were once much larger, before they managed to integrate into the environment. We think that their natural suppressant, the Trick Blue, was introduced in order to kill them, otherwise they'd be a year-round-weed instead of a seasonal flower."
"That's so interesting! Do you want another Stone Oil? It's my least favorite, but it's our best seller. I can't tell you any secret ingredients, but Griffin loves to experiment with drink recipes."
"No thanks, just water for now, I'm a bit thirsty."
"Sure thing! It's water fresh from the spring, too, so that's why it's so good!"
Marlin nudged Pony as the two blondes chattered happily. "Nice to see Muffy finding a friend."
Pony grinned broadly. "Figured the two of them would get along. Flora talks so much- you'd think her tongue was attached in the middle so two ends can flap."
Chuckling and slowly finishing his drink, Marlin yawned.
"Late night?" Pony asked wryly. It was hardly eight PM.
Dark eyes rolled back. "Yup."
"Actually, I'm gonna leave too." Flora decided, hearing that. "I really do need to be up early tomorrow anyway, but I'll come back here more often." She promised Muffy warmly, and the bartender squeed happily.
The three departed quietly –it hadn't been a busy night. Neither of the twins were there, and Cody hadn't yet arrived. Mark had mentioned visiting Nami, so they were probably doing something – they'd become fast friends in the past few days.
"I'll walk you home." Pony said to Flora.
Taken aback, the older woman laughed. "Thanks, but I'm fine, Pony. It's Forget-Me-Not, not the city."
"I'll walk you home," she insisted cheerfully. "It's nice out, and I could use the time outside after being in the mine all day."
A shrug was Marlin's only response. He wasn't good with new people. Flora would have to wait to see him again if she wanted much more out of him.
The walk was silent, but not uncomfortable. Flora was high – buzzed from the drink and ecstatic that she'd made a new friend, found a place to socialize. It was Pony – all Pony – and she was half-drunk and beyond cheerful, Flora hardly noticed that Marlin and Pony followed her home, waiting for her to disappear within the folds of the tent to turn away.
It wasn't even nine when she passed out, Carter still studying one of their finds from nearly a month ago. When he did finally put everything away and prepare to sleep, he smiled – she hadn't gotten undressed, or washed, or done anything but collapse atop her sleeping bag like a tired child. He pulled out a spare blanket and draped it over her content form before turning off their light and falling asleep to the sound of her even breathing.
As they walked away, Flora dead to the world, Marlin commented: "She's a piece of work."
"She's happy to have made a friend." Pony corrected him. "Don't spoil anything, now."
"So that's why you haven't been around."
"I have other friends," she said playfully. Their pace was noticeably slower than it had been. They were lingering, enjoying each other's' presence. He found that he truly liked her – not just because Takakura and Vesta liked her, but because he found he had a compatibility with her that resonated inside him. He related to her, to her quietness and thoughtful nature. "Don't you?"
"Yeah," he grunted. "I'm Mister Social Butterfly."
"Figured. You and Takakura both."
"I wanna come around tomorrow." He said it calmly, no subtext, no indirect wordplay, no transition from subject to subject. He was abrupt, as was his personality, and he figured if people didn't figure that out early on, any friendship with him was a farce.
"What time? I was thinking about visiting the twins, see what their work is like." She took him in stride, and he liked that.
"Whenever, then. Maybe at night. We can go to the bar."
"You drink too much." She said it not condescendingly, but with a note of faint concern, like it wasn't a big deal, but it could be, like it was up to him to take issue with it or ignore it or agree.
"We all have our vices." He said, and wondered what hers was. He was no Karen, for sure, but he wasn't sober all the time when he could be. It was enough that it was a coping mechanism. "What's yours?"
Most people disliked such bluntness. Pony, as quiet as he was, appreciated saving her breath. "Control. Total control freak." She said it easily, like she'd come to terms with it and accepted it, but wasn't quite able to overcome it. "'Bout everything."
"Explains the… fruit thing."
"I don't just eat fruit," she corrected, just as they reached the outskirts of Vesta's farm. "I eat raw - nuts, vegetables, and fruit. I eat all of the wild herbs and plants out here, and I eat seeds. I'll make you up a real dinner sometime, show you how its done."
Control freak. Now that she said it, he could notice it. She didn't drink. Her diet was extreme. Her work was of the utmost importance to her, and she loved to learn more. Even her friendships seemed slightly calculated, even in good nature. Her friendship with Vesta – as he suspected, probably based in her desire for knowledge. Her friendship with Celia – to strengthen her ties with Vesta and him. Takakura – she needed a farm. Flora – to learn more, to strengthen her social connections. He wondered what she gained out of a friendship with him, and if he would like the answer.
"Tell Celia I said hello," she said by way of parting. "And Vesta... tell her my rosemary is sprouting."
He inclined his head and turned away, still wondering. Then she was gone, and he was in the quiet warmth of the house, and he wondered if it would be too rude to just ask her what she wanted, and if she'd still consider him a friend after such a cynical and piercing question. Especially since it would be painfully based in truth.