Today we weed the park all SANTA BABYYYYYY

[ourearth]

Date: 1.12.2018
Characters: Open!
Note: Like all welcome mingles, this is a SoL free-for-all mingle meant to get new characters involved by centering around something relevant to them. Without further ado, please welcome Runar!

---

While the poppies were significantly less creepy than the spiders, they still posed a problem - namely, that there were way too many of them. So after a few weeks of having discussed what to do about them, everyone living in the Mossgate Council area has been requested to help with cleaning up the environment and helping prepare things for the winter. A community clean-up day has been announced for the first Saturday of December, and everyone is requested to volunteer.

Mostly, this means weeding poppies down to a reasonable amount, but it also involves general clean-up and some raking of fallen leaves.

Volunteers are equipped with baskets and tools and sent out into the Greens, onto the beach, and into all other public areas the poppies have sprung up in. The zoo and the Manor house are also happy about anyone who wants to help with clearing their grounds.

And in the evening, the Christmas illuminations at the High Street light up. As is traditional, a children's choir sings for this occasion, and the Mayor takes one of the choir children with him to switch the lights on. At the same time, the Christmas market - really just a few food stalls and a handful of arts and crafts stalls, as well as a little stage where singer-songwriters and childrens' entertainers perform on weekends - opens.

Comments

[voiceacrosttime]

Runar is particularly excited to be helping out with cleaning up the poppies, and the maintenance of the scenery. In his basket, he carries a variety of ribbons to bundle up some of the flowers as gifts for a handful of people. He's doing all of his cleanup with a rather cheerful smile.

Runar is particularly effeminate, wearing a cute outfit, so if you mistake him for a girl, you wouldn't be the first. If you go flower shopping even occasionally, you might have noticed him working for the florist shop: Fleur D'Bloom, in which he would be particularly friendly and polite.

He may be going around, offering his help to anyone who looks like they even need a bit. Otherwise, he's happy enough to do his work on his own. If that's the case, he'll find himself someplace where he thinks no one else is around, in a corner of the park. If he spies no one else for a time, you might hear someone singing softly. To himself? No, to the flowers.

"All the flowers in rows upon rows.
See the flowers the rose, the rose.
Lavenders, poppies, pansies and marigolds, abound.
I just love singing to my friends on the ground.

"I love the trees; the warm gentle breeze.
Then sun and the clouds and humming of bees.
Just tending to herbs and their kin pleases me.
Oh, to be in my garden makes me so happy."

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie is, admittedly, a bit lost. She's a Londoner. She lived in a flat until she moved to Mossgate, her experience with plants is pretty much nil. She catches Runar as he moves about the place.

"Excuse me, would you be able to help me?"

[voiceacrosttime]

"Oh!" Runar exclaims, actually kind of thrilled betweeen the flowers and the prospect of helping out. He gives a warm, polite smile. "Of course, I'd be happy to help. What do you need?"

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie's cheeks flush in embarrassment, "Thank you! I've never really done much with plants before, I was hoping you could show me how to remove them properly?"

... How well *can* he sing, btw? Walter's not the mocking sort.

[iamnotgod]

It was a nice park; Walter couldn't color himself surprised at Runar taking advantage of the quiet.

Well, not so much quiet now.

While not wanting to make too much of a fuss, he does applaud when it looks like Runar is finished.

"Not bad! Pity the flowers can't applaud you too."

I'd say pretty good, but nothing professional. Vocal training would benefit him.

[voiceacrosttime]

Runar's face instantly flushes red as he turns on his heel to see Walter. Oh, no, how long was he standing there???

He coughs loudly for a moment, trying to clear himself of his embarrassment. It takes him another moment to realise he was being complimented.

Oh, right. The compliment.

"Ah, urm... thank you." He clears his throat again, but his face is still red. He tries his best to just move past that part, and tries to offer a smile. "Uhm... did you come to take care of the flowers, too?"

He holds out his basket to Walter.

"I have ribbon. I think they'd make a wonderful gift, or even something to take home and put on your table."

So you could say he's an... angel, in the rough?

[iamnotgod]

Walter focuses on the question, so Runar can have less reason to feel embarrassed.

"Ah, yes."

Closing partway the rest of the distance, he glances down at the ribbons.

"Maybe later? Anyone I could give them to likely has their hands full right now."

Either with normal work or this poppies business.

He looks back up at Runar, frowning in concentration.

"I know I've seen you before, but I don't think we've met? I'm Walter, Walter Weekes."

[vernal_miss]

Nearing the end of a break in which she has been constructing numerous chains of the corn poppies, Nel slides in one last flower to the weave looping stems around each other to complete the flower crown with barely a space here and there between the red and white petals. Every third flower in the chain is white, and when she has secured that last piece, she holds it out to examine carefully. She made it larger than necessary to fit herself to accommodate the long stems and pattern, so standing up with it held in both hands, she decides to find someone that might enjoy it.

It doesn't take Nel long to spot Runar nearby, and she notices the length of ribbon and cheerful smile as that person makes a gift for someone else. That's enough for her. Wearing a smile of her own, she'll walk over and hold the flower crown up to the stranger, "Hi! I think this would look very nice on you if you'd like it."

[voiceacrosttime]

Runar can't help but blush a little at the offer. He's all flustered that someone, a stranger even, would consider giving him such a gift. Even if it's only a little girl, with a simple flower crown. Still, it's a sweet thought.

He smiles and leans down.

"It looks like you worked very hard on it. Are you sure it's okay to give it to me? It's very pretty."

He'd hate for someone to work so hard on something, and perhaps having preferred to giving it to someone more special.

[vernal_miss]

Nel is confident in her choice of a recipient, and when he leans down, she takes it as an invitation. Lifting her hands up higher, she’ll place the flower crown right on his head. It looks like a good fit, and she immediately smiles brightly to declare it with hands clapped together in front of her chest, “Very sure! I had lots of fun making it, but I like how it looks on you.”

Someone that has been making other people happy should certainly receive the same treatment.

OTA!

[iamnotgod]

After asking some initial questions as to whether (and where) people should be keeping the poppies, Walter joined the volunteers and set about joining for quick disposal.

Emphasis on quick; if he wasn't thinking about it, any area infested with the plants would get cleaned out quicker than expected.

Maybe he needed to be told to mind his pace and let someone else have a turn?

[fairfeste]

Feste is working on another patch, but they're definitely not keeping up with Walter's pace in the slightest. It's reaching the point where it's almost kind of embarrassing.

"How are you so fast?" they ask eventually in bewilderment.

[iamnotgod]

Walter abruptly stops, checking furtively to make sure no one's in listening range before answering.

"It's an Echo's fault; I'm not throwing you off-balance, am I?"

He sounds more than a little apologetic... but not enough to not get back into his groove. Work's still got to get done, after all!

[fairfeste]

"An Echo made you pluck weeds quickly?" ...Look, they don't know how specific these things are. "No, it's ok. It's just..." They look at their own patch, which is waaaay behind Walter's. "...I'm not nearly as good at this."

[dragoonrouge]

Picking Poppies.

When the initial call had gone out for help to clear the poppies Sadie had been more than happy to volunteer her time. However, a couple of hours and nicked fingers later, Sadie was far less enthusiastic. Scowling as she blows her nose, Sadie goes to pull up some more poppies before she is stopped by the need to sneeze.

Three short, sharp sneezes end with a loud shriek as the first two sneezes cause red sparks to pop and crackle off of Sadie's skin, and the final sneeze coinciding with the poppy in Sadie's hand bursting into flame.

Now That's What I Call Xmas Music

After the shock early in the day, Sadie has taken care to dose herself with the appropriate amount of cold and flu medicine before heading out to the Christmas Market with the aim of trying to knock some Christmas presents off of her list early.

Anyone else at the market will find her intensely examining the crafts available at the stalls.

[iamnotgod]

Not far from where Sadie's picking (and then sneezing), Walter pauses at the crackling noise.

And then utterly freezes in place because did she just set that on fire?

"Sadie," he eventually pipes up, voice mostly flat.

"I can guess you didn't mean to do that?" He barely inflects it into a question, such is his deadpan.

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie drops the charred remains of the poppy to the ground and turns to Walter, pale-faced and eyes wide.

"No!" She squeaks. "I haven't had any Echoes since Halloween"

[warped_replica]

It is while Sadie is browsing through the crafts at the market that Benjiro manages to locate her in the crowd. Carefully navigating his way over, he slides in to an opening at the stall and up beside her as he greets her warmly, “Hey.” Mindful of his bag packed for the night over, he peeks curiously at the item she appears to be examining as his fingers reach for the crook of her arm, “Finding anything good?”

Benjiro had only recently left from the warehouse where he has been employed for the last few weeks, so he had missed the actual lighting. He had managed to clear the yard for his great aunts the previous evening, but he couldn’t disregard a shift at work to help with the poppy clean up across the villages. If anyone is still burdened by the plants, he could help tomorrow instead.

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie perks up at Ben's appearance, holding up the snowglobe with cats pulling a sleigh through the snow inside for Ben to see properly. "I thought this might be a fun little 'Thank You' gift for Doctor Tilly. I'll admit I've mostly been looking for cat-themed stuff." She tells him shamelessly as she shifts her arm to let Ben loop his arm through hers.

Snowglobe purchased, she focuses fully on her boyfriend. "How was work?"

OTA

[lovedramamoron]

Morning
Although Jimmy didn't really understand why the poppies were such a big deal, or why they needed to be cleaned out by hand like this, he didn't argue much when his host family suggested that he volunteer.

It was a good excuse to get outside, however you looked at it.

He helps with the weeding to start, but changes over to raking when the neighboring volunteers get too annoyed at his lengthy recitations of poppy-related trivia.

Evening
Jimmy had been looking forward to this. He'd read about English Christmas traditions, but he hadn't yet seen any of them for himself.

He's arrived early enough to see the lighting of the illuminations, but soon makes his way over to the small market, where he explores everything the stalls have to offer with great interest.

[voiceacrosttime]

Runar had been looking forward to the Christmas Illuminations, too. The perks of traveling and getting to see what everything is like. Listening to the children's choir is definitely his favourite, though. He's still humming the melodies as he's browsing the stalls himself.

He stops at one of the food stalls, staring at what they offer. Being in an exceptionally good mood, he just does something a little more impulsive today. He turns to Jimmy.

"Care to let me buy you a drink?"

He's not even thinking as to how that might sound - flirting, offering alcohol, whatever else might cross a person's mind. He just genuinely wants to share a cocoa with someone. And apparently that's Jimmy today.

[lovedramamoron]

Jimmy stares blankly at him for a long moment, hoping that this guy hadn't meant that how it sounded. In the end he simply gestures with the styrofoam cup of coffee he was already holding in his left hand.

"Sorry, I already picked one up."

[vernal_miss]

The decision to consign residents of Mossgate to an effort to clean up the invasion of the corn poppies across the area makes sense as a matter of caring for their home. An imbalance of one flower would certainly not do well for the local ecosystem, and demanded thinning despite a superficial contradiction to her recent imbuement. As such, her playdate scheduled with some friends is converted to hours of volunteering and a picnic out at the Greens and beach front with her friends and any family that wanted to stray out of the village to work. Prior to heading out for the day, she’ll lend her assistance at home to culling the poppies in the yard, and even transplants her personally made red and white mixed poppy to the back garden with permission to see if it might give rise to others like it in the next year.

Travelling to the Greens to work, the small troop of children work their way down to the beach for the picnic. Through all this time, Nel is hard at work to carefully separate the roots of each poppy from surrounding plants. Now and again she’ll rest, sitting with a whole lapful of corn poppies to weave into flower crowns and necklaces for anyone else working nearby.

Midday, they stop for the picnic, and afterwards break for a game of hide-and-seek. Nel takes advantage of the low tide to huddle in a recess among the rising cliffs while other friends take to the rocks or even into remaining poppy patches. The wetness in the bottom of the nook doesn’t bother her, tucking away into the back to wait to be found. A chilled sensation overtakes her gradually with her shoes wet and the breeze coming inside with her, and she closes her eyes as she huddles away from the entrance. Slowly, she dozes off, slipping into a light sleep after a morning of work… Only to startle back awake as the heartbeat sounds in the emptiness and the world spins for a moment. Shaking off the Echo with her shoes starting to disappear under the water, she decides to relinquish her hiding spot as she gives her hands a quick look over. Nothing…seems different?

Her seeking friend spots her finally with a declaring shout, and the race is on for home base. Early in the afternoon, they return to work for a while longer before Nel heads home for short nap and dinner.

Christmas Illuminations
In attendance with her family, Nel is not quite her usual chipper self as the evening wears on and the temperature in the air drops with the wind heightening the effect. She stands quietly with one of the adults (be it a parent, grandparent, or elder sibling), her hands latched to their hand or the side of a coat to keep herself anchored, and she is becoming visibly drowsy. Although slower and quieter, she has no difficulty walking with her coordination intact.

Maybe she worked too hard today. Aside from helping the transplant take root with barely a touch, she hasn’t called on her magic all day.

[spaghettimonster]

Red and white flowers really have nothing on the creep factor of all those spiders and skeletons. Even if the time of year is odd for flowers, they just seem to be blooming with no other effects, and there's plenty of other, stranger things to be preoccupied with. It's been easy enough to get used to them, over the few weeks between their appearance and the community clean-up day.

But when that day comes Russell joins in the weeding for a few hours, helping get the Greens back to their usual condition. It helps that there were no stipulations to how to dispose of the weeded plants, meaning people are free to steal them back to their homes for decoration. Probably. Assuming they don't get caught.

When Nel comes by to offer some of her handiwork, Russell's in the middle of tucking some of the better flowers into a plastic bag. He startles at the nearness of her voice, and shifts to block the bag from view. "Oh, uh... thank you."

[vernal_miss]

Barely sparing the bag a glance, Nel is far more concerned with the acceptance of her extended offer of the flowered token. For this man, she has constructed a flower necklace composed of five chains braided neatly together to give it a measure of strength and to bring the flowers closer together. A straight, single flower chain works with smaller flowers like clovers, but poppies demand more layers to keep them looking brilliant with those lengthy stems.

Nel stretches her arms up high to hold to necklace up where he could either take it himself or bend down to where she can slide it over his head. She giggles at the thanks, “You’re welcome! I like making these, and there are so many flowers!”

Once he has taken the flower necklace, Nel pauses and tilts her head to look at him more carefully. He seems oddly familiar.