It Might As Well Be Spring [Open Video]

[vernal_miss]

Date: March 20th, 2019; after school
Characters: Network Number {235 13 892 33} ; Action open to family

[As the video begins, the sleeve of a lightweight knit sweater covers the view as the broadcast as Nel makes an adjustment to the angle of the phone. Gentle, she releases the device and withdraws her hands slowly before taking a few steps back to bring herself into the frame. The view is somewhat elevated and shows Nel standing in the family backyard. The grass looks a little more vibrant than those belonging to neighbors or elsewhere in Mossgate thanks to her time playing around outside this afternoon trying to burn off the excess energy that makes itself known as she addresses the Network.

As she talks, her words are hurried and there's a light bouncing on her heels as she attempts to stand in one place with modest success.]

Hallo everyone! I thought it'd be nice if I shared the gift Father Christmas gave me! I decided today is a nice day to wake the seeds up and so I have these here-

[She gestures to the few pots she has set up with dirt in them beside her, and in front of them rests an opened gift box.]

-to put them in. Then I started holding them trying to pick which one I want to grow and oh they look brilliant in my head and I knew I had to show them to everyone cause they're absolutely beyond anything else anywhere!

[A gleeful giggle breaks from her in anticipation, and she claps her hands together with excitement. Rather than take a simple step over, she springs in a hop to land in a crouch and reaches into the box to retrieve one seed out of the packets within. Leaping right back up to her feet she hurries over to the camera to hold the seed up close for a slightly blurry view of what looks more like a chunk of ice topped by a bit of lint than a plant seed.]

See? It's already so nice, but watch this!

[Scurrying back to one of the pots, Nel minds the camera enough to go to the opposite side and crouch there. She digs a hole down into the dirt with her finger, and drops the little seed down inside. A sweep of her hand covers the dirt, and then she lays her hand over that same spot in the pot as she closes her eyes to focus. Coming quite fast, the vibrant green coloration overtakes her hair nearly to her shoulders as she calls her magic to hasten the growth of the plant. What follows is the sight of her raising her hand upwards with the tip of the plant pushing up against it within the little sparkles falling from her hand. The stem of the plant twirls as it rises upwards, and as it gets taller, small buds shaped like diamonds form at the sides near the top, as sharp and crystalline as ice. Her second hand comes underneath the lowest bud, and the largest buds at the top open at the tip to spread out flat into thin sheets that rather resemble snowflakes without separate petals. By the time the last of the top three buds open, the plant itself is nearing a meter in height with Nel now standing. Her hands lower away as she stares wide eyed at the sight of what she had only pictured in her head previously, and with a squeal, she jumps away from the pot to start running about.]

IT'S SO PRETTY!!!!

[She goes out of frame, then a few seconds later, crosses in a cartwheel with her long red hair trailing behind.]

Comments

[vernal_miss]

[For a handful of seconds, Nel quiets as she concentrates on the question. It is a rather important factor to consider - inspiration.]

It would be nice to use both, but I think how cool they are is more important. But you need to see more first!

[Then she’s hopping the next instant to pick up the phone to carry at a walk back over to the plant for a close up of the flowers and the buds from different angles. She even goes so far as to squat down to look up at them from below to show how they catch the light.]

[iamnotgod]

[At least they've found a stopgap measure for redirecting Nel's energy?

A very short stopgap measure.]

Ice bells, perhaps?

[These flowers are really rather pretty.]

[vernal_miss]

Oh, that’s a good one!

[After viewing the plant thoroughly, Nel takes the phone back to set in its original elevated position.]

Maybe...frost flowers?

[iamnotgod]

Yours is more alliterative.

[And 'blue bells' are already a thing, more-or-less.]

[vernal_miss]

[Nel laughs at that quality Walter points out and she walks back out in front of the phone to start twirling around, long hair wrapping around her in the motion.]

Yes! But surely there are other good ones!

The flowers look a little like snowflakes so maybe snow bells!

[iamnotgod]

Or- they're more reflective like crystals, aren't they?

[Snowflakes, at least, aren't reflective.]

Though, crystal bells doesn't sound very original.

[vernal_miss]

[After a good six rotations, Nel slows down and staggers a few steps with accompanying giggles. She manages to find her balance and look back at the phone.]

Snow drops are another kind of flower... What about crystal drops?

Frost bells would be nice too...

[iamnotgod]

[Walter is quietly glad the vertigo's only secondhand.]

I do like the sound of frost bells.

['Frost drops' again sounds wrong, for reasons he can't quite place. Something about the assonance...]

[vernal_miss]

Or ice drops! [Stemming more from his earlier suggestion in conjunction with the crystal aspect.]

Then so far we have ice bells, ice drops, crystal drops, frost bells, frost flowers, and...

[There is one more, she’s certain. Staring off for a moment, she thinks over the names suggested thus far. Walter is welcome to fill in the blank.]

[iamnotgod]

Frozen flowers?

Though if we're keeping to the list of words we have, we've left out crystal flowers.

[vernal_miss]

Not those, but those are some to think on too...

[She looks back at the flowers and starts to murmur.] Flower...snowflake...drops....snow drops....bells....

[Then the earlier suggestion comes back and she states it louder with a clap of her hands.] Snow Bells!

That’s a lot of names... Which one do you like best so far, Walter?

[iamnotgod]

Yes!

I believe that one's a real flower, though - just as one word.

And I am fond of crystal drops.

[Walter should probably be proud he's kept Nel focused on this topic even for this long.]

[vernal_miss]

Oooh, right! They are! I forgot snow drops and snowbells are flowers already.

Crystal drops!! That’s what we’ll call them!

[Indeed. So long as she can keep active physically, her mental focus improves, but the opposite is true in that trying to restrict her body fractures her attention span. However, the task is completed, and Nel goes skipping out of view without warning.]

[iamnotgod]

It's settled, then.

[Walter waits awkwardly, wondering if Nel is going to come back or vent more energy.

... How many more days is she going to be like this?]

[vernal_miss]

[It doesn’t take long for Nel to pass in the distance along the border of the yard as she skips around the entire property, and she is back in front of the phone in about half a minute. Breathing faster for the exertion, she lets out airy giggles.]

Hi Walter! Again!

[She looks back at the pots over her shoulder, then back to the camera.]

Should I try to grow more plants in the pots? Oh, and which kind? I have other seeds that Father Christmas gave me, but I know lots and lots of plants that live here too.

[iamnotgod]

... If you can make them fit safely in the pots, and not fight for resources, then that might be a useful compromise.

[Would Nel be willing to risk it, though? Walter himself doesn't sound altogether certain of his suggestion, anyway.]

Or, would it make sense for you to have a plant that grows along the walls outside? As long as it doesn't attract too much attention.

[Meaning she'd probably have to ask her Mums, first.]

[vernal_miss]

Weeeeeell...I think the kind of plant matters? If I made baby trees, they would be okay for a short while, and some flowers would be the same. But smaller flowers should be okay to live in the pots! Especially the ones that only stay for one year.

Vines would be fun to grow! But our neighbors might see....

[That, and she only has a limited number of climbing plants in her current repertoire.]

[iamnotgod]

We can focus on the small flowers, then.

[Keeping from attracting unwanted attention is key, for now.]

[vernal_miss]

[Pleased to have a direction for focus, she starts thinking through the options in her head. Softly laughing from her throat as she sways where she stands, she asks.]

Do you have a favorite?

https://www.countrylife.co.uk/gardens/a-simple-guide-to-the-wildflowers-of-britain-71271

[iamnotgod]

Certainly not the poisonous ones! No matter how pleasant they are to look at.

[Take it from one who Knows.]

But... I'd say no, really.

[His expression then turns more thoughtful.]

Forget-me-nots are a classic, though.

[vernal_miss]

Poisonous? Like a fox glove?

[With a younger sibling and cats around, Nel certainly thinks it a wise precaution to avoid potentially toxic species.]

Forget-me-nots are very pretty, but they can grow all over in your garden. [Her neighbor said as much! She has a feeling her mothers would disapprove, and knowing Walter isn’t favoring them makes it easier for her to gently decline.]

Is there another classic?

[iamnotgod]

[Walter nods.]

Teasel, perhaps?

[Not quite found in the same area, but-]

Their roots are useful, at least.

[vernal_miss]

Teasel...can you show me a picture of that one please? I think I remember but I’m not sure. I’ve been trying to learn the names properly but there are so many!

[And her current state of mind is not helping matters.]

For the record, he looked it up online, then just drew it for Nel rather than send a link.

[iamnotgod]

I'll draw it, hold on-

[Using a different, non-Numbered medium, it's merely minutes before he has a picture to hold up for Nel.

It's not the same as how she would draw it, though it's still very well-detailed.]

Here.

So noted!

[vernal_miss]

Okie dokie!

[Minutes is quite a long time for a hyperactive child, so when Walter has finished, he’ll be able to spot Nel at a short distance from the camera beyond the pots performing stunt rolls. Diving forward onto her hands to tuck into a ball to safely roll herself over and come back up to her feet with a spring.

Laughing as she staggers dizzily after a total of a dozen or so, she wanders over to check progress on her phone and lights up at the picture.]

That looks so good! I remember them now!