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 Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2026 5:51 pm
Out of Season (13) : One would think that winter would be dismal and gray, and after each snowfall there's a hefty dose of white covering up the world. Except, all winter bright patches of wildflowers begin sprouting straight through the frost--as if spring has decided to push its way into winter a few months early. Blues, pinks, yellows, and purples bloom in vivid clusters, warming the landscape with bursts of color that look impossibly alive against the cold. The flowers behave exactly like their normal spring counterparts--soft petals, gentle fragrance, and even suitable for tea or simple crafts. They’re simply appearing far too early. Whether it’s a harmless anomaly or a sign of something stirring beneath the seasons, the sudden blossoms bring an unexpected beauty to the winter chill.
In any case, he had spotted the flowerbed and hurried over in his excitement, his expression bright as he quickly sent a message off to Jishui to meet him before diving right in. He started to carefully gather a selection of colors of flowers that he personally thought would complement her, his mind half paying attention to his surroundings for when she (hopefully) showed up.
She was busier than he was, with her job and all. He'd been debating what he could do to help, but so far...
Okay, maybe he wasn't the most adaptable person in the universe. Or the sort to pick things up really quickly. Studying had never really been his thing back home, though he had spent plenty of time reading in the library—in the fiction section, of course. He'd always been the sort to lean into more creative pursuits, and for a while now he had been wondering what he could do on Earth with such an interest. Or maybe he could settle for learning how to make coffee, because he had very thoroughly fallen in love with the stuff since being introduced to it.
"Wouldn't be a bad idea," he hummed, still smiling as he worked. "That way I can stop being a complete burden."
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2026 5:53 pm
Jishui had come over just in time to hear Haik’s words and she frowned slightly, reaching out to place a delicate hand on his back. “There’s nothing about you that’s a burden, I hate when you say things like that…”
Her eyes were roaming over the flowers, it…was far too cold for them to be blooming, and Jishui was absolutely enchanted by it. “Did you plant these?” Even if he had, she wasn’t sure how h—e had managed to make them bloom…he didn’t have magic to make things warm…or to grow plants but…
“Have you been working on this long? Why didn’t you tell me, I could have helped!”
Sort of. Weeding would have helped, she supposed but…there wasn’t anything growing that looked like weeds…and again…it was cold.
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2026 5:54 pm
Looking up from where he was crouching, he registered her frown alongside her words and gave a little shrug, his own smile still steady as he quickly turned back to gathering some more flowers for her bouquet. "I know," he said, his voice slightly more subdued than it had been moments before she got there. "I just wanna help, that's all. I've been doing nothing for long enough." His own words cut into him a bit, as they applied to more than just his time on Earth. His excuse had been needing to gain strength, but he'd done that. At least a little bit of it, and even afterward he still had yet to go back home.
How long had it been now? How long since he last saw the very real picture of his failure to save his people? His planet? It had started eating at him a bit more in recent months, though he had expertly maneuvered around it, and he continued to even now.
"I didn't plant them, no," he said, finally moving to stand. "I just saw them and thought of you." He fixed the bouquet in one hand, summoning a ribbon from his subspace and carefully, with slightly fumbling hands, tying it around the bouquet before offering it to her.
"Here you go," he said brightly, and with a wide, toothy smile.
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2026 5:58 pm
“You know, we all grow and do things at our own pace. There’s no reason to…” Jishui fell silent, trying to figure out the best way to say what she was trying to convey. Words were difficult sometimes…but…she needed Haik to know that…he was fine taking things slowly. There was no harm in that, whatsoever.
“There’s no way to…make things move any faster than they are, and there is no harm in taking your time. I think you’re doing just fine, if that helps.”
She was small enough that she hardly had to lean down to press a kiss to his temple, and her eyes lit up with the gift. “They’re absolutely beautiful. Thank you ever so much. I’m going to treasure these.”
They were special. All gifts from Haik were special, but these? Flowers growing from the snow?
She would preserve some of these. “I adore you, you know. And think you are doing wonderful things, even if you don’t.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2026 6:31 pm
Haik closed his eyes briefly, relishing the little kiss and, after just a little bit, the look on her face as she lit up when he'd given her the flowers. Her happiness had somehow become his, he noticed recently, and he'd taken to doing small things that he thought she would enjoy or find helpful just to see this exact expression.
He stood then, and stretched out once he was fully standing, taking his time with her gentle words of encouragement. Kind as they were, even true as they were, they didn't settle him.
"I know," he said after what seemed too lengthy a silence, and he reached up to scratch the back of his head. "I know all that, I just– I want to help. To contribute more than what I do now, even if it's only a little bit."
He paused, and another beat of quiet passed between them before he suggested, "Maybe a part-time job, if you think I've assimilated enough and can handle that sort of thing?" The senshi looked hopeful, eyes big and bright and smiling down at her. "What do you think?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2026 7:01 pm
“I think you’re doing perfectly, and we can figure out what kind of job to get you…with all of this, all I can think of is something with flowers.” It was teasing, somewhat, but Jishui was impressed. “Or water…I know that you have an affinity for water…we can think of something. We’ll figure it out together, if you want to?”
She wanted to. It sounded fun. It sounded interesting. “I think you’ve assimilated perfectly, if I am being honest.”
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Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2026 9:46 pm
"Something with water!" Honestly, it was such a simple answer he had no idea how it slipped his mind. In his excitement, he leaned down and swept Jishui up into his arms, into a warm embrace. "That's an excellent place to start! Thank you!" Though even as he put her back down he quickly remembered something fairly important: he had no idea what human jobs involved water.
"Uh," he blinked, his expression softening into a somewhat silly, sheepish grin. "Well. Let's figure it out...together?"
At that he crouched back down and quickly gathered a new selection of flowers, then summoned another ribbon from his subspace and tied the slightly smaller bouquet together before standing and offering it to her as well.
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