Ep 0.5 "Desert Blooms" (closed)

Shadow entered the control room intending to appropriate the ground bridge for a quick trip to Anywhere But Here, only to find Rhinox already at the controls, hands full of...things (including what appeared to be a 55 gallon drum equipped with a spout and handle), and EMF broadcasting excitement in longwave bands that nearly crossed the room. She was surprised that he was paying attention to anything else, worked up like that, but he looked up as she neared, and she found herself answering his happy smile with one of her own.

"You got final permission for the garden?" she asked, putting together the oh so subtle clues of "ecstatic Rhinox" and "ground bridge" and (what she finally recognized as) "gardening equipment". "Does that mean your sunrays are going to be all right?"

"I'm glad they survived." She grinned. "Especially after all the work we put into saving them. And I'd love to see them when they aren't buried in mud and we aren't half blind from rain."

She settled in beside him as the ground bridge opened, EMF as longwave as his, if not as excited. This might not be the way she had planned to spend her afternoon, but it was Anywhere But Here, and Rhinox...well, Rhinox had proven himself good company in the past.

Shadow couldn't help herself; she was analyzing Rhinox's chosen location even before he had led her from the ground bridge drop-off point into the ravine where the garden was. He had picked a good spot, even if it was a little close to base. No high-traffic areas in line of sight, even at ground level, and even the nearest access road was well over a mile away. No natural landmarks to attract hikers, and once they were down in the stream bed even Rhinox was quickly concealed by the gradually rising walls.

A quick internet search revealed they were away from civilian flight paths, so they wouldn't have to worry about being spotted from above...or at least, Rhinox could generally assume that anything overhead was either military or Decepticon, and Shadow suspected that a member of Team Axalon would be more than capable of determining what to do in either situation.

In short, by the time they reached the garden proper, Shadow was fairly sure she couldn't have found a better location herself, and that fact allowed her to relax completely as Rhinox led her over to the sunrays.

Somehow, it didn't surprise her that Rhinox spoke to them. She knew some humans swore that talking to plants helped them grow better, and judging from how much better the sunrays looked compared to when they'd been fishing them out of the mudslide and packing them into Rhinox's toolbox, Rhinox must have been lavishing a great deal of care and attention on them. Not such a surprise that, after that much effort, he'd be attached enough to talk to them.

If he started acting like he expected them to answer, then she'd worry he was glitched.

With a smile, Shadow knelt down beside the little group of plants, observing them intently with optics and sensors. "They really are beautiful," she said. "I don't understand why humans don't cultivate them."

"You seem to be doing all right with them," Shadow pointed out, turning to look at him briefly before reaching out to brush the tip of a finger along one delicate stem. She could still see the damage from the mudslide, places where Rhinox had trimmed back broken stems, torn leaves and partially crushed blooms, but none of the plants appeared to be drooping or turning brown.

She smiled when he asked if she wanted to help water them; so that was what the modified drum was for. "Of course I'll help. Even if it does seem amazing they'd need more water after what they went through."

She watered the flowers under Rhinox's careful optic - it really did amaze her they could need it, considering they'd been washed away from their old location and then packed in mud for Primus only knew how long before Rhinox transplanted them - and when he was satisfied she set the watering can aside. The other tools Rhinox had brought were standing in a neat row along one sandstone wall; Shadow tipped her head toward them and regarded Rhinox with open curiosity. It was the sort of thing she normally tried not to admit to, but gardening was already something so...unusual that she doubted her curiosity could be criticized.

"Do you really need all that for one little patch of flowers? Or did you bring them to prepare a spot for something new?"

Shadow quickly checked the internet for more information on the plants in question, and was rewarded with several far better images than the one decorating the packet Rhinox held. That'll give you, er, bees, she refrained from saying, doubting Rhinox would get the reference; his field was already reflecting embarrassment over his enthusiasm, and she didn't want him to think she was mocking him.

Instead, she pulsed amusement/reassurance at him and said, "Those will look good with your sunrays. And if they sprout, maybe you can get one of the humans to pick you up a wildflower seed blend. Then you'd have the opportunity to observe a variety of native plants." A quick sideways look and grin. "A variety of insect life, too, most likely."

"They make regional seed blends." Shadow paused, rapidly searching the internet, discounting any websites which didn't list the species of flora their seeds inclued; she doubted Rhinox would be content without knowing precisely what he was planting. "There," she said finally, pinging him with a site which met the criteria of complete list of species and regional native plants only. "Twenty different wildflower species native to this region, and you can buy the seed blend by the pound. You could have this entire area in bloom if you wanted."

Shadow obligingly applied the watering can to the section of crumblingly dry dirt Rhinox had broken up, watching him from the corner of her optics as she did so. He was just so charmed by the seeds, EMF filled with an uncomplicated joy that made her smile.

Shadow leaned down to break apart a stubbornly large chunk of dirt. Rhinox was easy to be comfortable around, even if he did have the questionable taste to be friends with Rattrap, and when he started clicking softly to the seeds she answered with a basic-level trill that was equal parts amusement and good cheer.

"I think you're right that a pound of seeds would be a bit much," she teased. "You might explode before you got them all planted."

Coming out here with him had been an excellent decision.