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[thebloodyglue]

Spring, true Spring, always comes with a lot to be done outside. In the Glade, they hadn't had seasons -- it had been warm and bright most days. Some days, it might have rained, but the temperature didn't fluctuate much. The soil was good, and things grew. In Darrow, Newt has to spend some time in his own garden, the glass roof pushed back to let in the blue of the sky. He'd called Yona earlier and asked her if she wanted to come and help. Kavinsky is down at the studio and it's a nice chanc eto spend some time hanging out with one of his best friends, with his hands in good, rich earth.

It sounds like a entirely pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

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[train_baby]

Though Yona is always glad to spend time with Newt, she's particularly excited when he invites her over to help him garden. She's had a few years now in Darrow, enough that it's a little staggering when she really stops to think about it, but she's still always both fascinated and delighted by seeing things grow. Until that journey forward on the train, she hadn't known such a thing was even possible, and the greenhouse car had nothing on the plants growing in the earth here. She can't think of many better things she could do with her day than gardening with one of her favorite people here.

"You'll have to tell me what everything is," she says eagerly. "I'll try to remember."

[thebloodyglue]

"I don't know the real names of a lot of them," he admits, with a little smile. "I should. I learned them for exams but forgot. I know what things look like, what they grow like, where they grow best, but..." He shrugs. "I can never keep the latin names in my head."

[train_baby]

"It's a lot of names to remember, anyway," Yona says. "The real ones and the other ones." She knows just a few of those. A few more, she'd recognize the name of but not be able to identify. The fact of that doesn't bother her, though; it just makes her want to learn, as is the case with so much that she was never exposed to before Darrow. It's been nearly five years now, somehow. That's a long time, but it's also not nearly enough for her to absorb everything. "I don't know if I could keep them all in my head, either."

[thebloodyglue]

"It is. And as long as you understand them, it doesn't really matter what you call them." He's kneeling down, pruning in quick, precise gestures. "You can just sit, if you want. I don't mind doing the work. The company's good."

[train_baby]

"Okay," Yona says cheerily, sitting cross-legged beside him. It's strange sometimes to think that, just a few years ago, she didn't know what dirt was or that such a thing existed, never mind that things could grow out of it. She likes actually seeing it happen, getting to be a part of it in some way. It feels like making magic. "If you tell me what to do, I can help. I'd like to."

[thebloodyglue]

Newt glances over his shoulder at her, and grins. "Okay, sweetheart," he says. "That one, the spiky one? That's a weed, which basically just means it's a plant but I don't want it to be there. Can you pull it? Try and get as much of the root as possible."

[train_baby]

Accustomed as she is to soot and grime and not having regular access to a shower, if there's anything Yona doesn't mind, it's getting a little dirty. Grasping the plant, she gives it a good tug, pleased when after just a bit of pulling at it she gets it loose from the dirt, spindly little roots in tow. The weeds might be what he doesn't want there, but even that looks fascinating like this, with what's usually below the surface out in the open now. "Like this?" she asks, smiling.

[thebloodyglue]

"Exactly like that," says Newt, grinning broadly. "You can drop it in the bucket, and then do exactly the same thing with the other three that look just like it in that bed."

[train_baby]

"Okay," Yona agrees cheerily. She would have been glad just to come and keep Newt company, but she likes having something she can actually do, a way of being a part of this. Even the weeds, she thinks, are sort of beautiful. It's funny how those little spindly growths could still equate to so much life.

She drops the one she's pulled out in the bucket, then reaches for the next one. "It's sort of fun."

[thebloodyglue]

"I always think so," says Newt, busying himself with pruning a rose bush, cutting it down to encourage new growth. "I'm not sure Kavinsky quite gets it, but he's good for manual labour."

[train_baby]

"I think..." Yona says, trailing off thoughtfully, mouth scrunched to the side as she considers her words. "I think it will always feel special. Seeing things grow." She even likes the feeling of dirt between her fingers, now that she knows she's not supposed to eat it. "Being part of that."

[thebloodyglue]

"Like an every day kind of magic," says Newt, with a little smile, leaning in to nudge her with his shoulder. "I get it. I feel that way about a lot of things here."

[train_baby]

"Yes," Yona says, returning his smile as she nods in turn. "Every day magic. I like that." It's a good way of encompassing what that feels like, how the ordinary seems incredible in its own right. There are things she sees all the time that she still wouldn't want to take for granted.

Teasing, she adds, "I think with your garden, that makes you a magician."

[thebloodyglue]

"You know, Charlie's girlfriend is a witch," says Newt, going back to what he was doing. "An actual witch. And Kavinsky's got actual dream magic. I'm not really that interesting, Yona."

[train_baby]

"This is interesting too," Yona says, as certain as if she'd given this thought before. "Just a different sort of interesting." She knows most people don't see things and sense things the way she sometimes does, but she hardly thinks that's better or more special. "You bring things to life."

[thebloodyglue]

"Every day interesting," says Newt, his smile crooked, his hands busy in the dirt. "No. I just make sure they don't die. I'm not sure it's the same thing."

[train_baby]

"It's something," Yona says. For someone who grew up surrounded only by cold metal and dirty glass, keeping something alive or bringing it to life — roots growing in soil with just sunlight and water and caring hands — is everything. "Funny how something so small grows into something so beautiful."

[thebloodyglue]

"It is isn't it," says Newt, smiling. He leans, cutting a purple flower from its plant and then sits down, reaching to tuck it behind Yona's ear. "There. That suits you."

[train_baby]

Yona beams, lifting her hand to ever so gently touch the flower without knocking it out of place. It's a small thing, but she likes it, carrying something living around with her. "I like it," she says, nodding towards the plant he'd cut the flower from. "That flower, the color."

[thebloodyglue]

"Good," says Newt, pleased that he's chosen properly, that she's pleased with the gift, inconsequential as it is. "We're almost done out here. Do you want to stay for lunch?"

[train_baby]

"I'd love to," Yona says. She's always glad to spend more time with Newt, one of her favorite people here, and she doesn't think she's ever turned down an invitation for food, anyway. "Do we know what we're having?"

[thebloodyglue]

"Well," says Newt, standing up and offering her his hands. "Kavinsky made this noodle thing last night, and it was shucking great and I know that we've got leftovers, so..."

[train_baby]

"I like noodles," Yona declares, as if she doesn't like virtually every kind of food. She's never had room to be picky, and she wouldn't want to be here, where there's so much variety. Taking his hands to get to her feet, she adds, "That sounds perfect."