Rocky Road ~ House of Diyem, Eien, Mellow, and Toast

[Adamhuarts]

"Of course I'd love to stay over. I came all this way after all," Cynthian said with a chuckle. With everything that's been going on, being in friendly company felt nice. The mention of the garden brought a glint to Cynthian's eyes.

"I'd love to see your garden! Where is it?" Cynthian asked a slight head tilt followed by a chocolate scent coming off her flowers.

 

[Disco]

"It's in the back! Follow me!", Mellow replied, and motioned Cynthian to follow her. Down the hall, and in the bedroom, were a large collection of different berry plants and herbs, Flowers were lined along the walls as well, including the roses that Mellow had been given back when she'd been living in the forest. "See? I even kept everything you gave me!", the Florizard continued cheerfully.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Wow, it even smells good in here." Cynthian trailed a vine on the rose petals, admiring their vivid hues. She could tell Mellow took good care of them from how healthy they looked.

"You said you were making medicines? Tell me about the ones you've made," Cynthian asked, casting her a glance.

 

[Disco]

Mellow beamed. "It does, doesn't it?"
When asked about the medicines and things she was making, she turned, and using two wooden vines reached into the largest bedroom space. When they were brought back, one held a small decanter containing a clear liquid and the other held a berry that was similar in shape to a Sitrus, but rounder and orange to the point that it was almost red. They both seemed very vibrant...

"I've developed these- I've been calling them Divine Berries and Divine Elixirs. They're both extremely strong and I haven't harvested or made very many of either. Enough for the team and for the most severe cases that come through the infirmary...", she explained, then smiled and looked away slightly. "Zinc helped me name them."

 

[Adamhuarts]

Cynthian held the vibrant berry and gaped at it in awe. She sensed a rich fullness coming from it, and it made her all the more curious how Mellow cultivated it.

"Zinc huh? I've seen you two working together often... whenever I end up in the infirmary myself that is," Cynthian said, chuckling. She handed the divine berry back to Mellow and smiled fondly. "Are you two close?"

 

[Disco]

Mellow couldn't help blushing as she carefully held the berry. "We're... good friends. I'd like to be more... Only if she wants to be though. I know we don't have too much time here, but... It would be nice. Right now I'm happy just to be spending time with her."

That brought something to mind, though, and she continued, "What about things with you and Icetales? You two always seem happy together! Oh- if he's around, you should tell him to join us."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Sure, I'll let him know next time I'm coming here. We could have another tea party just the three of us," Cynthian said. She glanced at the plants in the room a bit vacantly as she thought over her next words.

"I'm glad to see you're doing fine Mellow, what with all that's been going on lately."

 

[Disco]

"That would be amazing!"

She smiled, but it faded slightly. "Yeah... I... Had a lot on my mind. After it all... I kind of lost my hope and trust in the team as a whole, until Bahamut talked to me. ...I should stand up for myself more and, well... Everyone. We can't keep secrets, even if it might "be the right thing"."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"The way Brisa put it, that's gonna be a tall order. It's not my business who decides who gets to know what on the team at any given time, so long as they're transparent about it," Cynthian said. She sat on Mellow's bed and sighed.

"At least Diyem is back and calling the shots now. It's a bit ironic now given how I used to see him in the past, but he's the one I trust most with matters concerning this world saving mission we're all on board for."

 

[Disco]

"...If we keep hiding things, it's just going to make everyone fight more and more..."

She sighed and sat next to her bed. "...I am glad Diyem is back too. I wasn't really fair to him back when he was at the tree."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Oh, I agree with you. I think we all need to come together at some point and reach a compromise or something, so things like this don't have to keep happening," Cynthian said with a nod.

"And don't worry about Diyem. I don't think he'll hold it against you or anything. He wasn't in his right mind at the time."

 

[Disco]

"I hope we can...."

She sighed and reached to go through her things, pulling out a few jars. When she opened them one by one, a different fragrance wafted through the air. "Any of these appeal to you? I made a few with the roses you gave me."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"I like this blue one a lot," Cynthian said as she took a whiff. "Are you making tea with them?"

 

[Disco]

Mellow smiled again and nodded. "They add a really nice taste!"
Setting aside the jar, she brought out the old tea set she'd gotten back in Treasure Town. "Got it~ I'll go get the tea started. Then I'll order the desserts."

She gathered everything and started back to the kitchen, humming softly.

<><><>

 

[Negrek]

Nate picked his way carefully along the path up to the house Diyem had taken to haunting, now that they'd managed to pry him away from the tree of life. He was still getting the hang of walking, but at least he hadn't fallen down on the way over here.

There wasn't any way to guess, looking at it from the street, that anybody noteworthy was living here. Aside from the place being fucking huge, anyway. It was weird to think of Diyem living in a normal house on a normal street, doing... normal things. Even weirder that he was rooming with Mellow. What would it even be like to have the fucking, like, lord of all evil and negativity for a roommate? That honestly sounded like a nightmare. He probably never did his fucking chores.

Nate knocked on the door--knocking was easier now, of all the random fucking things. "Diyem? You around?" he called.

 

[Namohysip]

Something slammed into the door and snarled and growled at Nate from the other side. Then came a few annoyed curses and a firm kick, which resulted in even more snarls.

"Go away, you useless--"

"Rah!"

"Nnnngh..."

The door slowly opened, revealing Diyem on the other side. Munching on one of his horns was a whole loaf of bread, which writhed and growled any time Diyem tried to pull him away.

"Hello, Nate," Diyem greeted dully. "...Congratulations on evolving."

 

[Negrek]

Nate did fall down when something smashed into the far side of the door, the wood rattling under his fist. What the fuck?

He was back on his feet by the time Diyem pulled the door open, albeit watching nervously from a couple feet back. The charizard was apparently in the middle of a fight with... oh. People'd been talking about this guy, hadn't they?

"Yeah, sure," Nate said. "That's, umm. That's the bread you accidentally turned to the dark side, is that it?"

 

[Namohysip]

"This is Toast, yes. Say hello, Toast."

Toast spat a dark crouton at Nate, which smelled burned.

Diyem stepped away and gestured inside, revealing the home that had mostly been converted into a self-contained jungle thanks to Mellow's handiwork. "Would you like to come in?"

 

[Negrek]

Nate managed to get a hand up to block the crouton before it could hit him in the face. "Hey, Toast," he said, a little dazedly. Around the side of Diyem's body he could see some kind of shadowy, leafy jungle place. Nate took a cautious step inside.

Okay, so Diyem's house wasn't normal. It was, in fact, pretty fucking weird. Maybe all the plants were Mellow's thing and not Diyem's, but they kind of gave it that evil overlord vibe. Nate took a look around, wondering if there were any of those big, toothy kind of plants, that like fucking ate people and shit. Or maybe an evil fishtank with piranhas.

"Gotta admit, I wouldn't have pegged you as the baking type. I mean, you don't even gotta eat, do ya?"

 

[Namohysip]

"It was suggested that I take up a hobby. I've been trying a few things. Owen suggested baking."

Toast rolled off of Diyem and flopped around on the ground.

"I'm trying a different hobby. I also tried gardening. A few of these plants are my work. That one is the one I put the most effort in." He gestured to a nearby tree that appeared to have a frozen, screaming face on the trunk. "There is also that one." He gestured to a small berry brush whose berries seemed to absorb the light around it.