Sunshine

It was a beautiful day, just cool enough to be comfortable beneath the cloudless sky. It was so, so blue that it seemed almost impossible, as though some force somewhere must have been cheating. That kind of blueness seemed unfair, like it was doing this just to show off and rub it in the faces of all the grey days.

The Alternian sun was usually wickedly hot, but the slight breeze tempered it sufficiently.

Kanaya found it to be the ideal day for a spot of gardening, so she was out in what might have been the most fashionable weeding outfit ever constructed. A blouse, breezy and loose enough for free movement, paired with neat high-water slacks; cotton and linen, in cream and muted sage green, respectively. A neat raw canvass apron covered this, trimmed in a fetching grass green that matched the green plastic galoshes on Kanaya's feet. A large, floppy-brimmed straw sunhat capped off the ensemble, circled with a green ribbon and a well-placed unripe sunflower bloom.

Fashion and gardening – two of three of Kanaya's great loves in one place.

The sun caught in the hair of the third, who was sitting nearby.


Rose had found it to be the ideal day for a spot of reading, so she was reclining on a comfortable lawn chair, legs crossed at the ankles, book propped on the bones of her pelvis. A fetching sunshine yellow sundress pooled in the seat around her. The hem, hanging off the edge of the chair, caught the wind and billowed, as light silk was wont to do.

With her blonde hair and yellow dress, Kanaya thought that Rose resembled nothing so much as a creature made entirely of light. This appealed to the troll's blood-drinking sensibilities

Sitting there, so engrossed in her book, only moving to occasionally steal a sip from the tall, frosty glass of ice tea resting on the table to the side, she didn't even notice the glances Kanaya continuously stole in her direction.

The luminescent rainbow-drinker smiled fondly at her beloved. This garden was the ideal stage to entertain romantic notions. It was carpeted in vast swaths of cotton-soft green grass, sheltered by neatly pruned cypresses, shaded by tall flowering trees at strategic points, accented by lattice structures (arches, porches, a gazebo…) covered by climbing vines, and rounded out by the soft liquid shapes of flowerbeds dotting the entire space.

Flowerbeds such as the one in which Kanaya currently toiled.

Her knees were stained with dirt when she stood up from kneeling. She dusted herself off a bit ad took another glance towards the object of her affections, still absorbed by the fantasy world of the moment. Kanaya smiled and shook her head with sympathy. She understood that feeling completely.

That thought pleased her. They had so much in common. She enjoyed that.

Turning back to her plants, Kanaya's jade eyes darted around critically. She had pruned, weeded, watered… that ought to do for now.

Hands protected by thick, suede-canvass gloves (such a challenge, gloves; it took her so many tries to get the fingers and thumb to attach just right), Kanaya reached up to grasp a lush, layered bloom. The many, many petals were a warm creamy white color, shot through with brilliant, watercolored fuzzy lines of pink. Kanaya loved how they looked almost as much as she loved how they smelled. And the bulbous hips brewed into a scrumptious tea.

Mindful of the surrounding thorns, Kanaya cut the bloom with a pair of pruning shears and brought it down to her cupped hands. She inhaled and sighed through smiling green lips.

She removed the gloves carefully and set them on the ground beside her kneeling pad.

It was four long strides to where Rose lounged. Kanaya stopped at the foot of the lawn chair and waited.

Sharp purple eyes glanced up over the top of the book after only a moment. "…Yes?" Rose asked, slowly, leadingly.

Kanaya tilted her head to the side and gave the girl and gentle curve of the lip and a raise of one neat brow. "A flower for the lady?" she offered as she produced her prize.

Those purple eyes took a moment to register what they were saying. "A rose?" said Rose, matching Kanaya's lifted eyebrow with one of her own. "[i]Really?[/i]"

"A rose for a Rose," Kanaya replied in a sentence fit for one of Rose's journals.

The human cracked an indulgent smile, which Kanaya interpreted as permission to step around to the side of the chair, lean down and suck the short, newly thornless stem behind the girl's ear, dipping her smooth blonde hair back with it.

She leaned in and pressed a green kiss to the top of the girl's head, inhaling slightly while she was there.

Though reason told her that the human's head was warm from the sun, Kanaya's romantic streak suggested that Rose was the sun herself, a rainbow-drinker's goddess in yellow.

Black, plump lips curved in a loving smile. Rose slid over in her seat, making room for her companion to join her, which she promptly did. It was a slightly tight fit, but they cuddled close enough to make it work.

Rose turned sideways to the troll girl and leaned her head on her chest, resting her face against her vestigial chest orbs, ear straining for a low, thrumming heartbeat. Kanaya wrapped her arm around the human's shoulders and pulled her close. Their free arms reached down and they clasped hands over Kanaya's thigh.

"The garden looks especially beautiful," complimented Rose, "You've done very well this season. I know you've laboured quite hard all day." Her breath was warm and tickled slightly where it stirred Kanaya's blouse.

"Thank you," replied the jadeblood, "I am very glad that you find it agreeable."

"Oh I find it more than merely agreeable," replied Rose, "I find it quite gorgeous."

Kanaya's cheeks warmed with pride. "No human sarcasm?" she checked, mostly joking.

Rose responded with an amused smile and a solemn promise. "Not an ounce."

They were quiet for a time, perfectly content in one another's company, cuddled close as they watched the sky go from robin's egg to regal crushed velvet.

"…Rose?" said Kanaya eventually, breaking the silence with the utmost delicate touch.

It took some effort for Rose to make her mouth open after all that time, but she managed. "Yes, Kanaya?"

The troll woman leaned down and pressed another kiss to the top of the human's head. She always smelled so very good. "I love you."

Rose sighed, perfectly content with existence. "I love you, too."