Pollinated Flowers

[Magic]

March 18, 2012

Alicia was digging the weather warming up. Today specifically was a perfect day. Something that had to be gone out and taken in every bit. A day in the park was on her agenda today. Sure, Theatre District didn't have Liberty Park, but there were a bunch of smaller parks spread throughout. In fact, Freedom City was full of little parks that you could find all sorts of thinks to do in. Some had performance artists, others had little monuments to fallen heroes, still others had small bazaars.

This one she had found looked like a flower garden during the warm spring and summer months. It looked a little unkempt though. Surely there was some work here to be done.

[Electra]

Aside from the nearly-dormant flower garden, this particular bit of parkland didn't have much going for it. No performance artists, no farmer's market, not so much as a swingset to attract the local children. It looked like the sort of park where the people who worked nearby might sit down for lunch at the trio of picnic tables next to the garden, but at the moment Alicia had the place entirely to herself. Until, that is, something very odd happened.

A quiet rustle from a nearby tree drew her attention, just in time to see a bud forming on a lower branch. It grew quickly, first to the size of the other new leaves, then larger, then very much larger. The bough began to bend under the weight, even as the bud unfurled massive pink petals, each one the size of a garbage bag and smelling richly of magnolia. As if that weren't noteworthy enough, when the flower was fully open, a person stepped out! She was short and curvy, with long braids of green hair pinned in ringlets around her head and decorated with flowers. The Mother Nature effect she exuded was only heightened by the laughing, green-haired baby on her hip.

Her back was to Alicia as she waved a hand and banished the flower, returning the tree to normal, but it was only a moment before she turned and noticed she was not alone. A look of momentary consternation was replaced by a smile as she caught sight of the diaphanous butterfly wings. "Hello there," she said with casual cheer. "I wasn't expecting company here at this hour."

[Magic]

"So this must be he attraction," Alicia said quietly as she watched the tree grow right before her eyes. The whole smell of magnolia was amplified for her as she wasn't ready for it, though it was not an unwelcome smell. It made her quite hungry. Luckily she had brought a picnic for herself. And then a woman, like the spirit of the Earth itself, popped out of a flower with a child. Alicia knew who this was. She'd seen the things the plant woman had done on the news. It isn't every day you meet someone who's saved the world.

Alicia smiled when Fleur de Joie greeted her. "Yeah. Sorry about that," she laughed lightly, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I just saw this beautiful park from afar and just had to sit down and have lunch here." She had a quilt and a small basket in hand. Her dress was a long-sleeved, knee-length daydress with a red swirled pattern and no back. "if you need me to move out of the way, I can," she said trying to sound respectful of the Fleur.

[Electra]

"Not at all," Fleur said easily. "I'm just passing through, myself. This park is usually empty at this hour, so we don't draw attention." She shifted the baby to her other hip to free her right hand. She extended it to Alicia. "I'm Fleur de Joie, and this is my little girl Ammy. I don't believe we've met, but you seem familiar." She thought for a moment. "Were you in a magazine somewhere? In any case, it's lovely to meet you. Your wings are just beautiful!"

[Magic]

Alicia nodded appreciatively and shook Fleur's hand when offered. "Thank you kindly, Fleur de Joie," she said reverently, "Your baby is adorable." She curtsied, "I'm a new hero, actually. I've been around since November. My name is Butterfly. I know, not the most creative, but it's done me well." She paused for a second, "Though if you've kept up with fashion magazines in the past few years, you'd probably know me better from that." She smiled again, "Forgive me, for being jumpy with my words. This meeting is very much a surprise." She tapped the quilt as to motion it to the ground, "Do you mind if we sit?"

[Electra]

"Of course." Fleur waved a hand, and immediately the ground around them went from winter-burnt brown to verdant green as new grass and even small flowers sprang up. She set the baby down on the blanket of grass, smiling indulgently as the green-haired tot immediately crawled away. "It's such a nice day, isn't it? I've been desperate for spring." Fleur sat down crosslegged in the grass, perfectly comfortable even around a total stranger. "I have to confess I don't follow fashion magazines, but I leaf through them on the checkout line at the grocery store. I'm sure that's where I've seen you. Are you still modeling these days?"

[Magic]

Alicia watched with reserved glee as the ground turned back into it's natural green color.Maybe she was the spirit of nature. There was a guy running around who claimed to be a city spirit, so you never knew! She almost hated that she had to cover it with the cover. Though the thought of sitting with the bugs and dirt overweighed that remorse. Unrolling the quilt, she sat it down and wordlessly offered Fleur a seat with a hand motion while sitting her basket down in front of herself.

Alicia nodded at the comment on the weather. A bit breezy for her tastes, but that's the early spring morning for you. She sat with her legs closed and to the side where she wasn't exactly sitting on her legs. She watched the green-haired babe crawled all over the green grass. It was an amusing sight. She turned back to Fleur when she asked about her. Certainly she was not shy about new people, though neither was Alicia. "That I am," she said definitely. "These past few months I've been trying to juggle my personal life with work and being a crime fighter." She smiled, "You must have this thing in the bag though. Normal life enough to have a little one and be on the premier world saving team."

[Electra]

"Oh, I'm only on the auxiliary team," Fleur corrected modestly. "That's more than enough to keep me busy. I'm lucky to have plenty of help with Ammy, and superpowers don't hurt." Indeed, even as Amaryllis began to stray too far from the blanket, a small hedge popped from the ground, redirecting her back towards her mother. "There's definitely an adjustment period when starting hero work, trying to balance that with having a normal life. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it quickly. Have you met many other heroes so far?"

[Magic]

Alicia enjoyed Fleur's modesty. It was a breath of fresh air these days. Alicia was in the business of promotion so she didn't get much time to practice the low key style. "Just a few heroes, actually. Only a couple of actual villain threats," she said leaning back on her hands as she watched the child happily roll around in the grass. She looked back to Fleur, "I guess there is no ranking system, but the few I have ran into I haven't heard about on the news. Not to be dismissive of their exploits! If you're here to help people, you're good for everyone, you know?"

[Electra]

"Oh, absolutely," Fleur agreed. "Just because someone isn't on the news doesn't make them any less a hero. Some of the most desperate situations and most heroic actions never get reported because they would cause citywide panic," she admitted candidly. "The heroes who risk their lives there never receive public recognition for it. And then there are the heroes who are so private that they don't want publicity even in their heroic identities. Either way, plenty of heroes never show up on television."

With the sun shining down on them and the baby playing happily with a dandelion she'd found, Fleur relaxed and stretched out her legs in the grass. Reaching up, she pulled a few of the pins from her hair, letting the long braids fall down her back and trail onto the blanket. Oddly enough, her hair seemed to be getting greener the longer she spent in the sun. "You're quite right, too, in saying that not everyone has to save the world. We all contribute in our own way. When I started out, most of what I did was beautify the city gardens," she added with a chuckle.

[Magic]

Alicia watched the trail of hair flow down. It didn't seem to quit. It flowed like normal hair, but it seemed to act like grass. It even got greener as they were talking! Alicia knew there were wonderful things in this world to behold, she was happy to see this one. "I do wonder how much shampoo goes into that. You'll just have to tell me your styling secrets," she said with a reverent smile. She shook her head, "pay no attention to my silly barbs, I'm actually in awe of your mane."

Alicia leaned back on her hands looking to Fleur, "So, park beautification. Is that a thing you do all spring? Or is a pre-spring thing and let nature take it's course?" She paused for a moment to watch Fluer laying on her back. She realized she was staring too long at the whole scene of the lovely plant woman basking in the sun. She had to think of something! "As for the secret war type stuff, I'm sure you have tales to tell. Though I'm not going to push you into that if you don't want."

[Electra]

"I'm afraid my hair tips probably won't work for most people," Fleur admitted with a chuckle. "My hair is alive almost down to the ends, and more plant than anything else. I use a vinegar wash and sometimes a mayonnaise and egg conditioner, but that's about it. Otherwise, I just try and keep it out of the way, lest someone pull it." She leveled a glance at the baby, who remained blissfully occupied with the dandelion. A dandelion that had been joined by several other dandelions in just the past few moments.

"As for the other," Fleur continued, almost meditatively, "I'm not sure you could really call it that. It's not organized, there are no generals and precious few battle plans, and the enemies we face are anything but unified. It's more like a series of battles between a few brave heroes and the forces that want to ruin things for good people. Sometimes that's as simple as picking a mugger up off the street, and sometimes it may mean a hero or an entire team of heroes lays down their lives to save the world. It's up to every person who puts on a mask how much they want to get involved, how far they are willing to go. I found that once I started getting involved, I couldn't stay just beautifying parks and raising gardens. Though I still keep my hand in," she added in a lighter tone.

[Magic]

Alicia wondered if the plants that Fleur grew were even real. She nudged a new formed dandelion non-chalantly before the baby began feasting on them. Well, at least it feels real. I can only imagine all the third world countries that could be helped with this type of power. Barren soil growing all kinds of crops. Would it be rude to ask that sort of thing? I'll just leave the question of ethical uses of powers for a later date.

She cocked her head to the side at the revelation of Fleur's hair actually being alive. Well, most of it. Would explain why it's so long. I bet it hurts to cut. Or maybe it's like an apendage. That's as long as it will get. Else she's be looking like green Cousin It by now. She smiled and nodded at the haircare regiment. I guess if it was alive it'd have to eat. She sighed happily turning her head to see the baby still having a wonderful time and then back to Fleur.

She enthusiastically nodded along with the part about no battle being to small. She didn't want to sound like a yesperson, but she did agree with her. What Alicia did was small stuff, but it still helped someone. Besides, the cameras were for elsewhere. "Yeah, the protector in us all has to wake up some time." She mentally noted that. That was so going on her Facebook wall. "Still," she said sitting up and letting her wings move a bit and filling the air with a sweet smell, "The parks do look beautiful."

[Electra]

"It's still early," Fleur replied, "but I have a feeling this is going to be a good year. We've had warm weather already, and I'm looking forward to more." She folded her legs beneath her and rested her hands on her knees. "Not too far," she warned Amaryllis, who was about to scoot off the grassy patch her mother had created. The baby looked mutinous, but stopped for the moment anyway. "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you can fly," Fleur said to Alicia with a smile. "What else do you do? No two heroes are exactly alike, and it's always interesting to me to see all the variations. And if you like, I could probably put you in touch with people who can show you the ropes in your area."

[Magic]

"Thank you very much," Alicia said with an upbeat tone, "Any help would be appreciated!" She stood up, looking around as to judge the wind. It wasn't that bad. "As for what I can do," she curtsied as if she were giving a school play and then let her hands rest on her hips. She wasn't used to impromptu shows, but for this? She would make an exception.

"First off, the sweet smell you smell coming from my wings? It's tiny little spore things. Now when I really want to use them," her wings began to flap a little faster, bringing about a fresher scent. "This is one of the tamer uses. These spores heal. I can also use them to change attitudes, stun and paralyze. There's probably someone more technical than me that could explain that, something about biochemical reactions. But yeah, I'm not a scientist."

[Electra]

Fleur watched with interest as Alicia spread her wings and displayed her talent. "What a beautiful power!" she exclaimed, even as baby Ammy crawled over for a better look. "I wonder if it has something to do with pheremonal responses, or if it's something more metaphysical than that. Either way, we can always use more healers in Freedom City. And paralyzing or stunning an enemy is a very effective way to end a fight. I'm sure you're going to do very well on patrol." Ammy tugged impatiently on Alicia's leg, then raised her arms.

[Magic]

Alicia smiled and nodded appreciatively when Fleur complimented her power. "Sorry, I don't know about metaphysics," she said looking at Fluer with a wordless question about holding the child. She didn't seem to mind, so Alicia picked up the flower child very carefully and cradled her. "I wasn't born with powers, I just curled up into a cocoon one day and then a month later I emerged a different person." She lightly touched the baby's nose in a playful game that the child seemed to enjoy while she talked to her mother. "Though I do find it hard to work in crowded areas or with partners. The spores don't discriminate. That's why I carry a sidearm just in case. It's not with me now, but i can cover it with spores and it works just as well."

[Electra]

Ammy giggled at having her nose gotten, then began reaching out over Alicia's shoulder, trying to grab hold of a colorful wing. "No, sweetheart," Fleur scolded gently, "you can't have those. You'll hurt the nice lady!" Ammy didn't pay much attention to the remonstrance, but luckily her arms weren't very long. Fleur kept a careful eye out for more mischief, even as she addressed Alicia again. "That's one way to handle self-defense," she agreed, "but you do have to take care. If you carry a weapon, a villain can take it away and use it against you, and then you're in worse trouble than before! Is this your patrol area, here in the Theatre District?"

[Magic]

Alicia pulled her wings further and further back as the child reached for them. She was never in danger of Amaryllis touching them. Sitting down, she propped the babe in her lap in a sitting position, holding on to her lightly so she wouldn't fall and leaning the child's back against her stomach.

Alicia smiled and nodded when Fleur mentioned getting disarmed, "Quite right. Even though I'm accomplished at swordplay, there is always the threat of a lucky shot." She nodded again when Fleur mentioned her turf. "Indeed, I do patrol the beat a few times every night. It gets quite humdrum most of the time, but you know what they say. The moment you take a break it all beals loose! Still a quiet night is a good night."

[Electra]

"I'll never say no to a quiet night," Fleur agreed. "But on the unquiet nights, it's always nice to have backup available. Here." She reached into a pocket and withdrew a business card, cream-colored cardstock that smelled slightly of flowers. "Here's my card, it's got my cell phone and email address on it." Fleur passed the card to her new associate, even as Amaryllis began to squirm impatiently. She didn't seem like the sort of child to sit still for more than a moment. "If you ever run into trouble, or you need help with anything, you give me a call," she instructed. "If I can't help you myself, I'll find somebody who can. We all look out for each other in Freedom City."