Budding Growth
Erasmus always found himself a bit more shy than normal when he was in a large city. He was far from home, in an entirely different country. Warrenfall in the spring reminded him of Roenden summers, but he couldn’t imagine it getting much warmer and still be comfortable.
For a shy guy though, he found himself in the dead center of the capitol, on a podium, giving a demonstration. It was pure torture and he had no clue how he had signed himself up for this.
Assisting him was a male a bit older than him, with soft purples and whites to compliment Erasmus’ own pinks and blacks. With jewelry and a beautiful lacework pattern, the melanistic male was sure if need be, he could let the older vay take the spotlight. They had met when Erasmus was selling seedlings from Roenden a few months back and connected over a love of plants.
London was the perfect person to be with Erasmus on the stage, and his doting father-like figure helped center Erasmus before they started.
It was a demonstration about plants. Both of the males had talents with nature magic, and while London was still learning, he was more than helpful for what Erasmus needed.
Plants were grown with London’s magic – he coaxed seeds to sprout, cuttings to root, bonsai trees to go through a season’s cycle. Erasmus then would use his expert skill with his magic to make the plants do things they wouldn’t normally do; grow in unnatural ways to both woo the audience and demonstrate parts of their life cycle.
“Root rot is a serious condition and what better plant to show this than a begonia.”
The purple male concentrated on the tiny seedlings in the tray Erasmus hauled out, carefully stopping each plant at different stages of life. From a stem with only a handful of leaves to a fully bloomed plant, London made sure the table held a variety of plants at various stages of life.
Erasmus concentrated, his green eyes squinting as he stared at the plants, seemingly glinting with the power of nature as the plants enlarged – not like what London did to make them grow, but instead it was like he had put a magnifying glass upon them, zooming in so that the entire audience could see them clearly as the normally 8 inch tall plants were suddenly as tall as the runners.
London then brought over water, using a small amount of his elementalist magic to trigger the mold growth in the dirt as he poured the water over the plants.
“Root rot is a terrible concern for plants. Begonias are especially susceptible to it. Without the aid of magic, sometimes plants cannot recover from the rot.”
Erasmus then pulled on his own magic, triggering the mold to accelerate the decay, as he made the roots show the various stages. London crumbled away enough dirt to show the roots and held the plants upright with his mind, while Erasmus pointed to plants as he spoke.
“In smaller plants, the results are deadly.” The tinier plants wilted right before their eyes, accelerated with his power. “And in more established plants, they often show signs that resemble over watering such as wilting and the leaves growing black.”
“Without magic, you’re going to want to remove moisture from the dirt by letting it dry out,” London proceeded to do just that in an accelerated process as he sapped the water away and continued to hold the dirt in place, “and then the worst of the roots you’ll want to remove – if they’re black, they’re not coming back.”
Erasmus was really proud of himself for not stuttering so far, and the lacework male gave him an approving nod, helping with his confidence. Both of them were clearly in their element, and Erasmus took a breath before continuing with the demonstration.
Taking sheers, the pair snipped off the black roots, and then demonstrated proper repotting technique, and while Erasmus was giving off tips, London was healing the plant so it would properly recover as they went into their next topic.
Eventually, the pair concluded, their plant-like magic having won over the audience who clapped and cheered far more than an educational demonstration should have merited, but that was fine by them. It proved they did a good enough job to merit it.
Knowing he was the stronger of the two with the magic, talented enough to even be considered a master, Erasmus took over for the last part of the showing.
“As a thank you for everyone who showed up, please make your way to the front in an orderly fashion for a gift and a reminder from the show!”
London held out small pots with only the tiniest stem of plant in them - cuttings from their own personal gardens prepared ahead of time. The pair had already use their magic to give it just enough for them to be rooted, keeping them healthy and viable until now ehere the last bit of magic would leave a nice finishing visible touch. As each audience goer stepped forward, Erasmus used his magic to coax out the plant, causing it to swiftly grow leaves and bud up, and he gave it just enough life that the very first petals would open into a perfect rose bloom in vibrant color before handing off the pot.
When all was finished, the pair packed up their plants and supplies. London, doting as he was, patted the melanistic male on the back, giving him a smile. “And here you thought you couldn’t do it.”
Erasmus shyly looked down at his paws and stuttered. “I-I had a g-good partner.”
“Don’t sell yourself short kid. You were great up there. And your magic is still one of the most amazing I’ve seen.”
“T-thanks.” The pink and black runner smiled, and London gave him another pat of confidence.
“Alright, I’ll catch you later! I think we both could use some rest after that.” Nodding in agreeance, Erasmus took his cart of items and headed the other way, knowing he would most assuredly meet up with the lacework male sooner rather than later.
-End-
Magi Path for London 6676
Spellmaster for Erasmus 13176
♦ Draw your Reosean using one of the elements. Companion not mandatory.
♦ Draw your Reosean using their hard learned magic, giving a celebratory show of their powers and achieving the Spellmaster title. Interpretation is up to the user! Companion not mandatory.
WC 1028