A Headcanon for Nutmeg Tiger Cookie
While placing Nutmeg Tiger in all the different work spaces to see how she reacts to them, I noticed that the only things she actually enjoys doing are:
It is therefore reasonable to assume that, contrary to her harsh nature, she actually really likes talking to people... and, perhaps secretly, enjoys gardening.
Nutmeg Tiger never indulges in these hidden passions of hers, because she believes - or rather, she was taught to believe - that they are a waste of time. Talking is cheap and pointless; gardening is pathetic, pure and simple. Gardening is the worse one of the two, really. Why waste even a fraction of your time and effort on something so fragile and weak? Something that can't be useful? That can't fight?
(Deep down, NT is afraid of admitting she likes these things because she doesn't want to be perceived as soft, especially by her master... especially for the gardening thing, because she knows Burning Spice would likely go out of his way to destroy any plant she cares for, either as a form of punishment or just because.)
Now, I've already predicted that the Wild Spices will turn against BS and join Golden Cheese after she awakens and defeats him, because they respect power above all else and she will be the most powerful one at that point (and also she's liberated them from BS's tyranny, but whatevs). Going with this, and with the idea that some spices go back to the GC Kingdom alongside GC herself: NT remains apprehensive for a really long time after all is said and done, just because she's had it drilled into her skull for so long that GC is/was the enemy, and she's just not as easily swayed as the others.
But... GC is actually kind to her, despite everything that happened. She tries to engage her in conversation (which NT rebuffs for a while, until she eventually gives in, because GC and her subjects are very stubborn outgoing and seem to want to bring her out of her shell... and it's... nice to actually be able to sit and chat with people for once...), she invites her to parties, she invites her to meals. It almost seems as though GC is trying a little extra hard to accommodate and befriend NT specifically.
NT does not fully buy into any of this for a long time. While she secretly does appreciate these gestures (and even now, she remembers when GC called BS out for ignoring NT when she was badly injured), it's just not enough. Her shell is too hard to crack.
...Until one day, GC comes by and asks for a favor. She brings NT to her palace garden (always figured she had one haha), full of lilies and lotuses and exotic cacti, and many other desert plants. GC says that she noticed how NT seems to relax more around plants (she actually noticed that???), and thought that, perhaps, it might be good to give her something important - something non-violent but still productive - to do in the kingdom.
NT agrees to help look after the garden, albeit begrudgingly... on the surface, anyway. Only on the surface. Because with GC doing this for her, with GC actually being attentive enough to know her subjects' likes and wants, with GC actively working to help NT achieve hers even in spite of what transpired between them in the past... With GC giving her something NT considers invaluable, granting her secret wish, and thus embodying this virtue of Abundance she so champions...
...She finally understands why Golden Cheese is so loved by so many.
