arlothwen replied to your quote “His fist twisted and I felt the power as the smell of white willow and...”
I think the mown grass & white willow is a reference to cricket as the bats are made from white willow; but would they have played normal or magical cricket at school? I love the description of Nightingale's precision; it's perfect.
twoeyedcrow
"The smell of white willow" – why, look at Mr "Lmao idek it's a tree" NOW
Yes this is 100% Peter’s interpretation of “a general feeling of cricket and Things Well Played and Gentlemanly Behaviour” rather than Peter miraculously picking up tree-identification skills - the association of willow and cricket bats is very strong.
It amuses me somewhat that this makes up part of Nightingale’s signare even though the sport he’s specifically mentioned playing/watching/enjoying is rugby (although I guarantee he also played cricket at school and was probably the top bowler or something else equally annoying), because cricket fits so much better with Peter’s image of Nightingale and rugby, i.e. the sport where you run very fast at your opponents in hopes of dodging them and if not dodging them then concussing them, fits so much better with Nightingale’s, like, actual abilities in a fight.
One day I’ve really got to write that fic where they all have to play netball.
