eorzea, past and present ~ flower care
Lalapril Day Twenty: Flourish babycorns LITTLE sister (true) (not fake) (totally not a lie) is married and hanging out with her cool new husband that she also knows! which only means one thing, and its that shes gotta bother both of them now!!!!!!! lunya lanya the cool and awesome belongs to @windupnamazu
Now that they were all back home from their adventures on the First for the time being, Babycorn wasted absolutely no time in making herself as annoying as possible.
By trying to drag both Lunya and G'raha to some uncharted location in Mor Dhona that she swore was super cool and super secret. Of course she accomplished this by ambushing them in the middle of breakfast and pestering them until they agreed to go with her.
She super duper promised that it wasn’t going to take a long time, so there was that assurance.
Still, Lunya had her doubts. “I don’t know…” And for good reasons too.
Doing anything for Babycorn either had the chance to either take a few minutes or half a day, at the least.
But Babycorn was just so insistent. “Please, please, please, please, please.” Babycorn pleaded, with half of G’raha’s pancake in her mouth, taken directly from his plate after she asked if he was going to eat that and not waiting for an answer. “Pweaaaaaaseeeeee…!!!!”
Cherrypit was giving his sister a hand in her efforts by adding his own cutieful charm. “Plleeaaase Lulu and Mimi Bwaga?” His eyes were so big it was genuinely very difficult not to look into them.
“Weeeell…”
Lunya and G’raha looked at each other, each of them racking their minds to try and remember if there was anything really important they needed to do today, other than spending time together. And they would be doing that regardless of whatever crazy thing Babycorn wanted them to do.
“Eh, why not?” Lunya shrugged, taking her long last sip of her rolanberry smoothie. “Take us away Babycorn!”
While this wasn’t quite the type of adventure G’raha imagined himself taking right out of the gate with Lunya, he still couldn’t help but feel the excitement building up in his chest venturing into the unknown at her side.
Also this might as well just happen, it was Babycorn after all.
“I believe that’s your cue Babycorn.” G’raha laughed.
Honestly Babycorn couldn’t believe they actually agreed to it, her brain still wasn't fully caught up. “Wait…” Give it a second. “Wait! Really?! You’ll come with me?!” There it goes.
Babycorn scrambled up to her feet, her knees just a little sore from kneeling on the ground to do her begging and pleading. “Yipppeeee!” She took Cherrypit’s hands in hers and they both started doing a happy little dance together.
“Lunya and Mister G’raha are coming~! Lunya and Mister G’raha are coming with us~! Yay!”
“Yaaaaaaay!” Cherrypit joined her in celebrating.
Then as Lunya and G’raha prepared themselves to follow the pair, while cleaning up their mess they happened to hear both siblings giggling to themselves. Rather maniacally. With a “Hehehehehe!” and a “Nyahahaha.” That was hardly, if ever, a good sign.
“Do you ever get the feeling that we might be in for more than we bargained for?”
Lunya sighed, “Just a tad.” Of course it was far too late to back out now.
As the group made their way to the center of Revenant’s toll, Babycorn explained that she wanted to take Lunya and G’raha somewhere deep into Mor Dhona to give both of them a present.
And NO, of course she couldn’t just bring the present to them, that would have been ridiculous! “I’ll take you there cause I know where it is! Exactly!” Babycorn beamed, looking very proud of herself.
“Take you there! Sactly!” Cherrypit copied her sister’s pose and expression.
Turns out it was actually close enough to walk to. Thankfully. “Lead the way then Babycorn.” Lunya gave her the go ahead and stood behind the siblings along with her fiance.
Babycorn wasted no time and took Lunya’s hand, pulling her along. “Let’s go Lunya! Let’s gooooo!” Almost as if nothing had changed since their days in Ul’dah, and just like back then Lunya was perfectly content seeing where Babycorn would take her.
Meanwhile, Cherrypit nicely asked G’raha if he could hold his hand. “Mimi Bwaga go with Cherry?” He held his little hand up as far as he could, even standing on his tippy-toes so G’raha could reach him easily.
“It would be my pleasure.”
It came as no surprise that Cherrypit turned out to be the quicker among the two Starsinger siblings. After a giggle or two he pulled G’raha along at a breakneck pace, only made faster because he was just so excited for Mister G’raha and Lunya to see the surprise they had.
As a cloud of dust overtook Babycorn and Lunya, with the younger of the two letting out a loud “KiiiiiyyYYYYAAAAAH!!” from getting caught off guard, falling to the ground right after.
Still standing on her own two feet, Lunya was able to spot something through the cloud. “Raha!?” She cried out to him.
At this point G’raha wasn’t even walking, just sliding across the ground and letting Cherrypit do most of the work for him. “I’ll see you at the finish line, my lodestar!” He grinned.
There was something oddly nostalgic about it.
Now this was serious. G’raha’s fun little comment lit a competitive fire in Lunya almost immediately. “We’ll see about that!” She pulled Babycorn up from the ground as quickly as she could and took off running after both boys.
In an instant the roles were reversed and Lunya was dragging Babycorn behind her. Of course now Babycorn was running right behind her instead. “Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!” but it sounded like she was having a great time.
Now Lunya knew full well she could never beat someone like Cherrypit in a race, but speed hardly mattered. For there was a trick up her sleeve. All she needed to do was yell as loud as she could and Cherrypit was sure to hear the sound of her voice.
Then again, she was sure he would hear her even if she whispered it.
“CHERRYYYYY!” she yelled out as loud as she could, “If you let me win I’ll buy you some ice cream after this!”
It took a second but eventually the tips of Cherrypit's oversized ears wiggled, hearing what Lunya promised him. “Ice cream! I want iced cream!” Soon enough his speed began to slow down significantly.
Cherrypit finally slowed down enough that G’raha's feet were back on the ground. Then they both came to a complete stop. “Ah.” That turned out to be enough for Lunya to run right past them without even trying
G’raha looked to his left just in time to see his inspiration zipping right past him with the smuggest smile he’d seen on her yet.
“Bye-byeeee<3!” Lunya said, winking and blowing him a kiss.
G’raha lovingly sighed, looking down at Cherrypit who was happily bobbing his head left to right while singing about the ice cream he was going to get. “How do you feel about ice cream sundaes? Perhaps we can convince Lunya to buy us all one?” He suggested, knowing full well that Lunya would have no choice but to agree.
“Ya! Ya!” Cherrypit cheered, “Eyes cream for every one!”
It was a foregone conclusion that Lunya would arrive at the destination first, even with Babycorn’s vague directions, because for once the directionally challenged Babycorn actually knew where she was going.
“We’re here! We’re here!” Babycorn cheered.
The very second they got there Cherrypit also got there, still holding G’raha’s hands.
That was odd. “Eh? What?” G’raha looked around, a stumped look on his face. He could have sworn they were fulms behind Lunya and Babycorn, but now they were just right next to them?
Could it be? “...Teleportation already?” The other Cherrypit learned that only just a few years ago, but then how did…
“Glad you could join us, Raha!” Lunya smiled. She quickly made his way towards him to stand at his side.
As soon as he laid eyes on her his expression softened. “I’m glad to be here.”
Their little group had traveled east of Revenant’s Toll, all the way to the parts of North Silvertear where hundreds of beautiful crystals lined the cliffs.
At one point G’raha could recall more than one instance of Lunya having to pull Babycorn and her sharp teeth off of the crystals during their expedition into the Crystal Tower.
Given the way they were arguing at the time he could only assume things like that happened a lot. And he was absolutely right.
In an incredible demonstration of showmanship that could have fooled anyone into thinking that Babycorn didn’t have stage fright, she and Cherrypit stood right in front of her friends, gesturing to a crude looking opening in the walls.
“Tada!” Her eyes were sparkling as she got down on one knee and spread her arms wide, “This is me and Cherry’s secret spot!”
In front of them was a small entrance, cut into the crystals themselves and leading into a small cave. The hole was just the right size for any lalafell to walk right through. “One day we got really bored so me and Cherry ran all over and we found a yummy wall to chew through! Oh yeah we also got really hungry too!” Babycorn quickly explained.
Luckily for G’raha the opening just so happened to be almost his exact height. Almost like it was fate that Babycorn and Cherrypit were hungry enough to eat just the right amount for this very day.
Lunya decided she would unpack all that later, for the sake of the moment.
“This way! This way!” Babycorn ran inside, with Cherrypit right behind her. “Your surprise is in here!”
“Follow! Follow in here!” Cherrypit ran around in a circle, excitedly babbling out some little words he made up before following his sister inside.
Right as G’raha was about to take a step inside he noticed Lunya thinking to herself, “Is everything alright?” He wondered if she was thinking over her decision of letting Babycorn get away with eating an entire wall of crystals without telling anyone.
“Thinking about it…” Lunya closed her eyes, “Babycorn had something similar to this back in Ul’dah…” but with that one Babycorn explained that she found it by chance. Not a word about eating her way in there.
“I would say she’s got a knack for it.” That was the only guess G’raha could provide. Not without any more context at least.
“Yeah…Maybe…” Probably nothing to it.
The instant Lunya and G’raha stepped inside their jaws dropped.
G’raha looked in all directions, trying to take everything in. “This is…”
“Incredible…” Lunya shared in his disbelief. For good reason.
For all of a sudden they were suddenly surrounded on all sides by a rainbow of colors, all coming from the different kinds of flowers. Some flowers even looked to be shimmering, almost as if they had fused with the crystals themselves.
Not only was the cave surrounded by flowers, there were bushes upon bushes of greenery taking up space inside the cave. To the point where nothing but it could be seen.
“Where did all this come from?” Lunya wondered, walking forward and deeper into the cave.
G’raha followed at her side, and when he looked up he took notice of a large opening high above them. Once he noticed Lunya followed suit and the both of them looked up to be met with the skies of Mor Dhona.
“That must be how these plants get their sunshine.” G’raha guessed.
Lunya nodded, agreeing, still a little at a loss for words. That and she was packing away a question for Babycorn which mostly amounted to, ‘Don’t tell me you ate the ceiling too?’
Right. Answers. They needed answers.
“Babycorn, did you find these here?” G’raha asked. That could very well have been it. Perhaps left behind by someone who used to live near or at Revenant’s toll.
The answer turned out to be much simpler than either of them previously thought. “I grew these all myself!” Babycorn winked, with both eyes. By the way, Babycorn didn’t know how to wink.
Lunya’s response was instant. “I refuse to believe that.”
Babycorn’s response was also instant. “AAAAAH???”
G’raha had to admit it, he also couldn’t believe it, given everything he knew about Babycorn. “I have to say–I can’t quite believe it either.” Especially when G’raha knew she could barely take care of herself, let alone a cavern full of plants.
Babycorn couldn’t believe this! She was telling the truth! “I’m not lying!” She crossed her arms and pouted, “See, Lunya you told me lying is bad so I-”
“Babycorn you literally lie all the time.” Lunya reminded her. “To my face.” Multiple times in a day in fact.
Cherrypit seemed to agree with this sentiment, as he continuously nodded his head, over and over. Only stopping when Babycorn held his head in place.
“Well-! I’m not lying about this one! Promise!” She pleaded.
Honestly, Lunya couldn’t see any of the telltale Babycorn is blatantly lying signs that were usually so front and center. “Okayyy. I believe youuu~!” She smiled. There was a little something else to her smile, but she was doing a good job at hiding it.
G’raha smiled just a bit himself, as he watched Lunya playfully rock back and forth on her heels.
“Heh!” Babycorn laughed, smiling quite smugly for someone who had just been shaking like a leaf in the wind mere seconds before. “Isn't it impe-ressive?” She asked, saying that word completely wrong. "Growing flowers like this is such a big sister thing to do!"
Lunya shook her head. "Hmm. No I don't think it is."
"EHHHH?!!"
Choosing to ignore her little sister's protests Lunya went ahead and moved on. "I just can’t believe you didn’t give in and eat all these flowers!” She knew from personal experience Babycorn's track record of doing exactly that.
“W-What?! T-They’re all named after my friends! I could never eat theeeeeem!!!” Babycorn cried.
Now that she mentioned it, G’raha did notice something curious sticking out from the plants here and there. Little white signs with things drawn on them.
Deciding he wanted to get a closer look, he knelt down and was met with quite a sight.
The face of a blue miqo'te (given the face markings) wearing a strange looking hat with a heart on it, looking completely straight faced. “Is that…” G’raha almost didn’t want to say the name. “B’ig Nunh?” He asked, just a little bit afraid to hear the answer.
Lunya skipped over a few stray potted plants to get a closer look alongside G’raha. “Yup. That’s him.” It was quite easy to put together that Babycorn drew this particularly B’ig herself.
Figures she would name something after him, she loved that guy.
“Aw, he’s a bunch of blue lilies.” It was kind of cute, Lunya had to admit. It was pissing her off.
While the newly married couple were busy trying to spot any more drawings of their friends among the plants, Babycorn took this chance to grab the presents she prepared for them.
“Okay Cherry, come help me out!” Babycorn called out to him.
That was the sign to follow her and help her carry out some things with her. Cherrypit nodded and prepared his head, ready to hold up the presents like a table.
He knew that his sister was pretty much useless in the strength department.
Just as Lunya pointed out a little drawing that looked a lot like Krile, they heard Babycorn trip. It was actually a very distinct sound.
“Babycorn are you okay?” They both said in perfect unison.
Right on time, Babycorn answered. “I’m fine!” She quickly stood up, a tiny sprout sticking out of her pom. “I’ve got your presents with me!” She grinned, “I got one and Cherry is hiding with the other one sooooo…!”
Babycorn looked up at G’raha, looking so excited that if she had a tail for whatever reason it would probably be wagging right now. “Mister G'raha, your present is first! So close your eyes!”
“Right away!” He did as he was told and closed his eyes, complete with a little laugh that Lunya thought was especially cute.
Then from behind her back Babycorn unveiled a potted plant and it was absolutely massive. “Here it is!” She cried out, letting G’raha know it was time to open his eyes.
Most of the plant consisted of bright green leaves that became so heavy it looked like they were spilling out of the pot itself. Looking almost like an ocean's wave that was cascading out.
Among the greenery were small specks of red flowers with yellow centers. They were bright, and the further down the plant you looked the more abundant that became.
“This is the one I named after Mister G’raha!” Babycorn beamed.
It was hard to believe what he was seeing. “It’s…much bigger than I expected.” G’raha even worried for a second that Babycorn was having trouble holding it up. Were her knees shaking or was that his imagination?
This was the part Babycorn was embarrassed to admit. She looked down and kicked a few pebbles at her feet, trying not to make any sort of eye contact with either G’raha or Lunya.
“I was actually planning to give it to you when I got to see you again…” Babycorn sniffled, “And to be fair-! You were gone for a weally long tiiiiiimeeeeee…!! WaAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!” Babycorn cried out, letting out a loud wail that echoed all the way to the outside.
“Aww…” Lunya took the plant from Babycorn’s shaky arms, giving her a pat on her head. As soon as she did that Babycorn seemed to calm down, letting out one last sniffle.
Actually, this was the one thing she wanted to avoid, this was supposed to be a happy occasion with presents and everything.
Right! There was no time for crying!
Babycorn composed herself by shaking her head really fast and letting out a few funny noises. “It’s got so big! Cause it had a reallyyyyy long time to grow!” she repeated, “Cause someone was busy sleeping!” She puffed her cheeks out angrily.
“You know–she’s got you there Raha.” Lunya smirked.
“I suppose she does…”
G’raha knelt down next to Babycorn, fighting all urges inside him that told him that petting Babycorn’s head would end up in lost fingers.
In a strange inverse she actually looked excited about it. “Thank you Babycorn, I promise to give it a good home.” He pet her head and ruffled her hair around.
Babycorn proudly grinned, “His name is Mister G’raha too and you have to take care of him!” There was one other thing she needed to make sure he knew.
For this part she needed to make sure to stare right at Lunya, “And don’t make Lunya take care of him. He’ll super die.”
“HEY??!!” Lunya huffed, “What are you talking about?!”
“Good to know!” G’raha laughed.
“Nuh-uh! No it’s not!!”
Babycorn decided to cut Lunya’s defense of herself off, not that there was anything she could really say to defend herself at this point.
Almost everyone that knew Lunya by now had seen firsthand the devastation Lunya brought upon herself whenever she made any attempt to take care of a plant.
“And here’s Lunya’s present! Her name is also Lunya!”
In walked Cherrypit once again, adorned with a small potted plant on his head. “Lulu! A present for Lulu!” Compared to G’raha (the plant, not the catboy) it was much smaller, with just a few purple hydrangeas adorning it. And just like the rest there was a small white sign with Lunya’s face drawn on it.
For once Babycorn succeeded in getting Lunya distracted enough that she forgot about wanting to ground her. “Ooooh! It’s so cute!” Lunya squealed, taking the flower from Cherrypit’s head. “Thank youuu!!” She bounced the little potted plant named after her in her hand, while still holding onto the absolutely massive G’raha plant.
Lunya was just cool like that.
“By the way…” Babycorn playfully put her hands behind her back and smiled, “That’s actually Lunya the second!”
Lunya raised an eyebrow. “The second?” What could have happened to the first Lunya? Hopefully nothing too bad. Suddenly, Lunya was filled with a strange apprehension.
What if Babycorn was lying when she said she would never eat the plants? After all, she ate meol just fine before. “...Did you eat her? Be honest.” She would only be a little bit mad.
“Noooooo!!” Babycorn cried, “I wouldn’t eat Lunya! That would make me sad!”
“No, no eating! Cherrypit repeated. He still remembered that Bebe’s first rule about this secret place was that he wasn’t allowed to eat any of the plants, just like her.
But the rocks were fine to chew on, that part was okay.
It was a little embarrassing to admit, and yet. “The truth about Lunya the first is…” Babycorn tilted her head, as she struggled to admit the truth. Even if it really wasn’t that bad. “...That you’ve been looking at her!”
Babycorn spread her arms out wide, just in time for the light coming in from the sky to illuminate the plants all around her.
It was just as Babycorn said, while most of the cave was still covered in bushes of leaves and the like, it was clear now that the flowers that belonged to them were all hydrangeas.
Sharing the exact same colors as the one Lunya was holding in her hand.
“Lunya the First one got too big for her house! She started growing everywhere!” Babycorn jumped up and down, waving her arms everywhere.
And how-! There was nowhere in the cave anyone could look that Lunya the first hadn’t gotten to. “She used to be really small but the weirdest thing happened…!” Babycorn explained, “When we got back from the First she me and Cherry saw she got all big! And sparkly too!”
True to her word, the hydrangeas had a strange shimmer to them. Making them seem more like stars overtaking the night sky than anything else. Of course it caught both siblings off guard at first. For a minute they feared they had been gone longer than they thought.
“Lulu big! So big!” Cherrypit raised his hands as far up as he could without ripping through his bandages.
If Babycorn was to be believed, the first Lunya (the plant, not the lalafell) had probably been the size of its successor. If that was the case, then not only did it clearly grow since then, it grew almost four times its size in a quarter of the time G’raha’s plant did.
Faster than any other plant Babycorn cared for.
Not only that, it almost looked like it deliberately followed a path. Growing it's leaves all around the other plants, in a pattern that could have resembled an embrace.
G’raha just couldn’t help himself. “Almost as beautiful as the real Lunya...”
Lunya looked up at G’raha to see him looking right at her, with those eyes of his that always happened to look at her a certain way. With adoration and gratitude for all that she’s done.
“Oh, you think you’re sooo cute, don’t you?” Lunya sneered.
“I may have been called that, once or twice.”
“And? How would you feel about a third time?”
Ever so determined to keep her reputation as a hindrance in Lunya’s side–Babycorn butt herself into the conversation. “Mister G’raha you have to make sure Lulu doesn’t take care of Lunya the second, she will also die.”
“AAUGH!! BABYCORN!!! THAT’S IIIIIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Lunya threw both plants into the air, letting Cherrypit catch the larger one on his head and letting G’raha catch the Lunya the second.
“I believe. That is your cue Babycorn. Again…” G’raha laughed.
Babycorn let out a scream and took off running, in a circle around the cave.
Lunya chased right after her around the small circle Babycorn ran in. “You get back here!” She yelled out to Babycorn, angry little puffs of smoke were coming out from her head. “You are grounded young lady!! For forever!!”
“THAT’S SO LONG!!!!” Babycorn wailed.
