May 13th, 1893 - Potts Flower Show

Alvin had come to the flower show early in the day hoping to avoid most of the crowds. Without a sister to chaperon, he was free to meander through the exhibits at his own pace and not keep up with Sloane and her friends and inevitably miss something. The whole thing was quite extensive, but there were more Potts sisters than Bixby brothers and so he wasn't surprised that they pulled off something like this. He didn't know any of the sisters very well, Calla aside, but had gone to school with... several of them at the least.

His sketchbook tucked under one arm, Alvin had contemplated parking himself in the English garden to do some sketching, but decided he could pretty much do that anywhere so had kept moving until he came upon a section that could only be described as a tropical rainforest. There were blooms as big as his head, and bigger and it was already sparking some muse for a sketch. Had he been thinking straight, he may have thought to bring his watercolors, but that required carrying around far more than his sketch book and charcoal. At least those could be easily miniaturized and tucked in his pocket until he wanted them.

There were some great textures and patterns to work with here, so Alvin found himself a suitable spot to sit and pull out his sketchbook. Charcoal was sort of messy to cart around, but he preferred the medium to most things and so set about planning his composition. It wasn't anything crazy, nor complete, but he wanted to capture some of the interesting shapes of the florals in this area. He'd gone through three or four pieces of parchment when he reached for a new piece of charcoal only to realize his pouch of supplies was missing.

Looking around, it was then he noticed his case high up in a tree nearby, vines wrapped around it tightly. "You've got to be kidding me," He mumbled as he stood, scattering papers and dust in the process.

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The flower show was going off almost without a hitch. Sure some plants were acting up but it was to be expected, putting them all in a place with new people that didn’t know how to deal with them. Zinnia found herself walking through the gardens, hands tucked behind her back, as she took in the sights and smells of the show — she loved being in nature, although the plants that she helped to grow from seeds were more special to her than the flowers she saw outside.

With nothing askew by the pond someone had fallen into earlier that day, Zinnia pondered if she should take a break and do some sketching to give her feet a break. It had been a couple days since she’d had time to herself because the last minute details for the show had kept her and family business while they ensured everything was perfect, and now seemed like the perfect time to change that. She smiled to herself as she nodded, fingers brushing along a few of the plants as she made her way toward the back of the show where the rainforest was.

This room had become one of her personal favorites, as the bushes and flowers here weren’t ones she got to work with every day when making arrangements. Of course just as she entered her eyes were drawn toward a one Mr. Bixby, who was being taunted by a pair of vines holding something just above her. Zin giggled quietly as she stepped forward, picking up one of his drawings in the process. “They’re like birds. They like shiny objects.” She said as she came to a stop in front of him, blinking blue eyes up at him as she smiled warmly. Of course there were easy ways to get what they were holding, but as the vine came down to take the picture straight from her hand as she held out to him, Zinnia knew that it probably wasn’t going to be as easy as she originally thought.

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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Bee made me something beautiful<3

"I don't suppose a simple summoning charm will work?" Alvin sighed as he subconsciously rolled his sleeves back down. His scars were quite jarring if you looked too closely and he didn't want to starting Miss Zinnia if he could help it. It had been a while since he'd seen any of the Potts sisters, considering Sloane and Miss Calla were so close, but with those two off at school and he'd been abroad for so long, he supposed it was to be expected.

The question was, how could he get it down? Perhaps Miss Zinnia would have an idea. She was the expert here after all. "Any idea how to go about this?" He ought to have been more gentlemanly, he realized, jumping right into the problem solving without inquiring as to how Miss Zinnia was doing, but he had never excelled at such things and if he was right, she probably didn't mind. He didn't know any of the Potts sisters that well, being between Miss Thistle and Miss Zinnia at school and mostly as an extension of Sloane. Hopefully their shared sibling friendship would allow for some measure of familiarity.

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“No.” Zinnia frowned, “The papers would just rip and it would probably break your charcoal pieces, given how tightly the vines are coiled around them.” She turned bright blue eyes onto him and smiled softly, taking notice how he rolled his sleeves back down. She was quick to recognize Mr. Bixby, and although they might not know each other well, they at least knew of each other — being in the same house for a few years would do that. Plus he’d been around when Sloane was with Calla a couple times, but that Zinnia had ever gone out of her way to talk to him.

Her lips curled into a smile as she nodded. “Of course. A trade for a trade. We just have to find something it might like more than what it has.” It was a tricky vine, and Zin wouldn’t be shocked to learn it was in cahoots with a niffler based on some of the items it’d been trying to steal off people. Probably had an entire stash somewhere of items it’d stolen today alone. Taking a look around the show, there wasn’t much to offer it, but something caught her eye. She moved toward a gazing ball that had been placed, just in case a couple wanted privacy to promenade while still giving a chaperone full view of them.

Picking it up, Zin shuffled over toward Mr. Bixby. “I’m going to offer it to the vine, and you should try to grab your pouch while I do so. It can’t hold onto both.” Or so she hoped.

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Bee made me something beautiful<3

Fortunately Miss Zinnia had more sense than he did But then again, they were in her domain, not his. She seemed quite sure of her chances with the gazing ball. Perhaps Alvin was going to have to stop carrying around his art supplies.

With a big of a shrug, Alvin set down everything else in his hands, away from where they may get taken as well, and watched Miss Zinnia carefully. "Alright, ready when you are." It was all awfully high up and he really only had one good hand with which to do this, so he just hoped it went somewhat smoothly.

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Zinnia was not sure of the chances that the vine would even want to trade the art supplies for a gazing ball, but it was worth a shot. It saw the ball nearly every day of its life and hadn’t taken it yet, so it probably wasn’t actually interested in it… but she wasn’t about to just tell Mr. Bixby that she couldn’t help him. That would be rude, and mama would frown at her if she was anything but nice, especially at an event her family put together.

Blue eyes turned toward the man in question, curiosity flickering in them, but he didn’t seem to have any hesitations about it. Well then, that settled that. Zin smiled at him and moved to stand just beneath the vine before she popped up on her tippy toes to push the gazing ball in her hands as far up toward the vine as she could get it. The vine coiled down to take it, although it seemed to know exactly what was happening once Mr. Bixby moved, as a moment later it chucked the gazing ball at the pair, displeased with almost being tricked. She squeaked loudly and ducked.

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Bee made me something beautiful<3

Alvin thought Miss Zinnia's plan worth a shot, but as they enacted it, nothing went right. Neither were tall enough to carry out what they'd planned and the vines clearly had a difference of opinion on how worthy a gazing ball was over the painting supplies. Alvin was slightly annoyed, as those were how he was making a living these days.

It was then that the vine hurtled the gazing ball back at them and Alvin's only quick reaction was to reach out his bad hand to try and prevent it from hitting Miss Zinnia. Without much control over the muscles there anymore, all Al could really do was put his arm in the way and hope it block it. Catching it wasn't an option and as the glass hit his arm, it felt like a bludger colliding with his wrist. It broke on impact, large pieces and thankfully not shrapnel falling toward the ground.

Alvin swore under his breath and immediately apologized; his mother would be livid. "My apologies, Miss Zinnia, are you hurt?" He asked as he cradled his arm to his body, wondering just how much more damage he could already do to his battered left arm.

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Zinnia should really be more aware of her surroundings, especially ones that she was used to being around. Becoming complacent wasn’t going to do her any favors, and it was lucky for her that Mr. Bixby reacted faster than she did when the vine decided that the gazing hall was an unfair trade for art supplies. (Although she did have to agree with it — if given the option, Zin would much rather have the art supplies than a silly gazing ball.) Inhaling sharply, she turned toward him just in time to watch the glass crack against his arm and fall toward the ground in pieces. The vine spiraled back up to the ceiling, but Zin wasn’t worried about it.

She stepped forward and opened her mouth although words escaped her. He looked like he was in pain from the way he was cradling his arm, and guilt curled into her stomach. “I’m— I’m ok. Thank you. But your arm…” Zinnia reached out but thought better of it, her fingers dropping to curl into the fabrics of her dress. It went against every norm to touch someone even if it was her gut instinct to do just that. She hated to see people in pain. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would react like that. Is there anything I can do to help?” She wasn’t the best at healing spells… but Zin knew she couldn’t make things words.

She at least pulled her wand out to repair the gazing ball, blue hues watching as it pieces itself back together like nothing had happened. Then she moved it out of the way, lest the vine got anymore great ideas.

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Bee made me something beautiful<3

His arm felt as of it were on fire and Alvin tried to keep the grimace from his face. He didn't need Miss Zinnia to worry. "I'll be alright, but it needs to be seen." The extensive damage to his arm meant he needed a very specific kind of healer to look at it when he in injured it further. "It was worth a shot." He passed her a lopsided grin.

"Do you think when the vine finally lets go you could send me an owl and I'll pick it up?" Hopefully with minimal damage. Alvin needed those to make as living these days.

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Zin couldn’t help but frown, although she did manage to nod. She wasn’t a healer by any means and the very idea of hurting Mr. Bixby more because of a botched up spell was enough to make her not push the subject on it. Her lips quipped into a smile a second later though, as he grinned at her. It looked cute on him.

“Sorry it’s being such a bugger.” Zin apologized again before she nodded. “Of course. I’m sure the fine will let go of it soon enough. I’ll owl you some of my charcoal this afternoon, as a repayment for any damage. Watercolors are my preferable method these days, anyway.” She tilted her head as she giggled; the charcoal would probably be put to better use by someone who was actively using it, as it’d just been sitting in her drawer for quite some time.

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Bee made me something beautiful<3