April 21, 1891 - Potts Family Garden, Bartonburg
Elias Grimstone

Daffy was decidedly not thinking about things with Noble at this point. He'd made it very clear that whatever future plans they'd once had no longer included her input and so everthing was just, broken. The dull ache in her chest was hard to ignore, but she did her best; it wasn't like she could tell anybody why she was suddenly all reclusive and mopey.

So Daff did what she did best when she had too many thoughts on her mind and too much time on her hands; she weeded the garden. The Potts family garden was magically expanded in the fence behind their home. Fortunately they lived on the edge of the park itself, the end of Thimblewhit Turn allowing for an already larger garden than normal, with a little help. There was a little pond with all kinds of things her father was studying, each Potts girl that lived at home had their own section of the garden, and of course their mother had a large vegetable garden already started. It was a lot of work, but they all enjoyed it far too much to let the vigor of the upkeep prevent them from pursing their passions.

After supper was Daff's time to retreat the garden and find a little solitude. There were weeds to pull and garden gnomes to deal with. She was elbow deep in dirt, a little sweat beading on her forehead along with smudges of earth on her cheeks, when she heard the shout, follow by the loud thud behind her. She'd been so caught up in what she was doing, humming along and thinking about some work she had to finish up tomorrow, that she hadn't even noticed the incoming object headed straight for— and landing in— the pumpkin plants.

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He ought to have known he’d never make it to the park to land it. Once he’d realised the steering was off and the levitation charms were sputtering out on it, Elias had regretted bringing out this old prototype on a test flight. What was worse, in the half-a-minute it had taken him to get out his wand in preparation to cast a cushioning charm on his landing, one-handed steering and the slight shift of his body weight had upset it, and set the broom newly aspin.

So he’d guided it as far as he could from the last few rooftops, clipping a tree whose branches raked uncomfortably past him; he’d just caught sight of a wide open patch of space bordering the park when it began to falter faster. He’d hoped to get past the fence and avoid a private garden but at this point he was heading for the ground so fast there was only enough to let out a warning shout. Elias tumbled off it first, hitting the ground hard on his back and losing grasp of the broomstick to prevent it splintering on impact - too alarmed to respond to any instructions, the broomstick skidded a few yards further and ended up, he thought, in a little nearby pond.

Too winded from the fall to properly sit up, he lifted his head - ouch, no, that was an extremely uncomfortable crick in his neck - to try and see where it had gone, and instead noticed that there was someone in this garden, in fact.

“So sorry for - dropping in like this,” Elias just about managed, offering whoever was nearby an apologetic grin, before he found himself too dizzied to do anything more than slump back against this patch of leafy pumpkin vines. He was sorry to have squished them, too, but at the same time he was rather grateful for their cushioning. It could have been worse. Better this than a heap of nettles.

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   Elsie Kirke

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"Oh goodness!" Daffy squeaked as she dusted off her hands and scrambled to check on her new company. "Quite witty for somebody who just used my pumpkin plants as a cushion, did you hit your head?" Daff chuckled easily as she gave the gentleman a quick once over. He was sporting some bleeding scratches and clearly he'd fallen from a decent height, but she didn't see any bones popping out or anything of that sort.

Kneeling down next to him, she continued to look him over for any obvious breaks for more emergent injuries, but he seemed relatively unharmed. Well that was a relief. It was then that Daff noticed the discarded broom floating in the pond. Quickly she cast a summoning charm on it so that their fish didn't start nibbling on it. It settled nearby, leaning neatly against the looming willow tree at the corner of the garden. "Are you alright?" She asked more seriously, unsure as to whether she should hurry inside to get help or maybe summon Amaryllis to come inspect him. Having a healer in the family was quite helpful sometimes.

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It was probably fortunate someone was out in the garden, just in case he’d passed out or broken both legs in the fall, Elias considered briefly. He hadn’t actually lifted his head far enough to look down and see that all his limbs were still intact, but he was fairly certain if he’d fractured anything he would have felt it at once.

So instead he looked at the woman kneeling by him, dirt smeared across her cheeks, and tried to pay attention to what she was saying. “I’m well-practised in the art of falling,” Elias managed brightly enough, although his hand did go to the back of his head experimentally, hoping the dizziness would fade. “Though I might’ve,” he admitted, wincing a little as he pulled himself up to a more sitting state. “Is it still on straight?”

He grinned at her as if to say I’m honestly fine, thank you - and obviously he was well enough to joke - although the soreness at the back of his head where he’d just touched it was much less discomforting than the twinge somewhere between the back of his shoulder and his neck that was making actually moving sound quite undesirable. Pulled something, probably, but that was not worth mentioning. So as he kneaded it tentatively, he glanced down at the leafy patch around them instead. “But maybe I should invest in some pumpkin plants of my own,” he added. “I think I’ve gotten off lightly this time.”

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Despite his cheerful responses and assurances, Daffy was not totally convinced he was quite alright. "Certainty on straight, but maybe some ice would help?" They had some dittany plants that could help with the scratches too. It wasn't quite as potent as the distilled kind, but his scratches didn't look too bad. It would at least close them up.

"You can have one of these if you like." Daff chuckled. They were a little smushed, but by no means ruined. "Why don't you enjoy the plants for a moment and I'll get a couple things from inside." She smiled as she stood up and brushed off the dust from her skirts. "I'll be right back." She assured him and scurried off into the house.

It didn't take her long to collect what she needed, a damp cloth with some ice from the ice box, a little headache tonic and she detoured back outside to get the dittany. "Still hanging in there?" She looked him over again as she resumed her position on the ground beside him.

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“Honestly, I’m -” he began. He would’ve shrugged about the ice, but he didn’t trust himself to shrug just yet, so he barely had time to tell her not to worry before the young woman was up and off towards the house. Enjoy the plants, she had said. Elias smiled to himself as she left. He didn’t move, though he hoped he was not crushing these pumpkin vines too badly by sitting here.

While she was gone he let the smile fade a little, attempting the massage the worst out of the muscle just below his neck; but as he did so he also spent a while letting his gaze drift around the garden. It was quite the spectacular scene, larger than most ordinary gardens here but a Padmore Park in miniature, complete even with its own pond. Well-tended, too. Just as he squinted over to see which patch of the garden she had been working on, the young woman returned with a whole assortment of things.

Elias pulled an impressed face, leaning back a little on his hands. “Hanging in very well, thank you,” he said with a smile to prove it, though his head was aching a little more with every minute. “I’ve been enjoying the plants as instructed,” he added, teasing a little, but only because she seemed so affable about this whole thing (when she could have equally been raving about intrusions and destruction of property, probably). “But I am sorry if I’ve ruined any of it.”

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"Delightful," Daff chuckled. Honestly she was a little worried he'd hit his head too hard; he seemed awfully chipper for someone who had just fallen off a broom into someone's back garden. "Ice," She handed the tied up cloth to her guest first. "Or a little something for what I'm sure is a heinous headache?" She offered before realizing that was probably a little forward of her. "My sister is a healer, I promise it's safe." She assured him, despite the fact that it was Noble who had brewed this particular potion. Ama was just as likely.

Daffy then summoned her gardening sheers from where she had been weeding. "And this," She started to peel a couple of the leaves from the dittany plant to expose the juice inside. "Should take care of those scratches." Daff was not quite a herbologist, but she very well could be by this point. She had always paid genuine attention when Ama or Noble went off about potions and plant ingredients, not to mention her father's ramblings or her mother's for that matter.

"Nonsense, I have ways to treat them too." A few damaged leaves and stalks were simple enough to take care of. "Besides, you're taking this one home with you." She teased lightly about the one that had taken the brunt of his fall.

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Elias took the ice gratefully, and had only just held it to himself when she also passed him a tonic of some kind. He squinted briefly at the bottle, but the lingering dizziness was not especially conducive to making out words, so he looked back up at her instead.

“Well I suppose I’ll have to trust you, won’t I?” Elias said good-naturedly, because if he didn’t take the tonic he would probably regret it later. Besides, she seemed eminently knowledgeable and quite resourceful - he glanced at the plant from which she was peeling leaves - and there was something bright and honest and open in her face that meant he’d probably have trusted her anyway, the previous reasons besides.

“But I couldn’t possibly,” he said, after knocking back the tonic and adjusting the ice he was holding. Elias peered down at the pumpkin plant and back at her again to grin, sure she was joking. “You can’t be sending all your garden-gatecrashing visitors off with gifts.” Metaphorically gatecrashing, in this case, but still - the fact remained, she was being far too kind.

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Truthfully this was the first time somebody had literally dropped in unannounced, but to Daff the matter of arrival didn't quite matter, she was supposed to be a gracious host, no matter what. Not to mentions she was amused, but more so worried about his well-being. He must be hurting. "You don't look like you'll go running out on me any time soon." Daff had figured that much out so far. He looked quite jarred, so she was pleased that he accepted the ice and the potion easily enough.

"You did say you might need to plant some for future crashes, this would be a good place to start, its got experience." Daff hummed out in amusement as she peeled the last leaf off the dittany plant. "Do you crash often, Mr..?" Propriety of introductions had flown out the window as soon as he'd crushed her pumpkins. Good thing this was her own backyard, otherwise she was sure it would draw quite a few stares.

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He smiled ruefully at that. She was probably right. And he probably could use the natural cushioning of these leafy pumpkin plants. (And if he did not happen to faceplant into them often enough to destroy them all, it might even be an interesting addition to the garden to attempt to grow pumpkins of his own.)

The ice already felt numbing, and though the tonic had left an odd aftertaste in his throat Elias had to think it was taking effect, because he didn’t feel nearly so dizzy as he had a few minutes ago. He shifted in place, sitting up a little straighter in preparation for dealing with the dittany on his branch-scrapes.

“Grimstone,” he added, a little sheepishly. “Elias Grimstone. From just down that way -” he pointed vaguely towards the rest of Bartonburg (though the landing had disoriented his directional sense somewhat). “And - I try not to make a habit of it, but yes, perhaps a little more than I’d like. So I suppose you make a good argument,” he relented, heaving a sigh as if he were reluctant to be convinced by her, as if he weren’t smiling easily behind it, “Miss...?”

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"Potts, of the Daffodil variety, but my friends call me Daffy." She supplied easily enough with a smile and a chuckle. The name Grimstone rang a bell, she was sure Calla had mentioned it and suddenly it clicked. Even if he didn't make a habit of it, Mr. Grimstone was apparently quite used to crashing and now Daff realized why. "The broommaker yes? I've heard your name mentioned amongst my sister's quidditch-playing friends." He apparently made fine-quality brooms, even if it currently looked like the one he'd just nearly lost to the fish in her pond said otherwise. Daffy had never been one for flying, let alone quidditch, she had left that to Noble and some of her other friends back in school and of course Calla was the family quidditch player.

"This is going to sting a little, it's not diluted," She warned, but left him no room or time to try and escape as she pressed the open dittany leaf to one of his scratches. It would close right up though, so there was that at least. "My apologies," She grimaced appropriately, though was satisfied as she watched the open scratch seal itself back up rather quickly. "We wouldn't want to scar that handsome face." She said without a second thought, paying no mind to how it would come across.

"Is that something new then?" She continued on, eyeing the broom curiously before moving to have another go at another scratch.

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Well, perhaps we’ll be friends then, Elias thought but didn’t say. Daffodil - it was an unusual name, an unusual flower - but he could not think of anything more entirely suited to her, with her wide eyes and cheerful flush and flyaway wisps of hair and the earth smudged on her cheeks. Maybe it was because he had met her in the middle of a bursting garden, or because she just suited the springtime.

“Yes,” he admitted easily instead, squinting as if he could pin down which sister of hers she might mean - but all he knew about the Potts family was that they had an abundance of daughters, so that was getting him nowhere. “Potts, though,” he repeated, gesturing at the garden, more spectacularly planted than any other he’d flown over in Hogsmeade, with a smile. “I think I should have guessed. No one else’s garden is a match for all this.”

He couldn’t quite keep the smile fixed to his face as she set to work on the scratches, the dittany stinging on his skin, and Elias might have protested that it wasn’t necessary, he could let them heal on their own - but then she wouldn’t be this close, and he wouldn’t have gotten to hear that comment, and probably wouldn’t be having to use all his energy to suppress a too-wide grin. For once he didn’t have anything witty to say in response, so Elias just ducked his chin a fraction, laughed with a little sheepishness and let himself be distracted by her question about the broom. “Oh no, that’s an old forgotten model that I thought I’d give a second chance,” he said, with a look that said, slightly playfully, so please don’t tell everyone you know that I’m just that bad a broommaker. “But it might have seen better days.” The broom probably wasn’t even worth the time it would take to fix it up, and the test flight had been a failure, evidently; but sitting here, with only the now-disappearing-grazes to show for it, Elias couldn’t quite bring himself to count it as a loss.

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Daff dabbed lightly at a few more of the more noticeable scratches, humming out an amused reply to his conclusion about the garden and who it belonged to. "Can never have too much of a good thing, for us, it's plants." She chuckled gently and tossed the rest of the dittany in into the nearby compost pile. "I'm sure you can relate." Any hobby or career you loved never felt like work.

Daffy sat back now, plopping easily enough onto the dirt path beside the pumpkins to look him over one last time. Her skirts were already covered in dust, it wasn't the end if the world. He'd survive too, certainly, and no worse for the wear — and without evidence of his crash.

"It's such a handsome hue, cherry wood?" Trees were not exactly her wheelhouse, but Daffy had some basic knowledge. Plus the color was pretty unmistakable. "Hardwood, must be kind of heavy?" She knew even less about brooms than she did trees, but she had always been the type to say what she was thinking.

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“I can,” Elias said sincerely, letting his eye linger over the gardens again. Once she had finished her ministrations, he flexed his arms and stretched his shoulder back to test it, rather grateful that the scrapes were all sealed up before he inevitably got back to the workshop, immediately forgot about them, and got polish stinging on his skin.

He felt a great deal improved though, and the tonic must have been working - or else the pause to get his breath back - because he stood up slowly and didn’t feel dizzy at all. “Good eye,” he remarked, easily delighted at her knowledge, though he supposed it should not come as that much a surprise. “Oh, not too heavy,” Elias assured - it was not the most dense wood he’d ever used, and nothing the levitation charms couldn’t counteract, usually - “and it was a joy to work with,” the straight grain! so much easier-going than oak! “but it’s - almost a little too flexible, in the air. I think it’s style over substance for this one, after all,” he said, scooping up the recovered broom and setting it idly over his shoulder, for the walk back. “I suspect it’ll need even more repairing than me,” he added with a grin, shooting her another grateful look for all she had done for him.

He reached out his free hand to help her up from where she was sitting, grin growing a little broader. “Now, what should I know about planting pumpkins?”

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Daffy was pleased to see that when Mr. Grimstone decided to stand up, that he looked quite stable and no worse for the wear. She smiled brightly at the fact that she had guessed the wood right. She also truly enjoyed the look on his face when he talked about it. Daffy honestly loved when people spoke about things they were passionate about, the way features lit up and the smiles that followed.

"The trees are always so lovely, the blossom represents renewal, so maybe don't give up on it just yet." Though clearly Mr. Grimstone would know better than she would.

Blushing slightly, she accepted his hand up, giving his hand a little squeeze before letting go. At his question about the pumpkin plants, it was her turn to nerd out about something she enjoyed, though not to the extent she normally would. Gently she ran her fingertips along the edge of the closest leaf. "Oh don't you worry, once I fix this poor baby up a little," Daffy would have to give the plants a little clean up like she did her new friend, before sending them off. "I will give you all the instructions you need." She had every intention of following up with him when the time came.

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