Plant Parenthood; Friday [05/02].

[what_big_teeth]

Spending time with Kamala again earlier that week had really helped quell some of Eleanor's nerves about graduation, but, unfortunately, the relief had been only temporary, and now the event was looming over her shoulders. She would like to stay on as a university student, of course, but she knew that her conscious wouldn't let her. She owed it to her family to be back home and do her duties as the apparent new matriarch of the family. But she wasn't ready to leave yet, and was hoping to cling on to at least one more summer in the only place she'd really ever felt so completely and uncompicatedly happy.

And she was terrified that Luma was going to show up tomorrow for the graduation and make trouble for her and insist on dragging her back up to Maine, and what was she going to do? Say no? To the sister who used to be her best friend, for whom she'd ruined absolutely everything? After everything that happened, could she truly refuse Luma anything?

The future was uncertain, and so, for that, even though she wasn't sure how much she believed in it or even her own abilities in it, Eleanor turned to her tarot cards.

After taking care of things around the shop, she made herself some tea, lit some candles, put on some moody music, and then settled behind the counter once it was quiet to pull out her deck and start shuffling. Three times. Then, she spread them all out in front her, face down, in a line. She took a deep breath, chose six, and then set the rest of the desk aside. Setting the six cards back down, she turned over the first one.

And it nearly made her want to cry.

And what followed certainly answered her questions, assuaged her doubts and fears, but also brought up one very important new question. Because, after all, wasn't that the magic, the trick of the tarot? You weren't reading cards so much as you were reading into what you were pretty sure the person being read was looking for.

She lingered, a little, on that last card, on the Sun, and what it was meant to tell her, and let out another breath, before sweeping up her cards again, setting them aside, and going to go focus on something else to distract her instead.

PlanT Parenthood is open!

Comments

[slothbabyproductions]

I'm sorry but was Eleanor in need of a distraction.

"Hey, girl," Kamala announced herself as she hopped into the shop. "Ammi just sent a bunch of cookies. I thought I'd bring some over to share. What's up buttercup?"

She stopped mid-step. "I have no idea why I said that. Can we delete those last couple of words?"

[what_big_teeth]

And here Eleanor had just been about to ask, too, laughing softly at the backpedaling and for the pure relief of getting to focus on something other than her own thoughts right now. Even if Kamala was centered in most of them.

"Sure," she allowed. "We'll take it from 'cookies to share.,' because that sounds great."

[slothbabyproductions]

"Excellent. Then we'll just jump into: What's up?" Kamala said with a little hop and placing the cookies on the counter and leaning in for a quick kiss hello. "The cookies have nutmeg in them. It's one of my uncle's recipes."

[what_big_teeth]

Sorry, Kamala. Eleanor's brain was now mentally still adding the redacted Buttercup, so it was more than just the kiss fueling her smile right now. "Nutmeg," she recited proudly, "is also supposed to be a good mood lifter and for blood health, as well as spiritual connections and good luck. So it's good that it usually tastes good, too."

[slothbabyproductions]

"Ooo. I wonder if Ammi knew that," Kamala said opening up the container. "She probably did. And probably crushed up vitamins into the cookies so they could be healthier."

[what_big_teeth]

"If there's anything she give you trouble for eating," Eleanor noted, peering into the container a moment before carefully picking out a cookie, "let me know, and I bet I could find some sort of medicinal use for it so you can make the argument that it's good for you, actually. Except your red dye. You're on your own for that one."

Although, really, if Eleanor really was looking to modernize her grandmother's apothecary methods to bring into a new age...

[slothbabyproductions]

"Well, if it can't dye my tongue permanently red, I don't care if it's medicinal," Kamala laughed around part of a cookie in her mouth. Then she paused to think through if what she just said made sense.

...

It was fine.

"After work you want to get some squishies and hang out?"

[what_big_teeth]

Eleanor's brows were lifted in anticipation during that whole pause to see what Kamala might be working on there, but she couldn't argue with where it apparently ended up.

"I would love to get some squishies and hang out after work. That sounds great."

Anything to help keep her mind off of what might go down tomorrow.

"Have anything in particular in mind?"

[slothbabyproductions]

“Hmmm,” Kamala said with her finger on her chin, pretending to think deep thoughts. “Well, it’s been a while since I sketched anything. How about I draw while you read your favorite poems to inspire me. Then we’ll see how the night goes.”