Closed In Your Nature

[Elliot Briar]

Leading the Wild Patch Club had been pretty daunting at the start of the year, but Elliot was feeling like maybe he might have a handle on it now. He had been grateful that there hadn't really been any big issues to deal with yet, not even an issue with bees, so when he'd spotted that one of the younger members didn't seem to want to take part in any club events, Elliot felt his stomach twist nervously. He'd stayed working on his weaving and checking in with the rest of the club for awhile, before excusing himself and following Rosemarie over to where she'd settled herself with some of the patch flowers.

"Hey, Rosemarie," He said softly, awkwardly hovering near her before deciding to sit down where she was in the dirt. "I uh, noticed you didn't want to take part in the last few club events.. Is everything okay?" He asked, hoping it didn't come across like she was in trouble. It made him uncomfortable to potentially have to confront Rosemarie about bad behavior or problems she was having, but he knew it was his responsibility both as a house prefect and the club leader to make sure he was okay, so Elliot needed to suck it up today.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rosemarie was enjoying the different smells of flowers that were growing in the patch. Some were very floral whereas others were more musky. She looked at her daisies and back at the people weaving flax into shapes. It didn't look like anything she was going to enjoy so this was second best. She pulled out a couple of weeds that were bugging her and looked back at her daisies. Soon she heard someone sitting down next to her. She looked to her side and spotted Elliot Briar one of the leaders of the club. She had delivered a rose to him at Valentines. ''Everything is fine, no worries'' Rosemarie smiled ''I am just not into the creative stuff'' Rose was never very creative nor did she care for engaging into very creative projects. Art were flowers to her, the colour varieties and shapes. A bouquet of arranged flowers, a full grown rose bush and morning dew on a leaf. That was art to her, not some type of painted bee house or flax shapes. Although she knew many liked the events, she would never actually complain. ''I joined this club in the hopes of learning new charms to help with gardening or tips to grow magical herbs and funghi'' Rosemarie paused ''I just don't like building or being really creative, it just never grabbed my interest I guess'' She let the building part be done by her father. He was the handy man, the one she would ask for a new hanging planter or some other crazy idea she had thought of. ''It isn't like I hate your events, I guess some people would absolutely love these, but I guess they just aren't my cup of tea'' She said while softly stroking a leaf of her daisies.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot was relieved when Rosemarie said things were fine, though he couldn't help but frown when she mentioned she wasn't really into the creative stuff. He hadn't really thought about the latest club events as being 'creative', but looking back he supposed he could see that.

"Yeah, I get that," He said slowly, trying to get his thoughts together. "I'm sure we can help you with tips and tricks any time, there's lots of avid gardeners in the club like you are," He added with smile, glancing at the daisies with Rosemarie. "But I guess, the point of the club isn't just 'gardening' or 'being creative'," Elliot continued, scratching at his cheek. "I think the Wild Patch, at least to me and William, is supposed be about more than just that. You can garden any time and learn about plants in class, but the Wild Patch is supposed to be something more," Elliot ducked his head, hoping this wasn't coming across as too sanctimonious to the younger student. "It's about a sense of community with each other, working on a common grow to create something together with your hands. And about connecting with nature and learning how to care and appreciate it. That's why we do things like set up beehives and learn about weaving together. It's understanding that community and respect around the plants. Not just growing them," He said, brushing his hand along the grass and trying not feel embarrassed about sharing what the club had come to meant to him. "Does that make sense?"

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

It didn’t matter for Rosemarie if the events didn’t suit her needs. She could look at others enjoying the event and be contend as well. Being around nature made her happy, the calm rustle of leaves or the wind taking away plant seeds to let them grow at other places. Rosemarie was glad to hear that there were other avid gardeners like she was. The classes only took you so far and Rose was hungry for more knowledge. ‘’Gardening alone and learning more is a difference though and the classes only do the basics, I want more’’ Rose said, she did love the idea of coming closer together and enjoying nature. She wanted to say that if you appreciate nature so much, why ruin it to make some stupid shapes, but she was scared. What if Elliot told Professor Carter that she didn’t participate in everything, he said he would revoke her as being his assistant. ‘’It does make sense, to respect nature in such way’’ Rose muttered ‘’But it still doesn’t mean the activities suit me as a person.’’ Rose adored nature and it already took her quiet a while to accept the rose event or potion making. She never understood why people would pick flowers and just give them away for fun. Since she couldn’t change tradition, she could at least tell people how to care for the picked flowers so they could last longer in a vase. ‘’I still enjoy these events even though I don’t actually participate, I just come here and see other people happy and enjoy the basics of life, nature.’’ There wasn’t much free in the world, but nature was already there. It gave air to people and even made life possible. Without trees everyone would die. She still didn’t understand the point in weaving and respecting nature. Wouldn’t picking flax and weaving it into a bird that you would throw away after a month be the opposite of respecting nature. The plants should keep their leaves and they shouldn’t be used for personal pleasure. It was something she wasn’t ready to discuss, she wanted to respect this event and Elliot for being the leader of this club.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot nodded when Rosemarie mentioned wanting more when it came to learning about gardening. He wasn't much of an expert himself, gardening and plants had always been more of a reprieve from other responsibilities than anything else for him, but he could understand. "I could show you a few things, or we can maybe ask Professor Carter or Professor Castillo for a few more exciting plants for patch if you'd like?" He said carefully, not wanting to overpromise and get her hopes up.

It was a bit surprising that Rosemarie seemed so excited by the idea of learning about plants and yet didn't believe any club activities had suited her so far. "You might be surprised if you gave them a try," Elliot offered weakly, though he was glad to hear that Rosemary still apparently enjoyed the events. "I could see about introducing you to some of the other club members if you wanted to get to know them better at events?" He said, though the idea made him a little nervous, he was sure some of the Wild Patch members would be happy to work on things with Rosemarie if she wanted to. "It just seems like a waste for you to go sit by yourself during all the club stuff," He added. "I can't always promise you'll like 100% of the club meetings, but like you said, it's nice to see other people enjoying things, and if you're involved with them too I'm sure you'd like it even more."

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

When Elliot said she should ask Professor Carter or the older students Professor she smiled. ''I already asked Professor Carter if I could help him regularly, he accepted so I am learning tons from him'' Rose said excitingly, she loved being around the magical plants that the Greenhouse had. ''I would to get some tips from you as well, the patch looks amazing'' Rose added.

She knew she should give them a try, but she also knew she wouldn't exactly enjoy them. Her old school already made her weave flax into different figures. She didn't like it back then and she was sure she wouldn't enjoy it now. It still was against her belief of destroying plants for decoration and fun. She just nodded since she didn't want to hurt Elliot. ''That would be lovely, thanks'' She said while smiling, even though she already knew some people in the club. Although Rose loved to garden, she could garden every other day. Maybe it was smarter to just sit with the people that were doing the event and talk to them. It wasn't like she was forced to actually weave or paint. She could always just talk to the people who were doing it. ''Yeah, I think you are right on that part.'' Rose said "Even though I don't like the activities, I can always sit with someone who is doing it and talk to them.'' She couldn't say that she was going to get actually involved with all of them. She would never go and weave a piece of real plant into decoration, but she would never be angry at someone who wanted a star shaped flax leaf. Everyone their own, only if Rose would be forced into making something, she would let her voice be heard.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot smiled, impressed, but not too surprised to hear Rosemarie was already working with Professor Carter on some stuff. He rather missed Professor Carter's classes himself, though at least he got to see plenty of him around since he was their head of house. "That's great! And, uh yeah, I don't mind showing you some things. Full disclaimer that I'm definitely not solely responsible for how the patch looks," He said sheepishly. Elliot didn't even think he could consider himself responsible for even a 5th of how the Wild Patch looked, so he hoped Rosemarie's expectations of him weren't too high, but he was happy to try.

He was glad Rosemarie seemed to be listening to him and understanding where he was coming from, nodding happily when she agreed to talk to other members more often. It had been worrying him that one of their members seemed so disinterested in what they were doing and Elliot hated the idea that Rosemarie might be missing out the cool things they could get up to. "Thanks for listening," He said, smiling at her and glancing over where the rest of the club was still weaving. "Do you wanna walk back over with me?" He offered, getting to his feet and brushing off some dirt from his pants. Elliot didn't want to press his luck, but there was no time like the present to maybe get Rosemarie more interested in club activities.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose grinned and thought Elliot was downplaying his abilities. ''I know you aren't solely responsible, but I am sure you had a big part in keeping it this amazing'' Rose said while looking at everything that was in full bloom at the moment. Although Rose was sure she wasn't going to weave anything soon, she knew she should interact with the others who wanted to weave something. Rose nodded she knew there were many more days she could enjoy the patch, but there were only two events per year. ''Sure, I walk back to the others'' Rose smiled, Elliot was right. Excluding herself made it harder to actually meet people.