Closed Line of Succession

[Elliot Briar]

When he was younger, Elliot couldn't have spent hours daily in the Wild Patch, actively working or even just enjoying a quiet moment out of the castle. These days, he felt like he was lucky to get time in a week to visit, let alone daily. Elliot knew he'd reached a point where he'd have to pick someone to take over once he'd left, but the mere idea had had his brain skittering away from it for weeks until it was unavoidable. He was losing track of who'd planted what and which things needed watering more than once this year and Elliot knew it was silly trying to pretend this was priority anymore. He needed to let the club go.

It wasn't like he didn't have perfectly capable candidates to pick through. Or that he hadn't already settled on the best choice already. It was just something about actually having that conversation and making it official felt so final. Like Elliot actually acknowledging things would suddenly make the year end that much faster. Sighing, Elliot shook his head, trying to shake some sense into himself before he started this conversation, glad Lysander was at the Patch today too. "Hey, Lysander, I wanted to run something past you. About next year," he said, tilting on his heels for a moment before forcing himself to cross his way past the chomping cabbages to talk to Lysander properly.

 

[Lysander Summers]

The year had been a bit of a disaster. Lysander was doing his best not to focus on Quidditch, now that the season was over, nor his recent loss in the duelling tournament. He'd felt so confident that he'd win against Juniper this time around, with all the prep work he'd put in against the SDA's dummies, and it'd been something of a blow to lose again. It hadn't felt fair. He'd needed a distraction to keep his mind off of things, and as usual, the garden tended to be a good place to toil and busy himself. He'd found some moly flowers to tend to, idly wondering if chewing them in the midst of a duel to counteract spells counted as cheating or not. He'd not been sitting there for too long, only having collected a few white petals that had fallen from the flowers before Elliot showed up, and he offered the king of flowers a friendly grin in greeting. "Hey, Elliot. Is this about that maze idea?" He asked. He'd thrown it out as an idea in the midst of their last match, mostly since it had been the first thing to come to his head. He'd mostly been joking about it, but if Elliot wasn't opposed to the Wild Patch growing a magical hedge maze on the lawn, then Lysander was all for it.​

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot let out an amused huff at Lysander's response, going to shake his head before pausing and shrugging. "Well, sort of... It's just my last year and all, so I've been thinking about replacements to take over next year," Elliot said, hoping Lysander was following the line of thought there. Lysander was a bit of a mixed bag of enthusiasm and chaos at times, but Elliot also knew he cared deeply about his team, and the Wild Patch. Considering Connor was already taking on the Quidditch team with Amy and Poppy had the school paper, Elliot couldn't think of anyone better than their resident Knight of Flowers to take up the mantle next year. "I figured, you know, if you wanted, you could take over as King of Flowers."

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander did not take long to cotton on to the fact that this was really not a conversation he should be having sitting down, and hastily got to his feet, forgetting for a moment the flower petals in his lap until they'd already fluttered back down onto the grass. Part of him had anticipated this day, or hoped for it at least, since Mhairi knighted him. It was all fun and pretend to begin with, though the longer he was a part of the club, the more he really wanted to be able to do for it. He hadn't been all that sure what Elliot would end up deciding, and he'd figured hitting him point-blank with a bludger hadn't done him any favours in that regard. He was happy to know he hadn't taken it to heart. "Really? I get to be the next King?" He asked to be sure, despite being told literally that. He pondered it for a second. "Does it have to be flowers? Can I pick other things?" He asked. William had been the King of the Trees when he'd been around, right? He liked the idea of being the King of Flowers, though at the same time he wanted to try his own twist to it, too. The Gryffindor cast a glance over the patch for inspiration, and bent down to pick up one of the weeds he'd wrestled from the garden. "Could I be like, the King of Weed?" He asked. King of the Weeds? King of Weeds? Okay, it definitely wasn't the best example he could come up with in the moment, but it was the one he had.​

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot was glad that Lysander seemed excited about the opportunity, nodding in return. "I mean, not if you don't want. It's really up to you-" He started, cutting himself off with a frown at Lysander's first suggestion and trying not to sweat. Or second guess his decision. He knew Lysander was a bit exuberant, but he was pretty sure Alicastell might hex them both if she heard he'd let Lysander take over a club as 'The King of Weed'. "Um, maybe not... That one. Something else? Please?"

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander exhaled a thoughtful sigh. Alright, not the King of Weed, then. He looked toward the chomping cabbages Elliot had passed. King of Cabbages? No. That was too specific to one thing. "King of Dirt?" He suggested with a short laugh, scuffing a patch of soil on the ground with the toe of his shoe. You needed dirt to grow flowers in the first place. It was symbolic. "Lord of the soil, master of mud." He continued. Did he have to stick to "king", too? Not that he minded king. He could see himself in a crown, one bursting with flowers. There had to be a way to incorporate puffapod seeds into it. He definitely intended to go all out on the flower king style. Seeing Michael's over-the-top floral costume at the ball had been inspirational.​

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot made a small strangled noise he managed to cover with a cough at Lysander's next suggestion, but he was sure he was unable to hide the grimace that came along with it. "Mud is... Good. But maybe not the image you want for the club?" He said weakly. "Maybe you could do something like William? King of Ferns? Or even uh. Lord of the Wild Patch?" Elliot grabbed at the first few ideas he could come up with, realizing perhaps giving Lysander free unfettered range to name his new position was perhaps not the best idea.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander grinned at Elliots response to his suggestions. It had been a lot to take in! He hadn't been prepared to come up with anything. He listened to the older boys own suggestions, tapping the side of his head with his index finger before pointing it at Elliot. "You're good at these." He said with a laugh. "What about...the Master of Mandrakes?" He threw out, followed by a mumbled comment about that mandrake murderer, Professor Carter, under his breath. "...Maybe I'll write a few down and see what you think. I can't decide now." He nodded, agreeing with himself on the plan before Elliot had even agreed to it. He beamed. "Thanks, Elliot. You won't regret this!" Man, he had so many plans. How hard would it be to grow a miniature castle out of hedges? He'd have to check some books on plant magic. Yeah, this would be great.​

 

[Elliot Briar]

They were getting closer to something more reasonable, and while 'Master of Mandrakes' wouldn't be Elliot's first choice, he'd take it over some of Lysander's other suggestions. "Uh, I've had years of practice," he offered weakly. "Yeah.. Sure. Sounds good. Good luck..." He said, hoping to Merlin what Lysander was saying was true. Or at least that whatever happened Elliot would be far enough away not to hear about it.