Open Sunshine Yellow

[Poppy Perkins]

(Yellow rose, open after @Lysander Summers )

Poppy was nearly done with her deliveries and only had two roses left as she made her way to the lakefront. She was a little sad that she was almost done with her roses for the year, and wondered if she would get a rose this year. She didn't get any last year, and she didn't mind. Poppy thought delivering them was more fun anyways. It was a nice day and she hoped she would find Lysander out there. Holding up her hand to block the sun, she looked around for him. She pursed her lips in concentration and was just about to give up and check somewhere else when she spotted him and waved. "Hey Lysander!" she called out, jogging slightly to meet him. "I have a rose for you!" she said a little breathlessly.

 

[Lysander Summers]

After Rowan had found him to do her delivery, Lysander was sure that was the end of the roses he'd be getting, and resumed relaxing by the water's edge with his frog, until he could be bothered to get back up and finish off his own deliveries. When he heard his name called out again, he shuffled around to spot Poppy jogging over. It wasn't the first time he'd hung out with her at the lake, and he was happy to have her join him and relax, until he realised she was delivering even more roses to him. "More?" He asked, his face breaking into a broad grin. He was sure the two Rowan had brought was all he'd get. "That's my third one today! Thanks!" He continued. It was hard to believe. He'd gotten three the previous year too, but he'd since stopped talking to one of the friends who'd sent one, and didn't think he'd get another. The boy tucked the two roses already beside him into his bag, and smoothed out the ground they'd be laying on with a flick of a few pebbles. "Do you wanna sit down?" He offered. She seemed like she could do with some relaxing, too.​

 

[Poppy Perkins]

“Wow! Three?” Poppy asked, impressed. “Well here’s another to add to the pile.” she said with a giggle and handed him a yellow rose along with the note. “Who were the other ones from?” she asked curiously, before she could worry about if that was a rude question or not. “I could sit for a bit. Thankfully I only have one rose left.” She said and sat down next to him, enjoying the sunshine and a moment of peace in what had been a very hectic day. “Did you deliver roses this year?” she asked.

Spoiler: Note

Happy Valentines day
Ajax

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander eagerly took the note and flipped it over to see who it was from, chewing his lip when he realised it was Ajaccio. He'd forgotten to send him a rose too, and felt a little bad. He was a new friend, and in all honesty he hadn't expected to get one from him. A part of him still thought of the other boy as "Wendall's friend", and not quite his own, so it was nice to get more of a confirmation. "Alexei and Wendall sent me my other two. This ones from Ajax! Have you had many yet?" He asked her. "And only one left already? I'm delivering, and I've still got like...five to go. I don't even know who some of them are." He admitted. Maybe he'd spent too much time at the lake instead of finishing them off like Poppy had, but running around searching for people whose faces he didn't even recognise sounded daunting. Besides that, the lake had suddenly become more exciting, and he was reluctant to leave it too soon. "You know, I saw something out in the water just before. Like maybe a monster, or a mermaid." He told Poppy in a more hushed tone, pointing vaguely out to the general spot he'd seen the shimmer of gold and splash of water. It had been totally still ever since, but he had hope. "I'm waiting to see if it comes back, so you have to shout out if you see anything." He nodded firmly. Having a second pair of eyes to help look for anything in the water would be handy. He wasn't sure if she'd believe him, especially considering he'd told her that sharks were in the lake last time they'd hung out there, and he hadn't seen a single one of those either.​

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy's warm smile froze when Lysander asked if she had gotten many roses yet. She felt her ears get hot with embarrassment but she laughed and smiled to hide her discomfort. She knew it was silly to feel this way about not getting any roses. They were a nice gestures but it didn’t mean she didn’t have any friends, and it wasn’t like she sent any either. Besides, the day wasn’t over yet. There was still time. “No, not too many.” she half lied, with a shrug. “I just get excited and like to meet people. But yeah not knowing people does make it hard.” she admitted, nodding in agreement. She didn’t like to attract that much attention but sometimes it was easiest to just shout people’s names and hope they were around.

“A monster?!” she squeaked, glad for the change of subject. She hadn’t had a chance to go swimming in the lake this year but knowing that there might have been something in there before made her shiver. “What makes you say that? What did you see exactly? Maybe it was just some kind of plant?” she asked, trying to sound reasonable but she still watched the surface of the lake for any kind of movement. She liked to doodle monsters all the time but she wasn’t sure if she really believed in them, not when there was usually a good explanation to be had.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander nodded affirmatively. A monster! Maybe. He had hopes. "Because I saw it! It was like..." He trailed off, still not entirely sure what it was that he'd seen, and still not a hundred percent convinced it hadn't been the yellow rose he was looking at, reflecting off the water. But there'd been a splash! There had to be something out there. It didn't make sense that it was just some weird coincidence. "Like a big yellow snake!" He said, still trying to convince himself as well. For all he knew, it could have even been a mermaids tail, diving back into the water. If that were the case, he was still mad he missed out on meeting a mermaid. "I don't know any plants in the lake that look like that. Wouldn't they all be at the bottom of the water anyway?" He guessed. Whenever he'd gone swimming, he hadn't noticed any plants that far out from the shore. "I wonder if it eats people. I bet it protects the mermaid village." He theorised. He couldn't be sure they even had a village, or if that was just a rumour, but they had to live somewhere, and it made sense that they'd protect it.​

 

[Poppy Perkins]

“You saw it?” Poppy asked warily. She considered the description Lysander gave her and it did sound odd. She liked to believe in fantastical things but it was best to observe things yourself before coming to any conclusion. “There are plants that live on the surface of water.” she pointed out. “My father studies plants.” she explained “Only muggle plants but...he’s still taught me a thing or two.” Poppy added quickly. She wanted to sound like she knew what she was talking about, but it was true that most plants wouldn’t live that far out in the lake for it to be mistaken as a monster. “I hope not.” she said a little too quickly when he mentioned it eating people. “It would make going for a swim much more dangerous.” she said and forced a laugh. “Well if it’s protecting something, then you just have to avoid messing with it. And then you're safe.” she said, matter-of-factly. When she had come out to the lake it had seemed like a good idea but now she just wanted to keep her distance. “I think I need to get back to my deliveries.” she said abruptly, and started to pick up her things a little too quickly.