Chapter Text
While Ren guessed the technique his senior used to visit him right, it was still only an ability to transfer one part of the Doll, the consciousness and temporary body.
His real body- but more importantly, his flower needed manual removal.
‘We will make sure it gets out, but it’s possible the one taking it out won’t be Nozomun,’ Sora warns. ‘He’s known to the Government as your Flower Master, and since they want to deprive you of him, they will probably also keep doing everything to keep him away from your flower, like they do everything to keep him away from you now.’
Ren nods tired, he could feel it even now – he withered without Nozomu, but his flower was separated from his Flower Master as well. Just like he could pass on water to it before, the plant should have been able to provide him with such crucial ingredient like feeling the presence of the one human Ren wanted close by, right?
Oh, this seemed to change too, his perception of Nozomu. There was a part that still yearned to call him Master without a second thought, but the words that the other filled him with when talking also ended up playing in his head a lot.
Friend.
Comrade.
Partner.
What else there was that people could be to each other? He wished he knew or at least could ask Nozomu, but.
He could not.
The scientists seem to visit him more and research him, his reactions, his samples, more intensely, as if desperate for some kind of result – different result, or perhaps any result before he will wither completely on them?
Yet, every time they gain something – he’s learned to recognize that from excited voices – it’s because of the young man with glasses giving a suggestion. He seems to intersperse different ideas that gave interesting results with asking for permission to change Ren’s surroundings to those more comfortable to him.
And easier to prepare for a transfer in, according to Sora, who is now with Ren every time the room is darkened into „night mode” (another intervention of the young scientist).
‘Humidity and natural day-night cycle are perfect, since they are also enabling your inner flower to work more effectively,’ older Doll (by just a year, if counting by the time of awakening, but still) explains. ‘And you need it to work really, really hard to release enough pollen to transfer your consciousness into it. You’re too weak to pick up any signal other than your Flower Master, so at least you won’t have to worry about directing it, though.’
Ren blinks.
‘I won’t?’ he copies the other and Sora nods. ‘And that is important...’
‘Because your Flower Master should manage to stabilize you enough to sustain it for a few hours,’ Sora explains. ‘And to people unused to Flower Mirage you will appear dead, completely withered. They will poke and prickle your body a few times, but in the end, they will throw it out, choose to dispose of it. We already checked they don’t keep as hard of a watch over trash as they should, considering they freak out about the possibility of us being some viral virus or something, but it works to our advantage, so whatever.’
Ren blinks again.
‘You want me...’
‘I want them,’ Sora corrects, ‘to get rid of your body, this human part at least. If we’re lucky, they’ll do the same to your flower, the physical one. But well, if not, there’s still a plan B ready to go. And they will not be able to complain if we pick up what they throw out, right? Even if that „what” turns out to be a very alive „who”, but. It's their fault for not listening when we tried to talk to them.’
If Ren was not so tired, he would probably realize there’s more to that announcement than meets the eye, but. Right now all that he could think about was Nozomu and how what Sora told him made him get closer to seeing his Flower Master. Well, not like he had any alternatives, but.
‘Let’s do it,’ he says with a fainting voice, and Sora smiles at him.
‘Let’s start with the basics – get to your inner Flower...’
*
Nozomu is in a room that is so different from what Ren knows that he feels his head spinning just from the cacophony of the colors.
‘Ren?’
His own Flower was silver and white, so seeing so much blues, browns, reds around him felt disorienting.
‘Ren!’
So he focuses on the only familiar thing.
‘N-Nozomu.’ Oh, he can talk in that form! ‘I-it’s a mirage, okay, but I wanted to see you, and Sora-san has helped and-’
‘Ren.’
His Flower Master stops just in front of him, hands outstretched.
From experience Ren knows that Nozomu stopped himself from tackle-hugging the mirage. He’s grateful for that – while Sora did initiate light contact with his body while in the pollen state, he did mention it required the ability to focus. It was necessary, since you needed to constantly gather the pollen dispersing at the contact back into forming your body and he doubted he’d have energy for that.
Though, seeing Nozomu’s face filled his chest – pollen-formed one, at least – with a sense of peace. That in turn made his mind clear, and Ren felt lighter than he ever felt these past few weeks, and that made him realize two things.
One, that it’s the first time he’s ever seen anything outside of the lab. And that he really, really missed his Flower Master.
Perhaps that really was what flowers felt when feeling the warmth of the sun.
‘Ren...’
‘Master-’ Ren starts, before something chokes him up. He realizes it’s his own feelings. ‘N-Nozomu.’
His Flower Master’s eyes widened. Then, his face splits in a smile, a sight as familiar as breathing, to Ren.
‘You still struggle with it?’ He teases, and Ren sputters.
He realizes he did not do that with anybody but Nozomu. But also, nobody but Nozomu ever bothered to tease him, so maybe it will change if he leaves the lab as something more than a phantom...
‘Nozomu, Sora is back, the plan is underwa- oh.’
Ren blinks at the new face, opening the door to the cluttered room. Brown hair, tall silhouette, clearly masculine features… and above all.
‘Seems I got too late with the warning,’ the newcomer notes, leaning against the doorframe, looking at Ren with as much interest as Ren did to him. ‘So that’s your snow-in-summer, huh.’
‘That’s Ren!’ Nozomu instantly clarifies, motioning to Ren, causing a few particles from his shoulder to disperse. ‘Whoa-!’
Ren focuses and the pollen comes together again. Considering how long it took him to form that phantom, this speed was incredible…
Was he really recovering from as little as seeing Nozomu by that much?
‘...Ren?’
‘I’m okay,’ he answers truthfully. ‘At least now. I think. In that form? Maybe.’
‘That form?’ Nozomu instantly asks and Ren hesitates but the newcomer helps him, sighing exasperated.
‘Phantom Pollen, Nozomu,’ he says. ‘Sora and Mori briefed you they will try to help your Doll- Ren, to master it for the sake of getting him out if you don’t manage to get to him within a month, right.’
Ren blinks, and the other human notices his confusion, because he puts two fingers to his forehead in a laid-back salute.
‘Name’s Kagurazaka Soushi,’ he introduces himself. ‘My family was the one to excavate the original Greenhouse – that is, your Greenhouse. Also, I’m Sora’s second Flower Master. Even if he doesn’t act the part, that’s for sure.’
Ren blinks again.
‘We can… not act the part?’ he clarifies. ‘Of the Doll. But we are the Doll...?’
‘I miss the time Sora was like you,’ Soushi says with a sigh. ‘His curiosity got him learning way too much way too soon. Well, his curiosity and Shiki-san, but that’s a different kind of problem.’
Ren blinks. Learning was… the problem? But Nozomu liked to teach him things...
‘Anyway,’ Soushi stresses, ‘I just came to warn Nozomu you can appear in front of him in that form, but since I got late, let me just quickly confirm that you two remember the plan.’
Ren nods, but Nozomu blinks.
‘What plan?’
Soushi stares at him before sighing.
‘I feel like I told you we were busy planning to get your Flower Doll out like, three minutes ago?’ he asks dryly. ‘You know, the one you were so uncharacteristically worried sick for?’
‘Oh, that plan!’ Nozomu remembers before looking at Ren. He grins the second their eyes meet. ‘Yeah I remember. It was: get Ren out, right?’
...What.
‘It does boil down to that,’ Soushi admits. ‘But that’s too rough of a description even for you, Nozomu.’
He looks at Ren quickly.
‘We get Ren’s body to appear lifeless, but for it to work, he needs to stay in that form for at least a few hours,’ he explains. ‘And it’s highly probably the only place he can keep the phantom up in is near you, so. You will-’
‘I have Ren all to myself for hours?’ Nozomu intrudes, eyes comically wide. For some reason, it makes Ren’s chest tight, in yet another way.
This one is probably fondness, huh.
‘You don’t have Ren,’ Soushi corrects, though it sounds like a very regular conversation, to him. ‘You get to spend time with him, yes.’
‘That’s one thing! Ah.’ Nozomu turns to him. ‘You don’t mind that, right?’
Ren blinks.
‘Until about a week ago I knew the name of one human and it was you,’ he points out. ‘All others were nothing but a story.’
Soushi hums amused but Nozomu beams, so Ren knows he didn’t say anything wrong.
‘I guess that was an „I don’t mind”, Nozomu.’ Soushi turns back to the door. ‘I’m going to monitor the situation and keep Sora from exposing Mori as Flower Master too soon. Nozomu, try not to hug Ren. He will disperse in that form.’
Nozomu nods seriously and Ren feels a pang of loneliness. He knew the older human was right, but for his Master to accept it so soon…
Then, Nozomu turns to him with a grin.
‘Wait until I can squeeze him tight it is then!’ he declares loudly, and loneliness in Ren melts away.
*
The chance for that doesn’t come until a few hours later, but they don’t waste time.
Ren thinks he has very little to report to his Flower Master until said Flower Master starts speaking and asking. Then, suddenly, even the dull days he spent away from Nozomu are something precious.
Something that makes Nozomu grow protective of him, more or less. More, if the number of times he caught the man raising to tackle-hug him and then visibly restrain himself is anything to go by. But, well.
Ren cares less about what happened to him – it was nothing compared to amount of things Nozomu had happen in their time apart and Ren listens with wide eyes to every story his Master says, from a certain Flower Doll’s cooking skills to the disaster management they had to do after his Flower Master wanted to return favor one time.
(It’s… quite an amazing story, if he is honest.)
Stories about a Flower Doll and Flower Master that practically grew up together, Yaegashi scientists letting their children visit the researched Flower Dolls, effectively Blooming Sakuraba Ryota at previously thought impossible age of ten, before quickly removing him- both him and their own son to Tsukipro for safety.
(‘He alerted us to your waking up, now that I think...’)
About the ridiculous stories of two men waking up two Dolls at the same time, causing it to be impossible to tell which one’s which Master. About the twin Masters whose Doll turned out to be older than them, and having one more Master, the one not minding the fact he had more or less to adopt very human children to meet a very Flower Doll caretaker of theirs.
About the pairs and groups, trios and duets, all connected like them, all waiting to meet Ren, according to Nozomu.
That is what changes, too; when Nozomu promises to take him out only to cut himself off out of habit, they both pause, as realization that, if the senior trio Ren already met succeeds in their quest to retrieve Ren’s body, they will have no need to hold back. On stories about places, about things Nozomu wants to show him and Ren wants to see.
Because they will be able to act on those wants, Ren no longer blocked by the impenetrable wall of status of a test-subject. He can taste the food Nozomu describes – ramen sounds weird – can pet animals Nozomu wants to introduce, can see gardens and flowers blooming there-
He realizes his flower is near only a few hours into their conversation, with enough time passing to have Nozomu choose to pick a water bottle to wet his throat.
He looks to the door, which obviously doesn’t go unnoticed.
‘And then senp- Ren?’ Nozomu stops his story literally mid-word, to follow his line of sight. ‘Something-’
‘I’m there,’ Ren says, which to anybody not a Flower Doll would probably be a very concerning statement to say, but. Nozomu just blinks, before beaming and jumping to his feet.
He opens the door to his room even before Sora, holding a pot with tiny, seemingly wilted snow-in-summer, can knock. The other Flower Doll just grins back at him, before looking at Ren’s petal phantom.
‘Mission complete!’ He declares, before making space at the door.
And letting the young doctor who Ren saw at the institute pass through them together with Soushi, carrying his body between themselves.
*
Returning to a physical body after so long in phantom form feels strange, albeit not as strange as looking at his own face. Still, it’s a slow, gradual process, but it’s quite worth it.
Or rather, everything he gets to experience once he comes out of it makes it worth it.
He gets to eat food with flavor, something unheard of in the lab.
He gets to pick clothes, and while at first he’s awful at it, soon he realizes which color goes well with what material, what are different shapes and patterns and how to make them compliment each other.
He gets to see things that make his head spin with the variety of colors, shapes, movements, tones.
He gets to listen to music, a sound meant to convey feelings without words. Gets to sing songs, words meant to charm as much as to communicate.
He gets to learn that the title of a Flower Doll actually comes with its advantages, something the earth desperately needs, because when he is sent to the region where snow-in-summer grows on its own, he gets to feel it. And then, gets to feel other things connected with the earth, and then aid them, make them grow.
(He has never seen so many amazed faces before that one time where he closed his eyes on a barren land and opened it in a literal forest. Apparently, that was his doing.)
But most importantly, he learns why exactly Flower Dolls open their eyes in the first place.
Because he definitely will keep opening them, every morning, after every regrowth session, if the thing waiting for him is Nozomu’s hug.