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As wide as the scope of the Wizard’s skills is, he is not particularly adept at growing things.
It’s a bit ironic, considering he’s married to a farmer. He understands the principles, of course, and gets to see Hikari’s methods first-hand. She has such success with her various crops, and so he takes diligent notes. He pays close attention to the temperature of the soil when she plants the seeds, how much water she gives each seedling, and the exact shade of the fruits when she deems them ready for harvest. It’s a bit frustrating when he asks her how she knows all of these things and all she can do is shrug, telling him it “just feels right” with an apologetic smile. He supposes that this is Hikari’s own type of magic, one that he may never understand.
That doesn’t stop him from trying, though.
She pours her soul into her farm, and while he does his best to assist her by collecting eggs or pulling stray weeds he finds in the plots, his efforts pale in comparison to hers. Of course he knows that he will never be able to match her in farming ability, but he wants to make a gesture for her in her own language, so to speak. And so he hatches a plan to secretly grow an assorted bouquet of her favourite flowers and give them to her as a gift.
The Wizard realizes he’s lucky that he occasionally goes down to Marimba Farm to buy Hikari’s seeds as he’s walking there one sunny afternoon. No one blinks an eye as he makes his way across the river and into the shop, exchanging a few simple pleasantries with Ruth before stepping back out and realizing that he doesn’t know where he’s going to plant them. Certainly nowhere around their home -- Hikari knows every inch of her farm by heart, and she’ll immediately notice the turned earth where he’s planted them, let alone when they start growing.
Perhaps he can go back inside and ask Ruth if he can rent a small plot of their land to grow them on? He quickly dismisses the idea, knowing that if he does he risks someone seeing him tending to the flowers and telling Hikari before he’s had a chance to give them to her. He’s not sure if he could be charming enough to convince the sharp-tongued farmer anyway; she’s kind enough to him when he comes by on errands for his wife but it’s clear that she would prefer Hikari’s company any day.
So he goes to the only other place he can think of: the depths of Fugue Forest. While he still doesn’t exactly enjoy the Witch’s company, he can admit that they have come to a sort of understanding in which they tolerate each other’s presence for Hikari’s sake. Ever since she had rescued her from her unfortunate amphibian state and subsequently brought her assorted blackberry sweets, the Witch has developed a bit of a soft spot for the young farmer. She just happens to think she has poor taste in men.
When the Wizard finally shows up on the Witch’s doorstep (having collected a Fugue mushroom on his way to give her, just for good measure) and explains his situation, the hag has the audacity to start laughing. Absolutely cackling. He stares at her with an unimpressed glower, and she finally replies as she gets her breath back in gasps.
“You? Grow flowers? In my garden, of all places? I mean, I know you’re still all googly-eyed over her, but this is just too good,” she lets out another giggle, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “I never thought I’d see the day you’d willingly get dirt all over yourself, and for a girl no less.”
The Wizard sighs, supposing she’s a tiny bit right. If someone had told him a few years ago that this is what he would be doing today, he would have suspected a head injury. Even so, he can’t let her have the satisfaction. He simply levels a steely gaze at her.
“You didn’t... answer my question. Can I use your garden... or not?”
The Witch shrieks another laugh as if he’s said the funniest thing she can imagine, and the Wizard winces at the volume.
“You’re serious! You’re actually serious!” She slaps her leg in amusement. “Sure, fill your boots! It’s not like I use it much, and it’ll be hilarious watching you get yourself all muddy trying to care for the things. As long as you don’t expect me to do anything,” she adds with another snicker.
And so the Wizard begins making daily trips through the forest to the Witch’s house. Again, he thanks the Goddess for his good luck that the forest is not an unusual place for him to be and it doesn’t cause any suspicion on Hikari’s part. He does wish he didn’t have to deal with the Witch herself -- whenever he visits to care for the little seedlings, he can feel her amused gaze on him from her kitchen window, and occasionally she’ll even lean out and heckle him before going back to whatever it is she does all day -- but all things considered, it’s not so bad.
That is, until he notices the seedlings are starting to die off.
He had originally purchased a rather large amount of seeds, causing the witch to cackle at him again when she saw just how carried away he had gotten.
“You’ll have more than a bouquet with that many seeds! You can start your own flower shop instead of telling fortunes!” She had squealed before devolving into another fit of giggles.
But now he’s starting to worry if he’ll be able to pull together enough blossoms to give Hikari at all. It seems every day there are fewer and fewer plants left, and he feels a pang of dismay every time he has to pull up a withered set of leaves.
After weeks of careful tending, he’s left with just a handful of sad-looking flowers. He counts them as he plucks them gingerly from their stems, doing his best not to damage them. Six. He managed to grow six flowers out of the dozens of seeds he bought. It’s definitely not what he had hoped for, but he still wants to give her something and he figures it’s too late in the season to start more seeds now.
He carries the little bundle home, half wondering if he should just give up entirely and find a different sort of gift. Standing outside their front door, he runs through a list of possibilities. He could cook her a nice dinner. He thinks he remembers her mentioning some new calves she saw at Horn Ranch the other day, and considers asking Cain if he’d be willing to sell one. But before he can settle on an alternative, the door opens and warm light spills out into the evening air.
“There you are! I was getting worried when you hadn’t come home,” Hikari says, relief evident in her tone. Her eyes drop to his attempted bouquet, then bounce back up to meet his own startled gaze, full of questions. “What’s this?”
The Wizard rubs a hand on the back of his neck, suddenly bashful. He feels like a child presenting his mother with a piece of macaroni artwork.
“These are... for you. I tried to grow them myself, but they aren’t... as beautiful as I hoped. I hope you like them... anyway.”
Hikari’s face breaks into a blazing smile, and she reaches forward to take the offered flowers. Before he can so much as blink she’s scrambling around in the cupboards for an appropriate vase.
“You grew these on your own? They’re plenty beautiful, I love them. Thank you,” she kisses him softly before turning back to her task of arranging them.
Somehow, her deft hands manage to make the six little blooms look purposefully minimalistic in their vase. They sit proudly on the kitchen table, and Hikari admires them with glowing eyes.
“I never knew you had such a green thumb,” she says later, tucked into his side on the couch. “Maybe I should get you to help me with growing my flowers next season.”
He knows she’s joking, that she doesn’t expect him to actually take her up on it. But he finds himself attracted to the idea. Caring for the little plants was relaxing, in its own way, and of course he’ll use any excuse he can to spend time with her. Even having been married for a few seasons now, that impulse hasn’t gone anywhere.
He squeezes her close, feeling content despite his fumbled attempt at a gift.
“That... sounds lovely.”