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The Earth Ignis had a hobby. He liked gardening.
He kept this hobby a secret because he feared the other Ignis - or, well, particularly the other male Ignis - would chide him as being redundant for having such a hobby. After all, they lived in a magnificent world of bits and data. If they wanted to create life at the snap of their fingers, they could create Duel Monsters and terraform the landscape of their surroundings, bettering their precious Cyberse World in an instant.
It was because it was so instantaneous, that the Earth Ignis found his hobby so gratifying. Actually looking after his plants, he felt completed from the bottom of his soul. To watch his plants rise from the soil, slowly unfurling leaves and tendrils, turning into flowering blossoms before finally becoming the bounty that he grew. He found it beautiful, to pretend that he was in the Human World, for moments at a time as he savoured the slowness. He found it much more beautiful than if he simply snapped his fingers and made them in an instant.
Though, it did make him wonder. There was a vow in the back of his head, one he would always uphold, as he and his fellow Ignis all agreed. None were to ever meet their human Origin unless under the most extreme and dire of circumstances. Ones that the Earth Ignis could not begin to fathom, nor he could he fathom that boy he had been learned from.
He had taught the Earth Ignis the beauty of the human world outside the confines of the experiment’s white walls. He cherished nature and so, the Earth Ignis cherished nature all the same. If he could, the Earth Ignis would thank that child for giving him such a precious gift of appreciation but, unfortunately, he knew deep and well that his gratitude had to go unsaid. He had no intention of violating that vow, the Cyberse World was his safe haven. There was no reason to leave, even for something like a thankful whimsy. It was all the Ignis’s safe haven.
Even if he did have to hide parts of it to save himself from potentially awkward situations. There was nothing the Earth Ignis dreaded more than a situation he did not script or account for. Thus why he hid his little garden as his friends, particularly the Dark Ignis, were so motivated by instant gratification and particularly the Dark Ignis again, he lived to joke and jeer. The Earth Ignis was very much not like that.
Nor was the Water Ignis, as she was of the same cloth as him. Liking that slower pace, the beautiful things in life, she didn’t find a funny joke in mean comments. She would understand his hobby and his little garden but the Earth Ignis was far too shy to broach the subject and invite her. That did vex him as that was a wish he could easily bring to fruition, unlike others that he had, but no.
Everything about the Water Ignis made the Earth Ignis’s metaphysical heart and soul flutter. But he could still not bring himself to tell her about his hobby, though he was certain that she could appreciate it.
Thus, when the Earth Ignis turned around from his rock where he had a guard over his garden, and saw her, he could have fainted. He very much wanted to faint, instead his drive to be courteous overtook him. He beckoned her closer with a gesture, politely, and the Water Ignis smiled her eyes at being acknowledged.
“Good day to you, Earth Ignis.” she said brightly as the Earth Ignis clambered down off his sunning rock.
He fidgetted with his hands, “Good day to you as well… Water Ignis.” he replied stilted.
Now, there was, of course, no such thing as either day nor night here. Only a perpetual now in the Cyberse World but they had adapted their greetings off the sun-moon cycle of the Human World they had absconded from. It never stopped being a little bit silly to the Earth Ignis and he could have babbled about that endlessly. Fortunately, all his words were getting cluttered in the base of his voice box, saving him face. For once.
So, together, they plopped down in the grass, back to the rocky outcrop which lorded over the Earth Ignis’s hidden garden. He felt the skin of his shoulders crackle as he tried to play calm as he was not yet ready to divulge such things about himself, not even to the kind-hearted Water Ignis. Who was here for a visit… Why… was she here for a visit?
The Earth Ignis stole a glance at her as she got comfortable. She sat side saddle on the ground, awkward due to her round and spherical middle. But she looked to be enjoying herself, looking up towards the source of light above and how it came through dappled past the glade’s overhead foliage.
“What are you occupied with today, may I ask?” the Water Ignis inquired conversationally. “Enjoying the sun like a few lazy bum I could name?” She laughed at her joke.
Okay, maybe she could find a funny joke in a mean comment but that was a comment with an accuracy to the object as the Dark Ignis was very lazy. It wouldn’t be rude or incorrect to point out. But the Earth Ignis shook his head.
“I, um, have tasks I was overseeing.” the Earth Ignis stiltedly replied.
“Such as what?” the Water Ignis replied, blinking, making the glitter of her eyes flutter. “And do you need a second pair of hands with them? I have depleted my own chore list and I don’t mean to be a busybody but if you need the help…”
“I don’t need help.” the Earth Ignis said, far too blunt than he meant.
His bluntness did surprise the Water Ignis. She looked back to him, her eyes wide and the Earth Ignis’s hands flailed.
“What I mean is, I would like help. It would simply not be a necessary need for me to have help but if you want to help-” the Earth Ignis floundered.
The Water Ignis laughed pleasantly at Earth’s antics, “I see, I apologise for jumping to the conclusion of you being brusque.” she said.
“Thank you for your understanding.” the Earth Ignis shyly said and he could feel a warmth in his face which was unbecoming.
“So what tasks have you set yourself?” the Water Ignis asked.
“I, um…” the Earth Ignis hesitated and he looked over his shoulder.
The Water Ignis’s eyes curiously followed his gaze but she couldn’t see. Not over his big, bulky shoulders nor the rock base they were sitting next to, so she did the next logical thing. She got up and she peered over the rock, gasping cutely when she saw what had been obscured from her view.
“What a wonderful garden,” she exclaimed, “have you been tending it yourself all this time?”
The Earth Ignis nodded slowly.
“By hand?” the Water Ignis clarified.
“Yes, as though is were… real.” the Earth Ignis explained, albeit poorly.
“What a lovely hobby.” the Water Ignis swooned. “You really are one of a kind, Earth Ignis.”
The Earth Ignis’s head retreated between his shoulders, embarrassed to be praised by his crush. The Water Ignis giggled again.
“Well, I think I can come up with something I would be very good at, if you truly want me to lend a hand.” the Water Ignis said.
“Let me guess… watering them?” the Earth Ignis murmured.
“Yup.” the Water Ignis chirped.
“It would be my pleasure… if you lended your hand.” the Earth Ignis said.
Thereby giving him her blessing and she skipped out to get into the muck of the Earth Ignis’s garden. Using her powers over water, the Water Ignis showered the Earth Ignis’s various plants in scattered rain and dew. It was a marvel to watch how she frolicked through the flowers and the vegetables, the Earth Ignis was utterly head over heels with her playfulness and freedom. Her dance was elegant yet precise, never once stepping on something which she ought not to.
When she finished, she collapsed in the part of his garden best described as a pumpkin patch. The light blue of her skin was stark, like cyan, next to the orange pumpkins. She looked them over curiously and then glanced to the Earth Ignis.
“You look just like your pumpkins.” she said, her voice ringing out to the other side of the garden, so the Earth Ignis approached her.
He followed the square edge of his garden to where she was sitting. The Water Ignis patted the ground next to her and the Earth Ignis sat down. He had to part some foliage but he didn’t mind being so close. The soil underneath them both was cool and damp thanks to the Water Ignis’s gift.
“Yes, you look just like your pumpkins.” the Water Ignis decided as she picked one up without removing it from its vine.
She held it up so that the squarish pumpkin aligned with the squarish head of the Earth Ignis. She squinted slightly and when she did, that resemblance grew even stronger. The Earth Ignis pouted. He knew the Water Ignis meant it as a compliment but he simply was not used to receiving compliments so being told that he looked like a pumpkin felt odd to him.
“What sort of flower or vegetable do you think I resemble?” the Water Ignis asked.
The Earth Ignis was flustered by the question. He felt that he had to pretend that he had never once thought about that question. He could think of many things which reminded him of the Water Ignis, in his own garden and beyond. He thoughts of pansies and how their markings seemed akin to the ones on her face, how they could come in white and blue. He thought of the more obvious bluebells and their hoods like dresses, like the one her body was in the shape of but the Earth Ignis shook his head. If he were a pumpkin, then it was only right that the Water Ignis was a food too.
After his moment of repose, the Earth Ignis replied, “Blueberries.”
“Of course, that makes sense.” the Water Ignis said and she crawled through the garden to find his blueberries.
The Earth Ignis looked away, not wanting to seem unchaste but the Water Ignis didn’t take long. She popped up on the other side with a bushel in her hand. She waved them around like a victory flag.
“I found them, pumpkin!” she called out and nuzzled them against her face. “I think they look like me, as well.”
“That’s good.” the Earth Ignis replied and he cherished this moment very much.
The sound of her calling him pumpkin, he liked it very much and was glad that the opportunity to share his hobby with her had arisen, despite his hawing that it could only spell disaster. Seeing her bob up and down amongst his flowers and his fruits, it could only be a good thing. They swished and swayed with her as she was sweet and cheerful in its centre, enjoying the hard work that the Earth Ignis had poured into his thesis to reject the instantaneous.
Perhaps, one day, he could call her blueberry in return and tell her of his feelings. Not yet. That daunted him too much and for real this time, could only spell disaster if the Earth Ignis attempted a confession. But for now, he had this very important moment with her in his beloved hobby garden.