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“Rub the leaves then smell your fingertips. They got oils on them and just a little rub lets them free.”
“Hmmm…”
“Peppermint. Spearmint. Lemon mint. And our plant of the hour, chocolate mint.”
“Where did you find them?”
“The ground, mostly.”
She smirked.
“Mint grows all over the place on Earth. Most of my plants are just shit I picked up. Sometimes gardens from ruined settlements. Sometimes wild. The chocolate mint is recent though. I got it from a market in the city. Someone was selling plants and I thought it might make nice tea for ya, seen as it’s not sweet but still has that smell. Like a dessert but none of the lies in your mouth.”
“It lies in the nose instead.”
“Is it really lies, though, if it’s just being what it is?”
She slid her arm around his waist and held him close.
“You’re right. It’s not lies. Just filled with contradictions.” She smiled at him over her mug. “I do like it.”
“Figured you would. That’s why I got it. Do you want some? Like the live kind? I can sprout one for you easy.”
“It would die under my care, I am sure.”
“I mean… might be a good excuse to let me visit ya on the moon more often, keep it alive, if you wanted.”
“Hmmm…”
“This here.” He pulled off a tiny leaf from a small bush of tiny leaves and held it under her nose for her to smell.
She cocked her head as she inhaled.
“This is thyme, which was in your dinner tonight. And this,” he pulled off a much larger leaf from a bright green plant,” is basil, which were the bigger green leaves in the sauce.”
She smiled, rubbing the leaf in her fingers while smelling it. “This one smells especially good.”
“Basil’s a workhorse. Goes in lotsa things. Good on a sandwich too.”
Eris detangled herself from him and walked over to a different shelf covered in plants and poked a fuzzy leaf.
“That’s a tomato,” he explained. “And this mess of vines is cucumbers, which is the thing those pickles you like so much are before I turn them into pickles. Watch out though… cucumbers are mean little bastards. They got spines.”
“They also have little ropes that spiral.”
“Yup. Cucumbers climb. Slowly of course. That’s why they have that net there. So they can climb it.”
“Are these also cucumbers?”
“Nope, those are beans. They also climb. They’re not spikey though. Beans will strangle other plants. Wrap those little tendrils around the other plants’ stems till the top just pinches off like a garotte slicin’ their little plant necks open, but they at least have the decency not to make you bleed when you pick ‘em with yer bare hands.”
“Hmmm…”
“Plants are violent fuckers. Any time you see plants out in nature, lookin’ all peaceful-like, that’s a war going on. They’re fightin’ each other for their survival at all times, just real slow.”
“And yet they don’t have to fight here. You’ve given them peace.”
“They still will kill each other if ya don’t keep an eye on ‘em. Just not quickly.”
“Are the lights timed?”
“Yup. Sixteen hours on, eight hours off.”
“Do you water them?”
“I’ve got that on automatic. Runs under the dirt.”
“Don’t they need insects for pollination?”
“Every once in a while I manage to get some bees or something going but they always die off. I’m still working on that. Don't have any right now. I mostly use a paint brush to brush the flowers.”
“You paint the flowers.”
“Yeah. Plant fucking. Some of ‘em can fuck themselves, but most of the ones with flowers need some assistance.” He held out a small paintbrush. “Behold the instrument of plant fuckery. The plant dildo, if you will.”
He reached out and brushed the tip of her nose.
Eris smirked. “So crude.”
“Not as crude as ‘cum on my thighs.’ You do realize that based on my previous and varied professions, you have literally made a sailor blush.”
She put her mug down and put her arms around his waist, pulling him close. “I can appreciate crude in certain circumstances.”
“Clearly,” He put his own mug down next to the beans. “You love me.”
“I do.” She pulled him into a long slow kiss.
“Mmmm… You know what we should do?” He whispered after a few minutes, kissing her neck.
“Hmmm?”
“We should go camping.”
“Camping?”
“Yeah. Like Europa, only not freezing fucking cold, and not needin’ to fight off patrols of Vex and Fallen every few hours.”
“Now?”
“We could stay here tonight, get some supplies in the morning, be out there by afternoon. Make a nice fire. Pitch a tent. Bring some fishing poles and a cast iron pan. Kettle for your tea. Stay a few days. Ikora could spare you for a few days, right?”
“Hmmm…”
“Come on… now’s the time, right? When’s the last time Eris Morn got a vacation? You could bring some books. I got a folding table and chairs. You can read in the sunshine by the lake. We can snuggle by the fire under the stars. Lots of tea.”
“That does sound appealing. I owe Ikora a report though.”
“You can write it while we’re there. Bring a data pad or hive leather or whatever you wanna write your report on.”
“Hmmm… would you consent to letting Ikora know where we’re going? She will worry.”
“Yeah but then she’s gonna spy on us. I don’t think you want anyone hearing the noises I’m intending on gettin’ you to make.”
“I’m sure we could arrange something less invasive,” she whispered between kisses.
“We can stop by her office in the morning when we’re on our way out, does that work? But we are going, right? You’ll come camping with me?”
“Mmmhmm…” She nodded through a kiss.
“Do you… actually… want me to cum on your thighs? That do something for you? Cuz if that does something for you…” He twisted her hips back and forth.
She laughed. “No, not especially. There are… other things I’d prefer.”
“Such as?”
“Us both having fewer clothes would be a good start.”
“Here with the plants? The potatoes have eyes you know,” he said conspiratorially, “Bed might be more comfy. Unless you are enticed by the vegetables in some way.” He winked playfully.
“I’m enticed by you.” She pulled him closer.
“Even with a candle in a soup can?” It was only there for a moment, but for just a moment his confidence slipped, his eyes pleaded for acceptance, and she realized he was holding his breath.
“Yes.” She kissed his lips softly. “Even though you only have a candle in a soup can, you made a candle-lit dinner for me, and you made me something that hasn’t been made in a thousand years, from memories that are precious and painful, and every bit of it suffused with affection and care.”
His nose brushed against hers. “That was the idea, yeah.”
She reached a hand up to caress his face. “For someone with as many layers and masks as yourself, there is such exquisite beauty in the naked honesty with which you love me.”
He turned his face and kissed the palm of her hand. “Speakin’ of… let’s take off some of these layers, shall we?”