Year 1
Summer
Day 5

As usual Em had found a way to escape from the Fluorite Property once again. It was starting to get troublesome. Laurel couldn't prepare dried herbs with her monsters constantly escaping. Thankfully, Laurel was able to see the little green monster roll away from the kitchen window. Soon, she was out the door, following the green Pomme-Pomme across the Rozemarijn Acres.

It seemed that Em was headed towards another piece of property, as there was a house, some growing fields, and an old barn. Em wiggled her way under the fence and into the fields, but Laurel didn't dare follow. Sulking, she marched up to the door of the house, and knocked. A lady such as her shouldn't walk through someone else's fields without permission after all.

Though, Laurel wasn't too sure who lived at this property anyways...

Inside the house Christopher was reading a book as usual, Thomas was playing around with the kitchen utensils, it’s his time to make lunch and he’s more interested playing around than cooking, Samuel was in the barn feeding the cows when he saw a little green Pomme-Pomme, he knew he had seen that green Pomme-Pomme before and he already remembered where, it was on the park, that Pomme-Pomme was Em, Laurel’s monster, ”Em!” Samuel said as he happened the barn’s door a little more for Em to enter, although the little monster didn’t care much for Samuel.

Samuel began to walk after Em and he guessed that he wanted to play, so walked over to the little Pomme-Pomme and tapped it on the head ”Miss Fluorite must be looking for you sweety!” Samuel said but as quick as he said that the little Pomme-Pomme ran off.

No one had answered when Laurel knocked on the front door. Either whoever lived here was busy and didn't hear, or no one was home. Frowning, Laurel snorted and turned back towards the fields where Em ran off to. She could see the little monster running out of the barn now, as she was such a bright green against the old wood and deep emerald grass.

"Em!" Laurel yelled to the Pomme-Pomme, raising her hand and waving to the little monster. "Come over here sweetie! Maybe Laurel wouldn't have to bother the property owners after all. Maybe Em would be a good girl and actually come back to Laurel for once.

Well, Laurel could hope.

Samuel came out of the barn to catch the green Pomme-Pomme, but the little monster escaped from his hands. As Samuel came out of the barn he missed whoever was at the front door, maybe he could have looked but he was more concerned about the little monster that didn’t bother to look.

He was able to catch the little Pommo-Pomme, he hold Em carefully not to hurt her and pat her on the head in a caring and gentle form. As he was holding the Pomme-Pomme to put her on his garden behind the house he noticed someone at the door, she had seen that golden hair before, or so he thought it was gold, he was absolutely sure it was Laurel, he walked over to her still holding her Pomme-Pomme in his arms.

”Hello there Miss Fluorite! he said smiling and with a happy tone of voice, that was clear to anyone that was listening ”I believe that this little fellow here likes to escape from your property!” he said with a little laugh and then he pointed to the back of the house ”I don’t know if you have flowers or not in your garden, I’m sure you do, but if you want your Pomme-Pomme can come here everyday, my sister has a garden in the back of the house!” he said while opening the gate for Laurel to enter the property.

”And I know you don’t know me and that you probably don’t like me very much but I’ll take good care of your Pomme-Pomme!” he said patting Em on the head gently ”The property is fairly big and Em can run all she wants!” he finished talking once Em jumped off his arms and ran to the back of the house to meet the precious flowers Sam had been talking about.

Laurel had been in an alright mood until she saw the man that picked up her little Em. Seeing this, Laurel lowered her raised hand, and narrowed her blue eyes. So this was THAT human's property.

"Yes... Hello again." she said to Samuel Delaine as he stood there with her monster. And, Laurel felt like he was lecturing her on how to take care of her troublesome little monster. She didn't enter the gate that Samuel had opened. Laurel had no intention of setting foot on this property now.

"No, as of right no I do not have any flowers in my garden. I usually take Em for walks in the meadow around this time of day, but I've been too busy to lately." Despite this, and the fact that Em would probably be happier running in the Delaine's garden, Laurel wouldn't permit it. Still, she wouldn't answer the question. The elf woman was being as stubborn as ever it seemed...

Samuel kept holding the gate although it did seem that the girl did not want to enter, maybe she was being shy, and at least it was what Samuel thought. As Samuel listened to Laurel explaining where she usually takes Em for a walk he reminded that his siblings wouldn’t mind to have a little green Pomme-Pomme walking around the property ”If you are busy, Em could come here, it’s a fairly big property and I it would take some trouble of your shoulders!” he said as he smiled, although when the little monster ran to the back of the house he turned to Laurel, letting the little monster go.

”Sorry for being rude! C’mon in, I’m sure you will like my sister’s garden!” he said reaching his hand to Laurel, to help her enter since there was a little depression at the entrance.

Samuel smiled at Laurel, no matter how stubborn the elf woman was he would always be nice to her and no matter how much she didn’t like him, he would still be gentle and cordial towards her. ”The front is a little messy, I don’t have much time to take care of it, my brothers don’t actually help and my sister has been ditching work lately!” he said as she happened the gate a little more to prevent Laurel to be stuck on the fence wire.

There was no way Laurel could reject seeing the garden without hurting Samuel's feelings. As much as she disliked humans, Laurel still liked to be as civil as she could, and so, being downright rude to Samuel was out of the question.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of Em myself, thank you." Laurel muttered. "But, if I'm to consider it, I should at least see the garden first." Laurel was not interested in the Delaine's garden one bit. Nor was she interested in how his family ditched their work. Hearing that there were even more of them just made Laurel want to cry. Hopefully they weren't all like Samuel.

Stepping inside the gate, Laurel waited for Samuel to bring her to the garden.

Samuel smiled at Laurel and waited for her to enter and he left the gate open just in case. He began walking to the back of the house, walking slowly for Laurel to keep up with him. As he reached the back he saw Em in Teresa’s flowers, there were flowers of any kind, big and small, they were shiny and seemed to be well cared, with Teresa talking care of the crops and garden everything was watered every day, Teresa even talked to the plants, which was a little silly in Samuel’s thought.

”This is my sister’s garden and she’s proud of him. It’s organized and clean, which is awfully weird because she’s messy!” he said looking at the flowers, for a reason he thought about giving a few to Laurel, that way Em would be happy with flowers at home. ”Do you want to take flowers? I mean for Em obviously, she seems to like them very much and since you told me you didn’t have any I thought you could use some to make Em happy!” Samuel said, despite of seeming a bit silly Samuel was only trying to help, since Em likes flowers and keeps running away he thought that if Laurel had some at home she would have to worry about Em escaping her ”It’s fine if you refuse! I understand you wouldn’t want to take things from strangers or someone who you are not comfortable with” he said although a minutes later it seemed a bit stupid what he had said.

Laurel was only slightly amazed at the garden. Though, she would have loved to grow her own flowers at home, there just wasn't enough space yet. And, she especially didn't want flowers grown by humans. Therefore, Laurel shook her head at Samuel's offer, but didn't say a word.

Walking over to Em, Laurel picked her up and began patting her on the head. Em purred, which seemed a little odd for a Pomme-Pomme, as it looked more like a dog than a cat.

"It's time to go home, Em." Laurel said sweetly to the little green monster. Em sighed, and her beady black eyes narrowed. She didn't seem to want to leave. This bothered Laurel. She didn't want her monster playing in the Delaine's garden. But, if it kept Em from taking time out of Laurel's schedule.

"I'll only alow this for a little while, as I am very busy with work. Em can play here when she wants, but only until I have time to take her for walks again." Em purred happily at the answer. "And maybe Topaz can join her if it'll keep her out of trouble as well." Again, Em purred, and snuggled up against Laurel. It seemed to make the Pomme-Pomme very happy.

[[communications +1]]

Samuel didn’t mind at Laurel’s sort of reply, he wouldn’t take anything from a stranger as well, but that wasn’t the reason although Samuel didn’t know. Samuel kept looking at the little Pomme-Pomme and her owner, Laurel, despite of being a little cold Samuel couldn’t help himself but to smile at the girl’s actions.

Samuel looked at Em who didn’t want to leave and was a bit sad that Laurel was taking Em already, despite of being sad for the little monster, he was sad because they were leaving already, and Sam loves company and a good chat. When Samuel heard that the girl allowed Em to come and play in the garden Samuel’s face became bright and he smiled.

”I’m glad that you will let Em play here, as well as Topaz, I promise I won’t let anything happen to them!” he said patting Em’s head, he wasn’t sure if Laurel was happy or not about the decision but he sure was about it, he could see Em and Topaz, although they weren’t the reason for his happiness, the reason was Laurel.

Laurel sighed, a little unhappy that Samuel seemed overjoyed with the decision. But, it certainly was best for Em and Topaz, despite the fact that Laurel wasn't fond of it.

"You had better take good care of them. If either one comes home with the slightest scratch, I won't be very happy." Laurel mentioned sharply. These two monsters were very important to her upcoming work. Laurel didn't want anything to happen to them. Besides, she liked their company anyways.

Setting Em on the ground, Laurel tapped her foot slightly. She knew Em would probably like to stay, but Laurel had to get going, and she didn't want Em in this place right at the moment. Besides, Topaz wasn't here to join Em anyways. It wouldn't be fair to the monster waiting at home.

"Though, I really must be off. Topaz is waiting all alone at home." Again Laurel tapped her foot to get Em's attention. "What time should I bring them over tomorrow?" Laurel tried to keep the disgust out of her voice.

Samuel looked at Laurel and then at Em, in his mind that little monster was just adorable. ”Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to them! I give you my word!” he said bowing to the lady in front of him, in a respectful way, he knew that Laurel wasn’t fond of him, but he did like the cold little girl, she was different, which made him slightly attracted to her.

Samuel looked at the girl as she talked again, ”Anytime is fine, I’m always home to take care of the field and the animals, so don’t worry about it!” he said as he looked at Em and smiled, the little Pomme-Pomme was certainly adorable, and he was glad that his brother Thomas was busy cooking instead of being outside doing nothing, or else he would scare Laurel or Em and Samuel didn’t want that. ”Well Miss Fluorite! If you ever need help from the Delaine family we will be here to help! Anything and we’ll do our best to help!” Samuel said with a smile, trying to make the girl a little more comfortable.

Laurel didn't smile at Samuel's guarantee, but she did her best to refrain from scowling at him. She was hoping he would actually give her a time. Laurel was the sort of woman who liked to keep things in an orderly schedule. "Bring them over anytime" was not an answer to her. But, Laurel figured midday would be a good time. Topaz liked to sleep late anyways, and Laurel didn't really start working until noon.

"Right." Laurel said bluntly. "I'll bring them over tomorrow at noon if I can." Laurel still wasn't keen on the idea after all. And, she didn't want the human to get too comfortable meeting her every day. Laurel was a difficult woman, and she wasn't going to change that for any reason.

Samuel looked at the girl, although he was clearly more interested on the little monster whish seemed happy. Samuel took a few minutes before saying anything to the girl. ”Sure! Don’t worry about the time, whenever you have time you can bring them!” Samuel said as he looked at the girl and then at the little Pomme-Pomme.

Samuel looked at the sky and then looked at the girl’s face, true, she didn’t look that happy about having her monsters in his garden, but the monsters didn’t mind and if they were happy, that’s the most important thing.

Laurel bowed her head slightly to Samuel, and then turned to leave, rolling her eyes a bit once he couldn't see her. The man needed a few more brains in his head, but at least he was kind. Still, Laurel didn't think much more of him than the last time they met, which was simply yesterday.

Leaving the Delaine Fields in the distance, Laurel walked back to the Fluorite Acres with Em trailing right along side her. The elf woman smiled at her Green Pomme-Pomme. "Em, I know you're excited, but I don't want you going over there too often." Em looked up at Laurel with her beady black eyes. "I'm just not sure I can trust them with my dear little Em and Topaz. You must understand." Em nodded slightly, being reasonable for once.

Hopefully Laurel would find something that would keep her from having to come over here tomorrow. And, actually, there was...