[Azura Rayume]

Tristan | Rune

"Tristan!" Rune chimes, louder than she needs to. She launches herself at the open bay window from the garden and makes it halfway through, leaving herself hanging on the windowsill in a manner that would be awkward if she cared. She is (mostly) in the sitting room, and he is staring at her from his armchair, looking very startled. "Tristan, look what I got!"

Rune opens her hands to show him a small collection of crystals and a little electronic-looking device. Humans and the little things they make, always fascinating.

[1]

[Azura Rayume]

Tristan sighs softly. "Please, remember to use the door next time," he says, setting his book aside to push himself to his feet. Even though he keeps his voice soft, she still balks. He should have know she would; Rune is incredibly flighty.

"I'm sorry, I should have remembered, I-"

"I said next time." Tristan offers her a smile and holds out his hand as he crouches down enough to meet her eye. "Can I see what you brought?"

[2]

[Azura Rayume]

"Oh, uh, yeah!" Rune pulls herself the rest of the way through the window and sets herself on the window seat before settling the crystal and device in his hands. "There was a man, and he had these very pretty things, and he said I could have them! The crystals are supposed to react with the little thing. He said they charge somehow, and I thought maybe you would be interested in seeing how?" She makes a nervous little noise at the back of her throat. "I thought the garden might be a good place to try."

[3]

[Azura Rayume]

Tristan nods as she speaks, and he separates the two things she handed him, one in each hand. The first is a small cluster of crystal points, all gray and foggy, and the other is a little mechanical thing he has never seen before. This isn't some tool she's found and doesn't understand, it's something foreign to him, too. She did ask him to try it, not explain it, too.

"In the garden, you said?" He turns the device over in his hand. Strange little thing. "Is it the space or another reason that makes you want to try there?"

[4]

[Azura Rayume]

"Oh!" Her whole face lights up, and that's makes his smile even more genuine. She's cute when she's excited. "That's the best part! He said these crystals are supposed to interact with nature, so I thought they might help the plants!"

Tristan quirks an eyebrow. "Did he say it worked on plants?"

"Well... no... Not exactly." She looks sheepish again. "But magic is funny sometimes, you know? I think we could maybe bring it around the plants and see if anything happens. I'm curious."

[5]

[Azura Rayume]

Tristan puts the device in his pocket and hands the crystals back to Rune, motioning for her to follow. "If that man is right, then you have a very good idea."

She squeaks excitedly and trots right on his heels, holding tight to the crystals. "You mean it?"

"Of course I do. We might try it on just one plant first, but once we test it, we can see what it does with the rest of the garden."

[6]

[Azura Rayume]

He pushes open the double doors to the backyard and takes a deep breath. This garden is the best part of his life, if he's completely honest. It's brought him problems of both the mundane and magic varieties, but at the end of the say, he loves it. He put this here with his own hands, comes here when he feels down, and now, it's the reason he met Rune and a few other fae. It's been a net gain, truly, and if these crystals can make it even better, he's more than willing to give it a try.

[7]

[Azura Rayume]

"Who do you want to try it on?" Rune presses one of the crystals into his hand, slipping the rest into her pocket. The garden feels much more like home than the house does; she can stretch out here and relax more with the plants around her.

Tristan turns the crystal over for a moment, considering it. "We could try it on one of the bigger plants," he muses aloud, "but maybe we should start with one of the little pots? Just in case something goes wrong. I wouldn't want to damage someone established."

[8]

[Azura Rayume]

"Little pots. Got it." Without any more prompting, Rune trots off to where she knows she left some last time they repotted new arrivals. There is one little snake plant that isn't doing too well outside; they had thought the sunlight would outweigh the water, but he seems to be getting more waterlogged by the day. It could die soon without intervention, and doing this might save it easier than completely redoing the soil again.

Tristan smiles when he sees her coming back. "Excellent choice," he says. "Now, tell me how this device is supposed to work?"

[9]

[Azura Rayume]

"Oh, yeah!" She motions for him to hand it to her and takes the device. "You just have to put the crystals in this clamp thing here and..." She fiddles with it for a little bit, pulling a face, before it finally clips into place. Immediately, it starts to glow green, though faintly. "There! He said we should 'expose it to the elements,' whatever that means, so I figured the plants were pretty close to that. I think we just hold it up to them."

[10]

[Azura Rayume]

Tristan nods as she hands the little device to him, lifting it up to examine it himself. The jewel is unremarkable on its own, but put into this little thing, it certainly does look magic. He can feel it, too, humming in his hands. It's very different from the fae magic he's experienced before, but that doesn't mean it's harmful. And the plant she brought is on its last legs as it is. It's not like it will hurt the poor thing any more than it already has been.

[11]

[Azura Rayume]

He lowers the thing until the crystal almost touches one of the leaves, and it glows much brighter for a moment, then starts to pulse. In time with the glowing, the plant starts to change, growing darker green right before their eyes. It stretches upward, growing rapidly from a wilted little bundle of leaves to a strong, healthy succulent.

"Well," he says, both surprised and delighted, "that was much more than I thought it would be. Is it bigger than the other snake plants, or am I imagining it?"

[12]

[Azura Rayume]

"It might be." Rune makes a beckoning motion, and he hands the device back to her. "Should we try it one some other plants? If it does that to a sick little one, I wonder what it will do to one of the healthy ones."

Tristan shrugs. "Don't see why not."

She smiles brightly at him, and whatever misgivings he might have had melt immediately. He cannot squash that joy in her, no matter what it is she's asking. She skips away to talk with the garden plants, and he watches from his same spot. After all, Rune is part of the reason this garden has flourished so much. Nearly every time she touches something, it grows.

[13]

[Azura Rayume]

Speaking of growing... The snake plant on the table beside him brushes against his elbow, drawing his attention away from watching Rune. It hadn't been tall enough to reach him a moment ago, but it is now. It seems to still be growing. "Uh..."

"Tristan, look!" Rune's excitement makes him look away again, though he does have the peace of mind to take a step away from the table. She beams at him from under an incredibly large monstera leaf. She looks like a character out of a storybook, dwarfed by the smallest leaves, and she is absolutely giddy about it. "Look what it does! This is amazing! I've never seen a plant get this big by itself!"

[14]

[Azura Rayume]

Tristan laughs as he approaches her, holding out his hand to try and coax her closer. Something about the plants feels off. "Maybe we should turn the device off? It has some something amazing here, but we don't know how it works. "

Rune blinks at him, her eyes growing wider as she thinks it over, and she pulls the leaf down to hug it. "But just look at them! They're so happy, Tristan. Why would we turn it off?"

[15]