The Prince and the Plant Whisperer

The Intimacy Report

[~Posted 7/6/21]

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The room is finally silent.

As Kai and Lukas stand face to face.

Quiet ambient music wafts forth from behind the closed bedroom door. That's Lilly—giving them privacy.

"So," Kai sighed. "I'd offer you a place to sit, but—our Ikea sofa's gonna need a deep clean.

She adds, "But, I see you've become best friends with our bean-bag chair. You can continue that friendship."

Lukas laughs. A laugh that resonates through his body.

"Really, the whole room needs a deep clean," Kai frowns. "And a good airing." She goes back over to the bay window, to crack it open wider. Their window is actually an alcove reading nook—a broad ledge where you can sit, read, and look out at the courtyard below.

Before Kai got her mini-greenhouse set up, the whole ledge was crowded up with plants. (Bless Lilly, for putting up with it all!)

But now Kai's plants have migrated to the rooftop. So, just last weekend, Kai and Lilly tossed a few homemade cushions across the alcove ledge.

And then curled up there to read, their backs resting on opposite sides of the window.

It was bliss

Now, with Lukas standing next to her, Kai sits down on the alcove seating. She gives the creaky window frame a heave.

"Here, let me help," Lukas says. He bends forward, over her, forcing the frame upward.

Peering outside, he stays motionless. He's bent over her, surprisingly close. She can almost feel his body, moving, expanding in and out, as he breathes.

Storm clouds are already moving in beyond the courtyard, graying out the church steeples downtown.

And he bends down further, studying the distant storm like it has all the answers, until the underside of his jaw is barely, lightly touching the top of her head. He holds his breath. His stare is fixed out the window.

"I'll definitely need my umbrella tomorrow," he says, looking outside.

"Yeah."

Silently, Kai thinks, If it rains tomorrow, I can head up to the roof. I'll open up the greenhouse roof at its hinge. And give all my plants some natural rain water. Even with pollution and acid rain, Kai's convinced that plants do better when they get some natural rain now and then. There's something that tap water just can't replace in natural rainwat—

Suddenly, Lukas voice breaks into her thoughts. "Hey. Where'd you go?" he asks, stepping back.

She looks up, and his body's still inches away. He's towering over her, with one arm resting on the white window frame flaked with old paint.

"Huh?

"Just now. Where'd you go?"

"Where'd I go?"

"In your mind, just now. You were far away."

Blinking, Kai says, "Oh. I was just thinking about, ah, a gardening thing."

"Tell me."

"Oh—it's silly."

"It's not silly. Tell me."

"I was thinking about why rainwater seems to make plants grow better. It makes no sense, with all that pollution and acid rain."

Lukas seems to understand something. He smiles to himself. Then he considers her comment.