Should Have Walked Away | Aarmau Vampire AU

𝔱 𝔥 𝔦 𝔯 𝔱 𝔶 - 𝔰 𝔢 𝔳 𝔢 𝔫

• тωєиту-σиє ωєєкѕ •

"I love jasmine! I'm going to plant some by the gazebo."

"I prefer wisteria," I countered. Zoey considered for a second before Kawaii~Chan piped in about roses and honeysuckle.

Everyone in the room donned their leather gardening gloves, but I wore my usual ones simply as a sun-protectant. If I had the choice, I'd have gardened at night with only my bare hands. I loved the rich soil between my fingers and beneath my feet, like a further connection to nature without the full moon's enhancement.

Speaking of which, the next Full Moon Festival was in about a month. It was a six-month regular, celebrated twice a year with an old tradition. September was the most recent festival, in accordance with the Harvest Moon; the next was the Full Worm Moon in March. The old ways of Falcon Claw — from what I've picked up in my readings — were to celebrate Mother Nature's moons for better crops, or summer weather depending on what month it is.

There's no doubt that the girls will drag me along again, but this time won't be so bad. After all, I'm "out of the closet" with my vampirism, so my aching jaw won't steal me away this time.

Plus. . . I won't turn down the opportunity of dancing with Aaron in a tux.

"Alright, everyone ready?"

We all responded to the mystery voice with cheers and soon the familiar ballroom's glass doors opened to the blank canvas of dirt and planting beds. A group of guards had already cleared the debris earlier in the day.

I hadn't been able to contribute because I only found out about this an hour ago when Zoey found me in the market square. That, and she purposefully left me out because of the pregnancy — I was barely showing, though, and it was too early for me to quit physical labor. Nine weeks in. I had another four or five months before I gave birth, so I'd lessen the exercise when I hit three and a half months.

Different people were assigned to different flowers and locations, and I was about a yard from the gazebo where Zoey did indeed plant a plethora of jasmine. It was excessive, but I would be a hypocrite to judge.

I used one of my hands to dig a small pit, placing a tulip bulb inside with the other. This continued, every plant a foot apart so they had room to grow. Once they did, it would be a mini field.

When I was first told that the garden would be renovated by the citizens voluntarily, it raised some questions in my mind. So, being me, I researched by asking around.

Apparently, there are portions of the castle that are fully accessible to the townspeople twenty- four seven. The gardens were the most popular, along with the ballroom, main halls, library, and even smaller studies and a communal kitchen.

One more thing to love here that my original home never had. When I was a child, no common vampires were allowed within ten feet of the castle unless my mother approved them. Nobody could enter, even when we had so much room we didn't to know what to do with.

Even though the gardens were public, I'd never seen them before. And even now they were beautiful. The storm had destroyed at least half of the flora, but the rest that remained were colorful and alive. I couldn't help but wander around when I was done with the tulips.

I passed a patch of vegetables and berries, all of which I could distinguish. The flowers and herbs weren't difficult, either.

Rose assortments, lilacs, coffee bean, rosemary, thyme. Raspberry and blackberry and blue, not to mention the more exotic flowers like peony and sunflower which were more common to the west of Ru'an.

There was a beautiful gathering of speckled lilies, all white and pink, spotted in the center with red, and it brought me back to other places I've seen them on my past travels. Between Nakhara Village and New Meteli, there was a large meadow surrounded by rolling hills. They were everywhere there.

I knelt down, bringing the tall flower close to smell the delicate pollen.

"It's a lily. More specifically, a stargazer lily."

"It's beautiful," I replied, turning to find the handsome prince who lived merely yards from this garden. I suppose I do, too.

Aaron smiled. I had barely even heard him coming, but I wasn't surprised that the footsteps were his.

I turned back to the curled petals, keeping my hand at the stem to keep it stable in my view. However, I didn't touch the petals as the oils on my hands were lethal to it.

"They're my mother's favorite, so I know them well."

Smiling, I stood to face him. He held his hand out for me to take, offering a stroll through the gardens. Who was I to deny? I would probably get lost in this colorful maze without him.

Or maybe, if I accept, I'll get more lost in him and forget the flora.

When I put my hand over his palm, he entwined our fingers together and we began walking farther away from the gardening work.

"I didn't know you liked flowers," I began.

Aaron smiles slightly, excited to continue with facts that he believed I didn't know. "Those are Melissa's favorites, the chrysanthemums. I think the only reason is that they're so hard to say," he laughed, making me chuckle with him. "And those are scorpion grasses, commonly known as forget-me-nots. Those are goldenrods—"

I smirked to myself, not knowing that he would notice.

The prince turned to me in confusion. "What?" I shook my head, but he only narrowed his eyes further. "What?" He repeated.

Finally giving in, I kept my smirk all the same. "Those aren't goldenrods. Those are ragweeds."

"No, those are goldenrod."

"No, they're not," I argued. "Goldenrod has bright yellow flowers, and these aren't as colorful. Plus, ragweed have lots of branching leaves, like these, while goldenrod has individual ones that are larger."

The royal blooded man sighed and rolled his eyes, beginning to walk again. I giggled and followed, grabbing his hand this time as he did mine minutes ago.

After a few minutes of walking, Aaron came slowly to a stop under an arch. The walk was silent since I corrected him, but not a second of it was awkward. It was calm and peaceful, and we forgot our titles — we were just two normal people, holding hands and walking through flower gardens.

The arch was long, wooden in structure but covered head to toe in light green vines. Small red flowers blossomed everywhere, breaking up the chaos of the ferns.

Turning to me, Aaron smiled and tucked a scarlet bloom behind my ear. It went well with my poppy tattoo, not that it was visible with my hair down.

"Cypress," he spoke softly. "They grow all year, but they'll hibernate soon when the snow falls. Hummingbirds love them."

I smiled slightly, nearly losing myself as he ran his fingers through my bangs by the flower. He was distracted in them, lost as well.

Leaning closer, I lifted myself slightly to his level for a kiss. He accepted, lowering his chin and cupping my face with his hand that had already been nearby.

Before our lips met, he backed away from my touch completely and I sighed. Our friends were about to round the corner, so we stepped away from each other.

"There you guys are! I was wondering where you two went," Zoey smiled. This wasn't teasing, she was genuinely happy. "I finished the jasmine, so I wanted to help you with the tulips but you were already done. There are still some available seeds if you want to do more."

Kawaii~Chan followed loosely behind the elf, along with Garroth and Laurence.

Aaron and I joined them and we gardened for the rest of the day. Damn it feels good to be "normal."

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тнє ¢нιℓ∂ ιѕ тнє ѕιzє σf α ѕтяαωвєяяу.
Word count: 1356