Garden Bonding

POV: Calydan Rayel / Melwyn
Date: Late june 370 Ac
Location: Around Benars's house

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Using the sleeve of my white buttoned-up shirt, i wiped the beads of sweat off of my brow and let out a sigh. Even now, in the late after-noon, the hot july sun hovered high in the sky, beaming on me as i worked the garden next to the house. Sighing again, i realised that Benars was right. Yesterday, he told me to get this done in the morning, before the after-noon heat comes in, but i stupidely decided to sleep-in a bit. Lesson learned, i guess.   "Can i help?", a familar voice said behind me.   I turned around to see Melwyn, standing shoe-less just outside the garden's fence, with his hands on the worn out wood of the railing, looking down at me with a timid smile.   "Oh... uh, sure?" I cringed internaly at my hesitation. Melwyn didn't seem to mind however as he stepped into the garden. He walked over to me along the single, narrow path layed out in the middle of the garden, careful not to hit or crush any of the plants beside him.   "What can i do?" He said with a chipper tone as he crouched next to meme.   "Wait, hold on..." i said, turning a bit to better talk to him "Why do you want to help me?"   "I don't know" He said with a shrug. "I guess... i'm kinda bored and there's nothing to do. At least before tonight."   "What's going on tonight?" I asked.   "A full moon!" He said with a smile. "Makhlem said that he's gonna teach me to control my wolf. And then we can run in the forest together! I can't wait!" His brown eyes were practicaly sparkling with exitement.   "Ah, ok" Despite seeing him every day, i still found it weird whenever i was reminded of his more... wild side. Well, not weird per say, more like unconfortable. You'd think i'd be ok with it by now. After all, he's been living, with me and everyone else in this house for more than two months now, but i still haven't gotten used to it. Its probably because of what happened during the fight we had... My throat suddently dried up and my heart began beating faster as images of that day started flooding my head. Ugh, don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think ab-   "Hey, are you ok?" Melwyn said, snapping me out of it. I nodded and offered him a quick smile. Stop being such a child, Cal! Don't be wierd! I let out a sigh to calm myself as i reached for my waterskin strapped to my hip.   "Yeah, i'm fine." I said, clearing my throat, before taking a big gulp of water. "You said you wanted to help, huh?" I asked Melwyn, who nodded back at me.   "Ok, uh..." I looked around, but didn't really know what task to give him, since i had no idea what he knew about gardening. He can do manual labour at least, right?   "Can you go fetch some more water." I said, grabbing the nearly empty watering can set beside me in the dirt. The sun's drying up all of the plants here."   "Sure!" He said as he took the can from my hands and got up. "Oh i know! I'll go to the stream! The water's colder there!"   "Oh, you don't nee-"   "Its fine! I got this!" Before i could say anything else, he was already gone. He easily hoped over the fence on the other side of the garden and began running towards the woods that surrounded the house.   "The water from the well would've been just fine" I muttered to myself as i shook my head, although i couldn't help but smile at his eagerness to just get water. He must really be bored...       * * * * *       Running as a human wasn't nearly as fun as doing so as a wolf, but it did help me get rid of some of the extra pent-up energy i'd been feeling all day. I can't wait for tonight! Its gonna be so fun! But first, i gotta do this.   Since i ran the entire way, it took less than a minute to get to the stream. The water had carved a little ravine as it rushed downhill towards the much larger river downstream. It flowed intensely down the middle, winding and bending itself around the pebbles and rocks that dotted the bottom of the river bed.   The quiet rippling sounds of the flowing water were odly relaxing, which was one of the reasons why since i arrived here a few months ago, this had becone my favorite spot. I often came here to relax when i wasn't able to sleep at night.   I crouched down and sank the metal can into the water. As it began to fill up, i realised something. Wait, wouldn't well water have been cold too? Maybe i didn't need to go here after all... oh well...   With the watering can now filled up to the brim, i began walking back to the house, since i couldn't run without spilling it everywhere. Soon enough, i made it out of the woods and saw Calydan crouched in the garden, tending to some tomato plants. He looked up at me as i arrived at the fence.   "Here you go! Full of nice cold water!" I said, presenting him the can.   "Thanks!" Calydan said, and i smiled as he took it from my hands. Ok, i helped! And he seems happy! That's good! However, when i let go, he suddently let it drop on the ground.   "Oof! Wow, that's heavy"   "Oh, sorry!" I said, suddently anxious. "I didn't realise..."   "It's fine, don't worry." He said, waving a hand a me, before tilting the can a bit. Water rushed out to form a puddle in the grass nearby, which quickly dissapeared into the ground.   "There, now its light enough" he said, picking it up. "You want to water the plants?"       * * * * *       "Go slowly, but don't linger too much" I said to Melwyn. "You don't want to drown the plants, just soak the dirt around them"   "Yeah, i get it" Melwyn said, as he hovered the watering can over the various vegeteble plants in front of us.   "Ok, that's good." "Now, we do the cucumbers here." I said, pointing to the nearly fully grown cucumber plants, clingling to a row of neatly placed support sticks.   "These need a lot of water constantly, so be a bit more generous", i explained.   "Is this good?", he said as he watered the plants. He seemed a bit nervous, despite the fact that he was doing a good job.   "Perfect. At least for me, although Benars may have some nitpicks. You know how he is" i added with a smile, which got Melwyn to laugh.   "It is his garden after all." I shrugged, before refocusing on the task at hand. "Alright, well now there's only the aubergines and the carrots left to do" I said. He nodded, but then we heard someone call us. I looked towards the front of the house and saw Omaren walking up the path to the front porch.   "Oh, you're back from the city?" I asked him. "Did you have a good time?"   "Yes, and... absolutely!"   "What did you do?" Melwyn asked.   "Err, dont... worry about it." He said, rubbing his neck, before he looked at us more closely.   "You know, i could ask you the same thing." He said, pointing at us and gesturing towards the garden around us. "Since when do you do gardening?   "I don't know, since today i guess." Melwyn said to him. "I was bored waiting for tonight and i asked Calydan if i could help and he said yes! So yeah..."   "Was he of any help?" Omaren asked me jokingly. I laughed, which got me an offended look from Melwyn, making both Omaren and i laugh harder. Finaly, Omaren walked closer to us and gently patted Melwyn head, who seemed to both like and dislike it at the same time. Him craking a smile as he looked up to Omaren probably meant that he didn't mind much.   "We're just joking, don't worry."   I was happy to see that he and Omaren had grown into true friends rather quickly, but i also felt a bit sour that Melwyn and i had barely talked to each other since our fight Actualy, today had been the most we've talked to each other since then. Maybe it's time that i change that. At least, i should try.   "Hey, so i was thinking of doing some archery before the sun goes down." Omaren said to Melwyn. "You wanna train with?"   "Oh yeah! I trained with Makhlem a few days ago, and i've gotten pretty good now. But, uh..." he trailed off as he looked back at me. "Oh, its fine, go ahead!" I said, putting hands up, before realising something.   "Well, actualy, i'm gonna be done here pretty soon, so... could i... join you?" Both Omaren and Melwyn seemed surprised at my request, and i couldn't blame them, since i had made it clear before my hatred of any amount of physical activity. I did have a bow, but i was not good at archery due to lack of practice. So this was a chance to both get better, but also especialy, to bond with the two of them.   "Yeah, of course! I'd love that!" Omaren said, giving me a big tap on the back. "I've been asking for months and you always said no. I never knew this day would come!" He added sarcasticaly.   "Ha ha" i responded to him as i quickly watered the rest of the plants, not wanting to make them wait for too long. Finaly, i was done. I put the can up on a hook along the side of the house and turned to them. "Alright, i'm ready."   Melwyn, and then myself stepped out of the garden, and followed Omaren to the archery range located behind the house. A smile grew on my lips. This is a good day.