Crops and Chemistry

[Laggy Lagiacrus]

"Oh, this is just brilliant."
Robert set down his suitcase, and rubbed the back of his head. It was fair to say that this wasn't what he was expecting. Sure, he knew that the farm was in a bad way, but he didn't think it would look as if sneezing too hard could cause it all to blow away. However, he was not one to be deterred from his work, merely by the prospect of tough challenges. He was an alchemist - his work was built on working to solve problems. And if he needed to roll his sleeves up and get dirty to do this, he would.

The only problem was his farmer partner. Or, rather, his lack of one. He didn't wait around for her, though. He had things to work on - soil samples to collect, weeds to examine, things like that. He needed to examine just how the place worked, and he didn't intend to waste time just standing around. Various sample-gathering tools were take out of his suitcase, and he knelt on the ground, to take what he needed. He seemed engrossed in his work - to the point where one would need a sledgehammer to get him to notice them.

 

[HollowCreation⊙]

"Come on!" Ellie gasped out of breath as she ran down the dirts roads of her village. She hugged a small basket full of red, delightful looking apples against her chest. She ran so fast she didn't think she would get the chance to breathe. I'm gunna be so late! She thought nervously.

A few more turns and she was there, booking it to the back where her new partner was, but unfortunately dust had picked up from her fast feet and gathered in her eyes. "Ah!" She dropped the basket quickly while running to rub her eyes and tripped over the basket, tumbling to the ground. "Oh no, my apples!" She groaned as she stood from lying on her back. "These were my best too!" She sighed as she picked up her now broken basket and pieces of apples. Glanceing through the crushed apples, she manage to spot a few apples that weren't damaged at all. Quickly she grabbed the apples and did her best to wipe them off.

 

[Laggy Lagiacrus]

While it wasn't quite a sledgehammer, Ellie's incident made Robert snap out of his alchemy-focussed trance. Pieces of apple tumbling into his workspace, someone crying out, and a crashing sound generally did that to people. He put his instruments down, and rushed over to Ellie, kneeling down to see her at eye-level.
"Excuse me," he asked, "Are you ok? Are you hurt? That seemed like pretty nasty fall."
With that said, he looked her over and thought that she looked strangely familiar. Not as if he knew her from somewhere - he figured that he would remember a person like her, if he was familiar with them.

Then, it hit him.
"Oh, you must be the person I've been assigned to work here with. Nellie Harper, was it? It's a pleasure to meet you."
Robert stood up, and extended his arm down to her. He figured that she would be able to get up by herself, but he thought it would be a nice gesture nonetheless.

 

[HollowCreation⊙]

"Oh, you must be the person I've been assigned to work here with. Nellie Harper, was it? It's a pleasure to meet you." The male stood and extended his arm, obviously a gesture to shake her hand. She quickly stood by herself and held out the hand that wasn't full of apples.

"Yes! Nellie Harper, nice to meet you! Oh!" She took the apples she cleaned off and held them out. "Apples. Fresh from my farm! Sorry. There would've been more but I uh.." She rubbed her head as she looked around her on the ground at the scatter crushed and bruised apples. "I'll pick them up right away."