The Princess and the Toad

Aldric blinked at the sudden offer, caught off-guard by it as she launched into scheduling and making it low-maintenance, too. Not only would that take a lot of her time, but if she was going to turn it into something easy to maintain, it would surely cost some money in the form of tools and and materials. He felt a bit bad, like if he said yes, he'd be taking advantage of her kindness, but at the same time...

He hated his yard as it was. It was nasty and overgrown and sheer chaos.

"I'd like to say yes," he said finally, "But I feel like it would be taking advantage. You'll have to accept something in return." He grinned. "I'm going to insist on it. Even if it's just lunch or dinner. Can't promise the best cooking, but it always includes protein, a vegetable or fruit, and other important things like that."

He paused.

"And I'll cover any expenses. I can afford it, and I'd feel bad if I didn't contribute something to the effort."
 
(Sorry for keeping you waiting, work has been insane! )

Barbara smiled a bit more. Though he seemed hesitant about accepting her offer, it didn't seem that he was resisting it completely. Looking back over her lunch again, she took one more bit and sip of her drink before going on with the conversation. "Of course, I wouldn't want you thinking that you owed me for anything. I love to garden. One more place to play is hardly anything to me. You can make it up to me with dinner some time."

With that she reached into her purse, pulling out her phone to start looking at potential plants. Something smooth and robust would be best for Aldric. The harder it was to kill the better. Along with himself being of limited mobility and his daughter a wild one, his yard would need to be able to handle everything.

"What do you think about trees?"
 
(No worries! I've been slow, myself.)

"It's a deal, then," he agreed, relieved that she wasn't going to try to do something like work on his yard for free. That sort of thing would have loomed over him.

He blinked as she pulled out her phone, but forced himself not to get angry. After all, she didn't seem the type to randomly start doing unrelated things on her phone, and she didn't seem bored... He couldn't see her screen, but after a moment of thought, he guessed she was looking up plants.

Her question of trees cemented that, and tension faded as he nodded. "Trees," he hummed quietly, then nodded again. "Yeah. Trees would be good. I've got the one big one, and it's pretty, but a lone tree isn't much of anything, though it has good shade."

He thought a few moments, then started to speak, only to pause before he tried again. "Maybe something that flowers would be nice, though the petals will get all over, won't they?"
 
(Thanks for understanding, more insane work has been going on. -__-;; )

“Well, that depends on the tree and the flower,” Barbara stated before starting to fiddle with her phone once again.

She pulled up the picture of a rather elegant looking tree. It was a cherry blossom tree, but not the traditional one. It was an American breed, mostly used for its appearance. It was lovely, and the work done on this one prevented it from growing very high. It did get wide though, making it take up a love of visual space. It would be a lovely tree to fill up a front yard.

“Here, this one is beautiful, and the petals are strong enough that you can usually blow them into a pile and clean them up easily. Just like fall leaves. It stays short but grows wide so that it would be a good shade tree. Also, you could use it to minimize sun coming into certain windows if needed.” Barbara added as she passed her phone to Aldric.
 
(Trust me, I get it. :rofl: I've been pretty terrible...)

Aldric took the phone and looked the picture over thoughtfully, then nodded. "Yeah... That does sound pretty good," he agreed as he returned her phone.

The urge was strong to swipe to either side, but he figured it would either be useless or rude or both—either way, not a good impression to give.

"Does it grow edible fruits? Or at least non-poisonous?" He had a kid, after all...
 
(As long as you are okay with it, then so am I! Less guilt is always better XD)

"Well, this breed was modified not to have the fruit of any kind. However, in the same family, there is one that grows cute little crab apples that are edible. More so for something that you'd make into jelly than eat raw though. In the end, it wouldn't be poisonous to eat raw, just a very harsh taste." Barbara said with a laugh as she looked at Alric with a smile.

His concerns were valid, and she was more than happy to tell him everything that he would like to know.
 
( For sure! )

He smiled a little, unable to keep some rosiness from his cheeks. "As long as it's safe, that's my concern. Don't need any actual fruit."

He fiddled a bit with his cup. "Honestly, long as my little girl ain't gonna eat anything toxic that looks tasty, that's good enough." He glared to the side, more thoughtful than upset. "Understand?"
 
"Of course, your daughter's health is of the utmost importance. After all, children her age are curious and wanting to explore the whole world. Sometimes in ways that are not the healthiest for them." Barbara said with a smile before putting her phone away for the time being. They could discuss plans for his yard at a later date, another reason to meet for a lunch date.
 
She was smart, thoughtful, and gorgeous.

What the hell did he do to deserve the time of day from her?

He quickly fixed his face, banishing the small, warm smile and forcing a more neutral face as he cleared his throat.

"Ain't that the truth. Got lots of stories from when I was a kid, and few of them worth telling."

Wait, shit, did he just volunteer to tell her embarrassing stories about himself!?
 
"Oh, now you've got my full attention," Barbara said with a small chuckle before resting her elbows on the table gently. She then set her chin on top of her grasping hands, grinning sweetly at the man in front of her. He might not have been the strongest or the healthiest man in the world, but he couldn't help that. It was those facts alone that actually made her so curious. What sort of stories did a man of his condition have? No doubt they would be some interesting tales.

"To be fair, I'll share a few of mine if you share your's."
 
He tried to look away to hide his red cheeks, turning his eyepatch towards her as he forgot that just because he couldn't see her didn't mean that she couldn't see him. Absently, he tugged at the collar of his shirt.

"That a promise?" he asked after a moment.
 
"Of course, what kind of woman would I be if I didn't keep my promises?" Barbara said with a smile of sorts before she looked at him more firmly. After all, he was rather adorable when acting all flustered and cute. "Now, go ahead and tell me one. We can start small if you like."
 
Aldric huffed, then shook his head, pulled himself together, then began his story. He kept his voice quiet, embarrassed despite the promise of hearing a story of her own youth.

"Let's see," he muttered, "I was six, fresh able to walk without braces, living with a brand new family." He leaned back in his seat, eyes skyward as he remembered.

"I remember someone told me I should try to fly, so I stood up in my seat at the dinner table, said I was going to fly, and then..."

He smiled wryly. "And then I smacked into the floor face-first."
 
Barbara snorted a bit at the tale, laughing softly, she had to put a hand over her mouth from getting too loud. Now she had heard of childhood innocence but never of childhood ignorance. Sure, kids made mistakes, but she could never have imagined making a choice as bad as that one. Chuckling slowly near the end, Barbara sat back in her seat with a broad smile on her face.

"Oh my, now my tale won't sound anything like that. Admittedly, I was pretty plain in my youth. And here I was worried that I would be the one with the worse of the two tales." She joked a little, her tone gentle and kind.
 
Aldric grinned. "Well, I figured something that wasn't too stupid for the first thing you hear about when I was a brat," he grumbled, feeling a little better that she wasn't mocking him too much over it.

He didn't mind that she laughed a little, either. There wasn't anything malevolent to it.

Besides, even he knew that was a dumb thing for him to have done.

"Speaking of tales, it's your turn," he teased, his grin just a little bit wicked.
 
Barbara chuckled a little more before finally nodding her head. "You are right; it is my turn. Now I have to think of a story that can compete with that. Hmm...Well, I suppose the only way to meet the established standard is through a much more silly story."

Sitting up straighter, Barb leaned on the table, only speaking loud enough for Aldric to hear. "I spent much of my childhood not realizing how tall I was like a Great Dane doesn't know it's too big to be a lap dog. So for as long as I could remember I would bump my head on everything and blame the construction of things. Hit my head on the door top; the door was too small. Bumped my head on the table the table got built funny. It would go on for years. It wasn't until I was ten that I asked why all our furniture was weird. Do you know what my mother said? Furniture not broken hun, you're just a giraffe. I proceeded to then look up applications for the zoo because I thought I got adopted from there."

Her face was pink at this point.
 
Aldric blinked, then shook his head with a quiet laugh.

"Barb," he said, "That's fucking cute."

He grinned at her, still shaking his head in disbelief. "Here I thought you couldn't get any cuter."
 
"Oh stop, it's not cute at all. It's embarrassing." Barbara said with a grin as she tried to calm herself a little. "Thankfully, my mother decided to avoid the playful terminology for the rest of my youth least I attempted to send myself somewhere else, like to ocean. Besides, I think yours is much cuter. It makes so much more sense than mine."
 
"Sense and logic don't matter when you're a kid," he offered with a quiet chuckle. "I don't even remember who told me I could and should fly. Wasn't the voice of anyone there at the time, and nobody else heard it."

His grin widened. "Foster mom swore I was haunted."
 
"Well, haunted or not I still think it's nice to have that kind of freedom of mind. Though, I wish it had come with a little bit more common sense on my part." Barbara added softly as she grinned before looking at her phone to check the time. Their lunch was running a little longer than planned, and it seemed that it was about time for her to head out.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I have to get to work soon. I suppose it's not too much to ask if we continue this on another lunch date?"