Small Moments With a Ghost

Day 17: Flowers/Sweet

More wholesomeness coming your way! :D

(In this house, we love platonic relationships :D)

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"Hey guys!" Jay chirped as he and Zane walked into the rec room, arms laden with bags and baskets. "We're back!"

"Oh, hey guys," Cole said, pausing the racing game he and the others were playing (much to Lloyd's dismay-he had been winning). "How was the farmers' market?"

"Excellent," Zane pronounced, smiling widely. "I have procured a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables to eat and cook with." He held up a basket filled to the brim with fresh blueberries. "I have plans to make a wonderful dessert tonight."

"Yeah, and I got a whole bunch of jams for everyone! And look!" Jay held up a jar filled with a thick brown paste. "They even had apple butter!"

"The fuck is 'apple butter'?" Morro questioned, phasing through the wall behind Jay, almost making the blue ninja drop his jar in shock.

"Don't DO that!" Jay exclaimed, holding a hand over his heart. "Also, it's...it's kinda like a really, really thick applesauce that you can spread on toast like jam. It's really good!"

Morro looked dubiously at the jar of apple butter. "...I'll take your word for it," he drawled, not looking convinced.

Jay pouted, then suddenly perked up. "Oh! I almost forgot! We got something else!"

"What did you get?" Lloyd questioned, curiously wandering closer as the blue ninja dug around in his bags.

"Hang on... ah ha!" Quick as, well, a lightning strike, Jay whipped something out of his bag and placed it on Lloyd's head. "Ta da!"

Lloyd's eyes crossed as he looked up at his new adornment. "...oh!" he lit up. "Flower crowns!"

"Yes," Zane said, smiling happily. "There was a booth selling several customized flower arrangements, and Jay and I decided to get one for everyone."

"But I thought just flowers would be boring," Jay added. "But then I remembered that Zane is crazy good at making flower crowns, so I chose the flowers and he made them into the crowns!" He reached over and tapped Lloyd's crown. "Yours has daisies and chrysanthemums, and yellow roses! Actually, everyone's got yellow in their crowns-they're really pretty and they symbolize friendships!"

"Aw, that's so sweet of you Jay," Nya said, smiling as she took her own crown--with the aforementioned yellow roses, but also with blue irises and a single red rose. At seeing the last flower, the water ninja beamed and gave Jay a kiss, making the blue ninja blush furiously.

Morro gagged obnoxiously. "Agh, all this sugary stuff is making me nauseous," he complained dramatically. "Let me know when y'all are done being sappy."

"Wait, Morro!" Jay exclaimed, reaching into his bags again. "I made one for you too!"

"If it's super colorful, I don't want it."

"Nah, I'll bet it's made with dead, dried-up flowers and thorns," Kai teased, smirking. "Fits your whole aesthetic."

Morro flipped the red ninja the bird. "Fuck you, Porcupine..."

"Stop it you two," Cole scolded.

"Besides," Jay huffed. "You're both wrong. Here, hang on..."

Morro, not at all enthused about receiving flowers, debates the merits of simply phasing back through the wall. Before he could make a move, however, there was a flower crown being held expectantly in his face.

Jay was practically vibrating with excitement. "Well?!" He said. "Do you like it? There weren't many green flowers there, but I thought purple and white wouldn't be too colorful. Those ones are heather-they bring good luck! Oh, and there's daffodils-those are kinda obvious-and yellow roses like everyone else. And those ones are-"

"Are these poppies?" Morro squinted at the red and yellow flowers intertwined with the others in the crown. "Gee, thanks Bluebell. A flower for death, how fitting."

Jay huffed indignantly. "Okay, yeah they do symbolize that, but that's not why I picked them. Red ones stand for sacrifice while the yellow ones are more about...remembering good days, y'know? Because well, getting to know you and being your friend is really awesome!"

"If you do truly have an issue with the poppies, take it with me," Zane piped up, looking a little chagrined. "It was my idea to add them. I thought they would make a lovely addition. Yellow poppies are often taken as a sign of optimism."

Lloyd snickered. "Yeah, because Morro's just a shining example of optimism."

"Oh yeah, totally," Kai snickered too.

"Oh stop it, you guys," Nya scolded. "You're being really rude." After making sure both of her brothers looked properly chastised, she turned to the rest. "Jay, Zane, you guys did a wonderful job with these. And I like the ones they did for yours, Morro."

"Yeah," Cole chimed in. "These are all really nice!"

Jay beamed. "Thank you, guys! I knew you'd like them! Oh Cole! I didn't tell you about your flowers yet! Here-"

The blue ninja started happily explaining the meaning behind Cole's flowers, while everyone else crowded around to listen.

No one noticed Morro examining the flower crown in his hands, a thoughtful expression on his face.

No one saw a small smile slowly appear on the ghost's face as he quietly made himself scarce for the rest of the day.

(Absolutely no one saw him later that day, flower crown carefully affixed on his head, shut up Brookstone, you obviously had the sun in your eyes-)

(They all saw Cole give Morro a small notebook, and later, that same notebook filled with the carefully pressed flowers of the ghost's crown)

~~~~~~

Awwwww :)

Also, toxic masculinity? In THIS economy?! I don't think so. XD

Zane being good at making flower crowns has been a long standing headcanon of mine (based on one of the first fanfictions I ever read on fanfiction.net. Dunno if it's still on there, but if it is let me know!). Jay just likes how flowers look and finding out the meanings/symbolism behind them.

The meaning behind the flowers are from Google, so if something seems off, blame Google XD

Also apple butter is the absolute BEST thing ever (besides blueberry jam) and if you ever have the chance to try it, do so. You won't regret it.