“Y’hear that?” Kelpiekit grumbled, rolling over and burying his face in Selkiekit’s fur. “He likes the plants. He always likes the plants.” If the SummerClan nursery were a school, Kelpiekit would consider himself one of the popular kids, and Venuskit would be... one of the not-popular kids, to put it nicely. But, despite his teasing that was really more affectionate than bullying, he had a soft spot for the odd little guy. Rolling back over with a groan, he dragged himself to his tiny black paws and heaved himself after the other kit, because he really was quite sweet and he did like to make others happy, even if he liked to make himself a little bit happier.

“Hey, wait up,” he mumbled, voice tired and grumpy; he was doing this for Venuskit, not himself, and so he was allowed to be a bit resentful. Didn’t matter that the other kit hadn’t asked him along, didn’t matter that he probably didn’t even want him there and he was likely ruining his whole wizard-in-the-woods vibe — he was sacrificing his naptime for him, and so Venuskit was in his debt and he was allowed to be spiteful. “What kinda plants d’you like, ya cutie-pie weirdo?”

So, this is where the oddball disappeared to every day. He skipped along behind Venuskit and slowed when he began to chant, creeping forward a little more suspiciously and peering over the other kit’s shoulder at the tiny sprout. Bit weird, the whole thing was a bit weird, but he liked weird, wacky things and so, he liked the weird, wacky kit. When Venuskit turned back to him, Kelpiekit was almost directly in his face; he snapped his chin back into his throat and grinned at him. “They sure are, buddy,” he agreed through the grin. “Super-duper pretty. Please don’t kill me and sacrifice me to the plant gods, I have a family.”

The next kitten to approach had definite forest nymph vibes going for her. A single flower was tucked in front of her ear and there was a mystical beauty about her, or at least, there would be one once she grew older and grew into herself. She gave an airy looking smile to both of the toms, before letting out a purr.

"Brother, you are so good with the flowers," she hummed, a smile twitching on her lips. "They will grow so big." She then turned to Kelpiekit, a soft laugh exiting her mouth. "The flowers do not require sacrifice, only gentle touch," she meowed. Her voice always had a strange, enchanted rise and fall to it, as if she was always sort of breathless. "Maybe you would like to plant one?"

Rosekit, just like her brother, was sort of weird. Her flower fascination, the fascination with her brother's garden, was strong. She didn't realize that maybe other kittens wouldn't feel the same way.

Rosekit loved all of her siblings equally, or at least she would say so out loud. However, the whole world would only have to look at her interactions between her siblings to know that she had a clear favorite. They way she never seemed to be too far from her brother was her clearest tell of her favoritism. How could she not favor him, though, when he shared her love of things that grew from the earth.

"Of course, brother," she mewed as she pressed her nose to his cheek. "He can plant a flower next to my flowers, away from yours. I will not let him hurt your plants, brother. Perhaps then, the plants would need a sacrifice." She chuckled before pulling away from him, dancing towards her own flowerbed. It was growing so nicely, she thought with a happy little purr. "Hello, Winry," she murmured to the flower that was just starting to bud, her favorite, a lavender flower. "You are so beautiful today!"

She turned away from her lavender, before finding a small spot behind her flowers that had space for a clumsy hole. "Shall I find you something to plant, Kelpiekit?" she asked with wide, charming little eyes.

Too many cats! He felt crowded, confined, and the appearance of the new kit made him start to shake. Why were they all here? They were crowding him and staring at him, he could feel their eyes. He shook his head aggressively, both to answer Acornkit’s question and to try and clear his crowding mind. His breath started to quicken, so he swiftly stepped into the warm embrace of his beloved plants. Crouching low, trying to calm his breathing, the ringing in his ears became unbearable once more. 

“Too loud!” He folded them over, trying to block out the sound. Taking a deep breath, breathing in the scent of his plants, he dove into the bush nearby and hid, feeling a bit better now that he wasn’t really seen. “Go away.” He hissed. 

Poking his head out of the bush, he eyed Acornkit curiously. She wanted to learn? About his flowers? He felt a buzzing in his paws and stepped out of the bush towards the she-kit. “Learn?” He stood beside her, easily towering over her with his long legs. “Oh. You get the seed like this,” he looked around for a seed to not find any, so he sighed and instead picked up a tiny pebble in its place. “Dig little hole.” He dug his claws into the dirt, turning it up until there was a little hole. “And place the seed in. Then water it. And water it every morning.” He pointed with his thin tail to the little pool near the medicine cat den. “Easy.” He purred. “Lots of different flowers, I like to arrange them in patterns, see. Lots of pretty plants. And tasty ones too, like mint.” He rambled, finally on a subject he was interested in. He seemed to forget the others existed, focused on sharing as much as he knew with Acornkit.

Excited at the prospect that she wanted to learn more, he felt so overwhelmed with happiness. He jumped where he stood, waving his tail joyously. “Ya! They start growing after a few days,” he said, not really sure the exact number as he wasn’t the best with numbers. “And you can water them at any time, as long as it’s near a similar or after that time tomorrow. Like watering them at night and then in the morning isn’t good.” He explained, eager to teach the cat more. Though he highly doubted the others were listening. 

“When I find seed, we can plant it together!” He suggested, continuing his jumping. 

“Promise.” He gestured to the sprouting plants as though proving his point. He watched her curiously as she lifted her paw, unsure of what to do for a moment. But he seemed to understand her, and before he was thinking straight he was touching his pad to hers. “Promise.” He repeated. Usually he didn’t engage with any sort of physical touch, unless it was with Rosekit, but this seemed okay. It only lasted seconds before his paw touched the ground once more.

The peacefulness settled in and he felt so relaxed. Venuskit scooted until he was sitting just beside Acornkit but not close enough to touch her. The feeling of being watched was gone, the anxiety in his chest was gone, and he felt at peace. Laying down, resting his head on his paws, Venuskit watched the sproutling glow in the sunlight, lost in his own little world with, what he considered, his first ever friend.