Templeschool

6. Golden Afternoon

AN: Song used is Golden Afternoon from Alice In Wonderland

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"What do you mean we don't have a lesson today!"

Twoie doubled over in laughter at the sheer disappointment in Steven's voice. "Ha, D-do you, ha-ha! Do you really like school that much?" Steven deflated on the desk. "Of course! You make it really fun! I was talking to Connie last night, and she told me that her school isn't nearly as fun as ours."

That made Twoie blush. "Well, I'm glad to hear that! I guess we could have lessons instead of what I planned for us to do instead." Twoie tried not to let his amusement show. "Okay, we don't have to create our own garden today. I can just start on the next section of our science course."

"No!" The chair scraped against the floor, and Twoie had a bundle of excitement in his arms. "You didn't say we were going to make a garden! That sounds like so much fun! Please don't change your plan!" Twoie was struck with another bout of laughter at Steven's 1-80 response. Amethyst collapsed against the kitchen counter laughing, and even Pearl and Garnet were sporting amused smiles at Steven's shenanigans.

"Why don't I join you two today?" Pearl stepped forward. She summoned a pair of garden gloves, a basket, a trowel, and a sunhat from her gem. "I have never performed the act of gardening, but I did read about it a couple of hundred years ago. It'd be nice to put the words to practice."

'That would be nice. I haven't spent a lot of time with Pearl since I arrived, and I think she could use a break from searching for Peridot. She's been really tense lately.' Twoie thought to himself. "That'd be awesome!" Twoie laid out several supplies on the table by the couch. "These are yours, Sunshine." The gloves were a simple green, and the sunhat had a simple brown ribbon tied into a tiny bow on the side. Twoie put on similar-looking gloves and sunhat. He went over to the door where he picked up two milk gallons filled with water. "Are you okay with going now, Pearl? It'll probably take a while to get it all done."

Pearl clapped her hands in joy. "Of course! It's always best to get an early start on the day." The group bade farewell to Amethyst and Garnet before heading out the door. "Alright, Twoie. Where do you want to have a garden?" Pearl questioned as they walked across the beach.

He had contemplated that for a while on his way home from the Car Wash last night. He was stuck between having it at the lighthouse above the temple or in the forest on the edge of Beach City. He had decided on the forest in the end because he was pretty sure he remembered a pretty glade that wasn't far from the road. It would provide some shade if Steven got tired but still had enough sunlight for the flowers.

"Yeah, it's in the forest. You're going to love it!"

Pearl originally tagged along on their garden trip just to keep an eye on Twoie. There's no way he would try anything with her around. However, the grove that Twoie had brought them to was breath-taking. The sunlight gave the grove an ethereal glow. Butterflies fluttered nearby, and birds chirped harmoniously in the trees. "I must admit you were right! I do love it!"

Twoie smirked at the admission. He pulled out several packs of seeds from his pocket and handed them to Steven. "I've got tiger lilies, daffodils, morning glories, and dandelions."

Pearl held out some seeds from her basket. "I also have tulips and violets!" Steven looked back and forth between all of the seeds. "Let's plant... All of them!" Twoie and Pearl blinked in surprise. They shared a look before they broke out into laughter.

"I don't even know why we asked." Pearl teased. The group set their seed packets into the basket. Twoie pulled out two cultivators. "Pearl and I can start cultivating the ground. If you want, you can start burying the seeds."

Steven pulled out a little plastic cup that Pearl had included in the basket. He poured a small number of seeds from every bag into the cup. He swirled the seeds around a couple times to make sure they were all mixed in and then started randomly planting them.

A couple of hours passed with the group none the wiser. The warm glow of the afternoon sun brightly lit the grove they were working in. Twoie was pouring water into a watering can, and Pearl was leaning against a tree as Steven finished planting the last of the seeds. "Okay, you guys! I'm done!" Steven placed the cup back in the basket.

Twoie motioned Steven to come over. "I thought it'd be nice if we could sell these out in town today, so I thought you could add some spit to the watering can."

"Isn't that just going to bring them to life? Like with Watermelon Steven?" Steven frowned as he recalled how much trouble the watermelons caused. Twoie couldn't blame him for worrying about it. That day was an absolute mess.

"It doesn't seem to work that way with flowers. I always healed flowers after I picked them, and I grew some from dead soil before using my spit." That was enough to soothe Steven's worry. He wiped his hands clean on his shirt and dipped a spit covered finger into the water in the can. The whole garden was shimmering after Steven watered it. They watched as the stems grew out of the ground, and the flowers blossomed.

"Wow! They're so pretty!" Steven's idea to plant the seeds randomly produced a gorgeous multi-colored garden of flowers.

Twoie held out some scissors. "Now it's time to cut some to make bouquets! After we finish, we can water them one more time so that the flowers look like this again." Everyone grabbed a pair of scissors and picked a spot to start cutting flowers.

It was much easier to cut the flowers than it was to plant them all. The group had finished their task fairly quickly, and one more round of magic-infused water had the garden in full bloom again. Some butterflies had come out due to the flowers and were fluttering beside them.

As they were making their way back to town, Steven rifled through the basket of flowers he was holding. He picked up a tulip and gestured for Pearl to bend down."Little pretty butterflies kiss the tulips," Pearl smiled as Steven tucked the tulip behind her ear. "And the sun is like a toy balloon. There are get up in the morning glories in the golden afternoon!" Twoie smiled as Steven bounced forward and happily floated back down.

Pearl twirled to the song before gesturing to the lighthouse on the hill in the distance. "There are dizzy daffodils in the hillside. Strings of violets all in tune." She took a violet out of Steven's basket and placed it in his hair. He laughed in delight as she continued her verse.

"Tiger lilies love the dandy lions. In the golden afternoon." She gestured to the trees, where they could see birds singing. "There are birds and caterpillars and the copper centipede." She motioned Steven to come over. They peered at a caterpillar crawling on a leaf, then turned to watch a centipede dig into the ground.

"Where the lazy daisies love the peaceful life they lead..." Steven pulled a daisy out of the basket and tugged on Twoie's shirt. Twoie knelt down for Steven to place the daisy behind his ear. As Steven pulled away, Twoie quickly took the basket from him, grabbed the boy around the waist, and hoisted him onto his shoulders.

Steven leaned on Twoie's head as the trio finally made it back into town. The young boy sighed in contentment as he finished his song."You can learn a lot of things from the flowers, words, and feelings you attune. There's so much joy and love you can spread out in the golden afternoon!"

Pearl smiled fondly as Steven finished his song. "I'm sure you'll spread a lot of joy today when we sell these flowers at the boardwalk."

When they reached the edge of the boardwalk, Twoie set Steven down. Pearl summoned the supplies they needed to wrap the flowers into bouquets. She arranged every bouquet beautifully. Twoie wrapped them in a bow, and Steven went around the boardwalk with the flowers. He gave Steven a small portion of their earnings and saved the rest in a sandwich bag for the trip. All-in-all, it was a pretty successful day.