The men walked through the halls with confident strides. "We should get you a different uniform, so you're recognised as a special type of guard," Sage said, eyeing Taro's green and golden Valet's uniform.
"Can I choose the colours?"
"No." Sage guided him to the garden shed. Luckily, Oxley wasn't hanging around, still wanting to keep an eye on him. "Right, lets repot you." He glanced at Taro, expecting him to do his impressive transformation.
"Can we just talk about this new job role for a second... so I get to follow you around now? We didn't think this through. What if I need to be in my plant form, but you're busy, and I need to be with you?"
"Well, how often do you need to be in your plant form?"
"At least for a few hours throughout the day."
Sage rubbed his chin. "Okay, that's manageable. We can figure it out. I'll just have a reading hour or a tea break or something. I don't know, we'll think of something."
"I don't want to make your life more stressful."
"You're not. It's fine, I'm happy I have a guard now." Sage looked at all the pots full of soil. "How do I do this?"
Taro moved closer. "Are you sure you're okay with all of this? You're being really tolerant, but it's okay if you are still freaked out with me being the way I am, and now this whole guard thing. It was hard enough for you to accept a Valet who doesn't think before he speaks."
Sage thought about how he felt. When he tried to decipher his feelings over the past few weeks, not a day went by that he felt the same. His emotions were everywhere. "I think I was mainly stressed about you getting caught. We're only just starting to become friends, and I like that you know that I'm- I like that you know my secret. I didn't want you to get fired and then me to feel..."
"Alone?"
Sage nodded. "So yeah, this is weird but not as weird as I thought it would be. We both have big secrets, we both put a lot of trust into each other. Yes, you have a mouth that uh..." Sage's eyes lowered to Taro's lips. "That uh, loves the sound of his own voice, but it's refreshing. I'm getting used to you, and this." He diverted his attention to the plant pots on the muddy desktop. "Shall we start repotting you?"
"Wait." Taro grabbed his arm and they faced each other. "It feels good trusting someone, doesn't it?"
Sage nodded.
Taro smiled warmly. His green eyes crinkled at the sides. "About a month ago, you would have actually fired me for standing too close to you. Now I get to embrace your bicep."
Sage softly pulled his arm away, trying not to smile. "Come on, let's get this done."
They picked a soil that Taro liked and decided on a darker shade of purple for Taro's pot. His green vine tattoos started to move. "So just gently take me out of my old pot and put me in my new one."
"Will you be able to transform straight back after you're in the new pot?"
"It might take me ten minutes. But it's fine, it's not weird for you to be in the shed. Just pretend you're busy picking another plant if anyone comes in."
"I won't actually choose another plant you know. I was just-"
"Teasing me?" Taro smirked. "One plant man in your life is enough."
Sage dug a hole in the soil. "That sounds awfully like jealousy."
"You can't blame me for wanting you all to myself." By now, Taro was leaning into him, his face close enough for Sage to feel his breath on his cheek.
"Careful, if anyone walked in-"
"It'll just be Mrs Beecham. She knows I have no respect for personal space."
Sage's side tingled, his heart struggled to slow down. "Taro."
"Okay, okay." He moved a mere inch and sat on the worktop. "You ready?"
"Are you ready? This is a stressful thing for plants," Sage said, thinking of the many plants he had killed because he had changed their pots, and they didn't like it.
"I'm a resilient plant."
"Right." Sage chuckled at the lunacy of their situation. "You are."
Taro slipped out of his golden shirt, and the vines slithered out of his fingers, then consumed him like a spider wrapping its prey. Sage gritted his teeth and watched through the green glow. The vines covered Taro, and he shrank within them. Then the light got too bright, and Sage had no choice but to look away.
As always, when he tried to look again, the Devil's Ivy houseplant had returned in its round purple pot.
Carefully, Sage scraped away the top layer of soil until he could see Taro's roots. Touching my roots is like sticking your finger in my mouth. Sage grimaced at the thought. "I'm sorry if this is uncomfortable," he whispered and delicately embedded his fingers into the soil.
He lifted the plant and some of the vines fell onto his lap. Sage swiftly put the plant in its new large square purple pot. The colour was like tulips on a cloudy day, both dark and vibrant. Sage could already see the colour standing out against Taro's pale skin.
He patted the top of the soil and waited. "I hope this feels okay for you," he whispered. One of the vines across his lap moved and the leaves slowly fluttered against his thigh.
Sage stood up and gently wrapped them around the new pot, the way Taro wrapped them around his pot when he slept. "transform back as soon as you're able. I don't want anyone to hear me talking to a plant."
He waited longer than ten minutes and kept peering over the plant as if he expected it to be rotting or something equally as worrying. But the plant was okay, so Sage waited some more.
By the time Taro transformed back, he was busy reorganising Mrs Beecham's messy shelves. He spun when he heard a thud behind him. Taro now wore a dark purple jumper, and he was rocking back and forth with his shoes on. "That feels much better."
Sage looked him up and down. Only his jumper had changed, and Taro's blond hair was now messy and sticking out in every direction. "Did that go okay?"
"Yes. You were very gentle, thank you."
"Glad I could help." Sage pursed his lips when Taro's gaze was earnest, and kind. "How did it feel?"
"Well, it's hard to describe. Imagine if you squeezed your feet into shoes that are just a little too small. They're warm, and comfortable until you have to be in them for longer than five minutes, then they kind of hurt and you just want to take them off. Now imagine taking them off and dipping your warm feet in icy cold water, then quickly putting them in shoes that are a little too big for you. That's how it felt."
Sage raised his dark brows. "Wow, that's... I'm glad I was quick to put you in your other pot."
"Yes." Taro's eyes then lowered to Sage's chest. "So, are we just going to ignore that you spilt half of your breakfast on your jumper?"
Sage sighed and pulled it off, dumping it in Taro's arms. "It's your job to clean that."
"And it's my job to follow you, so now you get to follow me to the laundry room."
"Great," Sage said with little enthusiasm. "While we're at it, I can tell Osier about your new job role."
Taro dressed into his Valet's uniform and Sage tucked his brown shirt into his black jeans. They jogged through the courtyard to avoid the rain.
"Nobody other than my mum has changed my pot before," Taro confessed, opening the door for Sage.
"Then why did you let me do it?"
"We're friends. I trust you."
Sage couldn't describe why that made him so warm inside, and so at ease. He trusted very little people, but that was the sad normality for the Greenthenors.
They visited Osier after the laundry room. Sage was hesitant to knock on his office door. He felt very out of place in the servant's quarters. The staff double glanced at him, and scurried away, and whispered to other workers about what he was doing down there.
Taro knocked on the door when Sage stared at it for too long. "Enter," Osier ordered from the other side of the wood. Sage gulped, smoothed down his shirt, and strode in with assertiveness. Osier looked up blankly, until he noticed Royalty in his doorway. He stood so fast, the wine that he chose for that evening's dinner wobbled on his desk. "Your Royal Highness!" He bowed lowly. "What can I help you with?"
Taro closed the door behind them to avoid unwanted ears listening to their conversation. "I'm here to talk about the job upgrade my father has approved for Mister Vinea." Sage linked his fingers. "Taro Vinea is now not only my Valet, but also my personal guard for when I'm in the Palace."
He counted to three in his head. First, Osier's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, then his neck turned red, then his chubby fingers clenched to fists. "But that is improper, Sir!" he cried. "That is not the tradition. Taro Vinea isn't even qualified to be a Valet, let alone your guard! A valet cannot-"
"Osier," Sage said loud enough to slice through his booming voice. "The job role has been accepted by my father. I'm here so you can upgrade his monthly wage and order him a new uniform." He felt Taro's eyes briefly against the side of his face.
"But Sir, he is not qualified. Mister Vinea is not suitable-"
"Osier, that is final. Now you'll pass on this information to the accountant and seamstress. Have Iris visit me to help with a custom uniform." By now, Osier was red all over. His eyes were fit to burst. He opened and closed his mouth again, wanting to argue. "Thank you, Osier." They left before the butler could find his tongue.
As they neared Sage's bedroom, Taro mumble, "Authoritative Sagerian is hot."
Sage hissed for him to be quiet until they reached the bedroom. Inside the comfort of his four walls, he flopped onto his bed with a spinning head. "I kind of expected Osier to hate that."
"Yeah well, he wanted to fire me for my green nails. This is a huge fuck you Osier." Taro grinned. "Did you see how red his face turned?"
"One day he really will explode." Sage unfastened his top button and propped himself up onto his elbows. "So, lets talk about your new uniform. Will a purple waistcoat please you?"