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 Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2025 7:20 pm
The idea of the garden was one that Talia was looking forward to seeing how it would look in the coming Spring. Riker and Zac were working hard at it and she had dithered for a while, not wanting to interrupt, but also…it was hot out there. And maybe that was the perfect reason to go out.
Carefully, she poured two glasses filled with ice and homemade lemonade and sat them on a tray, The tray looked horribly empty and she stared at it for a few moments, before she put a small plate between the glasses, piling on two chocolate chip cookies and two snickerdoodle cookies. That looked better, lemonade alone was just…
Not boring but they were working hard and might be hungry.
There was no coconut anything in the kitchen anymore since Riker had come to live with them, not that Talia had ever really enjoyed coconut to begin with, but now that there was a food allergy, she was careful to triple check everything, just in case.
Carefully, she picked up the tray and made her way to the sliding glass door, balancing the tray on one arm as she slid the door open and stepped out, closing it with her foot.
“Hey! You guys have been working hard, I brought some lemonade and some cookies if you want to take a break? It’s super hot out so you shouldn’t work too long without breaks…”
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 8:10 am
Takes place not long after: Uncharted Territory in July 2025
“Uh-- hey,” he said, his voice even but cautious. He set the trowel down and gave a small nod. “Thanks,” he said politely, glancing down at the tray at what was offered. Instinctively, his fingers reached to brush against his pocket, just to make sure he had his epipen with him. He didn’t think Evan would allow anyone to bring coconut into the house, but it wasn’t good for him to get complacent about it.
He glanced over at the garden for a moment, and then looked back at her. “I mean… it’s appreciated,” he added, making sure his voice was friendly, but not wanting to overdo it. He didn’t know what to expect from her, and there was a part of him that didn’t want to show too much.
“Zac went to get more mulch, but uh… he should be back soon,” Riker explained, his voice lined with a lingering hope that Zac would show up any second now. She was probably out mostly for Zac, anyway.
He tugged off the gardening glove he was wearing and rubbed his sweaty, still a bit dirty hand on his pants, before reaching to pick up a glass. He placed the edge against his lips, testing it with a small sip, and then taking a larger drink from it. It was cool and refreshing, and he let out a contented sigh when he lowered it.
“It’s good, thank you,” he said again, just loud enough for her to hear. He offered her a small, hesitant half-smile as he shifted slightly then gestured to the garden. “If you want, you can uh… sit over there while we finish this section. Or, um… if you wanted to help, I think we have more gloves.”
It wasn’t the easiest task. There was mud and dirt. It had been raining over the past weekend so they didn’t get as much done as they would have liked, but now that they were on a roll, he could definitely see how everything was coming together.
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 2:07 pm
“Oh!” Talia nodded and a slight look of panic went over her face. She hadn’t expected to not have Zac here it…it wasn’t a bad thing, she just.
Really didn’t want to screw anything up. Ever. And Riker…they hadn’t even really ever had a full conversation. But.
“Yeah, tell me what I can do and I’ll be happy to do it, I’m glad that there are extra gloves, if…you’re really sure I would love to help, thank you.” She should have brought three glasses of lemonade but…honestly the idea of staying outside and helping hadn’t even been on her imagined list of things that could happen. “The cookies are snickerdoodle and chocolate chip, I made triple sure that nothing has any chance of any cross contamination with coconut, so they’re okay for you to eat. I’m like, ninety nine percent sure that between Evan and I the kitchen is absolutely coconut free, and I hope you’re never worried when you want a snack or anything.”
Was she talking too much? Most likely but. Riker was important to nearly everyone in the house and she wanted to make a good impression…or at least…a not bad impression.
“If you have like…preferences for things I’m happy to bake things for you, I…really enjoy baking it’s. One of my favorite things to do…ah. Yeah! Anyway, how can I help?”
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 5:09 pm
Riker shifted uncomfortably at her flood of words, not quite sure what to do with the enthusiasm. She really wanted to help. Great. He hadn’t actually expected her to take him up on that offer. It was just something polite to say. But she was standing there now, looking hopeful, and he didn’t have the heart to shut her down.
“Uh. Yeah. I mean, if you want to,” he said, his voice more resigned than encouraging, but not so much that he couldn’t hide behind just being tired. He tugged his other glove off and bent down to dig through the small pile of tools until he found the extra pair. He held them out, trying not to stare too long or make it awkward. “Here. We’re just clearing out this patch so it’s ready for mulch. Probably going to do a couple layers of landscaping fabric to try and keep the weeds to a minimum.”
When she mentioned the cookies again -- the triple-checking, cross-contamination, the whole deal -- his stomach twisted. He didn’t want to be rude. He didn’t want to make it a big deal. But he hated that it had to be a big deal at all. Evan baking was different! Evan always made things feel easy. This felt like a spotlight.
“...Thanks,” he said finally, quieter this time. He glanced over to the cookies and then away again, like looking too long would admit something he didn’t want to. He shifted his weight awkwardly, not wanting her to take it the wrong way.
“It’s not--... just. If you don’t mind, I’d… uh, rather not talk about it much. The allergy thing. People don’t usually get it, and it’s kind of… yeah,” he mumbled, trailing off and frowning at the dirt like it might save him from having to finish his thought if he stared hard enough.
He crouched back down and jabbed the trowel into the ground, working at the stubborn root he’d been trying to get out before Talia joined him.
“Evan’s already been really thoughtful about it. I don’t want you thinking it’s, like… something you need to bend over backwards for. I’ll be fine.”
That was safer. Short. Serious. Enough to maybe get her to let it drop.
After a moment, he made a vague gesture at the ground in front of him. “So, uh… Just dig out anything with roots still showing. Try to get them out clean, or they’ll grow back. That’s pretty much it.” He knew it wasn’t exactly a warm invitation, but he wasn’t telling her to go away, either. And if she really wanted to get muddy, he wasn’t going to stop her.
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 6:37 pm
“Oh, yeah! Yeah okay, sorry…” Talia closed her eyes for a moment and slipped the gloves on and then knelt on the ground, beginning to go through the dirt looking for roots as he said. Maybe it was good that she hadn’t brought out a lemonade for herself. It. She wasn’t sure she could stomach anything at the moment.
Her hands connected with something in the dirt and she dug in a little, pulling out a good sized rock and scowling at it. It wasn’t alive, but she didn’t think that rocks in the dirt would make it easier for the wanted plants with roots to thrive and she put it down on the ground next to her instead.
“Um…are you excited for school to start up again?” It was a dumb question, she was sure but. She was interested. “I have literally no memories of school so I hope that you’re going to make a lot of good ones.” There. That was the root of a scraggly looking weed and she carefully began pulling it, tugging and removing it with a pleased noise, placing it next to the rock she had dug up. “You’re in Azure right? With Julian?”
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 6:47 pm
Riker dug the trowel a little harder than he needed to. The dirt crunched under the blade. He didn’t mean to come off short, but the question caught him off guard. School.
“I wouldn’t say excited,” he admitted after a moment, pressing his lips thoughtfully together, his shoulders lifting in a small shrug. “It’s… school. You go, you do the work, you get through it. That’s kind of all there is.”
He kept his eyes on the ground, working at a stubborn root with deliberate jabs and twists of the blade, trying to ease it free.
The bit about memories made him hesitate. His brow furrowed, but he didn’t look up.
“...Guess it’s different if you don’t remember,” he said slowly, carefully. “Maybe then it would feel like something to look forward to.” His tone wasn’t unking, just… cautious. Like he wasn’t sure how far he was allowed to touch on something like that. There was a part of him that wished he didn’t have his memories of before a few years ago, but that sounded arrogant and selfish in his own head.
At her next question, he gave a quiet grunt to acknowledge it. “Yeah, Azure.” He finally managed to pop the stubborn root out and dropped it in the pile before finally glancing over at her. “Yeah, Julian’s there too.” He didn’t offer more, but there was a weight behind his voice that indicated Julian being there mattered more than he could put into words.
He went back to the dirt, letting the silence stretch for a moment. “Rocks don’t really help anything grow. So I’m sure Zac will be glad you found it.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 6:48 pm
“A lot is different when you can’t remember…I absolutely don’t recommend it, not fun at all. For anyone involved.” Talia tried to add some levity to the heavy subject, she had brought it up and she shouldn’t have but…school did seem fun. In movies and books at least. Annoying, absolutely annoying in some respects, but…the ease of connections that people made in schools. The friendships, the day to day structure…
“I’m so glad that you two have one another. It’s…nice. Having a sibling? I mean. That’s what I’ve always considered Evan to be for me..a brother, it’s why I took his last name when I came back. Having…found family is…amazing.”
She glanced over and stared at his trowel for a moment. “...I suppose that would make things easier than just going in with my hands but…it’s kind of satisfying to dig like I’m some kind of messed up cave monster.”
Her smile was nervous, but genuine. “I’m glad you’re here. And for what it’s worth, I’m glad that we got to talk a little.”
Talia tugged at another weed and placed it in the pile, chewing her lip before making the joke. “Can’t say we’re putting down roots, but there are absolutely roots involved.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 7:01 pm
Riker’s shoulders stiffened at the word sibling. His half-brother’s sneering face drawn to the forefront of his mind, the venom in his voice, the way he’d made it clear that Riker was the mistake who ruined everything. That wasn’t something he wanted to unpack with Talia. Not now… maybe not ever.
He dug the trowel harder into the soil, the metal crunching through a root that didn’t need that amount of force. “Yeah… it’s nice,” he said, but the words were a little too clipped to sound completely genuine. After a moment, his tone softened. “Julian’s… different. He’s not like other people,” he said as he tried to figure out the right words. His throat felt tight, and he pressed his lips together, not trusting himself to say more than that. There wasn’t a word for what they were to each other, and trying to explain it would only cheapen it.
He gave a small huff at her joke, shaking his head without lifting it. “That’s a terrible joke,” he sighed, but there was the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Another weed gave way under his trowel and he tossed it onto the pile before brushing his gloved hands together. He glanced over at Talia, curious, but not unkind. Then tossed the trowel over near where she was working. Close enough for her to each, but not to hit her.
“I’m glad you’re here too. Just… don’t talk about the allergy to anyone else, okay? People don’t need to know.” His tone was serious again, and he knew the shift was sudden, but there was a hint of embarrassment beneath it. He quickly glanced back at the dirt, as if that was all that needed to be said to settle the matter.
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 7:02 pm
“Julian is absolutely wonderful. I agree with you. Completely…and yes…it was a terrible joke, but if I’m going to be your aunt just…aunt adjacent, you’ll have to get used to bad jokes. I don’t do them often but…”
She gave finger guns and looked at him, giving a grin that…clearly looked as though she were in pain. “Anyway. We’ll pretend that just never happened if you wouldn't mind. I’m not always so absolutely awkward, only mostly so. But. Thanks for the tiny shovel.”
Her grin grew a little more easy and she began to dig into the dirt, chopping at the twisted root of a weed that she had been struggling to dig out with her hands alone.
“I’m fine with that, I can keep it to myself…but…can I ask why? It’s not like…it’s a bad thing? It’s you advocating for yourself, and food allergies are a pretty common thing all told…it’s not anything to be embarrassed about, and it’s nothing anyone that I know will judge you for. It wasn’t like you woke up one day and said well! Guess I’m going to give myself a life threatening allergy! Sounds like a great way to spend a Tuesday!”
Finally, the roots gave way and Talia gave an excited noise as she pulled the shriveled thing out. “Gotcha!”
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 7:02 pm
“It’s not just embarrassing,” he frowned, the words rougher than he meant. “If people know, they can use it. And they will. Don’t think just because you wouldn’t, nobody else would. Or that anyone else hadn’t already tried.” His voice was low but intentional, leaving little room for misunderstanding.
He pushed around some of the dirt with his hands, filling in holes and evening out the ground despite probably not needing to do so. He tried not thinking about his brother or the sneer on his face as he was being rushed to the hospital. But-- no… He wasn’t going to think about it. That was in the past.
“All it takes is one person who thinks it’s funny. Or one person who wants to make a point. Or uses it as a means to an end…”
Riker let out a breath and shrugged, small and tense. “So… keep it to yourself. Please.”
He continued working without really looking at her.
“And if you’re gonna do the aunt thing,” he mumbled after a moment. “Maybe don’t do the finger guns. That was worse than the joke.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 7:08 pm
“Oh.” The word was short, but the surprise, worry and concern behind it wasn’t difficult to miss. Honestly, with most of her hardships coming from those…who weren’t…normal...the idea of normal people being cruel was…well. It wasn’t something she thought of often.
There were Julian’s parents, sure. There were cruel people in the world, she did know that, it was more of an abstract idea than a solid understanding but…
“I’ll keep it quiet, don’t worry. And I’ll keep making sure that everything here is safe, even if I don’t make a fuss about it. Know that I’m still doing it…”
She liked fusses. Liked to make sure that people knew that she was on their side. Had their backs…but.
Talia supposed that she understood this concern, and she would do her best to just make it a part of daily life rather than a spectacle.
To Riker’s last statement, she gave a soft laugh. “Yeah? Okay I’m kind of lame. Can’t help that, but no more finger guns, noted and remembered.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 7:09 pm
Riker huffed softly through his nose, not quite a laugh but close enough.
“Yeah… figures. Evan doesn’t seem like the type to let anything into the kitchen without checking it at least half a dozen times.” His tone was dry, but not unkind… it was almost like the idea reassured him, even if he wouldn’t admit it out loud.
He smoothed the dirt over one last time, brushing his gloved hands clean against each other. The pile of weeds was decent enough. It wasn’t much, but it was something done, and for now that was all that mattered.
“Anyway, thanks for helping,” he said after a moment, still focused on the ground instead of her. “Guess it goes faster with more hands.”
There was a deliberate pause before he added, quieter, “And… for not making a big deal of it.”
That was as close as he could get to showing trust. After that, he settled back into work, making it clear any more discussion about his allergies was finished. But… the edge of tension in his shoulders had eased, just a little.
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