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Phil sat back on his haunches and reached for one of the many, many flower seedlings he had to plant that day. The air, cool and clean, kissed the sweat from his neck and shoulders even while the golden morning light warmed his skin. Spring had come early this year and, while not entirely unwelcome, it meant he had a lot of work to do in their yard before it was ready to truly bloom.
Phil smiled to himself and scooped a small divet of soil from the flower bed, brushing aside the weeds so he could nestle a group of pansies in. The boys, of course, would be no help. Black-thumb Wilbur and City boy Tommy had officially been banned from his garden after they both either ripped the roots, drowned the flowers, or just sat too long near the seedlings with their anti-growth auras making them wilt and die spontaneously. Tubbo and Ranboo might help, but they also might be off somewhere being teenagers, like they should.
The pansies swayed in the light breeze, perky and perfect next to the chrysanthemums and marigolds. Swathes of pinks, oranges, dusty lilacs, and white spots greeted him like paint on a pallet. He’d plant some Queen Annes’ Lace and leafy ferns in later, but for now, he enjoyed the vibrancy around his porch. Almost without thought, he reached out and plucked a weed attempting to strangle a purple and yellow bud.
“Phil?”
Phil startled back and squinted up, his bucket hat shading only enough of the sun to keep from blinding him. A dark blob towered over him, thin as a stick.
“Yeah, Ranboo? What’s up?”
“Oh, I was…” he paused, head tilting up like he was trying to remember something, only to give up and look back down. He blinked at the seedlings scattered around and cooed curiously. “…are you planting flowers?”
“And weeding, yeah.”
“Oh. Do you…do you want help?”
Well, that was certainly unexpected, but certainly not unappreciated. He beamed up at Ranboo and patted the ground next to him.
“Sure, mate, you don’t have to ask. I’d love the help.”
Ranboo’s ears flicked and his shoulders perked up. Prime, the kid was so expressive. Adorable really. What he wouldn’t give to have seen him as a child. A little enderhybrid baby.
“Really?”
Phil hummed back an affirmative. Ranboo settled on his knees kind of close to Phil, glancing between his hands and the plants in front of him carefully. Phil pulled a daisy. Ranboo pulled a daisy, leaving behind its roots. Phil pulled a strange stringy plant with reed-like leaves, Ranboo pulled the same thing. Phil grabbed a stalk of grass where it shouldn’t be, Ranboo grabbed the grass from where it should be.
“Woah, wait. That bit should stay there. See, It makes a barrier of sorts.”
Ranboo let go instantly, ears lowering. Phil pointed towards a jumble of weeds choking a patch of lilac by the stairs.
“Why don’t you go free the lilacs, hmm? Just be sure to leave the lilac roots alone and get up all the weeds.”
Ranboo eyed it dubiously, gnawing on his bottom lip.
“You sure? I might…” hurt it. Mess up. Get it wrong. Forget what I’m supposed to do and ruin it. It didn’t matter how the sentence ended, the sentiment stayed the same. Phil smiled gently and sat back on his haunches again.
“You’ll do fine, just like you always do. If you have any questions, you can always ask, yeah?”
Ranboo nodded and blushed slightly, tail flicking against the ground in a parody of a wag. Phil’s smile turned fond and he bumped their shoulders together. Ranboo chittered happily, ending in a small warbling coo before shuffling over to the lilacs and beginning to work. Phil turned back to his own work, gouging out another hole in the soft dirt for another set of flowers. In all honestly, the kid's work was good. Not the absolute best, he still missed some roots and occasionally tugged on the lilac itself. But it wasn’t a bad job. Much better than anything Tommy would do, at least. Speaking of which…
“Hey, where are the boys anyway. It’s been quiet for a while.” Too quiet. Quiet meant they were doing something. Ranboo scrunched up his face as he thought, tail flicking, a weed dangling from his fingers.
“I think…I think they said something about a water balloon fight later. Cause Tubbo and Tommy sprayed Wilbur with the hose, then he dunked them with a bucket of water. They declared war. Wilbur suggested a full out battle, 2 against 2—“
“Hold on, 2 against 2? Are you on Wilbur's team?” Ranboo getting involved in a water balloon fight was not the smartest thing. How had he managed to get that idea past Tubbo and Tommy anyway? The pair were incredibly attentive to little things like that, especially if it would hurt one of them.
Ranboo shook his head, brows still scrunched.
“No, Wilbur roped Techno into being on his side. Tommy didn’t like that very much since Tech’s huge but Wilbur said it was only fair. I was supposed to—oh no!” Ranboo stood, weed falling to the ground in his panic, already glancing around for…something.
“Mate?”
“I was supposed to be filling the water balloons.”
Oh. Oh, that was funny, and a good role for Ranboo to have, still a part of things but a safe distance away from any splashing water as long as he wore his coat and gloves. Ranboo looked over at him, almost panicked.
“Phil I gotta—“
Phil cut him off with a laugh and a wave of the hand.
“Go on mate, I’ll finish up here, don’t worry,”
Ranboo chittered out his thanks and dashed into the house, door banging shut behind him.
Phil fondly shook his head as he turned back to his flowers, gently situating another group of pansies. They blinked back at him, happy and bright and alive. Prime, he loved his kids.