Scarves + Snowdryas
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Scarves + Snowdryas
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“Hm hm hm!” Balthasar hummed to himself as he danced around the kindergarten, tail swishing behind him as he held a bag of GaiaGro in his hands. “Another day of taking care of the young ones.” He chirped happily with a smile. His eyes closed in bliss as he moved about the kindergarten that was warm and cozy from the lightfire of the hearth. “Hm.” He took some time to breath in the warm air that smelled crisply of lightly roasted marshmallows and plant matter. He settled against a nicely carved, wooden bench, bag of fertilizer next to him with its companion being a golden scooper adorned with a simple white, core-like crystal for decoration purposes.
He looked around the kindergarten’s pottery cribs that decorated well covered shelves and tables. Each little pot was adorned with well-sewn silks and cotton to give each little pot a little personality. His tail curled gently beside him as he watched the hearth absentmindedly. It was cold outside, winter had set into full swing. Winter winds whipped around passing sprouts, saplings and blooms alike as did sparkling little snowflakes graced others with their magical presence another winter. Balthasar took a small breath, eyelids lowering gently as he stared at the warm pale yellow of the hearth before getting up to stretch. There was no time for thinking when there were sprouts to care for and not a sprout will go without a little tender love and care under his watch.
As he walked, putting the right amount of fertilizer in pots that had not been fertilized recently, a little sprout peeked from the play area. “Mr. Balth.” This sprout looked particularly newly hatched. Their little leaf sprout on top of their head looked slightly bent to the right, hinting at the little sprout’s weakness. He sat down the fertilizer and its companion before kneeling gently. “Yes, little one?” He asked gently, keen eyes looking at the slight bent of the sprout with narrow eyes yet looked the sprout in the eyes, hoping to not convey his concern for the sprout’s slightly bent sprout. “I wanna make a scarf!” Said the sprout happily, the leaf of the sprout seedling bouncing, reacting to its owner’s happiness. Balthasar stared quietly at the bouncing little sprout. He wondered what spurred on this sudden bout of wanting to create but decided to chalk it up to it being winter and the sprouts being indoors more than average.
He gave it some consideration, thinking it could calm the clearly energy-ridden sprout before him…and perhaps others that were becoming bored with where they were. Maybe after they made scarves, they could go outside and play. Maybe make a snowdrya…have a snowball fight? He closed his eyes at the sweet little ideas he could come up with, a slow grin spreading on his features, which caught the sprout’s curious eye. “Oooooo! Oo! Oo! Mr. Balth, are we gonna make it!? Really Really?” They hopped up and down more in excitement. The sprout’s excitement warmed Balthasar’s heart, “Yes. We’ll make this scarf you’re talking about.”
As the duo walked into the arts and crafts room of the kindergarten, he found four other sprouts playing with colourful yarn made of plant matter. The four looked up with sheepish expressions when they found Balthasar looming over them, arms crossed and looking every bit an annoyed caregivert. “We were uhm…just-” Started the first little sprout before being gently yet firmly cut off by Balthasar, “Just playing with things you most certainly shouldn’t be?” He quirked an eyebrow, keeping the annoyed parental figure stance yet clearly showing he was at most, mildly amused. The three other sprouts fidgeted while the one that had accompanied Balthasar stood next to him silently before squealing, “Scarf time!!”
“Scarf?” “Scarf time??” Echoed the first two sprouts as they helped clean up the mess they made with Balthasar, who chuckled softly to himself. “Quite.” Was all he answered with, making the third little sprout tilt their head curiously yet ask not a question, deciding to trust his judgement for now. After everything was cleaned up and put away properly, Balthasar sat the five sprouts down at a low, elegantly carved table on comfortable pillows of pale green dotted with white flecks. The first sprout happily clapped, their leaf sprout bouncing with its owner’s happiness. The second and third sprout bounced side to side on the pillows, eager to see what materials they will be using for scarf making. As for the fourth and fifth sprout, they looked apprehensive but mildly interested, leaf sprouts waving around in the cozy, warm air of the arts and crafts room.
Balthasar walked to the cabinet and began getting a few skeins of yarn in various colours to both compliment the five sprouts at the table and the winter outside. “Alright kiddos. Pick a colour and follow my instructions!” He walked to the table and took his seat in front of them, setting out the skeins of yarn that glittered blue, green, pink, yellow, maroon and even the rarity of white. Balthasar watched as the sprouts bickered and playfully fought for their desired colour. “White is mine!” Said the fourth sprout, finally getting into the spirit of creating when they saw. “Noooo! Mine!” The first fought for the white one only for Balthasar to gently remove their hand, allowing the fourth little sprout to triumphantly hold the skein in their arms. “Now now, little bud. Sharing is caring, remember?” Reminded Balthasar towards the first sprout who simply pouted at him and crossed their arms, yet nodded.
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For upwards of an hour, Balthasar and the five little sprouts made scarves. Though they were nowhere near close to being finished and will most likely take more than a day to complete, it was the thought that counted. “Mr. Balthhhh. I’m bored. I wanna go play in the snow now.” Whined the third sprout, which caused their friends to look at them from their own scarves they had been knitting under Balthasar’s watchful eye and help. Balthasar lowered his solar system themed, half finished scarf and looked at the whining sprout intently before saying, “Well. We have been knitting for an hour now and I have yet to make lunch…” He closed his eyes, tail swirling upward slightly in thought before opening his eyes once more, “I suppose I can allow it. It’s early enough. Go now, get your coats and scarves.” He stood from his pillow and watched the sprouts run out of the arts and crafts room before calling out, “Remember to be gentle with your leaf sprouts!”
“We will!” Called the sprouts eagerly down the hall. Balthasar’s left ear twitched slightly before he gave a tired smile, “Those kids…” He looked back down at his half finished scarf and the first timer renditions of a scarf the sprouts were making. He quietly picked up the half finished scarves and placed them on the project rack for a hopefully not so impromptu arts and crafts session next time before he cleaned up the room and closed the door. When he walked out into the warm, nicely lit hallways and headed towards the kindergarten’s front area, he found the five sprouts doing a little dance closest to the door, clad in large jackets that made them appear comically large. He allowed himself a soft laugh and walked over to them, “Ready to head out into the snow?” The sprouts looked over at him with excited eyes, sprouts that poked from their hoods bobbed in eagerness. Balthasar opened the doors of the kindergarten, allowing them out into the front snowy lawn to play, bristling as the winter winds bit at his face like savage little locusts.
He suppressed an irritated growl, allowing his face to turn into a scowl as he closed the door yet left it unlocked. “Ugh…oh how I hate the cold.” He grumbled to himself, turning to make sure no pot planter had been bristled or had sprouted. Finding none had, he allowed himself a relieved sigh yet knew he couldn’t just remain in the kindergarten’s building while the sprouts were outside; that was extremely dangerous. So, he drew in a sharp breath and headed off to slip on his own jacket.
Once dressed in the appropriate winter wonderland attire, he marched out into the cold, bristling as the howling winds hit his face. He pulled his jacket more around him, the gold of his collar seeming to look a tad bit silver under the winter’s curious eye. He took a breath, feet cladden in furry boots to keep them wall crunching on the snow. The five sprouts that were making a snowdrya turned with eagerness when they noticed the stiff walking bloom making his way to them. “Hi Mr. Balth! Lookie! We are making a snowdrya!” Said the third sprout as they pushed a ball with the help of the first sprout to make a larger ball. Balthasar looked at the snowdrya in progress and gave a light yet stiff smile, “Yeah, I can see that, little bud.” Though the sprouts at play warmed him considerably, the cold kept biting at him viciously, making him pull up his muffler briefly to try and combat it to some minor success.
He decided to watch the sprouts play with a keen eye, making sure none got hurt. Even if he did wish to join them in their carefree ways of making a snowdrya, he was perfectly content with just watching with a proud little gleam in his eye.
