a dedicated self-help book

francisco was grateful for how lightly silas decided to take the odd scene, breathy laughter in response as his head dipped down momentarily, accepting the teasing graciously. “you know, they actually aren’t. the seedling containers leak all the time, for proper drainage, but still.” he made his way over to him, extending a hand for a greeting. “good to see you, silas. i feel closer to you now that you’ve seen this.” he kidded, sitting back against a table. “you need something? how’s everything going? been anywhere new?” 

francisco smiled, a smile that grew from one that just tugged at the corners to a semi-grin the longer he looked at amir. however, it wasn’t because he was looking at him, but more because he caught onto the thinking that went into his words, so he wanted to encourage him – to not think like that. he reached out to take his hand, swinging a bit as he spoke. “well, you have to keep them engaged and excited about numbers and grammar, don’t you?” it didn’t come as a surprise when he realized that he hadn’t cut his day short to visit his boyfriend in a long time. maybe he needed to fix that or at least, make up for it. “but no, it’s over. i’m off. we can go somewhere – sadly, nowhere new, but somewhere. i smell like dirt, though. and i feel like dating on earth would’ve been a lot easier, huh?” 

the organization of the storage room was almost unbelievably simple. brilliantly simple as francisco liked to describe it. "always just ‘okay.’ a life filled with a series of okay’s.” he remarked, a slight smile pulling one corner of his mouth up. he was no stranger to felix’s defenses. naturally went over to the refrigerator labeled ‘a’ to look for any prepared aloe out of a multitude of others, twenty-five to be exact. “oh, that’s shocking. how so? i mean, you have your job and everything, so... what aspect of your future?” he asked as he searched.

“ah, no worries. i can get you whatever you need,” he offered, soft smile replacing the surprise on his face. “i misspoke, by the way. transpiration’s more like sweating.” he ended with lips still parted because that was a totally unnecessary addition, but he felt the need to correct himself. tucking his hands into his back pockets and shrugging his shoulders, he paused – made it seem like a weighty answer was coming, but it was really a thoughtless response. “hmm, it’s ambiguous – i’m usually alone around here, but lonely? i don’t know. we’re all kind of lonely, the last of humanity and all. talking does help them grow, though. theoretically it should, anyway.”

a short laugh left his lips as the slight tension seeped away from his shoulders, “yeah, my best – i’m the greatest at lugging dirt and water around.” he shook his head, making his way closer to devin. “what’s going on up in mecha? by all means, stay as long as you want.” francisco grabbed a potted seedling along the way, cradling it in his hand. “well, sort of. increased concentration of co2 promotes the uptake, but we’re not really changing the concentration by much, y’know? but hey, just breathe on everything while you’re here.” 

francisco squinted in response to her teasing, exaggerated frown masking any tinge of delight. it was nice having hermione around as something of a mentee; it made him feel a little more important aboard the ark, like the knowledge he possessed was very much worth passing along. he gestured at everything around them with a wave of his hand, “you know what? it’s science, it’s scientifically proven that CO2 uptake increases with CO2 concentration, so take that as your lesson.” breaking his frown with a soft sigh and slight smile, “they never respond – well, in rare cases – but nonetheless, i find that talking to them can be very therapeutic.”

a breathy laugh left francisco’s lips as he shook his head, “piss... nah, i was just about to start talking shit about you – you can’t really stay for that.” his expression faltered, softened into a smile that was hardly turned up at the corners. it was easier to talk about raven on some days and harder on others. maybe today was a hard one, especially since it’s hard to fathom what could’ve turned up so long after her passing. he swallowed, one hand reaching out for a small metal tool beside them, wanting to hold onto something as he composed himself. “what’d you find? is it a necklace? earth stone? where’d you find it?” he asked, discovering that he was paradoxically unable to hold back from asking questions while having trouble finding his words. "i - uh.” it was a precarious situation – of course, his first instinct was to say that he wanted it as well, but yara didn’t even have to tell him about this and she deserved to keep the memento, too. “... can i see it?”

francisco shook his head, a little laugh escaping by the end.“oh, yeah, no, you’re not interrupt – let’s go get that aloe!” it was a little embarrassing, having one of the more brilliant people on the ark walk in on him in the midst of... whatever that was, but this person happened to hold the other end of one of his longest standing friendships. "there wasn’t a request, so we’re going to have to go harvest some – you have time for that?” he asked, starting to walk and beckoning him to follow. “but we can check storage first,” he said, pushing open the door to another room. “how are you holding up, dr. felix?”

it was a rather rough greeting, stemming mostly from being caught off guard than anything else, but he quickly reversed gears and smiled broadly at his boyfriend and his own conversation with the plants. instances like these were the ones that made francisco feel so guilty about the times he didn’t feel so loving towards amir. “no longer in need? don’t encourage them to relocate me, but fine – i’ll leave them alone. something else’s got my attention now, anyway,” he said, soft grin still stretching his lips as he extended his hand to pull him up, beckoning to him for an embrace. “so, what brings this great surprise visit?” 

bent at the knee, francisco hovered above a tray of seedlings with a watering can in hand. “so, your root system is going to suck up all this water, the roots are like your mouth, and you’re going to get what you need, do some photosynthesizing, and then it’s going to transpire out of you, like you’re urinating.” the conversation wasn’t loud, but it was loud enough for anyone less than five feet away to understand that it was a conversation with the plants. he stood when he was done watering them, brushing his palms on his jeans. “oh, fuck,” a murmur under his breath before he cleared his throat, “hey – didn’t expect you to drop by today... didn’t expect anyone.”