[ FLOWER ARRANGEMENT ] - No matter how many flowers you gather, your bouquet won’t look its best unless you have the skill to make it so. A couple of students have taken upon itself to imbue their peers with the knowledge of flower language and the art of flower arrangement, and as a result the garden has become something of a workshop. — @aubins
Floriography is very serious business, as Lana has quickly learned. She's always loved plants and flowers especially, recalling afternoons spent toiling under the warmth of the sun as she busied herself in the nunnery's garden. Tending to plants isn't work suited for defeatists—it's a long and arduous process getting the most fickle buds to blossoms, labor that callouses your hands and leaves dirt stains on your clothes. But the reward of watching the plants that you looked after with the love and care you would offer a child finally bloom to life makes it all worth it.
She'd say that, for all her many short-comings, she's fairly skilled at the practice. She's well-acquainted with the different sorts of plants that grow in this climate, which ones are safe to touch or eat and which ones are poisonous, but she's never heard of a language of flowers before.
Of course, she knows the meanings attached to some of them—red roses are a symbol of romance, while white lilies are to be brought to the mourning. (Of course, lilies have many purposes, so she won't think of it as an ill omen that they were the bouquet she was given.) But apparently, that's only scratching the surface. Even if she's a new attendee to the Officers Academy, she's managed to befriend a handful of girls from her house who have taken to showing her the ropes. How best to arrange the flowers according to color and size, as well as how to organize a bouquet to divulge your intentions without ever even opening your mouth.
In fact, it seems she's got quite an affinity for it! Who would have thought? So when other students begin to seek her out for her reputation of a burgeoning talent in flowers, Lana is naturally eager to help where she can. One of the first is a person she doesn't believe she's seen before, even in passing... They're beautiful, with hair the color of lavender and the easy smile of someone who acts more sure of themself than they actually are.
Lana's careful ministrations as she arranges the flowers according to the boy's tastes are interrupted when she catches their eyes wandering over to the corner of the room, where a similarly lovely purple-haired person that Lana has never seen before stands meekly. The way the boy's gaze keeps flitting over to her, and really, the very way they look at her—a sort of warmth and fondness captured behind their eyes that is impossible to fake... It's plain to see what's going on.
Even if she has no idea who the pair are, she finds herself endeared all the same. Lana's always been a bit of a hopeless romantic, after all—she'll definitely be rooting for the two of them! Putting extra care to make sure the bouquet is arranged perfectly, she hands it back to the boy with a smile tinged with youthful mirth.
" Here. I think it would help to collect more tulips, perhaps? If you, um... want to get a certain meaning across. And you already have plenty, but I can give you one of my lilies, if you'd like. " She looks down for a moment, running her finger over the hem of her dress before she lifts her head back up to meet their eyes. " I—My name is Lana, by the way. I hope we'll see each other more often. And, um... introduce me to your friend sometime! "
