#betchstein

Mrs. Hare ground her incisors together. “Did he now? Who does that weed think he is?! I swear if I ever see him again, I'll give him a piece of my mind, alright!”

“Mom, it's okay.”

“Heather! Go get the weed killer from the garden!”

“You mean the gardening hoe!”

“Don't sass me, girl, and just give it to me.”

“Mom! Really! It's okay. Okay? I'm okay. Please don't try to attack him.” His mom could be a very passionate rabbit when the situation called for it and he was fairly certain she would passionately lose to Cagney very quickly if he allowed the situation to continue.

She huffed and placed the hoe in the kitchen. “He's lucky your father is not home. Your father knows people, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Harvey sighed. He thought about the situation. “Do you think we could have carrot cake tonight? I think carrot cake would really make me feel a lot better.” He asked hopefully. This day could still be turned around.

Mrs. Hare softened. “Oh course, my little dust bunny. Now go get washed up, okay?”

Harvey smiled, feeling better. “Thanks, mom.”

---

The bats reached their home. Isabella landed carefully and helped Mina get off her back.

"Now you get your little trouble making tushie to the shower, and you better have your nails clipped when you get out of there!".

"Yes mama...". She noticed she was still angry so she limped her way to the bathroom.

Isabella sat in the kitchen table, still agitated. When she heard the door of the bathroom close she released her pain in the shape of silent tears. She hated Italy, she hated italians, she hated everything that reminded her of that country.

After a few minutes, Isabella calmed herself down and decided to check on her girl.

After the day she had, Mina thought she deserved a bath instead of a shower. While the bathtub was filling up she looked at the clipper, then her nails, then the clipper again. She decided too keep her claws since they have proven to be very useful when in trouble and hid the clipper behind the toilet seat with a smirk.

The little b-cat got inside the bathtub and layed as she relaxed. She started thinking of her notebook. All that research and discoveries lost forever! Her eyes started to fill with tears.

She looked at her big bruise in her leg. The pain was starting to go away but the purple mark was still very noticeable. For once, she was glad her mum couldn't see, or she would have definitely beat up an apology out of the flower.

Isabella walked in after knocking at the door. "How are we doing here?" She said cheerfully.

"Good" Mina replied wiping her eyes and hiding her bruised leg as a reflex. She was glad to hear the lighter tone in her mother's voice.

Isabella sat at the border of the bathtub. "So you were defending your new friend from a bully?" The bat said keeping her friendly tone.

"Yeah" Mina nodded "Spike and his stupid friend Todd! Yesterday he wanted to steal Harvey's money, and today he wanted my adventure journal! And now its lost forever!" She couldn't hold her tears anymore and cried.

Isabella's heart melted again. She tenderly rubbed her daughter's back to try to comfort her. "Oh! Don't cry 'dulceata'. I'll go tomorrow and take it back from Mr Flower" She smiled at her.

"You think he'll give it back?" The little girl wiped her tears and her eyes filled with hope.

"If not I'll have to show him what a BECH I can be!" Isabella lifted a closed fist in the air. Mina chuckled, she understood the play on words, they were the Bechstains and kids at other schools already  pointed out the similarity of pronunciation with the B-word insult. "Nobody steals from my 'înger' and lives to tell it.”

Mina admired her mother's determination, but after seeing what the flower could do she wasn't sure she could take him down. Still, she felt better knowing she might have her journal back. She hugged her mum spilling water everywhere.

"Oh! Mina!... " the mother complained but returned the hug with a smile. Suddenly, the woman remembered the smell that made her nose itch. She had smelled it before in some clubs she used to sing for with her band. "Dandelion!"

Mina cocked her head in surprise "What?".

"What?... nothing.... let me see those claws," The bat said nervously.

---

"Ok, fuck this!" Hilda muttered angry frustrated that no matter how many times she broomed there was still shards of glass coming out. She was tired and in pain. She wondered if Cagney might have busted a rib or something. She still couldn't believe what he did. Where did all that hate came from?

She looked at the now open ceiling and pulled the switch to see if the white sheet was still working.

It was a bad idea.

The second the sheet moved a new rain of sharp shards fell into room covering it again. Hilda sighed and decided to go have a raspberry tea.

She took a few sips of her tea and breathed deeply. Her entire chest was sore. She had pretty big bruises circling her upper body.

'You know, I changed my mind' Taurus spoke 'lets go to this Friday and KILL HIM'.

Hilda hold her head between her hands with a exasperated sigh. She wondered if she overreacted by telling him to leave his own surprise birthday, but... he almost killed her! THAT was overreacting. She just couldn't believe how things escalated so quickly.

This remind it her she had to fill the damn hole he made outside her home, there wasn't much she could do for the tree though.

And what about the dome? She will have to talk with Grimm and Djimmi again to make it as perfect as she wanted it. But who would pay for it? She spent most of her savings keeping this place from crumbling.

'Cagney broke it... shouldn't he be the one to pay for it?'  Sagittarius carefully said in Hilda's mind.

The woman rolled her eyes at the idea. She could almost hear the giant weed laughing at her face. Plus, he probably didn't even had that kind of money. How much can you make selling flowers?

The soreness was driving her mad. She lifted her shirt to check on her bruises again. Her pale skin was covered with all kinds of purple and blue shades, with an occasional red line. Some of the smaller thorns got stuck deep on her skin. She tried to take them off only to hurt herself even more. After a few tries she gave up and looked at the time. She should get moving if she wanted to put up the stars in time... but she really didn't feel like it tonight.

---

Amber was very perceptive. Or at least, she liked to believe she was. Which was she was somewhat irritated to learn that she had just missed a huge brawl earlier that day. Brawls led to distractions. Distractions led to open pockets. And opened pockets led to a happy Amber.

She finished applying her gloves and stretched. She wondered who had been stupid enough to actually trespass in the carnation's field. Even she wasn't stupid enough to do that. Trying to get the sneak on something that just had to stick its hand in the ground and it could kill you? Yeah, no thanks.

It was bad enough she had encountered him at the observatory. What the heck had he been doing there anyway? If she had to have guessed, it might have been a date but there was no way that could have been the case.

She sighed at the missed opportunity and eyed her next target, the Clip Joint Calamity. There was going to be a brawl tonight. And liquor. Between the both of those, she could look forward to a very satisfying night indeed.

--

Harvey felt much better after a shower and a change of clothes. Dinner helped him perk up a bit. And the smell of dessert in the oven did make him feel pretty swell. But he was very worried for Mina. Her mom looked really really mad. He only hoped that he would get to see her tomorrow. And apologize for not being a really brave bunny.

He sat at the dinner table and squared his little furry fists together. Starting today, he was going to be a braver bunny. A bunny who knew how to kick with the best of them. So bullies like Spike and Todd wouldn't pick on kids like Harvey and Mina. He'd be the bravest and most courageous bunny the isle had ever seen.

There was a knock at the door and his mom called out, "Just a minute!"

Harvey stood up, chin up. Why not start being brave now. "Don't worry, mom. I got it," he declared, waltzing over to the front door.

"Thank you, Harvey. Can't imagine who it would be. The sun's just setting at this point. A little late for visitors," Mrs. Hare mused as Harvey reached the door.

Harvey pulled open the door with a, "Good evening can I-?" And stopped dead in his tracks. Staring down at him with a sharp scowl was Cagney Carnation.

"Hey, listen-."

Harvey managed a choked yelp and slammed the door shut. Mrs. Hare looked over irritated. "Harvey Hare, don't you go slamming doors around here! The frames can't take that much force these days!"

The little rabbit swallowed as there was a harder knock on the door. Mrs. Hare washed her paws. "I'll be right there."

"No," Harvey realized, "I got it, sorry! Just, uh, stay there mom. Is the cake burning?"

"I should hope not!" She gasped, turning her attention back to the stove.

Harvey cracked open the door and looked up worriedly at the carnation. "Y-you better leave or I'm gonna-gonna," he struggled.

Cagney realized the boy was probably going to need some encouragement.  "Get out here before I drag you out," he grumbled.

Harvey's eyes widened, not wanting a repeat of this afternoon. He quickly walked outside, leaving the door ajar in case he need a quick escape. Cagney loomed over him, something tucked under his arms.

Harvey pressed his paws. "I'm really, really, really sorry we went into your field."

"Okay, good to hear. Now-"

"Please don't feed me to the piranha plants."

"Oh for God's sake, I'm not gonna feed you to the piranha plants," he rolled his eyes.

"You promise?" Harvey asked.

"Just, shut up a second. And don't cry. I'm here to apologize." The words were like lead coming off his tongue but he managed to spit it out.

Harvey rubbed his ears, confused. "Huh, what did you say?" There was no way he could have heard that correctly.

"Harvey, who's at the door?" Mrs. Hare pushed open the door and her smile froze. She glared up at Cagney. "YOU! You stay right there!" She demanded, dashing back inside.

Cagney blinked and glanced at Harvey. "Uh, what?"

Harvey swallowed, realizing that he was not about to get fed to carnivorous plants. "She's getting weed killer."

The carnation's eyes widened. "Woah, woah, wait, wait a minute there!"

Mrs. Hare busted open the door, brandishing her hoe. "I've got my weed killer, you dirty dandelion!" She snapped.

The flower stared at her. "That's a hoe."

"Don't you sass me! Now why are you here bothering my son?" She demanded.

"I'm trying to apologize!" Cagney spat out.

She stopped brandishing the garden utensil. "Eh, what?"

"I'm apologizing, okay?"

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah."

Mrs. Hare had a funny expression on her face, as if she didn't quite understand. "I uh, oh. Huh. Okay then. Thank you."

Harvey noted the carnation looking irritated still. "Mom, the timer went off for the cake."

"It did? Huh. Okay, just, hold this just to be safe," she instructed, handing the hoe to Harvey. She shot Cagney a quizzical look. "Well, color me surprised. If you start acting nice like this, I might know a daisy or two looking for a date to the dance coming up."

He stuck out his tongue. "Hell, no."

She laughed and walked back inside, leaving a calmer Harvey. The rabbit still wasn't quite sure. "You're apologizing to me?"

"Yeah. Sorry for nearly killing your friend and banging you up a bit. I thought you were someone else."

Harvey scratched his head with the hoe. "Oh, Uh, well, thanks. I appreciate that. I'll stay out of your field." He brightened up and pointed at the carnation. "But uh, you should say sorry to Mina!" He pointed out, a burst of courage in his chest. The carnation fixed him with a disbelieving look and Harvey faltered. "Please? She was really upset."

The flower sighed. "Yeah, I was going to. Do you know where she lives?" Harvey hesitated and Cagney threw his hands out. "I'm not going to do anything bad. I'm just going to apologize, got it?"

The rabbit nodded slowly. "Okay, she lives by Chip. Near the observatory."

Cagney hissed quietly to himself. That was a bit too close to Hilda than he would have liked. But he had already come this far. And chances were, she was already out and about. "Alright, thanks kid, appreciate that."

Harvey nodded and was about to go back inside when he stopped. "You better be nice to her or I'm gonna hit you with this hoe," he blurted out. Cagney chuckled.

"Well, well, looks like the bunny has a backbone.  I'll keep that in mind. Don't let your mom blab to too many residents, please."

----

It was dark out and Cagney had some difficulty finding his way above ground but he soon came across the home of the bats. It wasn't much to look at, but to be fair, he slept on dirt under a tree three quarters of the year, so a house was a house.

He saw the observatory and his stomach clenched. The dome was broken. There needed to be a new one but the cost alone was for this piece of astronomy equipment was, well, astronomical. Even if he was on speaking terms with Hilda, he barely had anything to his name. Still, that's not why he was here. He was here to see the bats.

He knocked on the door and flexed his feet. It still felt weird to be walking around uprooted. He never quite got used to the feeling. It was a bit unsettling sometimes. He waited for someone to answer the door.

"I'll get it mama" Mina stood up from the table and opened the door. Her eyes widened and immediately closed it back.

" Mina! What are you doing?"

"Run! He's come to finish me off!" Mina hold the door.

Cagney swore under his breath something along the lines of "for fucks sake" before knocking it again.

"Oh c'mon Mina..." Isabella opened the door this time, ignoring her child begging her not to, and crossed her arms. She stood there serious, pointing her ears at Cagney and discretely delighting herself with the scent of carnation.

--

Hilda stared at her empty cup for a while now. She was feeling bad for not putting on any stars. After a few minutes she stood up, packed some stars muttering colorful insults for a plant and went out to cast a cloud.

She started to gain some altitude when she notice a familiar figure on the neighbors house. She immediately casted more clouds to hide herself.

"What the hell he's doing there?" She whispered to herself, and discreetly moved her clouds closer across the sky.

Cagney found himself facing Mina's mother and had to resist the urge to let his thorns out. The woman was blind for fuck's sake, it's not like she could see how uncomfortable he was being there.

He swallowed and began carefully. "So, hi, listen, I'm here to...apologize," he managed. The word still felt like lead in his mouth. It was an awful word. He glanced at Mina who definitely was eyeing with some pretty righteous suspicion.

Isabella smiled enjoying how uncomfortable this was for him.

"Mina" she called her daughter who came out cautiously "Do you accept his apology?".

Mina was uncomfortable with the situation as well. "Eh... y-yeah? Thank you Mr Carnation".

---

Hilda was sorry she couldn't get any closer, but at least she managed to get a good view.

---

"Don't mention it. Seriously, DON'T mention it," he emphasized, "I'm really sorry about this all. But so help you if this gets around that I'm going around apologizing then I'm going to have bigger problems to deal with."

He hesitated. "And, uh, I think this is yours." He held out her notebook to her, "That's a pretty good drawing of Venus," he admitted.

"My adventure journal!" Mina opened her eyes widely holding the need to cry of happiness and took her precious notebook like she was holding a treasure. "Oh!" She hugged his leg "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Isabella was pleasantly surprised and smiled sincerely. "That is very nice of you, Mr Carnation. And here I was thinking we were up to a bad start" her smile turning more charming.

Cagney resisted the instinct for his thorns to pop out at the sudden contact and froze briefly before realizing that this was a hug and not an attack at his legs. He carefully brought a hand down, tempted to pry her off but just kind of patted her head. "Yeah, yeah, don't mention it. I'd kinda be upset too if I lost something like that."

He glanced at her mother. "So, uh, are you and I cool, Miss, uh...?"

"Isabella Bechstein" she stretched her arm to offer a handshake. "And... we will be ok after I talk to you for a minute. Mina, please go to your room. I need to talk to Mr Carnation".

Mina nodded "Good night, Mr Carnation!" and she hopped happily to her room. There was a sound of a door closing.

---

Hilda's eyes widened incredulously. Was... a kid hugging Cagney? Why would any kid hug Cagney?

'Because he is charming as hell!?' Gemini replied giggling.

"Oh! Shut up!" Hilda tried to control her emotions even though she agreed. That damn dandelion can be a real gentlemen if he wanted to... like that time at the---she shook her head to prevent any more thoughts to run wild in her head and focus on what was going on.

Hilda was watching even more carefully now.

'What is going on?' Sagitarius slowly spoke.

'Argh! Can't we get closer?' Gemini complained.

"Shhhh!" The woman was starting to lose her patience.

---

Cagney brushed his petals back and shook her hand. "Fair enough. Cagney is fine, by the way. Mr. Carnation was my dad," he explained.

"Wait, shhh" the woman stood in front of him quiet shaking her hears towards the door. After a few seconds the ears stopped abruptly and she turned towards the door.

"I said, to your room, Mina!".

"No way!" Mina's voice sounded from the stop of the stairs "How did you know!? I was super quiet!" This time she slammed the door from the other side.

Isabella smiled proud of herself.

"Sorry about that. What were we... ah! Yeah, I'll call you Cagney then" her tone was really enticing. "So... there is no easy way to say this... so I'll just go ahead" she lowered her voice and got close to him. "Are you a junky?" She asked, back to being angry.

---

'Maybe she's an old friend?' Sagittarius carefully asked.

"What? She just moved in! Plus I've been with Cagney since... forever! I think I would know if he had a bat friend..."

'I guess...'

'They do look awfully friendly though.... ' Taurus stepped in 'look! She's getting closer to him!'

Everybody stared in silence.

---

Cagney's eyes nearly fell out of his head. "WHAT?! Definitely not!  I do not-why are you-?" He stopped talking, realizing what exactly she was referring to. He whistled. "Okay, for being blind, you're pretty perceptive. So, listen."

He got a little bit closer to her, so as not to be overheard by a potential eavesdropper in the form a tiny bat. "I uh, accidentally hit myself with my own dandelions. How familiar are you with dandelions?" He was hoping further instruction wasn't going to be necessary but it probably was judging by her face. Still he waited to see if this was the case, already putting together an explanation in his head.

Isabella had a good idea what dandelions did, but admitting it might not be so good for her reputation if she was planning on staying here a while.

"I know enough to prevent my kid to get close to it... what does it do exactly?" She played dumb.

Hilda was getting livid. Now Cagney was getting close!

"You ever blow on a dandelion and can't help but feel a little bit dizzy afterwards? Yeah, multiply that by a 100 and that's what I can do." He groaned.  "It's a self defense thing. They're not fast, but if someone runs into one, it creates a sense of motion sickness, dysphoria and a lot of confusion."

"I was trying to make some up when Mina's book landed nearby and scared the shit out of me...and I took one right in the kisser." He hung his head low at that. "It's really embarrassing..."

"Got to admit, it probably didn't help the fact that I have got pretty much no sleep last night after my friend's home got broken into while I was over. And your kid really looked like the cat who who did it."

He held out his hands. "I started putting two and two together when she didn't sound the same and she had wings...but then her rabbit friend started throwing stuff and then everything kind of went to shit."

Isabella listened attentively and cocked her head. "Y... you... make those..."

She was a bit confused, but it sure it was good to now that this fella can manufacture them. "And that's terrible, about your friend's house" her voice turning sweet again. "Does she live far from here? It’s not like I have a treasure in there" she pointed at her house "but I wouldn't want my little 'înger' getting hurt."

Hilda's cloud was getting grayer.

Cagney hesitated. "Yeah, she runs the observatory. Well ran it. I'm not sure she's going to be able to open anything more than some exhibits and minor stargazing for a bit. A couple things got a bit wrecked last night. " Like a friendship and possible relationship he wanted to add but kept that to himself.

He realized she called the little bat something else. "Wait, I thought her name was Mina?"

Isabella laughed "Her name is Mina, înger means angel in romanian. I'm romanian. And no. I'm not related to Dracula" she smiled. "It’s really too bad about the observatory... I'll try to pass by tomorrow see if I can help somehow." She open her mouth hesitantly and finally decided to speak. "Say... eh... this is going to be too forward but, if it's not too much trouble, perhaps you could show me around whenever you have free time? I would like to meet new people but it's kinda hard when you can't... well, see them". She hated to admit she had limitations.

Unless she had ability to blow glass with her wings, there probably wasn't much she'd be able to do about the observatory.

Huh. Romanian. Explained the accent. Cagney thought about asking why the heck they'd come to a place like this if they were from some other place like that but decided against it. People had their reasons and as long as it didn't lead to too many weird people showing up, he was fine to leave well enough alone. He was, however, caught off guard by her request.

"I am probably the worst person to ask, but considering you haven't come at me with a gardening hoe, I wouldn't mind showing you around," he agreed. At the very least, he could weed out the individuals that would try to mess with a blind woman. "I've got a free day tomorrow if you've got time? Not sure how settled in you are yet."

"Splendid!" She joined her hands cheerly. "I can make some time in the morning."

The sky was almost covered with dark clouds and sounds of menacing thunders were getting louder.

Cagney nodded, a slightly genuine smile on his face. "Mornings are good for me. I'll come pick you around 9?" He paused, "We may have to take a few breaks just cause I'm not the best at walking long distance without putting my feet in some soil. Will that be alright?"

He didn't know why he would check with her on that. It's not like he wasn't going to do it but there was something a bit attractive about her that made him extend the question. Maybe it was her looks. Or the fact that she was stubborn. Or the fact that he's pretty sure she swore him out earlier and that was always kind of fun.

The woman showed a delightfully charming smile at the flower. She was starting to find him interesting. "There is no problem in stopping now and then, " she said with her enticing voice "I'm not much of a walker either" she spread her wings in a innocently seductive pose to show she was more of a flyer. A huge thunder filled the sky.

Cagney looked at her elegant figure and felt himself swallow a bit harder than he intended. "Ah ha, yeah, wings. Those are nice. Er, flying. Flying must be nice." What was with him and girls that could fly? It was beginning to become a pattern, he realized, catching a glimpse of her curves.

The sound of thunder in the sky brought him back to reality.  He didn't remember there being any storm in the forecast. Then again, he hadn't really consulted the forecast since it was connected to Hilda. And the last thing he wanted was to be caught in the rain trying to find his way back home in the dark. "Well, it was a surprisingly nice to meet you and your daughter. I'll see you tomorrow morning then?"

"Tomorrow morning it is" the bat said with a caramel voice. She was about to turn around "oh! I forgot to thank you for bringing back Mina's notebook" she got close to him but she realised, thanks to her echolocation, that she wouldn't reach  the flower's face. "Hm... would you mind lowering for me?"she smiled and tried to keep that sweet tone.

He raised an eyebrow at her but shrugged and leaned down, figuring she was going to tell him something she didn't want her daughter to overhear. "Sure, what'd you-?"

Isabella softly kissed Cagney's cheek. "Good night" she whispered.

A huge lightning illuminated the scene followed by a terrifying thunder. "Dumnezeule! You be okay walking home under the storm?" She asked, worried.

Cagney felt himself completely heat up at the unexpected kiss and his mind went blank. He stood there a bit slack jawed until her words registered. He quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"I uh storm. Yeah, no I'll be fine. Don't worry. I'll go by underground worst case. You have a good night, Isabella." The carnation backed up only to trip over his own feet. He got back up quickly. "I'm okay!" He assured her before taking off back to his home as his entire plant body still tingled from the small gesture.

He hadn't been kissed by a non flower in uh forever? And her lips had been so soft against his face that he was surprised he kept it together. Maybe that was a Romanian thing. A guy could get in a lot of trouble living with women like that.

Hell, he should apologize more often if that was a possible result. It was handy that Isabella was available tomorrow. Cagney was fairly sure he had something planned for Friday.

He stopped dead in his tracks. "Hilda," he realized out loud. He had actually managed to work up the courage to ask her out. Sorta. He chickened out and didn't specify it was a date persay, but it was definitely different than their normal types of hangouts so she had to have known something was up. He even put a reminder note on the flower he brought for her. Which he was pretty sure she had probably smashed in her anger.

Their date was Friday. "There was no way in hell she'd go. She probably wouldn't even remember and if she did, there's no way she would go," he told himself with an irritated sigh. Would he go? He didn't know. Maybe? Just to prove himself right that she wouldn't show.

He kept walking. Well, just as well Hilda was nowhere around. The last thing he needed was for her to be lurking around, listening in and getting the wrong idea about things. He still wanted to never see her again...right?

Isabella chuckled at Cagney and heard him leaving. She stood there a few more minutes delighting herself with the carnation's aroma that was still in the air and enjoying the noisy rain. She loved the rain. It felt good to hear the thunders over her head filling the emptiness.

---

Finally it started to downpour. Hilda was holding her head trying to keep the constellations in control.

'Let me have him! Let me have him!'

'He doesn't love us anymore!' Gemini started crying.

'I-it's probably not what it looks like...' Sagittarius tried to comfort the others 'maybe they did know each other?'

Hilda went back to her observatory seeing red.

"Unbelievable! That... that damn weed piece of... cutted grass-I can't even think of a good insult!" She went directly to her room and let herself fall on the bed. "...ooh... I know! I'll go this Friday, alright, but... with a 'friend'. I'll give him a reason to not want to see me again!".

Gemini stopped crying abruptly  ´oh! Who we gonna pick?!' They said cheerfully.

'I don't think this is a good idea guys... and may I remind us, we did tried to poke his eyes out' Sagittarius tried to reason with them.

'After he snapped a Goddamn tree in front of us!' Taurus immediately replied getting agitated.

–

Mina kissed her mother goodbye and took the road to school. At the observatory she saw the broken tree and a strange hole on the floor. This caught her attention! She immediately got close to the tree, mentally analyzing the cracks and shards. Same with the hole. She looked carefully at the way it was digged, there were no claw marks… so she ruled out mole-people. No, this was something else… something… that smelled like flowers. She looked up to the sky, maybe the answer was out there…

She realized she was going to be late if she lingered any longer, so she decided to come back later, maybe with Harvey, and take notes in her adventure journal. And so, she went to school happy and excited for her new discovery.

Mina got in class right when the bell started ringing. She had to run all the way from home and she was out of breath. She took her seat and looked around to see if Harvey was around yet.

Harvey made one last final sprint as the bell rang into the classroom and faceplanted with his desk.

The other school children started to giggle as the teacher shook her head and muttered under her breath. Harvey looked up, rubbing his forehead only to spot Mina and wave excitedly.

Mina got worried for Harvey and was about to go check on him when he waved at her showing he was ok. She smiled and waved back. The lessons of the day begun.

Unbeknownst to Harvey and Mina, Spike was already glaring at them both and plotting his revenge for detention the other day. His dad had tanned him good for showing up late to dinner so he was going to make sure he would return the favor.

–

Cagney did not sleep well. He kept jerking awake, sometimes mid transformation. He didn’t like the dreams he was having. They weren’t pleasant but exhaustion kept forcing him to try to sleep again, even as the sun was already up.

They were dreams of happier times between him and his former friend only for them to be tarnished quickly by his anger. Even a memory of a picnic turned to hearing his friend scream.

He tiredly opened his eyes. “I shoulda just let Tauros gore me,” he grumbled to himself. It probably would have hurt less to have two gaping hole chests in his chest than a big emotional one in his heart.

What was his plan if she did try to stop by? She wouldn’t. But what if? Would he violently throw her out? Or just burrow again. There was nothing the woman could do when he was underground. Not that she would want anything to do with him again.

Cagney decided burrowing was his best option. He was stubborn and if he said he never wanted to see her again and then he went to see her, she’d think she could just walk all over him. That she could accuse him of lying whenever she pleased without listening to him. If she had only give him a few minutes, he might have remembered that he caught the small spyglass and shown her the claw marks on the sheets covering the walls.

He tried to make his heart cold and it wasn’t quite working. Maybe with time. Time didn’t heal all wounds, but it certainly made them hurt a bit less. He wondered how long it would take to completely get over a 20 year friendship.

–

Hilda barely slept a couple of hours. She had spent the entire night turning in her bed, playing the night events over and over in her mind. That stare… She shivered. Since she couldn’t sleep she decided to start her day, there was a lot to be done anyway.

First she took a shower, hoping that might relax her a bit. She dressed up, and got down the stairs to the kitchen that still smelled like burn so she left the windows open. She skipped breakfast and went directly to the projection room. She grabbed a broom and a trash can from a closet and started sweeping lost in her thoughts.

HIlda kept swiping around until she stumble on the pieces of the big pot. She delightet herself remembering Cagney´s face when he saw the smaller pot inside. She really touched a sensitive fiber there. Her vision started to blur. She realised she was crying again. She immediately wiped her tears and she dropped the broom angrily.

“Stupid Cagney! That damn weed almost fucking killed me! ” She tried to change her sadness in anger again, but this time, it only resulted in more tears running through her cheeks. She cover her face weeping silently and slowly crouched hiding her face between her knees.

She hated herself when she succumbed to weakness like this. After a few minutes, she started to pick up the pieces of pot thinking she might be able to glue it.

She remembered Cagney’s comment about a failed art project and a shy smile showed in her sad face. He would definitely made fun of her if she tried to put this together. He would make a witty comment, and she would have a comeback, and they would forget about it with a laugh.

A stronger memory came back to her, terribly aching her heart: the time she got tricked by a certain someone, pretending to be someone else, made her fall for him so he would get her soul contract. She remember how Cagney fought for her, how he held her tight… He prevented her from losing her mind completely…

And last night… the way he looked at her… did he really mean it?

Near one of the pieces she found her old spyglass. She looked at it surprised, did they knocked out something when they storm off? She nearly gathered all the pieces of the pot when she found the statue.

Something was wrong here. She went back to the exposition room where those items belonged, nothing else was missing and everything was in order.

Her heart froze at the view of the purple flower next to the poppy.

Hilda put the things in place and got closer to check the plant. It was really pretty and … it had a note!

Her hand shook a little when she reached for it. It said : ‘Leaving a note to REMIND YOU we got reservations for friday. Also, try not to kill this one’.

“Oh… no… ” she felt the weight of guilt on her shoulders.

‘We’re definitely not going!’ Tauros voice echoed inside the woman’s head.

'What?!’ Gemini joined in. “We’ve planned this like a week ago!”

'Yeah! And it cost us a heated argument just to decide a place we both liked to go’ Sagittarius decided to join.

“C'mon you guys! You really think after what he said to me… after the way he looked at me! He would still go our date?” Hilda talked to herself.

'Oh! So it IS a date’ Gemini giggled.

“W-what? No… I mean… appointment? Rendez-vous-OH! Whatever! Point is, he is NOT gonna go!

And neither am I!” She threw the paper at the projection room.

Hilda stood in place a few minutes until she silenced the voices in her head. She took a deep breath and walked back to the projection room. She got discouraged at the sight of the huge mess and leaned on the wall.

She took some time to analyse the damage. There were shards everywhere! On the blankets, the pillows, the chairs… that dome was gonna cost a lot to rep-why there’s a hole on the wall?

Hilda frown and got coser, it was the vent! Why it was open? Her heart skipped a beat. Cagney was telling the truth? Somebody was stupid enough to break in? And she yelled at him. Her guilt was getting heavier by the second until she remember he almost choked her to death…

She held her head confused and sat on one of the chairs just to stand up right away at the feeling of sharp crystal in her rear. If she ever get her hand on the thief…

–

During lunch time Mina told Harvey about her discovery this morning.

“And, I’m telling you, that is NOT a mole people hole! It was way too big and no claw markings! Plus it smelled very good.”

Harvey scratched his ears. “Huh. I mean I’ve seen a few larger holes than normal but a really big hole? And a nice smelling one at that? Doesn’t ring any bells. The only nice smelling hole I’ve ever seen is the time my mom dropped an open bottle of perfume down a hole by accident.” The rabbit wrinkled his nose. “That wasn’t exactly a nice smelling hole though either. Did you wanna go check it out after school? What did the hole smell like?”

“We are definitely going to check it out! The hole smelled like flowers! And there was a broken tree near that too! My suspicion is…” she whispered to Harvey “Aliens! From Venus! I hope you remembered to bring my adventure journal, because this is a major discovery!”

Todd, the mosquito kid who was in detention yesterday with Spike heard them talking. With a grin he sat on Spike’s table.

“I know how you can get back to them!”

Spike eyed the mosquito classmate. “Lay it on me, bloodsucker. I’m itchin’ for it.”

“I heard them talking about a journal. It seems very precious to that new kid”. Todd smiled “it would be a shame if something happen to it.”

Spike rubbed his hands together. “It would, huh? Let’s say we visit the dorky duo on their way home, huh?”

The mosquito nodded at his friend with a grin.

–

Hannah waited patiently for the chance to talk to her cousin and the opportunity finally presented itself when her mother left the house for a few minutes to get a some things. She hopped over to her cousin and motioned him over. “Hey, Henry. I have a question.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you meet the big flower?” She asked twirling the red ribbon in her hair

“Yeah.”

“Was he as grumpy as Harvey says?”

“He was very grumpy. He yelled at me and threw me out and threw stuff at me.” Hannah’s face fell at that. She was really hoping her older brother had been exaggerating.

“Ah.”

Henry scratched his head. “It was weird though.”

“What?”

“He was really angry and stuff, but he asked me if I was okay.”

“Really?” Hannah asked, her face lighting up again.

“Yeah. And THEN he threw me out.”

Hannah wiggled happily. “Will you go with me to see him?”

“Heck no!”

“Darn.” Hannah thought of something else. “Do you think he needs a quilt?”

Henry thought about it. He didn’t remember seeing any bedding of any kind while in the pile of lost school supplies. “Maybe. I didn’t see if he had any.”

“Yay!” Hannah jumped happily. “I’ll get started.”

Henry shook his head as his cousin ran away to her room. This whole family was weird.  

–

After what it seemed like the longest day of her life, Mina rushed Harvey to go faster. She really wanted to investigate and explore the hole.

Harvey was moving as fast as his floppy feet could carry him. He never had to be rushed before unless someone was chasing him. Usually he was the faster one.

But Mina’s excitement was contagious and even he found himself eager to leave school and go check it out, even as something was gnawing at him inside that the hole was bad news bears.

As they were passing near the flower field Todd and Spike blocked their way.

The little mosquito grinned maliciously and stood behind Spike with his arms crossed. Mina immediately stood in front of Harvey.

“What do you want, Spike?!”

—

It had taken the whole day, but Cagney had finally sorted his thoughts. Or at least enough to lapse into a restless sleep once more. He had not wanted to be gored, sure, but had his reaction really that extreme? He had been exhausted, high off panicked adrenaline (nearly getting crushed by a massive ton of glass could do that to a fellow) and then kicked out and caked and nearly gored.

Maybe he could be slightly justified in a  counterattack and he could have just smacked her into a wall. That wasn’t much better but it was better than choking her. Could he really not have stood to hear her berate him anymore last night that it warranted suffocation? Well, he definitely got exactly that and she didn’t say another word to him.

And most likely she wouldn’t again.

He craved silence at the moment and stirred irritably in his sleep, almost aware of a loud commotion by his fence.

–

Spike grinned and chewed his lip. “I want your notebook, Mina. Now give it to me before I make you both sorry you crossed me yesterday!” He barked.

Mina looked at him surprised. How did he knew about her notebook?

“What notebook, you… you idiot!?” She was brave, but not very good in dealing with conflicts.

The shouting was starting to attract the other students heading home from school. They started to gather round, to see what would happen next. There was a general murmur of “What notebook? Like her homework notebook?’ someone asked.

Harvey winced and his ears drooped. Oh man, he’d normally high tail it out of here, not wanting to get beaten up in front of the entire class. Again.  However, Mina was standing her ground, albeit not that effectively. And he didn’t want to lose a friend this quickly. So he remained frozen, holding onto their backpacks instead.

Spike barked loudly again. “We overheard you at lunch going on and on about your special little notebook. So hand it over!”

Mina noticed the kids gathering around them. Second day and she was already in a fight… normally it takes a week or two… and the notebook, her precious adventure journal… she should have been more careful when she talked about it.

“Go away Spike, before you get hurt! ” she showed her tiny claws hoping it would discourage the little puppy.

Kids around gathered even closer when they realised there might be some blood.

–

Cagney was growing increasingly irritated. He just wanted silence now but there was a buzzing noise now. He opened his tired eyes to see a bee nearby.

Normally, he wouldn’t mind the bees, but today was an exception. “Hey, buzz off will you for a bit. I’m trying to get some sleep,” he complained.

“No can do, bud. We’re way behind schedule as it is.”

“Ugh.” Cagney wasn’t in the mood to argue and throwing out a bee was never a good idea (stingers hurt) But another idea came into his head. He could hit the pest with a dandelion and when he was disoriented, plop him outside and send him on his way. It was a bit harder to cough up dandelions in his regular form but there was no way he was going to transform back into his monstrous form. He had done enough damage with that, thank you very much. So he started hacking and coughing in an attempt to pull them out.

The bee gave Cagney an odd look. “You need a glass of water, bud?”

“No, hchh, hchh, I’ll be done soon,” Cagney couldn’t help but chuckle at the confused bee.

–

Spike smirked. “Ooh, look, this bat’s got claws. Cute. Well I got these,” he opened his mouth, showing off his canine teeth.

When Mina still didn’t back down, he barked. “Todd! Pull Harvey’s ears!”

Harvey squealed at that, drawing everyone’s attention and pulling his ears down. “Leave us alone!”

With the kids distracted, Spike charged Mina.

Mina opened her eyes wide at the look of Spike’s fangs, she didn’t think of that…

Todd obeyed with an evil smile on his face and attacked Harvey.

Mina wanted to go and stop him, but Spike charged on her making her lose her balance and fall on her back facing him. She tried to find a part of his body where she could sink her claws.

Kids around started yelling, encouraging them to keep fighting.

Harvey swatted and tried to desperately kick at the mosquito before seeing Spike push Mina down! He gave one more final swat before running to her aid, trying to push Spike off the B-cat.

Spike winced as Mina scratched at him but with his thick bulldog skin, it wasn’t as effective as she would have liked. He gave her another good shove to the ground before yanking away her backpack from a distracted Harvey.

“Todd! Keep em busy!” He yelled sticking his hand to grab the notebook.

The other children were really cheering and yelling now. This was really exciting now. Most people just gave up to Spike but this was really different even if Mina and Harvey were losing.

–

Cagney was about to chuck a wad of dandelion at the bee when the insect jumped backwards in surprise. “Who’s doing all that yelling?!”

The flower didn’t anticipate that and reared back to avoid the stinger, only for his head to hit the bench of his tree. He coughed and breathed in the dandelion attack instead.

The bee fluttered over to Cagney as the carnation choked and coughed. “Hey, hey bud, you okay there?” The bee asked in concern, reaching out to shake the flower.

He stopped as Cagney unsteadily jerked toward him, revealing his pupils dilating manic under the effect of the dandelions.

–

Todd quickly pushed Mina as she was about to tackle Spike making her fall on a very muddy zone making it difficult for her to get back on her feet.

He turned to Harvey, pointing his stinger at him.

“You better not move, Dumbo! Or this time I’ll drain you!”

Harvey froze at Todd’s threat, not sure if he could actually do it, but not wanting to risk it if he could.  He looked toward Mina worriedly.

Spike gave a triumphant shout and pulled out the notebook. He waved it in front of them both with a sneer. “Awww. So cute!” He laughed. He grabbed one of the pages and started to pull.

“NO!” Mina yelled when he started to pull the pages from her journal.

Harvey thought fast. He pointed behind Spike. “Hi, Mrs. White!” He yelled.

Spike immediately stopped pulling the page and looked around wildly. “Where? Where?”

Todd also looked back to see if Miss White was there.

When Harvey cleverly distracted Spike, she waved her wings with all her strength, release herself from the mud and was about to tackle Spike with her claws fully out.

“Ain’t no teacher here,” Spike realized, turning. He saw very very angry Mina lunging at him and panicked. He looked at the field, look at the notebook, look at the field, one last look at Mina and then chucked the notebook over the fence.

Harvey gasped. “Not the field!”

There were equal gasps and yells from the other kids as the notebook sailed over the fence and deep within the field.

Mina stopped looking with wide eyes at her notebook landing on the other side of the fence spreading some pages on the way.

She gave a furious look at Spike, her eyes filling with tears and her body shaking with anger. Then, she slowly walked towards the fence.

Harvey grabbed Mina’s arm. “Wait, wait, Mina! Don’t go in there, it’s not safe! We-we can go get my mom or something later just-!”

Mina was too angry, she just wanted to get her notebook and go home. When Harvey grabbed her arm she hissed at him. She cleaned a tear from her dirty cheek and climbed the bench with the agility of a cat.

She didn’t even looked around to see if there was somebody watching. She simply let herself down with the help of her wings.

Harvey stood there, every cotton fuzz ball on him standing on end. He swallowed and turned toward another student. “Can you go get an adult please? My mom or uh, someone?” And with that he jumped over the fence as well, trying not to freak as he did.

Two of the other children ran down the road. Looking for an adult.

–

Something landed with a loud flap near the bee and Cagney let a wild swing toward it, hitting a patch of clover instead with a dulled thud. The bee saw how hard he demolished that patch of clover and paled.

“Say, bud, I think I’m going to just head home. I’ll come back later.” The bee buzzed off quickly leaving a very disoriented carnation.

Cagney was really disoriented. This had to have been one of the stupider things he had done to himself. He laid still, seeing if that would make the world stop spinning but not by much. Unaware of the notebook that lay near him.

–

The two kids ran as fast as they could to the observatory and knocked at the door. Hilda was in no mood for visitors today, she had too much in her mind right now, so she decided to ignore it.

After a couple of minutes the kids started to lose patience and run to the next house.

They had more luck here, an adult was already outside the house gathering some berries from the nearby bushes.

“Help! Help please!” The kids yelled.

Isabella turned her hears at the direction of the sound. “Kids? W-what’s wrong?” She answered worried.

The kids were a bit out of breath but they managed to speak.

“Please, lady! Hhh you gotta help!”. Said one of the kids.

“The hhh the field hhh flower!” Continued the other one.

She heard 'help’ and 'flower field’’  and she immediately understood where she was needed. She just hoped Mina wasn’t involved. She dropped her basket with the berries and took flight following the strong smell of Cagney’s flower field.

–

Everybody looked in silence, almost as if they were holding their breath. Suddenly, they heard a thud nearby and they all gasped in surprise taking a step back, but they couldn’t see the carnation.

Todd, feeling that this wasn’t going to end well, got closer to Spike and whisper, “We should get outta’ here” and discreetly stepped away from the fence.

Spike did not move yet. “Nuthin happened yet,” he grumbled, “don’t be a chicken.”

Todd stopped walking away but he still kept his distance.

–

Mina stood still at the sound and tried to scan with her little bat ears the origin of the itm but her little heart was beating so fast it was almost the only thing she could hear.

Harvey tugged on Mina’s arm, drawing her attention and pressed a finger to his lips, giving her a scared, reassuring smile. The little rabbit pointed in the direction of a big tree. “I think I saw it go that way but we have to be really really quiet.”

The fact that the Carnation wasn’t already yelling might be a good thing. Maybe he was asleep. In which case they might be able to grab the notebook and leave. The two crept closer, Harvey still holding Mina’s backpack.

Mina looked at Harvey surprised and she showed a grateful smile. She felt very bad for hissing him before. She looked at the direction he was pointing at and nodded. She got on all fours and walked as discreetly as possible trying to keep her body hidden through the flowers.

Harvey spotted Cagney and prevented Mina from moving any closer. The flower was…asleep? Harvey wouldn’t have believed it, but yet there he was, lying down on the meadowy grass, not moving, facing away from them.

He sighed in relief but his ears drooped worriedly as they spotted the notebook. It was dangerously close to the carnation. He could see the b-cat’s eyes light up at it and he shushed her before she could shout in excitement.

“That’s Cagney. It looks like he is asleep…which is really lucky,” Harvey admitted. He was never asleep this late in the day. If someone was careful, they could probably get the book. He motioned Mina close and looked at his friend. She was awfully scuffed up from her brawl with Spike. Even her wings looked a little battered.

They wouldn’t have been in this mess it hadn’t been for him. He swallowed and pressed her backpack into her hands. “Stay here, I’m going to go get it. It’s my fault that it was even brought to school in the first place,” Harvey explained.

Mina gave Harvey an skeptic look and denied, moving her head. If the flower woke up she new she would be able to avoid it with her cat reflexes, she wasn’t so sure if Harvey would be able to move as fast. She really didn’t want him to get hurt…

She put on the backpack and pointed Harvey towards the bench to indicate him to leave.

Harvey was secretly grateful when Mina declined his offer. The carnation kind of spooked him a lot. He crept away just out of immediate reach of the plant and made a binocular hand gesture with his hands, hoping that would indicate to her that he was going to watch from a safer distance.

Mina nodded and smiled at him. She then turned to the carnation and walked closer very slowly trying to reach her journal with her arm. She realised she was shaking.

Harvey watched his friend creep closer and sighed. They were really lucky he was asleep. A little too lucky, Harvey realized, his attention flickering over to the flower. How could the carnation be asleep when the sun was out? There was no way they would could be this lucky. Unless…

Cagney wasn’t actually asleep.

Harvey’s eyes widened as he realized the carnation had moved slowly and maybe it wasn’t as noticeable if you were up close and could only see a part of him, but from where Harvey was, he could see the whole stem was twitching.

The rabbit suppressed the urge to shout. He had to warn Mina. He waved frantically at the bat who had his back toward him.

The little girl was too focused in not making a sound, she didn’t noticed Harvey trying to get her attention.

Finally she grabbed the notebook and picked it up as delicately as she could to prevent making any noise with the pages. It was really hard with a shaky hand. A few of the pages fell down making very little noise. Mina grinned her teeth and looked at the flower without daring to move.

–

Cagney’s eyes shot open at the small sound. God, he’s not sure if that was a real sound or not. In this state, he could probably hear colors. He should probably start with just standing and if he could manage that then maybe he was actually hearing real things.

–

Harvey hopped up and down now, watching the flower starting to rise up from his base, waving his hands frantically.

Mina bit her lip and quickly started to pick up the pages and putting them back inside the notebook. She turned around towards Harvey and this time she saw him jumping frantically. She thought he was just happy the she recover her journal and smiled at him holding the notebook triumphantly in the air.

–

Cagney’s head swiveled around as he rose to his full height. His eyes locked on a figure in front of him. One that wasn’t there before. He tried to focus on it but he couldn’t exactly see what it was. It was small, kind of dark. It didn’t ring any bells.

Until he spotted the pointed, cat like ears. And a tail. His eyes narrowed as his mind started to put two and two together. This looked just like the cat burglar from last night. Had she really been stupid enough to try to steal from him in his own garden. It even looked like she had a bag or something.

–

Harvey watched Cagney loom over Mina and his eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. He pointed and shook his head frantically back and forth, trying to get her to come to him. He didn’t think her vision was the best but she had to at least see that he was freaking out, right?

The little bat paled. Now she understood what Harvey was trying to say. She repressed the need to look back holding her notebook tightly against her chest.