She's Flowers and Fire

“Do what now?” Jordyn blinked. Now, Jo was a lover of animals. From a distance but she didn’t know how she felt about little goats and farm animals in general. “If a little billy starts chewing on my shirt, you owe me a new one.” She was going to give it five minutes top. She could handle this, maybe. “Yes please because we have time.” Jo knew that the choices were not easy. “Okay ummm, I can hold off on eating so I suppose the animals first because I want to savor my food. Then uhhhh games and last food?”

"Feed the animals," she repeated with a small shake of her head and a wide grin. "Don't tell me you're scared," she out her hands on her hips, "you run into burning buildings and save people for a living but goats and sheep are your limit?" She was only teasing and understood not everyone loved animals and such. "Fine, I will absolutely buy you a new shirt if a Billy goat chews on yours," she then out her hands up in the air before threading her eyebrows together. "We really don't have to feed and pet the animals, like it's okay if we don't. And I can hold off on food for sure."

"Oh shoot! Okay, I'm heading back over your way! Stay there!" Cori almost yelled into the phone to ensure that Tasha could hear her over the crowd. She began to head in that direction, determined to find her friend before any next moves were made.

"Okay, I'll stay right here! I'm by the pony that seems to has a bunch of bows in her mane," she said into her phone hoping Cori was able to hear her. She didn't move, hoping that if she stayed that she'd be able to reunite with her friend.

where: Spring Fling when: May 2026 who: Cori & @tashamlawrence

Taking a break from helping out at the firm's tent, Tasha made plans to hang out with some people. She hadn't been available to do so as of late so getting out during the spring fling was the perfect opportunity to make up for lost time. Feeling her phone vibrate, she picked up, "hey! I'm by pony rides... I might have walked right by you."

Not only had Esther missed seeing the woman approach, she had missed the dog, too, letting out a gasp and a laugh as she nodded her head, "yeah, of course! I could never say no to a cute face like that." When living in Vermont, most of Essie's free days had been spent at the animal shelter, wanting to spend as much time as possible making their lives a little better, a little more tolerable, working hard to make sure that they got good homes, found the perfect family, and it delighted her to spend time with animals now, whenever she could. "What's his name?" she asked as she crouched down carefully, offering her fingers to the dog to sniff, first, and looking up at the woman. "He's a very handsome boy!"

Though intimidating on the outside, Mozart was a friendly guy on the inside. His breed always got a bad reputation, but thankfully he himself was a lover not a fighter. "He absolutely pulled me towards you and he rarely pulls," she gave the other a smile, "his name is Mozart. My husband and I somehow came up with it but it stuck." She couldn't remember how they settled upon their dog's name but it worked and he was Tasha's favorite beside Bryan. "He's a good buy too," she leaned down next to her dog, "you look vaguely familiar and I can't place why."

“Oh, does that mean I get a kiss? Or yes, you love to talk about your handsome cook of a husband?” Bryan grinned before leaning into the kiss. He sort of already knew the answer but that didn’t mean he didn’t love to joke a bit. He looked at her with a curious expression. “Is that so?” he asked, leaning his head to the side. “Tell me what you have in mind,” Bryan said with another warm smile. “Well, I am glad you like it because it’ll be going on the spring menu next.”

"Why not both?" She batted her eyelashes, and playfully hid her face behind her hands. "You never have to ask about a kiss ya know, and I always love to talk about my handsome cook of a husband," each part equally true, as she truly did love to talk about him and talk him up as he was an amazing cook. "Water cooler talk is purely professional," she nodded and feigned seriousness before softening. "Oh really!? It's really really good, and I'm sure all of Merrock will say the same."

Xio raised an eyebrow at the idea that Tasha had a sexy experimentation era. Not that they could picture it. They chuckled. "Damn. I was too busy running the school playground to notice." They also lived in completely different places at the time, with Xio in Mexico and Tasha in Los Angeles. "That sounds like good advice. And I know you're right about needing to put lines out there but..." Xio sighed, then continued in a playfully whiny voice. "It's hard."

Tasha zipped her lips and threw away the key before shrugging her shoulders. She was playing coy, being purposefully obtuse before letting out a chuckle. "Yeah quite a distance away too," she reminded her cousin as she leaned forward, elbows on the table, "I was still in California for college so I didn't go very far. The distance basically stayed the same." But she was glad they were together in the same town now. "I haven't exactly fizzled out in the romance department," she played with her wedding band a bit, "But I get it. It's terryfing in general and then add in a new place? It's fucking bananas."

WHO: essie & open!

One if the biggest appeals of Merrock for Tasha was how small and tight knit the town was. How she could essentially walk through the entire town in a day or less. How friendly everyone was and how everyone truly cared for one another, even if you didn't know them too well. Taking a walk with Mozart, she had decided to take a long lunch in between clients at the firm. Opting to leave him at home and go get him during lunch, she parked her car back by the office and took him out of it. As she walked along, her dog decided to pull, something which was quite out of the ordinary. "No worries," she replied as the other seemed a bit out of it, "I was just saying how my dog has decided he must absolutely say hello to you. I hope that's okay."

"Why not both?" She asked with a lift of both of her shoulders, finding herself laughing louder than she had expected. "It's not like they technically overlap in the sense of having to do both at the same time," she took a sip of her drink, "I'm sure Bryan won't mind if we ever have Len sleep over or anything. And I don't mind babysitting her. As for help with the ladies, I don't have much experience on the flirting with one part. But I do have over thirty years experience of being one."

"Are you my cousin or my guardian angel?" Xio countered with a grin. "I might take you up on babysitting. I left her with a neighbor's friend's daughter who went to babysitting classes during the Rose Gala, and it went totally fine, but I felt weird about letting a stranger watch her." Xio admitted. At the mention of ladies, and Tasha's experience with being one, Xio laughed. "If you hadn't just gotten married, I'd encourage you to flirt with more girls. I have twenty-six years of experience with kind of being a girl. But I don't really know how to translate that into approaching cute girls."

"Why can't I be both?" She playfully gasped and pretended to be offended, which was in fact the furthest from the truth. Nodding, "of course. And I get that," she didn't have kids but would feel odd having some random stranger watch her child, she felt odd even having some random person dog sit for her dog. Boarding him was something she dreaded but she knew eventually it would have to happen." Letting out a laugh, louder than she had anticipated, "you didn't see me during college," she quipped and gave her cousin a wink. Though in reality she hadn't really flirted with that many females or even too many males in college, but enough to say she had more than zero experience. "Hmmm," she pondered, "I mean like act how you'd like someone to act towards you. If that makes sense? Also you can't catch anyone if you're not putting any lines out there."

Tasha nodded, still savoring the food before swallowing it, "yes," she finally spoke up before chuckling softly. Mostly everything Bryan had ever made for her whether as a meal or to try had been good and she was definitely spoiled being married to a chef. "You know most wives don't get to brag about being married to a chef, though I do," she grinned before nodding. "I think that sounds like a plan. I know some people aren't fans of messy or saucy things so I think this will be good. You can still get the flavor without it overwhelming the meal."

Bryan watched her with a smirk. Tasha had always been supportive of him. She loved his cooking, which was perfect because now that they were married, he was the one in the kitchen most of the time anyway. “Is that what you talk about at the water cooler at work?” He teased. He adjusted his apron a bit and wiped his hands with a dishtowel. “Yeah, they prefer something breaded and more simple. I’m happy to oblige. You should see the full menu. It’s way more than just three kinds of rice bowls,” he nodded towards his iPad on the counter.

There was no one Tasha loved more and therefore there was no one should support more, than her husband. Good thing he was a good cook and supporting him was exciting and fun and always involved delicious food. "Hmm maybe," she batted her eyelashes at him and shrugged her shoulders, "I mean I don't kiss and tell. So our secrets are safe from water cooler talk." She was purely teasing, and she reached up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "There's nothing wrong with changing things up a bit from the norm also," she looked over at the food again, before looking at the iPad, "this is really amazing babe."

Tasha chuckled, "touche. You're a minimalist for sure. And hey there ain't nothing wrong with that." She swayed and leaned back a bit, always admiring those who didn't need many things, able to not want to buy everything. Not that she was a huge spender, someone who blew loads of cash on anything and everything. But she spent more than she probably did, however she had always been good at budgeting and making sure she wasn't just shopping for the sake of it. She nodded and rolled her eyes, "sometimes it's insane to even think about. Like I think I knew someone in college who spent half of paycheck from waitressinh on the most random shit she didn't need." Her face then sfotened, and she smiled. "Yeah and I get that. Those sometimes those good memories are only seen through rose colored glasses. Ya know?

"You learn early when you join the military," he admitted on a quiet laugh. But it was true; it wasn't as though he could have packed up his entire life to take with him. He had a bag and that was it. And then he had pretty much traveled through life exactly like that until settling in Merrock again. Building a home. Now, he had to figure out an entirely new lifestyle and how it all fit into the world he had built for himself. But that was a day by day, one thing at a time kind of deal. "I don't understand it, either. Live within your means, for starters. I understand how tempting it can be to get the nicest, most expensive things, but… they're just things," he opined, wrinkling his nose. You couldn't take it with you, as people said. It was eventually going to end up in a landfill or a box in the closet forgotten for decades to come. "I do," he nodded his head, "I try to put those rose colored glasses on every now and then these days."

"I can only imagine," she hadn't really had known anyone who had joined the military, none of brothers or other family members had. But she could undrdatand why one would be a minimalist after joining, especially when in camp or on leave. Shaking her head softly, she did it in agreement, "exactly. Like so many people have such debt because they lived above their means. I don't mean you gotta be frugal as hell, and cut corners. But budget and don't spend money you don't have." That had always been her motto, and thoigh there were times you'd spend a little extra on some things, she felt that one shouldn't do it often. She smiled and this time nodded, "I think that's good. As long as it doesn't skew things though. Everything in moderation I'd say."

"Help with Len? Or help me find a girlfriend? Cause I'm in desperate need of help on both fronts." Xio was mostly joking, but there was some truth to that comment. "I just never know what to say to them. They're so intimidating for no reason."

"Why not both?" She asked with a lift of both of her shoulders, finding herself laughing louder than she had expected. "It's not like they technically overlap in the sense of having to do both at the same time," she took a sip of her drink, "I'm sure Bryan won't mind if we ever have Len sleep over or anything. And I don't mind babysitting her. As for help with the ladies, I don't have much experience on the flirting with one part. But I do have over thirty years experience of being one."

Bryan nodded along with her. “Okay, good. So I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, before shuffling through a drawer for a pen and his notebook. He scribbled down a few notes to keep in mind for when he actually put the menu together. “Mhmm,” he said. “As opposed to something with some heavy sauce. So it is a little less messy in that case,” he smiled. “That is what I’m going for. Something that has a lot of flavor but isn’t too overwhelming,”

Tasha nodded, still savoring the food before swallowing it, "yes," she finally spoke up before chuckling softly. Mostly everything Bryan had ever made for her whether as a meal or to try had been good and she was definitely spoiled being married to a chef. "You know most wives don't get to brag about being married to a chef, though I do," she grinned before nodding. "I think that sounds like a plan. I know some people aren't fans of messy or saucy things so I think this will be good. You can still get the flavor without it overwhelming the meal."

"Exactly. I figure I'll get back out there eventually, but it's just...really soon with all the life changes. I'm focused on stability and consistency with Len right now. Always being there, showing that I'm not going to disappear or uproot her life again." In a perfect world, they would have stayed in San Francisco but it hadn't been that simple. A fresh start was easier. "Then she can see her tié is actually really awkward around cute girls."

Tasha nodded, completely understanding where her cousin was coming from. "Trust me I get. And Len comes first always," one's kids always came first no matter what when it came to everything. "You know I'm always here to help with her too, anything I can ever do to help don't hesitate to reach out," she smiled before letting out a laugh. "Oh stop, I'm sure you're not."

"You're asking the wrong person," he admitted on a quiet laugh, "I probably spend the least amount of money on things out of anyone that I know." It came from years of living in a camper, inhabiting small spaces; he didn't need a lot, so he didn't take up a lot. But still, he knew that as long as people weren't wasteful, if they actually used and enjoyed what they had, it was hard to see it as a bad thing. "Well, that's not a bad thing. I can't even imagine how much money some people spend," on pointless things that they were going to wear or use once and never again. He tried not to judge, but it was hard sometimes. "I think that's what makes them so special. Just wanting to hold on to those good memories."

Tasha chuckled, "touche. You're a minimalist for sure. And hey there ain't nothing wrong with that." She swayed and leaned back a bit, always admiring those who didn't need many things, able to not want to buy everything. Not that she was a huge spender, someone who blew loads of cash on anything and everything. But she spent more than she probably did, however she had always been good at budgeting and making sure she wasn't just shopping for the sake of it. She nodded and rolled her eyes, "sometimes it's insane to even think about. Like I think I knew someone in college who spent half of paycheck from waitressinh on the most random shit she didn't need." Her face then sfotened, and she smiled. "Yeah and I get that. Those sometimes those good memories are only seen through rose colored glasses. Ya know?

Bryan nodded along with her before grabbing a few more things to mix together. He hummed a bit, giving it a quick taste. “Try this combination. I also want to try out a new rub for some of the bowls. Instead of making things all sauce-based, it would be something different to have a dry rub?” He raised his brows, waiting for her response. “What do you think about that?”

She handed him back the spoon then watched her husband as he grabbed a few ingredients, ready to taste it again. She leaned forward as he offered her to taste it again, her eyes widening as she did. "Oh that's good," she nodded before licking her lips. "Dry rub? That would be fun, and different. I think it would be great. And this? This is really good, like it's sweet with a hint of spice but nothing that's too much you know?"