The bell eventually rang and Nic quickly grabbed his things. He left the weekend homework on his teacher's desk, finished, and then ran outside with his books under tight in his arms. Nic practically flew through the hallways as he made his way outside, his tail wagging freely behind him. The ran outside and along the side walks, but then came to a stop as he saw students that were out toying with the flowers. Normally, he would just slow down to enjoy the look of placement, but among them this time was his adopted sister. He walked a bit closer as his ram of a sister was patting down the soil around a few of the flowers. As he got closer, a panda started walking over too.
"Got a couple more flowers." Dan said, "Though I'm thinking we might wanna put this somewhere less crowded because of how big they are."
"That's fine," Sonne said, "Just be sure we got enough soil for their new spot too."
"Wow, this is all your work?" Nic said, "It gotta admit it's... pretty good so far..." Nic looked to the blending colors among the flowers, "Though... I gotta say I'm not too sure how much it blends. The stuff looks like cotton candy."
"I know." Sonne said, "But it'll get even better with time. As these start growing on their own and get plenty of water, they're gonna end up changing colors."
Nic looked at that with a bit of a pause, "So you're saying what's already looking interesting is gonna get better, and you don't have to do much for it."
"I suppose that is one way to put it." Dan said, "I've had my concerns, but she leads this for a reason." Dan put down the flowers for a moment, "You're Nic, right? That one who was splashed with punch at the Homecoming Party?"
Nic didn't really answer, he just looked away and fixed his long hair, ears going back.
"Dan, I know the school laughed at him over it, but don't make any big jumps." Sonne said, "Nic's actually really sweet and nice to be around."
"I was just gonna say that is wrong of what happened, and very unprofessional of those who set it up." Dan said, "If you still would like someone to talk to, There's people willing to talk about it with you."

Nic took a deep breath, "That's a kind offer, but I'm trying to put it behind me." He smiled to Dan, "It's in the past, and I'm trying to get other things going."
"Like what?" Sonne looked to Nic
"I've got a game night actually." Nic smiled as his ears perked up, "Got some Des and a few other friends who are gonna meet at the game store for a session zero." His tail started to wag again, "I'm thrilled that it's gonna be more than just Des and I. A couple others are said to show up so we could have a fun time."
"You play roleplay-games?" A white cat with blur hair called as she ran over, "I heard you were weird but you can't be that bad if you play games that fun."
"Umm... Thanks?" Nic said, trying to keep his smile up, "I best get going. Best of luck on that gardening, guys." Then he started walking away.
"Okay, I finally got my own shovel, what do we gotta get done?" The cat looked to Sonne
"Oh there's still a lot of stuff to plant and move around." Sonne said, "Dan, could you show her what plants have to get moved around?... Dan?"
Dan was watching Nic leave still, "So... Nic is your friend or something?"
"No no, we're brother and sister," Sonne said, "Our mother adopted both of us."
"Wait, brother?" Dan looked to Sonne, then back to Nic in the distance, and then back to her with a short pause, "Why does Nic have long hair then? Does he ever cut it?"
"You'd have to ask him." Sonne said, "I've never seen him with another hair."
Dan watched for a bit, opened his mouth for a moment then held his tongue. Then he got to work with Casper to finish up the florist work outside the school.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Part 25

Title: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/49655729/

Part 24: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54226939/

Part 26: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54392221/

Casper ©  FuzzieredPanda

Dan ©  tailsofnature

Art, other characters, and story ©  Watcher12