How Green Becomes Wood

"The ones in here and the ones you brought to me are all I've got right now," Cooger replied with a shrug, "Even without the kittens and Hank, that's seven cats. Just last week we had another, Goldfish, but she went to her forever home. She was great, an old little lady like Hank. She purred like a lawn mower. But I don't even know where to begin to teach about cats. They're way more complicated than anyone realizes unless you really get to know them."
 
"I'd say that applies to most things in life: Complicated when you get to know them," Lex said, putting her hands in her pockets. She glanced out the door. "It's a bit chilly, but want to show me around the place? Looks like a little slice of woody paradise."
 
She plucked at the body of her thick-knitted, brown sweater covered in autumnal leaves. "I'm good. This is warmer than it looks." She paused looking him over. "Although I might take you up on borrowing your hoodie later."
 
"Alright, but if you get cold once we're out there, it's on you." Cooger teased, pulling on a flannel and his jacket, "Don't expect me to trick me into giving you my jacket once we're out there 'cause suddenly you decided you're cold. I'm smarter than that."
 
"Nah not yet. It's too cold to take in new animals. But I've got the chickens and Millie, the guard goose." He said, taking her hand, "You're lucky she didn't come honking at you when you drove up unannounced. She's vicious when she wants to be."
 
Lex was slightly surprised when Cooger took her hand, unused to guys willing to make the first move so willingly like that. She appreciated it. "Man, those cobra chickens can be the worst when they want to be," she grumbled, giving his hand a light squeeze. "I'm glad she's on your side. And chickens are great!"
 
"Chickens are great until you're dealing with a broody hen," Cooger replied, stopping by the coop to show them off. Like his cats, he knew each of them by name and was able to talk about their distinct personalities. Walking further on with her, he came up to a larger fenced area, "This is my garden, although this time of year there ain't much to see since we're past the harvest. But I grow squash, rhubarb, romaine, collard greens, potatoes, carrots... And then basically just give it all away to Dark and Daizi 'cause I'm too lazy to cook with it most of the time. 'Cept the potatoes. But I've got a cellar full of what can be preserved and I've gotten good at pickling."
 
"Rhubarb?" Lex smiled wistfully. "Now there's a memory unlocked! My granny, she used to have a garden, including rhubarb. She'd make crisp, bread, pies, and I don't know what all else with rhubarb. The rest of my family hated rhubarb. Me? I loved everything she cooked! During certain seasons, I'd eat so much rhubarb I think my mother was afraid I'd turn pink," she chuckled.
 
"Dark and Daizi don't like it much. Don't know about their boys. It's one of the only things I keep mostly for myself, but next harvest I'd gladly give you some." He told her, swinging their clasped hand slightly as he grinned at the look on her face, "My Nana loved it. I like it because you gotta really work to kill it."
 
"It's that hardy, is it? Maybe I'll try growing some myself someday," Lex chuckled. "I've never actually tried to cook with it myself. I don't really cook much, and I tend to stick with the ten recipes I know, but for rhubarb? I'll gladly talk to my mother to get my granny's recipes! What do you make with it?"
 
"I like putting it in a salad with strawberries. Daizi grows strawberries and she shares the fruits she grows with me like I share my vegetables with her. Let me tell you, eating that salad with lettuce and rhubarb I grew and strawberries she grew so everything is that fresh? I may not look like a guy who eats a lot of salad, and most of the time I'm not, but I wait all year for that one." Cooger told her, "I also sometimes make muffins by I burn them about half the time."
 
Lex gave Cooger a playful push with her shoulder. "Why you gotta go making me crave something I'm not going to be able to have for months?" she demanded, pretending to pout. "That's so cruel of you! That sounds so good!"
 
"You're the one who asked me what I made!" He replied, shoving her back, "Don't ask questions you don't want answers to! Dark has been talking a big game about planting hazel trees and if he finally does I'll be able to add hazelnuts to it."
 
Lex didn't say anything right away as they walked. "Hazelnuts come from trees?" she finally asked in the tone of someone realizing something late in life. "I thought they came from underground! Like a peanut!"
 
"Don't look at me," she snorted in amusement. "I wouldn't know the first thing about nuts! Other than a horse chestnut, and I only know that because there was this rich family that had a tree in their yard, and it liked to drop those spikey balls of pain and fury on the sidewalk. When I was a tot, I picked one up, carried it with me for hours, and then when my dad asked to see how far I could throw it, I beaned him right in the forehead from across the room."
 
Cooger laughed, leading her away from his garden towards his favourite trails although he didn't expect them to walk the full length of any of them, although he wouldn't mind if they did, "If he goes ahead with planting his trees, I'll tell him to plant them away from your property line so you can't start throwing them around at people. Can't give you that power. Although thankfully he won't plant anything that spikey, for Daizi's sake."
 
Lex snickered, willingly following him wherever he chose to lead. "Luckily - or maybe unluckily - I graduated from ranged attacks. I prefer melee now. But I suppose having a few ranged missiles in your pocket is good for tactics." She looked around. "You have a beautiful place. And you have walking trails?"
 
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