Le Jardin Extraordinaire (Dino)

Only the greater fear that Honoré would surely tell everyone about this and he would become a laughing stock stopped Dino from dissolving into a blubbering wreck. At the back of his mind he couldn't believe he'd been so stupid as to get himself into this situation, but he'd just wanted to make himself useful and complete the task properly. Any likelihood of the two boys being friends had obviously gone right out of the window; but Dino was just hoping that he was going to get out of this without wetting himself.

Okay, that thought actually brought a slight smile to the boy's face which coincided with Honoré speaking. Sure, he was scared, too scared to actually move, but he knew at least he wasn't that close to losing control. The papillonlisse managed a small sound, thankfully slightly more of a grunt than a whisper and forced himself to meet the other boy's gaze.

Actually, Honoré was looking down at that moment which wasn't great, but as Dino's eyes started to follow that way he heard the command 'do not look down'. "Okay..." he managed, voice barely above a whisper, but he realised he felt a little - just a little - better. His companion seemed to know what to do, he'd taken charge of the situation, and Dino didn't have to think, he just had to do what he was told.

Yeah. This was going to work. Just dangle down and then drop, and really, it couldn't be that far because he'd managed to climb into this tree himself, he definitely hadn't been stranded in it while someone flew away jeering. Except...something flashed into his memory. Honoré hadn't been strong enough initially to pull himself into the tree. Dino wasn't a large boy, but he didn't want to put anyone else at risk by his own panic. He was definitely feeling a little better now, better enough that he managed to make his leg move just a little...

Okay. If he went really slowly, Honoré could take his weight slowly and that might work. He could do this...they could...he forced his other leg to move and then he was somehow braced against the tree trunk, and it wasn't really so far at all, even if he fell. "I think...you can let go in a minute..." he admitted, and then things happened rather quickly and he sort of slid out of the tree, and for a second his arms felt a strain and then he and Honoré both seemed to let go at the same time and he landed on the ground, not painfully but hard enough that he fell and rolled over, and then he was lying on his back staring up at the tree, and he was alive!

Alive, and feeling stupid for his fears.

"S...sorry! I thought...thank you..." he managed, his voice sounding rather more like his own now, and then "are you okay?"

If one thing was certain it was that Honoré wouldn’t tell a soul about how this student service went. The boy did not think about protecting Dino’s reputation whatever that was like. He just found the whole situation incredibly awkward and felt that talking about it would put him into a weird position himself. Honoré clearly did not want to hear rumours about Dino and himself. No, he’d keep it silent.

Honoré understood that Dino was afraid of heights. He knew there were people with such extreme fears and he tried to respect that. However, it was hard to relate to this as he didn’t think they were high up in the tree at all. He could look down and feel nothing in particular. The only thing he thought about was how to get down again without spraining his ankle or something along the lines of that.

Dino did as he was told and Honoré was hopeful that his plan would work out well. Soon enough the Papillonlisse claimed that he could let go in a minute but the pull on Honoré’s arms was quite strong and, to be honest, he thought that the short distance that Dino had to cover was hardly enough to justify him taking the time to what? Gather courage to let go? As though they had heard a command to let go both loosened their grip on the other’s hands and Dino dropped to the ground.

Honoré only just managed to catch another branch so he did not fall out of the tree and onto Dino. He pulled himself up into a more secure sitting position and glanced down at his companion. The Papillonlisse could not be hurt. Maybe he had a bruise or something but that was well deserved after this pathetic display.

At the same time as Dino, Honoré also spoke, asking quite the same thing. “Are you okay?” he wasn’t concerned, though. It was just polite to ask and Honoré was a courteous young wizard. “I’m good,” he said, wondering why Dino asked him. “We should get that task finished now,” he added. He looked for the loppers and took them again. “You should tell me which branches to cut. I suppose from down there you can see it better than I do from within the tree.” He offered, hoping that Dino agreed and they could just move on.

"I...I'm okay" Dino said, though admittedly he spoke before he actually was certain about that. He sat up and felt a sharp pain at the base of his spine, but considering that was the part of his anatomy he'd landed on it was hardly surprising if he had a bruise or two there. He got to his feet slowly, but that seemed to be the only thing that hurt. Anyway, it felt better once he was standing up. He could always go to the hospital wing later on if it didn't feel any better, make up some excuse about what had actually happened...

While he was mostly okay physically, Dino certainly didn't feel that way mentally. He was embarrassed and frankly a little ashamed of himself for freaking out like that, but what was worse was the knowledge that he'd been trying to convince himself that it would be okay for him to climb in the first place. Honoré was right, he could have just stayed on the ground and pointed out the branches that needed to be cut and the job would have gone a lot faster.

Well, they were in exactly that position now and the worst thing he could do would be to make a fuss about it. "Sure. You've got the...uh, yeah..." he gestured weakly to the loppers, then walked around the base of the tree. It would probably be best to point out the branches closest to the other boy and work methodically, then he could move to a different position and start again. "Okay...so there's one a bit to your right. If you think of a clockface, it's at about two o clock and level with your shoulder...and there's another one just above your head at almost the same position" Actually this was easier. Dino could see the dead and sick branches much more easily from here.

Then he had a sudden thought which caused the panic to rise again. His wand! He froze for a moment, then immediately began patting his pockets and breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered it was where he'd left it. Right. Nothing at all to worry about, then. When he looked up again Honoré was already working on the areas he'd mentioned. "If I step back a bit, you can just throw the dead branches down once you've cut them off" he said, hoping he adn't annoyed the Ombrelune sufficiently that anything got aimed directly at him!

Good. Dino said that he was okay and that meant for Honoré that they could move on and try and forget this awkward moment. Hopefully nobody had seen any of this. Really, he didn’t want to have to overhear people talking about this scene.

Honoré sighed in relief when Dino agreed that he’d point out the dead branches and leave Honoré to deal with them. It was not like the Ombrelune fancied climbing in trees and doing a task like this. Clearly this would not become one of his favourite occupations. However, at this point the fifth year felt quite content with the arrangement. He hoped that he would manage to cut the branches quite quickly so they’d be done before long and could part ways again.

Dino seemed to try and describe best he could where Honoré had to turn to find the branches he needed to cut out. At first the Ombrelune was a little confused by the description but soon understood what the other boy meant. “Yeah, I see that one,” he confirmed and slowly moved a little closer to the branch he needed to work on.

“Good plan,” Honoré confirmed as Dino suggested to step back so Honoré could let the dead branches fall down to the ground. He already had the first one cut off anyway and shoved it through two other branches so he could then let it fall down.

“There, that was the first one,” he explained unnecessarily before starting to cut off the branch that Dino had mentioned that was above his head. He almost lost his balance as he lifted the loppers to work overhead but managed to shift his position so he did not fall down.

As he had cut off the branch, though, it fell onto him and Honoré startled and loosened his grip on the loppers that then fell down to the ground. “Ouch,” he muttered. Then he tried to free himself from the dead branch that had quite a few thin twigs that had got entangled with his hair and clothes.

Really, if Honoré had dropped a branch directly on his head Dino wouldn't have complained. He felt so ashamed of himself that he felt that it would be a fitting punishment for acting like such a coward. Why hadn't he just stayed on the ground where he knew he wouldn't have made a fool of himself like that? Thoughts like this would fill his head for the rest of the day, together with the guilt that he wasn't pulling his weight if all he was doing was collecting the dead wood and putting it into a neat pile.

He darted forwards and grabbed the first of the branches as it hit the ground. This one must have been very rotten indeed because it had snapped in two at the point of impact, showering scraps of bark in the immediate area. Dino figured they could just rake the ground at the end - well, he would volunteer to do that, he thought. It might make him feel a bit better about what had happened. Still, he was able to grab the two pieces and drag them over to the pile quickly. putting his foot on the centre of the larger branch and bending it so it broken once again into a more manageable size.

When he heard Honoré's exclamation and the ensuing crash he turned back with a gasp. His first thought was that the other boy had fallen out of the tree, but that would have been a lot louder and more than just a quietish mutter. "Are you okay?" he asked, hurrying back and standing under the tree, picking up the loppers "Do you want me to..?" he trailed off. Dino had intended to ask "do you want me to climb up there?" but of course that was stupid. Besides, he was quite sure that Honoré wouldn't want him climbing in the tree again today. Instead he stepped back and waited until the boy in the tree had managed to disentangle himself from the second branch and dropped that. Then he handed the loppers up again.

"Are you okay to carry on? There's another smaller branch pretty close to your left hand if you wanted to get that one next?" Dino suggested, a little uncertainly.

Student Service wasn’t the worst thing on earth. It wasn’t a punishment either. The weather was pretty decent as well… There really was no reason to wish for it to be over already and yet Honoré was eager to finish the task and call it a day. However, they weren’t done yet and likely wouldn’t be for another while.

He was relieved that his loppers hadn’t landed on Dino - not really for the other boy’s sake but for his own. Honoré really wasn’t eager to bring the Papillonlisse to the hospital wing and explain what happened. It would just delay him getting away and doing something that he actually enjoyed.

“Yeah,” Honoré responded when Dino asked if he was okay. “I’m fine.” And when Dino started with ‘do you want me to’, he was quick to tell the other boy “no! No need at all!” Really, what was Dino going to offer anyway? That he’d climb the tree again so they could enjoy this whole drama anew? No thanks.

“Of course I am,” Honoré muttered, as he took the loppers that Dino offered him. “Okay,” he agreed, spotting the smaller branch that Dino pointed out. He cut it off and it fell onto the ground.

He looked around, found another small branch that he cut off and then looked down at Dino again. “Where should I continue?” he asked, hoping that the Papillonlisse would point out a few more branches and then announce that he couldn’t see any more work up there.

It was okay, really. Sure, this whole thing felt a bit awkward, but Honoré hadn't actually yelled at him or anything and they were still working together, so he could deal with that until the task was finished. Already the area of the tree tha the Ombrelune had been working on was looking better. Healthier, and well, tidier, so that had to be a good thing. And maybe they would be asked to get rid of the dead wood once they'd finished, so they could have a bonfire, which was always fun...

Well, it was fun if you were working with a friend. Dino wasn't sure Honoré would consider him a friend, especially after this. Maybe it would be best if they just finished and then went their separate ways, though working in near-silence wasn't really Dino's style. Thankfully they at least had one thing to talk about. The Papillonlisse shifted position so he had moved around the tree slightly and had a better view of what needed to be done.

"Okay, if you move a bit to your..." he hesitated for a second and pointed in the direction to be sure Honoré understood "right, there's quite a few dead branches there. I guess whatever sickness happened to the tree just happened on that side" he mused, looking up into the branches and frowning thoughtfully. He remained there for a moment until he was sure that the other boy knew where he needed to work and then gathered up the newly-falled branches and took the over to the pile. There he broke and cut them into more manageable sized pieces before turning back to see if there was anything else to clear away yet. There wasn't for the moment, but Dino didn't like standing around doing nothing. It made him feel like he wasn't being useful and it was too quiet for his comfort.

"Did you have a good summer? Do anything interesting?" he asked a little tentatively.

To his right, yeah, Honoré could see what Dino meant but from where he was sitting in the tree now he could not get there. He frowned as he looked for thick branches that would carry his weight if he moved onto them. It really wasn’t as though the boy enjoyed himself up in the tree.

He slowly climbed to the next branch, trying to keep his balance and to not lose the loppers on his way. Once he had shifted into a stable position - the whole thing had taken him about two or three minutes - he began to cut off the dead branches, trying his best to let them fall down in a controlled manner. He felt that, from wrestling with the branches, he had a slight scratch on his cheek that was itching. At least it was not bleeding as he found out when he ran his finger over it.

He looked down at Dino as the boy decided to start some small talk. Honoré figured that the Papillonlisse would not have done that had he stayed up in the tree himself. However, he was surprisingly grateful for the distraction.

“Yeah,” he said, as he cut off another branch, “I had a decent summer. Just spent it at home, though. I didn’t go anywhere exciting, though. How about yourself? Did you go to the summer camp this year?”

They were getting into a routine now, and it felt more natural. Honoré would cut off a branch and drop it, and while he was finding his footing for the next one that gave Dino the opportunity to dart in and grab it before the next one fell. Not that he thought the other boy would purposefully drop something on him, but accidents happened sometimes and having avoided one disaster, it would be a shame if their student service ended in a trip to the hospital wing for one of them.

But all was fine for the moment, and Dino had just deposited the latest broken-up branch on the pile, which had grown quite large by now. At least they had proof of what they had been doing if a professor came along to check. He was collecting the next one and dragging that across when Honoré responded with a question of his own.

Dino momentarily wished he hadn't asked. He'd had a fantastic summer, but now his companion was going to think he was showing off. "Uh...yeah. My brother Silvan and I both went. There was this overnight hike through the forest, it was amazing but there were so many night creature noises...and we weren't allowed to use magic, so we had to just trust the camp counsellors that it was safe...I wish I'd been allowed to cast Lumos and see what was out there..." he finished a little awkwardly, not having meant to talk quite so enthusiastically or for so long. Did he sound like he was boasting, or just like someone who'd had a good summer? He made his way back under the tree, making sure he kept out of range of anything that might fall on him.

"I think you nearly finished there now. Maybe just that one above your head - if you can reach it" he suggested, in what he hoped was an encouraging tone.

While the work in the tree was getting a bit more of a routine and Honoré understood quickly where to look whenever Dino told him which branches he ought to cut off, the boy wanted to climb down again. Sitting on branches for so long whilst working mostly overhead was not exactly enjoyable. However, the Ombrelune was well aware that he needed to get the task done. There was no sense in whining. It was much more sensible to keep working fast to get over with the task.

Dino spoke about his holidays and Honoré was actually somewhat grateful that the other boy was talking although he barely paid attention to what he said. Yet, it was better to have some sort of conversation than to work in awkward silence.

“My sister went to summer camp, too,” he said eventually. “My brother and I didn’t go. I don’t know if Rainier wanted to go but I wasn’t eager.” He put his loppers into his lap for a bit and stretched his arms that were feeling a little sore from the work.

“Glad you enjoyed your time there,” he added, but the tone of his voice hinted at the fact that he didn’t really care.

Honoré glanced up as Dino mentioned another branch and nodded. He couldn’t reach it from where he was sitting now but maybe he could stand and lean his back against a thick branch to steady himself. It seemed a little tricky but not impossible. He placed the loppers carefully on a branch, hoping they wouldn’t fall down while he’d pull himself up.

“Okay,” he said, not feeling particularly confident as he stood in the tree and took the loppers to begin his work on the branch that Dino had pointed out. “Attention,” he called out as the dead branch dropped.

“Do you think that’s it?” he then asked, hopeful that Dino wouldn’t find another branch and that he could climb down again.

The next time Dino looked up into the tree he had a surprise. Rather than a sickly selection of twisted branches, the area they had mostly been working in now looked sparse but also much tidier. Even though Honoré had done most of the work in the tree Dino still felt a sense of achievement that they were close to completing the task. He grabbed a couple more fallen branches and dragged them over to the pile, placing them as neatly as he could so they wouldn't have anything more to be come once Honoré came down from the tree.

Your sister...she's the lit...the girl who likes to dance?" Dino asked, and then wished he hadn't. If it was the first year he was thinking of, he got the impression she didn't think very much of Beauxbatons, and while Dino liked to help younger students, he preferred to help ones who wanted to be there and had just got lost or hadn't made any friends yet. He very much hoped the other boy wasn't going to ask him to keep an eye on his sister or anything like that, and decided not to add anything further to his comment.

Which seemed to be just fine with Honoré, because apparently that conversation was over. Dino tried not to feel uncomfortable, which was silly really because they were hardly friends, just two people who'd been paired together to work on a task that needed to be done. And...as the final branch fell and he looked up once more, it seemed that it was a task that was just about complete. "I think...let me just check..." he said as he made a quick circuit of the tree, looking up into the branches. When he came back he was grinning.

"Okay there's a bit around the other side, but it's only a couple of branches and we can reach them from the ground" he announced happily. He was about to ask whether Honoré could get down by himself but decided that sounded like he didn't trust his companion to manage, so instead picked up the final branch and dragged that over to the pile, where he cut it up the same way he had all the others.

“Yeah,” Honoré confirmed Dino’s question about his little sister. “That’s her.” His voice did not reveal any particular fondness now. He was just stating a fact. Of course, Honoré loved his sister, but she was also the most infuriating person he knew. While he might occasionally say mean things to or about her, he would not allow anyone else to treat Netta badly or speak ill of her.

As Dino looked up into the tree to find more dead branches, Honoré did the same from within the tree. From where he was positioned now he could not spot anything and he was quite hopeful that he could climb back down soon enough. Dino confirmed this as he said that there were just a couple of branches left that they could reach from the ground.

“Great,” Honoré said, relief audible in his voice. “Step back, I’ll drop the loppers,” he warned and then let the tool fall on the ground. He wasn’t particularly high up in the tree but still too high to just jump back down. Carefully he went back into his former sitting position and then found a thick branch next to the one he was sitting on now which he grabbed with both hands, sliding down so his body was dangling just a bit above the ground.

“Okay,” he muttered more to himself than to Dino. Then he let himself just fall down, rolling over as he did so and getting to his feet at once. He dusted off his clothes and turned to look at the tree.

“Let’s finish this up quickly,” he said more to encourage himself to keep going than Dino. He was feeling rather hungry by now and wondered if mealtime was close. Physical work always had that effect on him.

Was he imagining things, or did Honoré sound a little...unenthusiastic about his sister? If so, Dino wondered why that was, but he certainly wasn't going to ask. After all, his elder sublings hadn't even acknowledged his existence at school until the end of his second year, so he knew only too well that family relationships could be difficult sometimes. So he just nodded and made a polite yet noncommittal sound, secretly relieved that he hadn't been asked to watch over the little girl.

He jogged back a few steps, out of range of the loppers, and then moved in and grabbed them as soon as it was safe. The last thing Honoré would want would be to land on them when he jumped out of the tree. With that thought, Dino was forcibly reminded of his panic earlier, and he felt ashamed once again. He wanted to say something, to apologise for his reaction, but at the same time...they'd almost finished the task. There was no reason ever to mention it again. The two boys might not even speak again for months unless they were paired together for a class project.

It was that thought that stopped Dino from asking if the other boy needed any help to get out of the tree. He decided not to say anything, just take a few casual steps back and let Honoré ask if he wanted a hand. The Papillonlisse had a feeling that they were similar in that respect; neither boy would ask for help unless there was no alternative, and sure enough a few moments later Honoré had slithered slightly unceremoniously to the ground.

"Sure!" Dino said agreeably as his companion got to his feet and turned to look at the tree once again. As he was carrying the loppers now, Dino led the way around to where the remaining couple of branches were and had already cut off the first, close to the trunk, when Honoré joined him. "Last one" he said, unnecessarily, and then cut that one off as well, bending down to pick up the smaller of the two offcuts. When he turned to Honoré he was grinning.

"I think we're done...do you think we should take one last look around the tree before we take the tools back?" he suggested as he took the branch he was holding over to the woodpile. The thought that the task was complete and they would soon be heading back to the castle, student service finished for the term, was a very pleasant one indeed.

Honoré was rather glad that Dino did not seem eager to talk about Antoinette or his siblings for the Ombrelune clearly did not want to talk about his sister now, especially not with a boy he barely knew. He figured that Dino was overall trustworthy. He was a nice guy, pretty much open and honest as far as Honoré could tell. However, they weren’t friends, they weren’t sharing a dormitory either. There was no other bond between them than this student service. Honoré briefly wondered if that might change in the future. After their initial difficulties they had worked well together, after all.

Once he was standing firmly with both feet on the ground again Honoré felt almost enthusiastic. They were almost done with the student service and while the task hadn’t been anything that the Ombrelune would choose voluntarily it hadn’t been bad at all. In fact, while he would never say this out loud, he thought it had been quite alright.

Dino had taken the loppers after Honoré had let them fall down and was now cutting off the last branches. Honoré went on dusting his clothes off some more and ran his finger over the scratch on his cheek which was still not bleeding and would probably fade within a day even without the help of magic.

“Yeah, I agree,” Honoré said as he made a few steps around the tree to meet up with Dino again once he was done. “Looks like we’re done. Let’s bring the tools back.” He picked up some of the tools they had brought but not used and they walked back to the groundskeeper's hut. Monsieur García seemed to have observed at least part of their work as he took back the tools without voicing the desire to check their work.

“It was nice working with you,” Honoré told Dino, revealing a slight hint of a smile. “I’m starving now. Shall we go and see if lunch is served already?” He didn’t really wait for a response. It didn’t matter if Dino cared to join him or not. He turned around and started to walk back to the castle, his stomach growling and encouraging the boy to walk faster.

[out]

"Did you see anything we missed?" Dino asked as the other boy checked around the base of the tree, and then nodded at the response. Part of him wanted to take a look himself and admire their handiwork, but he didn't want Honoré to think he didn't trust him. He decided to come back later and take another look - actually, he could bring Silvan back here and tell him everything that had happened. His little brother wouldn't think he had been a wimp for getting scared in the tree, he'd be impressed that Dino had dared to get up there in the first place. Yeah, that was definitely a good plan.

Still carrying the loppers, and grabbing the handle of a broom they'd brought but not needed he followed the Ombrelune back towards the groundkeeper's hut. "We finished!" Dino called out as they approached, and while they didn't exactly get an enthusiastic response, clearly the man trusted that they'd been out there long enough to do a decent job and simply accepted the tools. Then Dino got a surprise.

He had been hanging the loppers up in a small shed where M. Garcia had indicated, but he stopped stock still for a moment. While it was true that Dino had, overall, quite enjoyed this student service (apart from the getting stuck in the tree part, obviously) he hadn't expected this. "Yeah. Yeah, it was" he said, his own smile spreading broadly across his face. He didn't say anything stupid like suggesting they could work together again, but he decided the comment about lunch was an invitation to walk back to the castle. "I hope so. We can always go in a few minutes early and have a drink if it's not quite ready" he said cheerfully to Honoré's departing back as he quickened his pace, catching up with the other boy so it almost looked as if they were friends walking together.

[out]