[ptarmigan]

username: ptarmigan
buttermilk: buona!
prompt:
"hey sorrel! did you know my favorite plants are succulents? i love how cute their leaves are and how easy they are to care for. they look cute in individual pots but i usually move them to large ones and put several together so they can thrive. is my surprise plant similar to my favorite or the complete opposite? come on, just a hint, please?"

extra prompt 1:
though looking at the clipboard was extremely tempting, buona considered herself an extremely honest cow. she would not betray sorrel's trust like that and would instead wait to find out what her plant was. buona gave a final longing glance at the clipboard before turning on her hooves and walking away.

extra prompt 2:
having chosen not to snoop around, sorrel's loud voice spooked her none the less. she flinched and dropped the glass pot she had in her hands - it shattered on the floor. she frowned and looked over at sorrel. "well, it was meant to be a surprise... but i was planting you something as a party gift. only now the pot i painted is broken." she huffed, looking down in disappointment.
[186 words]

[Cactologist]

Username: Cactologist
Buttermilk: Bedelia
Prompt: (Sorry in advance for the length, don't feel the need to read all of it!)
After checking on her plant, Bedelia decides that everything is going well and that she should take the chance to pester Sorrel for more hints. She finds her in the back of the greenhouse, working on planting some seeds. Perhaps it they were the same as hers!
"Hey, Sorrel! Whatcha planting?" Bedelia asks, thinking she's pretty sneaky and attempting to peek over her shoulder.
Jumping a little, Sorrel smoothly slides the pot underneath a table. "Nothing much. How's your plant doing?"
"Great! Thanks for the tips! But, uh, since it's getting taller and all, I've been wondering how you know I'll like my plant?" Bedelia didn't really care for the answer, but she was disappointed that Sorrel didn't show her the seeds she was planting and still wanted answers.
"Actually, I have a way of reading cows. Tell me a little bit about your favorite plant, and I'll see how right I was." Sorrel answers, expertly reading Bedelia's mind, like always.
"Well," Bedelia stalls, trying to think of something to say. She had never grown a plant, much less chosen a favorite one. She should have thought of this before she asked her question! "um, I guess I like food plants?"
"Was that a question? And you like... food plants?" Sorrel says, raising an eyebrow.
Bedelia collects herself. "Well, yes. I do like to eat quite a lot, and fruit is even better than just leaves and grass. I, well, don't see the point of plants if they're not to eat, I guess..." her voice fades off when she sees Sorrel's shocked expression.
"You don't like plants? Unless you can... eat them?" Sorrel asks, trying to make sense of why Bedelia had even come to the greenhouse in the first place.
"Well, um, now I like other plants. Yes, I actually like mine quite a bit. Even if it's not, you know for eating..." she chuckles nervously as Sorrel's face becomes even more bewildered. So much for playing it cool and getting hints. "You know, speaking of my plant, I better go check on it. Yeah, um, you hear that? He must be calling me. What? No. That's not what I meant. I, uh, gotta go!" With that, Bedelia turns and bolts, her face aflame and feeling Sorrel's confused gaze on her back. What a mess! (386 words)
Extra prompts (both): Bedelia is beyond curious at what the clipboard says because, after all, she hates surprises. She has to see what is says. Right now, though, she knows Sorrel won't let the clipboard out of her sight. She'll have to come back later during a time when the greenhouse is busy.
That afternoon, Bedelia sees a group of rowdy teenage cows heading towards the greenhouse. That'll be the perfect distraction for Sorrel! Crouching down to blend in, she joins the back of the group. Even though the cows are confused and look at her weird, they don't ask questions.
Once inside the greenhouse, Bedelia slinks behind a shelf of plants and to the back where Sorrel's desk sits. When the group of cows comes in, Sorrel immediately hops up to help them (or stop them from causing trouble), so the coast is clear. Bedelia tiptoes closer. After a minute of searching, she sees her prize: the clipboard! Without hesitation, she snatches it up. Scanning the front, she sees a profiling of a cow she doesn't know. Beside the category "Plant Given," Bedelia finds a string of words that must be in another language. Quickly she flips through the pages, looking for her name. Finally, on the last page, she sees it. Her eyes dart down the page, anticipation rising inside her. There it is!
"Plant given..." Bedelia reads out loud, her heart pounding. Then she stops."You know, this is wrong. I can't betray Sorrel like this. She gifted me they seeds, so she can tell me when she wants." She begins to put down the clipboard, but then stops again, hesitating. "But... then again... it's my plant... and I won't understand what it says anyway... so maybe just one peak? Yes, just a glance..." She turns back to the page, looks, and... it's blank. "WHAT!?" Bedelia shouts, immediately covering her mouth and glancing around. No one seemed to have heard, so she looked back at the page. Yup, it was blank alright. Maybe she wrote it somewhere else instead? As she flips through the pages once again, she hears footsteps close by, and her blood runs cold. As fast as physically possible, she drops the clipboard, whirls around, and picks up the nearest plant, just as Sorrel rounds the corner.
"What are you- oh, Bedelia. It's just you. Did you... scream about something?" Sorrel asks, eyeing the plant Bedelia was holding. At the same time, Bedelia looks at it for the first time, too. Although she doesn't know a lot about plants, she knows it is a Venus Fly Trap. She relaxes, a plan coming to mind.
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I came back here looking for you, and this thing just bit me!"
"It... bit you? Like, it just jumped off the shelf and bit you?" Sorrel eyes her strangely, once again. Oh no, her plan wasn't working.
Bedelia clear her throat. Might as well go along with it now. "Yup, well kinda. It bit my tail while I walked by. Yeah, that's what happened." Bedelia could tell Sorrel wasn't buying a word of what she was saying. "But, um, I'm better now, and I forgot my question. So I better be going. Bye!" And with that, she hands the plant to Sorrel and bolts for the second time that day. (553 words)

[acadicus]

Username: acadicus
Buttermilk: Nessa
Prompt: All three prompts are in this :')

With satisfaction, Nessa picked up her pot to get a better view. She squinted at the now-larger plants that had only been tiny sprouts days ago and carried them over to Sorrel.

"Hey Sorrel - I swear this time I'm not pestering you with questions about my plant! I was just wondering what plant is your favorite kind? I'm thinking of starting to try to grow plants on my own and I'd love to know some recommendations. I quite like how delicate and vibrant daffodils look, but I'm not sure how easy they are to grow. Possibly even a couple of care tips for your favorites if you're willing?"

Sorrel responded with some information about a plant Nessa couldn't remember the name of. Oh well, she tried her best. Sorrel then quickly snatched up an exposed clipboard and mumbled something about how she didn't mean to leave it there. Nessa simply shrugged - there wasn't any reason for her to doubt Sorrel - and went back to the place where the rest of the plants were gathered. She stood by the table covered in a numerous amount of plants and just took in the scene. There were vines, flowers, leaves, and tiny buds. It was almost breathtaking how all of these plants simply came from some seeds.

"What are you doing?" Sorrel called out from behind her. Nessa whipped around to face her.

"Oh, I- was j-just heading out," Nessa stammered, alarmed.

Sorrel simply looked at her quizzically then returned to her work. Slightly shaken, Nessa turned and headed for the door, taking one last glance at her plant before she left for the day. (272)

[♔Voltaire♔]

Username: ♔Voltaire♔
Buttermilk: Viola
Prompt:
Returning to the greenhouse the next day, Viola was pleased to see the continued growth of her mystery plant. She scans the plot for a few minutes, being sure to remove any growling weeds or unexpected mites from the plant and the soil around it before grabbing her watering can and nutrient bag to begin her daily chores. Sorrel had given her a few instructions how how to better care for the mystery plant, which seemed to have helped the small sprouts growth immensely.

Seeing Sorrel from across the way, Viola figured she would tell the heifer about her sprouts progress and perhaps try to get some information out of her concerning the plant in question. Viola still had no idea what exactly her plant was, so after a bit of conversation with no dice, Viola sulked back over to her plant to give it one more shower of water before taking her leave.

Username: ♔Voltaire♔
Buttermilk: Viola
Prompt:
Viola would definitely go snooping for the clipboard! Viola wouldn't consider herself a snooper by nature, but she hates having secrets being kept from her, especially ones that she deems are important or will affect her in some way. Viola doesn't waste her time with the other herd members in Firefly Velley, but she secretly will eavesdrop on her friends' conversations because she values their opinions on her and how she treats them. (73 words)

Username: ♔Voltaire♔
Buttermilk: Viola
Prompt:
Upon hearing Sorrel's question, Viola calmly turns around to meet her gaze. Luckily at that point in time, Viola was merely searching for another bag of nutrients, while looking for the clipboard on the side, so with a small sigh Viola sends her a glare and crosses her arms.

"Why, I was just looking for that other bag of nutrients you have hiding around here. I t was here the other day but it seems you've up and moved it elsewhere. If you'd excuse me I would like to get back to searching unless you're willing to tell me where you placed it." And with that, Viola is back to hunting for the nutrients, relieved that she dodged the bullet this time. (122 words)

[BadgerBuddies]

Username: BadgerBuddies
Buttermilk: Matcha
Prompt:
Noticing an even bigger bloom today, Matcha goes running through the greenhouse in search of Sorrel. Nope, Sorrel still won’t give any answers out!!! Instead, Sorrel just asked the flowery heifer what her own favorite flower was. Matcha’s mind raced, as she didn’t know what variety to select, she loved all flowers so much! If she had to pick just one, maybe…

“Daffodils” she told Sorrel. “They’re very bright and vibrant and have a bit of an out of the ordinary shape”. Matcha wasn’t even sure if this was her actual favorite, just one of many. She just hoped that if she answered, Sorrel might give her a clue as to what may be growing from the seeds she had given her.

///

Matcha was so desperate to know what kind of flowers her plant babies were!! Sorrel didn’t even give her a hint after the heifer told her what her favorite kind of flower was. This wasn’t like Matcha, but she loved her seeds so much, she had grown so attached to them. She needed to know what they were going to be so she could care for them accordingly!!

She noticed Sorrel’s clipboard lying around. The soft heifer knew she shouldn’t, but, would Sorrel ever even know if she took one tiny little peak? Matcha hovered near where the clipboard was, attempting to weigh the pro’s and con’s.

///

Suddenly, Matcha hears Sorrel’s voice calling out to her. The heifer must have been so deep in thought that she didn’t hear any hoofbeats coming to warn her that Sorrel was fast approaching.

Matcha nearly jumped out of her skin when Sorrel interrupted her internal debate. Sorrel was already suspicious, and the flowery heifer’s behavior sure wasn’t helping her case. When asked what she was doing, Matcha responded “I’m sorry, I just zoned out wondering what on Earth my plant could be! It’s all I can really think about lately, it’s kind of consuming me.” Well, most of it wasn’t a lie, and technically she was wondering what her plant could be while debating whether or not to flip over the clipboard. She was basically being honest and just leaving out that one, non-important detail. Now that that was cleared up, Matcha scurried away, back to her plant, relieved she didn’t peak at the clipboard after all and get into trouble with Sorrel.

(393 total)

[honeybunchesofoats]

Username: honeybunchesofoats
Buttermilk: Triton
Prompt:

6: Triton smiled widely at his growing plant. He grabs Arabella and holds her close, but he realizes he can't really do much further at this point. He sees Sorrel sitting in the corner of the greenhouse, tending to a smaller cactus. He shuffles over and sits down a good distance away from her.

"Do you mind if we talk a bit? It'll help Arabella grow but I'm not really sure what to say today..."

Sorrel smiled and nodded at the boy before looking back at the cactus. "Sure thing kid, why don't you tell me what your favorite kind of plant is? Start out simple and maybe we can keep the conversation flowing from there?"

Triton sighed in relief and nodded his head. He wasn't too good at talking to people but if they were keeping the topic of plants he'd be ok.

"Well...working with plants is what I do so it's hard to pick favorites...but I'd have to go with forget-me-nots. The blue-tinted ones especially because they remind me of my sister Rho. She ran away from home a while back but I still think she's out there. I've seen forget-me-nots just when I've started to give up hope on her coming back.", he smiles fondly (207)

Extra 1: Triton had been staring at the clipboard for several minutes. Sorrel had gotten up to tend to the outside plants and had it was tempting him. He felt in his bones that the identity of his plant was on that sheet. He stood quietly and walked ever so slowly to where she had thrown in haphazardly on one of the counters. He lifts it and starts to sift through the document, looking for his name. (75)

Extra 2: No sooner did Triton find his name did Sorrel's voice ring throughout the room. He jumped, giving a small shout before shoving the board behind his back. "I-I...um...it's not what it looks like! It...fell! Yeah, the board fell as you walked past...I don't think you noticed but I didn't want it to get ruined so I...picked it up.", he smiled awkwardly, knowing that it was a sorry excuse and that the girl had seen him sifting through the papers themselves. "I'm uh...gonna head out for the day.", he sets the clipboard back on the desk. "I have to uh...collect some crops for Liz so...bye!"

Triron all but rushed out of the greenhouse, embarrassed blush on his face. (117)

[DarkestWerewolf]

Username: DarkestWerewolf
Buttermilk: Aria
Prompt: 6 + both extras - 432 words

Aria sighed, watching her pots with lazy eyes. They have grown even more the past few days under her watchful eyes and care. The plants have now grown significantly bigger and a lot more leafier - if that’s a word. Even though Aria had taken care of them very well, she still had no idea what they were growing into. Fern of some sort? She was puzzled. Searching for an answer on the internet wasn’t much help because practically all plants have big leaves. Aria turned to Sorrel who was watering the flowers behind her to ask what they were once more. Sorrel just let out a giggle and said to have patience, refusing to answer.
“Maybe a hint?”
Sorrel turned around, a cheeky smile plastered on her face. “Nope.”

As she left, Aria noticed a clipboard on an empty pot where Sorrel had just left. She leaned over the chair and peered, rather puzzled by it. Sorrel always carried one around but the contents of it were never shown since she always kept it against herself when Aria talks to her. Just as she was barely able to make out a few words, Sorrel came rushing in to grab her clipboard before giving a sheepish smile and quickly leaving once more. Aria was extremely curious. It seemed to contain the species of plants of the greenhouse volunteers and the care for each species. Regardless, Aria wasn’t one to snoop around and decided to leave it as it be. Sorrel probably wanted it to be a secret until it has fully grown so the plant can be the surprise itself rather than Sorrel telling her about the mystery plant.

Just as Aria was about to drift off into a nap, she remembered that she hadn’t placed egg shells into her plants yet. The bovine got up and headed into the storage in search for the container. She skimmed around, looking for the familiar little container until a voice suddenly caught her off guard.
“What are you doing?”
It was Sorrel.
“Looking for the egg shell container. I forgot to sprinkle some in earlier.” Aria replied.
She wasn’t nervous because she knew she wasn’t in any wrong or guilty for snooping around so it was pretty casual for Aria.
“Oh! Well that’s easy. It’s actually outside. I placed it outside for you to get it easier but I guess you missed it.” Sorrel laughed, pointing to said container that was sitting on the table just outside the storage.
Aria laughed and thanked her, taking the container with her to complete her care routine.

[Areater]

Username:
Buttermilk: Holly
Prompt: "favorite plant? oh, wow, that's a really hard decision!" holly responded. "i like flowers of all sorts a whole bunch...the bigger and brighter the better, in my opinion. i'm a big fan of roses, once you get past their thorny exterior. yes, pretty big red roses are probably my favorite, if i had to choose!" she said with a smile.
she glanced at the clipboard sorrel was holding and briefly considering trying to sneak a peak to find out what her flower was. it certainly wouldn't be out of character for her - she was willing to do something she shouldn't if it got her what she wanted. but...no, she'd waited so long at this point. she might as well wait and see what her little sapling grew up into!
but she did want to wander around the greenhouse - she knew she wasn't the only buttermilk growing flowers right now. she was curious if they were the same, or different. but as soon as she glanced at some of the other saplings, sorrel appeared out of nowhere. "oh, i was just looking around the greenhouse!" she said with a smile and a casual hair flip. "you have a lot of beautiful plants." holly got into enough trouble that she was used to talking her way out of things, and she didn't want to get on sorrel's bad side. [227 words]

[lucas tazmily]

Username: Pufferheart
Buttermilk: Beth
Prompt: (it has all three prompts in it!)

Beth's plant was growing and growing every single day, and to Beth it looked like it was almost full grown. Still, Sorrel had not told her what it would grow into. She decided to go talk to Sorrel about is once more.

"Hey Sorrel!" Beth said when she saw Sorrel. She had been watering some plants and looked up at Beth.

"What do you need?" Sorrel asked.

Beth knew she had to be sneaky to get Sorrel to tell her about her plant. "Umm, I was just coming over to tell you about my favorite plant! It's the dandelion because it likes to grow in places it shouldn't be, and I like a tough plant. It also has a bright yellow color!"

"Okay," Sorrel said, and went back to her watering. Beth hadn't managed to get any information out of Sorrel, so she decided to go sneaking around.

Beth knew there was a clipboard somewhere that said who was growing what kind of plant. It would probably be located inside of Sorrel's little office, so that was where Beth was searching around when she heard a voice behind her.

"What are you doing?" Sorrel said curiously.

Panicked, Beth quickly said, "What are YOU doing? I mean, I was just minding my own business when you came and disturbed me." Not wanting to make the situation any worse, Beth walked out of there quickly.

[233 words]

[Desmond]

Username: Desmond
Buttermilk: Takara
Prompt: Though she was largely useless with plants, she did have a couple that she valued in her travels. "I'm not very good at gardening, but I appreciate how helpful dandelions are. The tea tastes funny, but it helps bring down swelling if I've hurt myself along the way, and can fix an upset stomach pretty quickly. Yarrow and aole are also good ones, when I can find them - they help treat wounds themselves, especially burns. And mint tea's been used forever to satisfy an empty stomach, when food is scarce. I don't suppose I might be so lucky to be able to rely on my little plant like that?"

-[Extra #1]-

While part of her considered snooping, she decided against it this time. She wasn't adverse to trying to sneak information from sources - it was what the best explorers had to do, sometimes - but when it wasn't necessary, when it was just to find out something that she might find out in the end anyway? Not worth potentially inciting the ire of her source.