(Not Very) Secret Garden

"Aaaand there we go!" Obie said triumphantly. He wiped a few beads of sweat from his brow with the back of a gloved hand, inadvertently smudging a bit of dirt on his forehead as he did so. "That's the herbs replanted, soil tilled, and vegetables watered! Not too bad, Obie. Not too bad at all." And the day had been great as well! Nice and quiet, beautiful weather, quiet, the day was quiet, but if there was only one thing that seemed to keep it from being perfect, it would have to b-

*DONK*

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!" Obie quickly ducked down and covered his head as the Shishi-odoshi filled with water and fell down, breaking the silence for the umpteenth time. "Why does it keep doing that! Honestly..." He peaked up from his self-made barricade of fingers, making sure the noise didn't cover up any sneaky garden-hating foes. But it didn't, so he managed to stand up without any further issue. "Well, at least it's over now. Now all I need to do is finish my work in the second field and it'll all be good for the next few ho-"

*DONK*

"AAAAAAAAAAH! Why do we have two!?"

"Well, with how many plants you have I felt it best to get two. The sound is soothing and it keeps the birds from eating your beloved garden." She may not have been a sneaky garden hating foe, but the Captain of Division Four was rather sneaky when she wanted to be. Lakshmi had been run busy lately, unable to come visit her new Third Seat Obie Hogosha and properly greet him. For that she felt more than a bit bad and had made sure to set aside some time for today to meet the rather nervous young man.

He had seemed so busy though she hadn't wanted to interrupt his work, so instead the darker skinned Captain had watched curiously and had gotten a better feel for the man from this. Stepping out from her hiding place, she brushed back blue-black waves of hair from her shoulder and gave him a gentle smile. He was taller than her short frame and so much paler he might as well be a ghost to her. She was wearing her Captain's Haori over a slim uniform, tied closed around her with a sash so it wasn't floating around and getting in her way.

"You are Obie Hogosha, yes?"

"AAAAAAH!"

The sudden new voice caused Obie to assume the hiding position again, this time pulling his sunhat further down on his head to try to make less of a target of himself. "T-Take all my money if you want, just don't steal from the garden oh geeeeeeez!" Where did that voice come from?! Were they hiding until I left to steal from the garden? ...What if they're trying to get me ? Oh geez why what did I do?! The terrified albino man cowered in fear for a few good seconds before the entire of what Lakshmi said registered in his head.

"W-Wait... You ordered them?" Peeking out from his straw hat, Obie finally saw that it was Captain Lakshmi herself who had scared him out of his wits. OH GOD IT'S THE CAPTAIN He immediately shot up to his feet, furiously saluting several times with shaking hands. "Y-Y-Yes! Third Seat Obie Hogosha reporting for d-duty ma'am! Captain! Ma'am Captain!" Oh gooooooooooooood I've made the worst first impression with her ever she's probably just going to kill me now and then WHO WILL PICK THE VEGETABLES WHEN THEY'RE READY?! Eyes wide in panic, Obie kept saluting with both hands. He was too terrified to remember which one was the right one to use. Better play it safe.

Lakshmi sighed very softly, having heard the young man was a rather jumpy one and shook her head. She kept all of her amusement hidden, it wouldn't do to be teased by your Captain when you were so nervous you cowered in such an odd manner. He was making himself a smaller target, rather like a frightened animal and she crossed her arms before a finger settled against her lips. Her head was tilted just slightly, though she failed at keeping the mirth from dancing in her eyes at such a display.

She waited to speak, allowing him all of his panicking before a small and gentle smile appeared on her features. "Oh dear... Hogosha, please calm down. I fear for your health if you keep up this panicking, finding another third seat and someone to tend the gardens would be a pain."

His odd saluting, his shaking hands... all of it was hard to not find the most amusing thing in the world. Captain Lakshmi had to be mature though and kept her face carefully composed and serene, displaying none of her amusement or mirth at the scene. Hogosha rather needed calm and steadiness.

"Are there others bullying you and taking your money? I would rather not have such antics in my squad if I can help it, so please elaborate if you will." His earlier words were rather troublesome and hopefully once he had calmed down a bit she could get a response that was coherent from him. This meeting was going oddly but Lakshmi was fine with that.

Keep calm. Right, Captain said to keep calm so I have to keep calm AND SHE'S ALREADY PLANNING ON REPLACING ME OH GOD. I MESSED UP ALREADY IT'S MY FIRST DAY WHAT HAVE I DONE! Obie's hands lowered to his side, still shaking, as he cleared his throat. "U-Uh right, Captain Lakshmi Ma'am. I will... try to be calm. Um, it's good to meet you, finally? It's a pleasure to be assigned to the um, Fourth Division a-and everything." Obie never thought that his Captain would actually be shorter than he was. But that didn't mean that she was any less scary either. That just means she's hiding all of the scary somewhere else that he can't see AND THAT 'S TERRIFYING

"U-Uh no Captain! No one's been bullying me at all, it's just... It's the logical thing to assume when someone sneaks up on you? If they take the money and just leave me alone it's totally fine, I mean, I could find money somewhere else if I needed it. But I uh, don't want them messing up my garden. I've put a lot of hard work into it a-and I wouldn't want them to mess up our herbs and everything either. Kinda can't make the balms and ointments without herbs, ahaha..." Obie started twiddling his thumbs as he talked, hiding his eyes under his sunhat as best he could. "And if it's a Hollow trying to get me maybe throwing my money would distract it long enough for me to get away? Otherwise I'm not really cut out for fighting it ahahaha..."

"The pleasure is mine, it is wonderful to have such a diligent worker tending the gardens now. You seem to have expanded them nicely, I never have time or well skill with such things." And she would have less time soon. Lakshmi let out a soft sigh before smiling and reaching up to tug her hair, a nervous tic of hers. "If you wish for more gardens, there are a few more that lie fallow really and I can hand over control of them. Maybe a few members under you to work...?"

Her eyes took in the careful tending and obvious love with a warm grin, liking his care and deciding he could possibly use people to help if he wished. A third seat did get some privileges.

"I am rather sorry it took me so long to actually meet you. It is good to hear there is no bullying but I think... I think you have your logic mixed up a bit. No one here will bother with the gardens, I would learn of it and I have a rather strict policy on such actions." Lakshmi's grin was warm for Obie, but she was not one to take lightly to anyone disobeying her commands or causing problems.

"Any hollows that get inside my squad will also be taken care of, either by me or one of the other members with fighting skills... My Assistant perhaps as well. At least here you are safe Hogosha." Her hands reached up, long fingers pushing the hat up a bit so he had to look at her as she smiled. "We will protect your precious gardens, do not worry. That said, if you have issues please inform either Daiji who is your Lieutenant or myself. My assistant Kaimu Miura is also trustworthy, so please do not toss your money at everyone?"

“Oh! I, um… thank you, Captain Ma’am. I’m only uh, doing what needs to be done a-and everything.” More thumb twiddling, more hiding eyes. I mean… I’m not the best gardener or anything. I just… try hard? “But I um, more fields would be nice! I-I mean, if it’s not too much trouble, Captain Lakshmi Ma’am.” More gardens? I could… I could grow so much more! And that would mean more quiet time to myself, and more time without have to worry abou-what did she say about people under me.

“Oh nononono!” Obie began to shrink down even more, thumbs twiddling at an increased rate. “I couldn’t possibly… I mean who would even want to work with someone like me? And what if they’re scary o-or what if they really don’t like gardening and mess it up because they don’t care a-a-and…” Oooooooooh noooooooooo I can’t handle having people working under me I’d be such a terrible boss  oh god oh geez what have I gotten myself into

Obie continued to panic internally as Lakshmi did her best to be reassuring to the poor littlebunny man. He let out a small “meep” as she lifted his sunhat up and smiled at him, her own eyes meeting wide, red ones. “I-I uh… I mean umm, thank you Captain Ma’am. I’ll try to keep that in mind while I umm, just… hide. In my room. Where it’s safe from everything else and dark and soft and-Oh geez, oh dear…” I mean, at least the Captain has said I’m safe, b-but I’ve never met the lieutenant or her assistant either. Oh no what if they’re really scary too and they sneak up on me o-or what if THEY don’t like vegetables and- ohdear

Obie was such a nervous man that Lakshmi put on all her soothing airs. If she teased him at all she felt he would snap and that wasn't what she intended at all. Instead she nodded thoughtfully before replying. "I see, then I will hand the other fields over into your care Hogosha. Captain is fine or Ma'am, but both is a bit of a mouthful so please, please just use one?"

Maybe it was impossible for her to resist teasing entirely but the smile on her face faded a bit as she met and held Obie's red eyes with her own icy blue. "There are a few who are as quiet and shy as you, and it is possible to leave messages or orders on a black board or white board for them to follow. A Third Seat is a rather important position, so it would be best to ease you into having such responsibilities like this. I will find a few who like gardening as much as you and switch their duties over if you think you can handle writing down instructions for them to follow?"

She raised an eyebrow and stared up, wondering what his response would be to that though his meep hadn't gone unnoticed. Her smile softened just a bit as he continued to panic just a twinge. "Hiding is good if you can not fight, and soft and dark safe rooms sound quite nice. I should find a spare room and convert it to the pillow and dark room now... you have given me such a good idea Hogosha."

Lakshmi's smile turned rather warm and bright, lighting up her cold toned eyes into much warmer ones as she attempted to soothe him more and more. How in the worlds was she to accomplish this taste with such a nervous man?

“O-Oh okay, um thank you Captain Lakshmi Ma’am. U-Uh I mean Captain! Yeah, Captain…” Oh god I wasn’t supposed to use both oh geez I look like such an idiot aaaaaaaaaa The possibility of more gardens definitely slowed down the speed of Obie’s twiddling thumbs as he started to ponder exactly what future works would be needed to get them in working order as well. But now I have… Oh boy there’s so much more now! Just so many more herbs and vegetables and maybe we could set off a section for some flowers and everything! The smallest hint of a smile began to replace the look of terror on his face, but his eyes still had a hint of worry in them as Lakshmi talked about hiring others to work the gardens along him.

“A um, black board? I… Never thought of that before um, Captain. I mean, I guess that would be a lot better? A-As long as I don’t have to meet them, at least for now.” Still have to get used to being this whole “Third Seat in charge of stuff” thing. And just because they’re in 4th doesn’t mean they’re not possibly super scary as well… “But um, thank you Captain. That… That might be okay for me to um, try out.” Oh no but what if they write rude things on the board or make fun of my writing or OH GOD WHAT IF THEY CALL IT THE BUNNY BOARD OH GOD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

“Noooooo not the bunny board…” Obie cried softly. Freezing up at the realization that he said that out loud, Obie shook his head rapidly and took a step back from Lakshmi. “R-R-Right! Dark, soft rooms are good to uh, have! My own room is kinda like that. I can uh, give you some pointers on how to make it the most relax-“

*DONK*

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” The call of the shishi-odoshi sounded off again, causing Obie to duck down immediately and pull his straw hat tight over his head. Oh gooooood it’s so going to be called the Bunny Board I’m so doomed I’m doomed I’m doooooooomed

Lakshmi brought a hand up to her mouth and looked away, amusement written all over her features as she attempted not to laugh. She was failing quite miserably, small chuckles escaping her fingers despite their attempts to trap them in her mouth. Captain Lakshmi Ma'am... so nervous for no reason!

At least that smile helped, it seemed he wished to deal with the other gardens as well. She was both pleased at someone else to take that stress off of her as well as for how happy it made him. It was also nice to know the blackboard idea might work and thus Lakshmi stored it away to note to Kai. He would definitely see to it, she might end up too busy again and it was important. "There will definitely be a white board for your use and orders. I will also make sure it is not festooned with... Erm, Bunnies?"

Maybe he had such a thing against bunnies? She could see a vague resemblance, but it was over shadowed by the nervous step back. Her hand went out as if to stop him before it fell and instead she attempted a soft smile through her growing amusement. "Pointers would be quite wel-Oh!"

The sound scared the man and with a worried sound, she dropped down to her knees in the dirt. Her hands went out to the ones gripping his hat with such worry, gently trying to get them to stop clinging so tightly. Her icy eyes were filled with worry, looking over him for any sign of strong distress. Well much stronger than was obvious. In a calm voice, all amusement gone for now, the Captain attempted her own soothing. "I will remove those noisemakers if they cause you this much trouble. Hogosha is that fine? Will it help you?"

Obie stopped shaking alright, but not for the reasons one might think. As soon as Lakshmi’s hands touched his own, still gripping onto his hat tightly, Obie froze on the spot. OH GOD OH GOD OHGODOHGOD THIS IS IIIIIIT! SHE’S GONNA KILL ME SO HARD AND SCATTER MY ASHES TO THE WINDS AND THEN I’LL BE DEAAAAAD He shut his eyes tightly as he waited for the death blow to come down. It took several seconds for both what Lakshmi said and the fact that he wasn’t dead to kick in, and he ever so slowly opened his eyes back up to look at his Captain.

“I-I-I uh… Ooooh dear… I look like such an idiot.” Obie sighed deeply. Good job Obie, it’s not a problem if everyone else in your division knows you’re a coward but then you had to go do all of this in front of your Captain… His hands slowly began to leave his sunhat and-

Then the second one fell. *DONK*

Obie let off another shriek and raised his hands to cover his head so fast that he knocked his own hat off, his body now hunched over in front of Lakshmi. “YES PLEASE I WOULD LIKE THEM GONE OHGODOHGEEZTHANKYOUFORTHEWHITEBOARDS” He shivered in place as the paralyzing fear of bamboo hitting stone in set intervals terrified him to no end. “ALSO THE FIRST STEP IN MAKING A GOOD DARK PLACE IS TO HAVE THICK CURTAINS TO BLOCK OUT THE SUN AND ROUNDED FURNITURE SO PEOPLE WON’T HURT THEMSELVES AS BAD IF THEY CAN’T SEE WHERE THEY’RE GOING!”

"Not an idiot. A bit amusing and kind of odd, but nothing bad at all as far as I am concerned." Lakshmi finally let a chuckle free, her hand covering her mouth as she glanced to the side for a moment. Hogosha might not appreciate her honesty but it wasn't in her to lie to him... The sound didn't startle her but the rabbit man... "Oh!"

Lakshmi's instincts, though potentially wrong though they may be, kicked in as the nervous fourth seat hunched over. She gently slipped her arms around him before pulling him to her in a soft hug. He was too nervous, he needed calming and she was attempting to despite the fact that it might make it worse.

"It is perfectly okay. They will be removed by the end of the day, barring emergencies Obie. It is okay for me to call you that I hope?" Lakshmi kept her voice low and calm, hoping her just utter calm might seep into Hogosha and relax him. When she needed to be, she could pull off maternal she hoped... "Your advice is rather helpful, I would never have thought of rounded furniture for such a room. Here, if you can stand back up we can go inside for a bit and maybe have relaxing tea away from the blasted noise makers?"

At first, Obie remembered being in the Panic Position (tm), and then suddenly something soft. AAAAAAAAAAAA-Oh I like soft. Soft is nice. But where did the soft come from? Taking a moment to stop his panicked state of mind, Obie looked up to discover- Oh Captain is soft.

...

AAAAAAAAAA CAPTAIN AAAAAAAAAAA Where the usual flailing would have taken place, Obie instead decided to stay as still as he possibly could in Lakshmi's embrace. Oh god what if she's trying to smother me or maybe she's going to body slam me or or or oh god whyyyyyyy Desperate thoughts ran through Obie's head as he expected the worst to happen, but only his Captain's comforting words were the change in his current predicament.

W-Wait... She doesn't want to body slam me? And she'll make the n-noises go away? Obie slowly raised his head to look up at Lakshmi. Maybe... Maybe Captain Lakshmi Ma'am is slightly less scary than I thought? "O-Obie is fine um, for you to call me by. It's kinda my name so it's fine ahahaha..." Smooth one Obie! You're on the rebound! "And I um, like tea too. So uh, I wouldn't mind going inside awayfromthenoises and talking some more, yeah..." OHGODTHANKYOUCAPTAINLAKSHMIMA'AM

Lakshmi was beginning to notice more than a few similarities between this third seat of hers and a rabbit... She had best keep her fox of an assistant away from him them. He might end up eating the poor rabbit up or giving him too much of a scare. Kaimu would be fine with a small word of advice she hoped, but the man did have a small teasing streak she would have to ask him to tone down then.

Obie at least seemed soothed by her embrace, looking up at her finally which caused another soft smile to grace her lips. Her hand petted his back gently as she gave an accepting nod, before the woman then moved to stand and took Obie with her she hoped. "All right then, Obie it is. Maybe you should cover your ears and I will lead you inside? There is a break room nearby, I am rather positive it must have tea!"

At least the Captain hoped, she wasn't the best at making tea either... Another hope piled to the ever growing list was that her third seat wouldn't dislike the tea, if there was in fact tea there. Coffee was more her cup of tea...

Obie slowly nodded at Lakshmi's offer, bringing his hands up to his ears. "R-Right... Break rooms c-can be nice and everything." Anything that's a break from those godawful noisemakers! Two! Two of them! TWO OF THOSE TERRIFYING THINGS AAAAAA "Thank you very much, Captain. But um, if you're planning on making tea I can uh, help. I think."

Obie took his hands off his ears and tugged the edges of his robes, now acutely aware of how much dirt he had on himself. A not-so-bad side effect of spending hours and hours working in his little garden. Obie himself didn't have a problem with it, but now he was beginning to worry himself silly that his Captain might have an aversion to inviting the earthen 3rd Seat into the building.

"I um... Kinda know some stuff about tea ceremonies, so if you need some help with making the tea and everything I c-can help and stuff. Not that I don't think your capable of it Captain Lakshmi! You're probably the best at tea and I'm sorry if I insulted you ohgodI'msorry" WHAT IF THEY DON'T EVEN USE TEA CEREMONIES I JUST OUSTED MYSELF AND THE BIGGEST DUMB TEA GARDEN MAN EVER

The poor nervous man took her offer of help and Lakshmi reached up and began the gentle leading away from the evil noisemakers. There was an entrance nearby that she herself had recently used and the Captain led him towards that. Her eyes followed his hands as they moved, letting go of his ears and tugging at the clothing that seemed a bit dirty. He had been working in the gardens... It wasn't as if it was a problem though.

"I am actually miserable at that. so it is lucky one of us knows. My assistant is much better so I normally force him to make it when I am in the mood, though I do prefer coffee usually. However tea is good for relaxing on occasion, so if you wish to show me some tips I would not turn it down." Lakshmi's eyes crinkled as her hand came back up to her lips, covering up laughter that was barely concealed as well as a bit sheepish at her own words. "You do not have to do the whole ceremony. There is one problem though... You are still rather nervous in my presence. I will not be insulted over such a trivial thing as being awful at tea, your Captain's pride is not so weak as that, Obie."

"Though... dirt in the tea might be a problem. Hm..." Lakshmi glanced from herself to her third seat and then made a quick motion and untugged the blue sash that held her Captain's Haori closed. She slipped the long sleeved thing from her body in a quick motion before holding it out with a grin, her other hand went to her lips as a playful light entered her eyes. "Here. Wear this, it may be a bit small but as long as you wash your hands as well, no one will see."

"O-Oh right... Why would we need to do the whole tea ceremony hahaha what was I thinking ahahaha." IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT OF COURSE YOU WOULDN'T DO THE TEA CEREMONY AM I STUPID? PEOPLE JUST DRINK TEA. "But um, your assistant sounds nice, though. Anyone that makes tea for people can't be t-too mean, right? And um, coffee is fine too, I suppose. I'm not really a fan of it myself..."

Of course her pride isn't weak you idiot! She's a Captain! Oh I'm stupid stupid stupid! JUST MAKE TEA IT'S NOT THAT HARD YOU MOROOOON! He was still absentmindedly terrifying himself with thoughts of insulting his captain and also worrying about his own outfit when Lakshmi placed her own outfit onto him to cover it up. Obie froze momentarily as he looked over himself, with some nice new duds. Oh noooooo ohnoohnoohnoNONONO what have I done I'm gonna mess up her outfit oh god

"Oh god oh geez Captain I'm sorry but your outfit is gonna get really dirty and it's going to be all my fault and I really didn't mean for it and oh goooooood..." Obie started to flail his arms and hands around as he stood in Lakshmi's haori. Oh no oh geez what if this is some kind of test and oh geez what if I'm failing OH NO AM I GOING TO BE FIRED BECAUSE I MESSED UP HER OUTFIT WHAT HAVE I DOOOOOOOOONE "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm so dirty and now your outfit is gonna get dirty I DIDN'T MEAN IT I SWEAR!"

"I suppose you could if you wanted? But we are a medical facility, the time and effort it takes to do such a thing tends to make it something most won't use. I am almost positive we have mostly bagged tea on hand and coffee pots instead of real tea kettles in most break rooms." Lakshmi laughed sheepishly, looking away as she reached up to tug on the end of one free end of her hair. It might be a disappointment for the man, but most here were too busy to spend extra time on tea or coffee. People were always injuring themselves and the constant push to upgrade all facilities was time consuming and taking the extra staff all the free time they might have formerly had.

The captain looked over at Obie for his comment about her assistant, holding the door open for her Third Seat and allowing him inside first. "He is very very kind, so please do not be too put off by his...playful nature. Also we shall have tea, its more relaxing than coffee by far."

Waiting patiently for Obie to stop his panicking over the haori, Lakshmi had to chuckle despite that she wished to put for a calming mature front for the man. She was just too amused at the moment though to allow herself to be serious. "Well, yes that is in fact the point. You did say you were better at tea making... you should use that as a sort of apron for the moment. I am not partial to dirt in my tea, but there is no reason for you to have to change. Spirits know that these hallways have probably seen much worse than honest dirt, that haori as well."

"I meant it, so you should follow me inside. I do not think I make a good doorstopper, yes?" Lakshmi cocked one generous hip, one brow quirked up as she gave Obie an amused smirk to match the warmth of her eyes. It was becoming harder and harder to hold this in! Blast it. Blast her teasing urges.

Obie’s flailing slowly died down as he listened to his Captain’s soothing words, eventually leaving him waving his arms halfheartedly as he stood in the open doorway. “O-Oh, okay… Yeah. Um, there’s no reason to worry about the uh, tea ceremonies though. I understand that not many people would really have time for them a-and everything. It’s just a dumb little thing I picked up when I was younger ahahaa…” WHY OH WHY DIDN’T I JUST TAKE THAT POTTERY CLASS OR SOMETHING? IT’S GOT DIRT, I LIKE DIRT. SO WHY DID I CHOOSE TEA. FREAKING. CEREMONIES?! But deep in his totally-not-a-bunny heart, Obie knew. It was all because of a harmless little joke he had made that just spiraled out of control and ended up with him having knowledge of the intricacies of serving and preparing tea. Alsomaybetoimpressagirlwhoknows.

His arms now fallen to his sides, Obie had taken back to twiddling his thumbs as he talked with Captain Lakshmi Ma’am. “But I um, a-as long as you’re okay with me being dirty I guess I can maybe… calm down a little? I mean, I do the squad laundry anyway, right? So I guess… I’m only adding one more thing to the pile or something.” That’s what Third Seats do, right? I mean, that makes sense, I guess. And run errands and lots of other stuff for the Division. Oh god I really don’t know what I’m supposed to the be doing other than tending the garden and making the salves oh god oh geez what if I mess everything up? I BETTER DO EVERYTHING JUST IN CASE

He was still standing in the doorway as Lakshmi made her comment about being a doorstopper, which caused him to tilt his head in confusion. A doorstopper? Well that’s weird, don’t we usually have things we use to hold them open for people? …OHMYGOD Obie’s eyes grew even wider, almost saucer-like, as he stood terrified in front of Lakshmi. “OOOOOOOOOOOOH I’M SORRY CAPTAIN I’M GOING RIGHT NOW!” Obie shouted as he darted right into the building, his glasses flying behind him on their chain as he raced inside.

"It is not dumb, I am sure its a soothing activity and one that is rather refined. I lack...quite a bit of refinement." Lakshmi's hand lifted up to her cheek as she scratched it lightly, unconsciously mimicking someone else's nervous habit. A rather not refined person at heart, she was now positive her third seat must think her quite a boorish brute to not know how.

However he had relaxed a bit so she gave him a warm smile, bright and pleased before shaking her head. "You should leave that work to the unseated members as well. Really Obie, your position is now my third in command and your salves are too valuable to allow another to use them and the gardens for the growth of the ingredients even more so. Allow others to do the grunt work, it is their jobs now. You are supposed to be the one giving such orders but... I suppose you are too shy as of yet."

Having expected such a reaction, Lakshmi's hand went out and tiny chains made of her own spiritual energy in the lightest of blues shot out and nabbed her third seat gently. They stopped him from running too far down the hallway as she smiled and let them fade as she too entered the building fully. The door closed with a soft click as she began walking down the hallway.

"Thank you, it is this way to the break room? My apologies, but you were running in the opposite direction and chasing you down to get tea would have been exhausting." Unable to help it any longer, the captain teased her third seat more. He was so flighty and adorable, it would take her time to train him in the proper ways of officer conduct... at least so far as the work required of him.

Obie caught about half of what Lakshmi comfortingly said as he ran down the hallway. Stupid dumb Obie you made your Captain hold the door open for you dumb idiooooooot! He also totally didn’t know where he was going, so when Lakshmi’s chains reached up and grabbed him in place he was partially thankful. But mostly terrified because random chains out of nowhere whaaaaaat?

Oh god this is it this is the end of dumb ol’ Obie he ran from his Captain and got killed to death oh geez I’m gonna have the worst tombstone ever He froze in place as he waited for Lakshmi to finish him off with her sudden spooky chains, but yet again his end didn’t come. “O-Oh I’m sorry… I just, I wanted to get inside so you didn’t have to hold the door open for me anymore? I didn’t even know where any of the rooms are so oh god I’m sorry I made you stop me aaaaaah…” Obie flailed helplessly in place as he panicked a bit more. Oh. I guess I… don’t have to do all those things I thought I did? Just focus on my gardening? That’s… that’s nice. Oh but wait.

“Ohhh, but I’ll probably be the worst in charge person ever though… Who would want to take orders from a whiteboard in the middle of a garden?” Obie said dejectedly. His flailing now calmed down, he returned to twiddling his thumbs. The promise of tea still happening was enough for him to eventually calm down more and follow his Captain towards the break room. Maybe nothing spooky would happen during tea time? Obie certainly hoped so…

"Running off with my captain's accouterments might look suspicious though, even if you were hurrying for my sake. There...there really is no need to apologize so much, oh bother." Lakshmi reached up to tease her dark hair, wondering why Obie felt the need to just always and constantly apologize to her. Had she looked at him grumpily? Yelled at him...?

"Like I have stated, there are definitely a few shy ones in this division as well as yourself. I believe orders from a whiteboard will help considerably with them as well. No need to be dejected over this." Her head tilted back so she could speak to the shy third seat. His nervous habit of spinning his thumbs was a bit adorable and the Captain muffled her little laugh with her hand as her head turned back to the front. The break room was nearby, but with his potential panicking along the way he may end up causing them to take a bit of time. "It is your job now, so you will have to push yourself somewhat to give such orders... Believe it or not I was once rather shy as well. I promise you, things are not as bad as you see them inside of your head."

Whatever he thought of her must be terrifying and Lakshmi tried to figure out what ever it could be. How had she gotten such awful rumors? She slowed her walking so that Obie could catch up faster as she wished to ask him this face to face. "Though I am curious, what you must think of me or of what I am capable of for you to act in such a manner towards me. I really am confused, do I come across as that terrifying?"

“Sorry! Sorry sorry, I wasn’t… thinking I guess? I um, just didn’t want to keep you waiting f-for too long I guess Idon’tknow…” Obie muttered. Oh god what if someone thought I killed her and stole her uniform or I’m some kind of spy and then they killed ME?! I-I mean there’s no way I could even come close to beating her but… ohhhhh people get me so confused sometimes. After more of his profuse apologizing, Obie’s eyes shot open wide at her questioning of the very same apologizing. “Oh god I’m sorry I said sorry so muc-I m-mean I’m not! But I am? Oh god I’m so confused.” His brain now trying to figure exactly what to say, Obie’s thumbs began to spin at an even faster rate as he cowered in place.

He tried not to accidentally make Captain Lakshmi Ma’am mad by apologizing more as he listened to her try to ease him into his responsibilities. Oh geez oh god there’s more shy people? What if… What if they’re too shy to talk to me, a-and I’m too shy to talk to them, oh god how would we ever get any work done at all… Obie was really starting to regret his afterlife decisions as Lakshmi told him that she had also been quite the shy one herself.

“B-But… But you’re a Captain, Captain. I-I-I mean, I haven’t, um heard any bad rumors or things about you it’s just… Um, you’re a Captain. You’ve gotten that rank for a reason a-and that’s because all Captains are spooky scary strong and everything. And Lieutenants are um, j-just a level of scary under that so… That’s why I’m terrified? I mean, compared to me you’re like a… Like a big, huge orange tree and I’m just like a… potato. Just hiding desperately under the ground in the dark. And afraid that the orange tree might blow me up. O-Or something.” Poor Potato Obie.

"Your enthusiasm has been noted, but I really do not think you need to rush that much... And-" The captain was forced to cut off her attempts to get the man to stop apologizing as he then just continued to, though this time he was apologizing for... apologizing...

There really was a limit to how much she could stay calm and refined and though she had quickly regained a bit of her composure it was also just as quickly dwindling again...

"...Bwuh?" Lakshmi couldn't hold her laughter in anymore, an orange tree versus a potato!? She stumbled to a wall, leaning against it as laughs shook her body. Her arm slipped across her chest as she attempted to still her laughter, but it was too much!

"I-I won't blow you up! I promise. I'm not going around blowing up... I'm a doctor, a healer!" Her words tumbled from her mouth, much less formal and with a bit of an odd lilt as she spoke. Lakshmi's icy blue eyes glowed with mirth though, as she eyed up the Potato that was her third seat from her rather stuck place against the wall. "I do like oranges but... I promise you are not a potato."

Oh… The Captain was laughing now. Obie wasn’t exactly sure if that was a good thing or not yet, but he added his own nervous laughter to it just in case. That was the right thing to do in this case, right? “Ahahaha, y-yeah… You’re a healer, right. I just uh… Didn’t know what kind of things you could do? So assuming e-explosions is a um, safe bet. Just in case, you know?” Obie slowly but surely began to relax, mostly evident by his hands no longer twirling thumbs and now gripping the sides of his robes.

“B-But are you sure I’m not a potato? I mean, I have eyes and ears, a-and I like to be underground, so…” Obie shuffled his feet nervously as he looked over at Lakshmi. “That… That was a um, veggie joke, y-yeah… ahaha.” Oh god I’m so bad at jokes why did I even try that WHAT IF NO-ONE ELSE GETS VEGGIE HUMOR OH GOOOOOOOD Obie secretly maintained a healthy supply of gardening and vegetable-related jokes, but of course was usually too afraid of… everything to break any of them out. Maybe trying one now would make this disastrous first impression go over slightly better? Hopefully?

“B-B-But um… Tea! Right! We should, uh, make some of that tea a-and stuff. Where is the uh… washroom again? I kinda just use the water near the garden to rinse myself off most of the day so I uh, don’t really know my way around here yet… Sorry.” Pleasedon’tbemadpleasedon’tbemad