How to Take Care of Your Plant (KroFau)
Source: https://twitter.com/BorealYoako/status/1450960021001588739
Kronii took a sip from her cup of tea as she looked outside the window. The wind blew, carrying along the orange leaves that had fallen from the trees. Fall had almost passed and it kept getting colder outside. Meanwhile, Kronii enjoyed the warmth of her tea and looked to her side to watch her maid as she worked on the chores for the day.
Her eyes focused on Fauna’s head. It came as a huge surprise when her hair slowly turned orange matching the trees. She couldn’t really explain when Kronii asked her how that happened. Kroni chalked it up to another one of her maid’s quirks just like her abnormal strength and her ability to understand her pet snake, Boros.
“Miss, would you like me to pour you more tea?” Fauna approached her master with a kettle in hand.
“Oh, yes, please.” Kronii smiled.
While Fauna refilled the cup, Kronii found herself staring at the trees outside again.
“…Huh.” She furrowed her brow and looked at her maid. “Orange…”
“Orange?” Fauna repeated. “You mean my hair?”
“Yeah, just… thinking things.” Kronii told her then turned her attention back to the trees.
The maid decided to leave her be and went back to work.
Leaves… trees… fall… Kronii thought to herself. Fauna’s hair turned orange… like a tree… She took another sip of tea. And… If the leaves fall before winter… Then Fauna’s leaves will also fall… Kronii connected the nonexistent dots. What if… Her eyes widened. What if her hair falls off?!
She almost snapped her neck looking at her maid. Fauna was humming to herself while cleaning the room. Suddenly, one of the leaves on her horns fell off.
“Oh!” She kneeled down to pick it up. “There goes another one!” She put it in her pocket. “Maybe I’ll press it.” She continued her work like normal, smiling the whole time.
Kronii’s heart sank after watching the scene unfold. She gulped down her tea, almost burning her throat in the process, and got up.
“Are you done with breakfast, Miss?” Fauna asked her. “Would you like to eat anything else?”
“N-no, I’m fine.” Kronii said. “I’m just… I have to check something real quick.”
“Sure!” The maid walked to the table. “I’ll clean up here, then.”
“Thank you.” Kronii quickly turned around and went to her room. She sat down and stared at her computer. She opened her browser and typed:
HOW TO KEEP LEAVES FROM FALLING OFF MY PLANT???
She almost slapped herself for typing that but still scrolled through the results.
“Overwatering… insects… disease…” She shook her head. “No, I don’t want to know why it happens, I want to stop it! Ugh… ”
Kronii rubbed her forehead trying to think of what to type. While she did have a garden in her house, she never worried too much about what happened during winter. She’d let nature run its course with the plants outside. But now it was different.
“Maybe…”
How to take care of a plant in the winter
She combed over the results. She found a site which had a guide to take care of indoor plants in fall and winter. She slowly read the entry.
“…Keep your plants warm…” She read out loud. “Make sure they’re protected from the cold air…”
“Miiiiiss!” Kronii heard Fauna calling out to her. “I’m going out to buy groceries!”
Fauna was already next to the front door. She checked her phone to make sure she didn’t forget anything on her list.
“I’ll be back later!” She told Kronii.
“WAIT!!!” Kronii screamed. “WAIT A SECOND!!!”
“H-huh?” Fauna was startled by her master’s voice. She heard Kronii slamming open her wardrobe. After some fumbling, Kronii came back running with a stack of clothes in her arms.
“WEAR THIS!” Kronii shoved sweaters and her trench coat onto the maid. “NOW!”
“O-okay!”
Kronii quickly put on all the extra layers of clothing on Fauna.
“M-Miss…” Fauna waved her arms.
“Yeah?” Kronii was almost done buttoning up the trench coat.
“I…” She tried to take a step forward. “I can’t move.”
“I-It’s fine, you can manage!” Kronii patted her back. “Now off you go!”
“A-alright…” Fauna began trying to walk. She only managed to do it while looking like a penguin. “I’ll be right back…”
Kronii happily watched Fauna walk away. She fully believed she had done a good job protecting her maid. When Fauna returned Kronii made sure she stayed warm with extra layers of clothing or by wrapping her in blankets and hugging her while they watched a show or a video together. Fauna got flustered by the sudden care she was receiving from her master but didn’t seem to mind.
Unfortunately, Kronii’s smile quickly faded away the next day. Seemingly out of nowhere, a streak of Fauna’s hair had turned white. It reminded her of when Fauna’s hair progressively turned orange when summer turned to fall.
So her hair will end up turning white. She thought. But… there’s always a chance it could fall off!
After taking a bath, Kronii went back to her computer. She saved the website she had found so she checked again to see what else she could do.
“Make sure to clean your plants…” She read as she dried her hair. “Sun is in short supply in the winter…”
“Miss Kronii!” Fauna called out again. “I’ll be taking a bath now!”
“Yeah, got it!” Kronii replied as she kept reading. Slowly, her eyes narrowed. “…Wait.”
Fauna was singing softly as she scrubbed her body. As she grabbed the showerhead to rinse off the soap, the door flung open.
“FAUNA!” Kronii screamed.
“AAAAHHH!” Fauna screamed back and covered herself. “M-MISS?!”
“LET ME WASH YOUR BACK!” Kronii had a towel on as she walked inside.
“WHAT?!” Fauna was beet red. “WHY?!”
“Because everyone needs help washing their backs!” Kronii happily told her.
As much as Fauna tried to stop her, Kronii still scrubbed her clean.
“Now let’s see.” Kronii skillfully washed Fauna’s hair, taking her time to massage her head.
“Uuu…” Fauna was on the verge of crying.
I’m so embarrassed… She thought. But it feels so nice… she’s too good…
“Oh, is the soap getting to your eyes?” Kronii asked her. “Let me rinse it off.”
“It’s not that…” Fauna closed her eyes as Kronii poured water on her head. “Uuu…”
Kronii only let her go after scrubbing Fauna’s body a few times, barring certain places Fauna almost kicked her when she reached out.
Fauna slowly calmed herself down when she got into the bathtub. She could feel how her heart was almost beating out of her chest.
“Why did she do that…?” She asked herself. “And the clothes yesterday… Did something happen?”
She sighed and let herself sink in the water up to her chin.
“I hope she gets over whatever this is tomorrow…”
Meanwhile, Kronii was in her room. She had spent five minutes rolling around in her bed and screaming into her pillow.
“WHY DID I DO THAAAAAAAATTTT?!” She yelled. “OH MY GODDDDDD!!!”
She got up, gasping for air. “Hah… hah… Ughhhhhhhhhhh…”
"Her skin was so soft too..." Images of Fauna's body flashed in Kronii's mind. She swiftly went to slam her head against the wall.
"Just… " She went back to her computer. “Just pretend nothing happened, that’s a good idea…”
Once again she checked to see if she could do something else to help Fauna.
“…If you want to keep your plants alive…” She read. “…you’ll have to give them plenty of light…”
Another day passed and more streaks of Fauna’s hair turned white. Kronii almost had a heart attack as the last leaves on Fauna’s horns fell off.
“WAIT HERE!” She told Fauna as she ran off outside. The maid just shook her head and focused on doing the chores for the day.
A few hours passed and Kronii returned with some boxes. “Faunaaaaaa!” She turned her head around looking for her.
“I’m heeeere.” Fauna was busy with the laundry. “Do you need anything, Miss?”
“Come heeeere~.” Her master said walking away. “Gotta give you plenty of light…”
Fauna followed her, slightly curious to see what was inside the boxes Kronii was carrying. They made their way to Fauna’s room and Kronii put the boxes down in the middle.
“Did you buy something, Miss?” Fauna asked.
“Yep, just for you.” Kronii gleefully opened the boxes. “We’re having shorter days so…” She pulled out a lamp and some lightbulbs. “I got you this!”
“…A desk lamp and some weird lightbulbs.” Fauna scratched her head.
“They’re not just any lightbulbs…” Kronii proudly presented them. “They’re full-spectrum lightbulbs!”
“Oh, okay.” Fauna grabbed them and looked at them. “I guess they’ll help with the plants inside.”
“No you silly, they’re not for the plants.” Kronii shook her head. “They’re for you.”
“What do you mean?” Fauna was very confused.
Kronii took one of the lightbulbs, put it on the lamp and turned it on.
“AHHH!” Fauna covered her eyes. “AT LEAST GIVE A WARNING!”
“Is it working?!” Kronii “Do you feel any better?!”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!” Fauna inched over to the lamp and turned it off. “I don’t feel bad, Miss.”
“Oh, well yeah, of course you’re not feeling bad, hahaha…” Kronii weakly laughed.
Fauna held Kronii’s hand and sat down with her on the bed.
“Did something happen?” Fauna finally asked. “You’ve been… a bit unlike yourself these past few days.”
“Um…” Kronii looked down. “It’s just…” She looked up to Fauna. “Will you be okay?”
“I feel fine, yeah.” Fauna tilted her head. “I don’t get it.”
“I mean like…” Kronii had a hard time finding the words to say. “You know…”
Fauna recalled the clothes she was forced to wear when her master started acting weird. “Did you think I’d be cold or something?” She giggled a bit. “I’ll be okay, I’m more worried about Boros.”
“Oh you don’t need to worry about him.” Kronii smiled. “His terrarium is well equipped for the cold.”
“That’s a relief.” Fauna smiled back. She noticed Kronii was staring at her head. “Ummm… it’ll take some time for my hair to turn completely white.” She put her hands on her head in embarrassment.
“YEAH! THAT!” Kronii blurted out. “You know how, how your hair changes color?!”
“Yeah?”
“Since it’s winter and all I was wondering—” Kronii reached out to touch her maid’s hair.
“Uh-huh?”
“—Is your hair only going to turn white?" Kronii asked her.
“Y-yeah…” Fauna leaned away from Kronii as she got too close. “Well, some blue streaks also show up here and there…”
“But… but…!” Kronii got closer. “WON’T YOUR HAIR FALL OFF?!”
“…Huh.” Fauna was surprised by the question.
“I MEAN SINCE IT’S LIKE… IT’S LIKE YOU’RE KINDA LIKE A PLANT AND ALL?!” Kronii’s tone changed between worried and excited. “I wanted to stop it from falling off… and…” She got quieter as Fauna beamed a cold smile. “…yeah…”
“Miss Kronii.” Fauna’s voice felt like a dagger stabbing Kronii’s heart.
“Fauna?” She replied.
“I’m not a plant.” Fauna crossed her arms and closed her eyes, clearly angry.
“…I’m sorry.” Kronii looked down.
“My hair is not going to fall off.” Fauna told her.
“I’m sorry.”
Fauna opened one of her eyes to peek at her master. She looked sadder than she expected. She sighed and leaned on her.
“You wanted to take care of me, right, Miss?” She asked.
Kronii nodded. “You’ve been doing really well with the chores… besides the training you had to go through…”
“Urk.” Fauna bit her lips.
“I was just afraid something bad would happen.” Kronii explained.
“Don’t worry.” Fauna reassured her. “I’ll be fine.”
After hearing that, Kronii finally mustered a smile.
“I’m still angry, though!” Fauna pouted.
“Umm…” Kronii looked at her. “Is there anything you want me to do?”
The maid smiled; she was waiting for her master to say that.
“Hmmmmm… Hm! Hm! Hm!” Fauna acted like she was thinking. “You’ll have to brush my hair every day!”
Kronii blushed. “You mean in the bath…?”
“THE BATH IS OUT OF THE QUESTION!” Fauna’s ears turned red. “…for now.”
For now, for now, for now… Those words lingered in Kronii’s mind.
“I mean after I take a bath!” Fauna got up.
“Sure, I can do that.” Kronii said.
“Thank you so much, Miss!” Fauna gave her a big smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to doing the laundry.”
“Oh, sure, go ahead.” Kronii nodded.
Fauna bowed and left her room. Kronii blankly stared at the wall. She was still thinking about what Fauna said.
“For now…” She repeated as she got up. “…Hm?”
As she was about to leave Fauna’s room, something caught Kronii’s eye. She walked towards Fauna’s desk and found a note and a bookmark with Fauna’s leaves pressed onto it.
“She made this…?” She picked up the note to read it.
Thanks for everything up to now, Miss Kronii!
Kronii smiled. She was happy that even after acting like that, Fauna still did something nice.
Then she flipped the note.
Now you’ll always have a part of me with you O_O
“Yeah, I knew there was something else.” She laughed and put the note down. “I guess I’ll wait until she gives it to me.”
Fauna was still a mystery to her, but Kronii slowly learned more as time passed. She couldn’t wait to find out more about her.
t. Name