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Every time Zouichi visits, Eva's reminded of how he picked her broken flowers up off the ground delicately, as if they were still fragile in death; she still remembers being surprised by that. Ten years later she always thinks back to that and feels silly, since Zouichi seems so at peace and now, practiced, taking care of the blossoms. "Thank you. The new seeds I got at the last shore leave seem to have taken so well I might need to be on alert for an invasive species, but as long as they don't start crowding out my tulips it should be fine."

She gets up off the ground, making an exaggerated, mock old lady groan as she does so. She's pushing sixty now, making her one of the oldest humans on board, and she abuses that manipulative elderly power for all it's worth. "I haven't seen you in a few days. Have you been well?"

Zouichi laughs quietly at that; extended contact with the humans aboard the ship has slowly had its effect on him, making him more expressive over time. Within reason -- he'll probably never be the life of the party. "So no new surprises? That's a shame."

He still remembers the first time he saw Hovercat blast off. Hovercat had a proper name of course, but... well, 'Hovercat' was so apropros.

"Quite well, thank you. You should come by sometime; I believe the plum trees at the inn are about to bloom." He pauses. "And I promise I won't try to rope you into helping me sweep up any of the petals."

In fact, he'd probably help her with her own plants more often, if he'd let her. Zouichi is one of the easiest people on the ship to rope into doing favors for 'elderly' old ladies.

"Nothing new today. I think the mandrakes last month were enough excitement for the whole season." Not that Stacy actually has seasons, but Eva's from SoCal, and while other people on the ship have complained that it's hard to remember the years, Eva likes the regular climate.

Hovercat - Cordera - is lounging in the garden, ever present whenever Eva's home. His motorboat-engine purring is unceasing. Upon seeing the visitor, he wakes and floats lazily over to Zouichi for petting. Not only is he used to Zouichi, but Zouichi's kindness towards animals has registered with the fat, floating cat.

Eva laughs. "Well, I may be an old frail little biddie, but I can still wield a broom. You know what they say about idle hands. If you want the help, we can even make a date of it."

Zouichi makes a slight face. "Oh, yes. The mandrakes." The mandrakes will probably become a running joke over time; who would have thought a few plants could make so much noise?

He smiles and pets the approaching feline; he's one of the few people that instantly liked Hovercat, and that hasn't changed. Sure, he's getting a little plump, but it's reassuring that no matter where Eva goes, Hovercat will follow. It's nice to have someone like that.

"'Frail', really? You know, some of the newer crew members still talk about that sailing stunt you pulled off. But anyway, I think I'll let them pile up for a while longer before I banish them from the courtyard. It's a little like seeing snow on the ground."

Not to mention the debate tangle over whether or not the mandrake babies were to be granted sentient rights! What measure is a nonhuman - the ability to communicate, the ability to feel pain, the awareness that allowed them to turn their leaves towards the sun? "All those people complaining about the squalling have clearly never raised a finicky baby. I thought the mandrakes had really lovely flowers."

Eva loves Cordie for that reason; she need never be alone, nor acknowledge that being without Edriss sometimes makes her feel empty. Besides, Cordie's loud purring can be used to shut down conversations she's bored with.

"Well, comparatively. I've seem some of the stunts the new crew members try. All those laser eyes and enhanced joint strength and super powered whatevers. And don't think I haven't heard about some of the things you've attempted on missions," she teases. "Snow's overrated, but whenever you're ready for some spring cleaning you can drop me a line."

"Guilty as charged," he says, raising both arms as if in surrender. Animals were one thing; he still didn't really know how to deal with babies. "But I do agree that their flowers were beautiful." The problem was what happened if you ever tried to pick any.

Zouichi will probably never tell Eva that the other reason he finds Cordie reassuring is that if anything ever happens to Eva, that cat will know.

"Hey -- someone needed to shoot down those thermonuclear warheads. Although I wish Archer would stop insisting that I'm interested in him. You save a secret agent's life one time, and he'll never let you live it down." He smiles. "I will. How is Marco?"

"You'd probably be good with children," Eva notes. "You have a penchant for surprising gentleness. I noticed it about you one of the first times we met. Besides, you've kept that bird alive, which means you have a better track record with animals than I do with houseplants."

Eva snorts. Stacy's kept Peter and Jake and Naomi podded, but that secret agent buffoon's still around using the Sensoriums for kinky fantasies. She pulls off her gardening gloves. "The same as he always is. Insisting I treat him like an adult and then letting me do his laundry. Kids these days, you know."

It's still possible to catch Zouichi completely off guard with a compliment, especially one he doesn't see coming; Eva seems to be one of those people who still get one in on him on a fairly regular basis.

"I... ah. ...thank you." It's extremely difficult for him to meet her gaze at moments like this -- jeez, Eva, you say the most embarrassing things. "Well, I do try to take good care of him. Animals aren't quite the same thing as children, though."

He laughs. "His laundry, really? Isn't he in his twenties now? Please tell me he at least learned how to cook."

She rolls her eyes at Zouichi's awkwardness. She just calls it as she sees it, really.

"With my child, sometimes that isn't as true as you think." She laughs.

"Twenty-six, now." It's much longer that he ever survived in her timeline. "And no, unless you consider microwaving a pizza cooking. I was gone for seven years of his childhood, don't give me any shade over pampering him a little."

He smiles. "You've got a point there. He is kind of an animal."

Zouichi raises his hands, as if in surrender. "I'm just repeating what my mother used to say -- 'These days even men need to know how to cook and clean. Otherwise they're just not marriage material'." Though he's fairly sure Marco isn't hurting for dates.

"At least for two hours at a time."

She makes an exaggerated groan. "I'm never going to get grandkids at this rate. Everywhere I turn it's 'oh mommy, I have trust issues' and all that crap. I'm going to be chasing scamps around in a wheelchair."

Zouichi takes the posture of someone deep in thought. "Well, have you turned on the guilt? You know, 'I'm not getting any younger, I want to see my grandchildren before I die'...?"

"Filial guilt is just part of a balanced breakfast, you know. Of course I've tried it. What I need to do is find some wood nymphs to make love potions and sprinkle it on his eyes when he's sleeping."

He laughs. "Well, whatever happened to that lovely pink-haired ninja that seemed to be getting along with him so well? I haven't seen Sakura around in a while."

"I don't know. She probably got tired of his bad jokes. I should tell her to try being related to him," she says, but she's smiling. As much as she prods Marco there's still a large part of her that's content to pretend he's young for as long as she can. A serious relationship might wreck that juvenile image.

"It was his jokes that drove her off? Not his fashion sense?" Zouichi is not above teasing Eva back a little now. And he'd seen those purple jeans. He made an exaggerated show of suppressing a shudder.

"It could easily be the smell! I don't know if you've been around his bedroom, but it has some memorable aromas seeping into the hall." She's always enjoyed Zouchi's teasing. He always seems aware of what territory is alright and what isn't.

"I thank my lucky stars every day that the Inn is as far as it is from the Salazar Residence," Zouichi says, solemnly. "Not, of course, that I don't enjoy the occasional visit with its matriarch."

"Speaking of which, do you have any new projects going on right now? You always seem to have a few up your sleeve."

"The matriarch enjoys the visit. The matriarch finds other gardeners rather pleasant."

She perks up. "Oh! I'm going to renovate that dilapidated Shire strip down on the West Edge into a park, with places dedicated to giving people with unorthodox religions beautiful, suitable places to practice. We have a few people onboard who can't find places to worship on Religion Row and I thought it would be nice to be inclusive."

Besides, building temples and shrines would totally keep her occupied. "Could I wrangle you into helping?"

He bows. "Could the matriarch use some aloe vera? This gardener took care of his houseplant a little too well, and was rewarded with far too many baby aloe plants." Those things grew like crazy, too.

"And sure. Did you get someone to draw up plans for you, or are you just at the clearing stage?" Zouichi keeps secretly hoping someone will let him use the coil rifle to clear out debris. It never happens.

"The matriarch could always use some aloe vera. I hear it's good on scars, although, you know, a little late on that one," she says with a self-deprecating grin and a wafting hand over some of the marks around her neck.

"I'm just at the clearing stage so far. You're free to help me destroy some of the wreckage over there. I could stand to destroy something." She winks at Zouichi, knowing he'll probably be eager to help her out.

"Aha, finally. Someone to foist them off on." He's glad Eva can joke about her scars, even if it's partially out of necessity -- some of them, like the ones on her neck, simply can't be hidden without obvious means.

Zouichi smiles; he's always up for making more things explode. "My favorite part of any project. You know me too well. So, who else have you roped into helping?"

"As long as you don't charge me shipping. Consider the aloe vera payment for me helping you with those petals when the time comes."

Ah, a rare Zouichi smile. Eva feels like she's one of the special people who can get that out of him on a regular basis. "So far just Kang, and he's just agreed to do heavy lifting. Personally, I'm excited by the idea of just taking a shovel to that place once we've leveled it."

"Shipping? Are you telling me I could have gotten someone else to deliver all those heavy plants?" But if Eva was going to take some off his hands, he wasn't complaining.

Zouichi's smile gives the target a +5 boost to Feeling Like You Really Matter. Anyway, he's been giving out a little more of them lately.

"Ah, I see. Well, I'm sure more people will jump to it when they hear the famed Salazar whip crack." He never really warmed up to Kang the way he did to Eva. But Eva likes him.

"A shovel? At your age?"

"Oh, what, is it too heavy for you?" She playfully pushes his shoulder. She's aware of his aloofness around Kang, but doesn't much care. It's not her job to convince people to like each other, and the two of them still seem to be able to work together fine. "Yes, at my age. I bet you don't even know what that age is, since I'm so spry and youthful."

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/end, I guess?