Agathe nodded and smiled, the blush gone from her cheeks. After she
had pulled the three onions in silence she spoke up. "Thank you,
for everything..." She stood up taking the basket with her and she
took the exact steps she was instructed to take and settled down on
the wood. "I think I'm at the right spot... Am I?"
"You are," Sasha told her happily. She brought over the stalks of
celery, placing them in the basket before settling down next to
Agathe. "When I was young, I memorized how many steps it took to
get to everything...I knew I would lose my legs at seventeen. So I
cherished and memorized what I could. And am glad I did as I can
give you guidance without actually making you feel helpless. From
what I have gathered, you are a perfectly capable and intelligent
woman. You do not need to be coddled or pampered. Treated with
kindness and respect, yes. Defended? Yes. As everyone has a right
to be. But now I am rambling...I'm sorry, I just never have had
anyone to talk to like this. You are getting a whole lifetimes
worth of pent up conversation," Sasha confessed, rubbing her arm
absently. "Strawberries. Okay, so they are smaller then all od the
other stuff you have picked so far. This is one." Sasha had placed
Agathe's hand around a ripe strawberry. Moving her finger up, she
spoke again. "They grow on bushes so we have to pick them off. Just
hold the stem in one hand and pull the strawberry with the other.
The ones on this bush all look good so no need to worry about
picking ones that aren't ready."
Agathe listened attentively and nodded, a smile on her expression.
"No need to apologize. I haven't had someone who will talk to me
like that either. Aside from the animals that I used to talk to.
Though having someone to talk to without worrying is very good."
She felt around the whole plant so she could memorize the leaves
and the fruits. "Could you show me a not ready one? That way I can
try to find a difference." She wanted to not make mistakes. After
she was shown she spent a little time memorizing the differences
and then began picking ripe ones. "I actually like being talked to,
so if you want to, you could ramble for hours and I'd be very happy
to listen."
Sasha smiled, letting out a relieved laugh. "Thank you. I will keep
that in mind. I have found I rather like all of this. The talking
and listening. Sadly, I know more people will come. Just a matter
of time...you can hide when they come. I don't want them to hurt
you. They might think I am keeping you here and try to rescue you
too."
"They can try, but by then I'll have all the animals on the island
on my side." Agathe smirked as she chuckled. "They won't hurt me,
no one has really been able to hurt me, not permanently anyways."
Sasha grinned. "Good! There are sharks in the water too. They tend
to follow me around. I'm not sure why...none attack but as they
aren't pack animals, typically, I don't understand why they follow
me around when I do go swimming. They, the orcas and the dolphins
will help protect you, I'm sure."
"I mean, I've even talked to bugs before, but they're very hard to
hear, and I have to talk in a very high pitched voice for them to
hear me well." Agathe began to wonder if she could talk to aquatic
animals. She'd never tried. How would that work? Would she speak
above water and hope they heard her or would she speak underwater
and hope they could understand?
"That is still really neat. I talk to snakes and sometimes they
listen. Never the ones on my head though...they bite me too. I
don't understand why," Sasha said, studying her snake hair as they
framed her face, watching Agathe.
"I can't seem to hear what they're saying... It's just whispers...
I know they're there, I can almost feel their gaze, but I can't
understand them." Agathe had turned to look at the snakes, her eyes
still looking beyond and through them.
"I have a theory that they are like...emotions? Parts of my
personality? It is always the same one who bites me and the
others," Sasha said, still picking the strawberries.
"Hmm, that could be... I mean, I've heard weirder things." Agathe
smiled as she took a break from picking and sniffed at her fingers,
the scent of the strawberries came from a little juice that had
gotten on them.
Sasha smiled, laughing a bit. "That is so true, especially since
you are talking with, well, me. I think we have enough here. Would
you like to go try fishing?"
Agathe chuckled and nodded. "I would like to learn and try, yes."
She stood up, still smelling her fingers. She was able to
distinguish between the three scents. The carrots, onions, and
strawberries all had a different smell and she was working on
memorizing them.
"So long as you gently pick up the hook, I think this is an
activity you'll be able to enjoy whenever you'd like. I keep worms
and bait pretty well so you don't have to worry too much about
them. Though, we can definitely get them together sometime. Once
you learn to cast, you'll be all set. Unless you decide to fish
from the cliffs. Then you just need to drop the line in. The
current will take it out for you," Sasha said, leading Agathe
through the garden and out into the grassy path. She wasn't a big
fan of gravel as it tended to dig into her tail, no matter what she
did. Grass and fine sand worked best. Turning her face to the sun,
Sasha smiled, enjoying the warmth.
"Okay." Agathe followed along and reveled in the grass on her feet,
the sun on her face, and the breeze on her skin. "I think I could
learn to love it here..." She said softly as she took a deep breath
catching the salt on the wind.
"To be honest I have no idea how I feel about this island...I was
born here, I assume I will raise a daughter here, and ultimately
die here. But I still love memories. And it is beautiful. From the
warm sandy beach to the severe cliffs to the lush forested parts.
In my opinion, it just got a whole lot better, having someone to
talk to and treat me as a person," Sasha admitted, picking up her
fishing supplies out of the small shed at the end of the path. The
sandy beach, warmed by the suns rays, felt heavenly to the gorgon.
Agathe smiled sadly. "Well, I will stay as long as you'll have me,
so you won't be alone for as long as that is." She was about to say
something more, but she stepped in the sand and stopped, her eyes
wide as she moved her feet about slowly. The warm sand was the most
amazing thing she'd ever felt. It was so soft and smooth, almost
like a massage.
As she giggled as she took in Agathe's expression. "Being cold
blooded,this is absolute heaven some days," she said. "And thank
you. Whatever I can do to make things more comfortable, let me
know."
Sasha's comment pulled Agathe from her daze and she shook her head
and chuckled. "It feels like absolute heaven and I'm not even cold
blooded!" She moved along stepping slowly so as to not step on
Sasha's tail since they had gotten a little separated. "The same
goes for you, if you want me to do something let me know."
"For now, I am just content to talk," Sasha said, waiting for her
to catch up. She took them to the edge of the water, setting down
all of the stuff she had grabbed. "If you hold out your hand, I
will give you the pole. I have the hook hooked in a secure position
so it won't be a bother."