Chapter Four: Growth Spurt

Chapter 2

Reginald wasn't really sure what he'd expected, but a greenhouse wasn't it. It was beautiful, larger than any other greenhouse he'd ever seen, filled with colorful and exotic plants.

He'd spent a full hour geeking out, running from plant to plant and rattling off facts, lost in his own excitement. It was enough to temporarily make him forget the panic that had risen after he'd quit his job.

Rhoda had followed him with an amused smile, nodding as he spoke. He knew she wasn't really listening, but she was so polite to pretend; it was more than anyone else had given him.

It couldn't last forever, unfortunately. They had to get to work, after all. There was a living area at one corner of the greenhouse, where Reginald could keep his stuff and sleep in between working.

He didn't get much sleep, but he got plenty of work done. He had to finish the last few calculations, figure out a plan for Hifar testing, and put together a list of materials for Rhoda to gather. After that, he had to build the machines himself, which was a level of labor he wasn't used to.

"I thought Monsters were supposed to be strong?" Rhoda had joked when he complained. "Just use a spell or something."

"O-only Enchanters can cast True Spells, I'm a Vampyr." Reginald had explained for the hundredth time. She really was so forgetful. "And I'm only half, I don't really have all that much strength."

"Come on, Reggie, stop whining. I believe in you, you just have to believe in yourself. Now back to work!" She walked off, slapping him on the back in what was certainly supposed to be an encouraging gesture, but landed a little too close to his neck. He flinched, shuddering. So forgetful...

He eventually got used to the difficulty of the building, and the following weeks were actually nice. He managed to find a little free time each day to walk through the greenhouse, caring for the plants and talking to them, relaxing as much as he could between the leaves. Then it was back to his near-literally-back-breaking work.

Nights were a little better. He turned in late, cleaned oil and sweat off himself, then made a small dinner of soup or maybe a couple breadrolls. He'd make some final rounds checking on the plants, feed his rapidly-mutating Flytrap, then fall into a surprisingly restful sleep.

His favorite days were when Rhoda visited. It was so lonely, spending months by himself in the greenhouse, though the plants helped. He worked extra hard when he thought she might visit, because if he'd made enough progress she'd stay and have dinner with him. He only had a small stove and not many ingredients, so he couldn't make anything really worthy of her, but it was nice to be able to just talk.

He got to hear all sorts of gossip from the University, what sort of stupidity Gary and Larson has gotten into, how her other research was going. He almost missed his life there, though it was nice to be away from all the bullies, and his current work was important. He tried to tell her about his life, but it always somehow circled around to his work. Though, his life was more-or-less entirely his work by this point, so that made sense.

And the best part was that he'd gotten away with calling her 'Dendron' instead of 'Dr Dendron' several times! And she'd even been calling him 'Reginald' a lot more. He was almost certain that this was what love felt like, especially on the day he finished building.

He'd ran to the wall-mounted phone, double checking it was after 17:00 (he wasn't supposed to call her before then), and dialed Rhoda's number.

"Reggie, I know you don't need groceries, so what is it?" Rhoda sounded grumpy, but that made sense, she thought he was using the phone for something unimportant. Though, he was down to his last three cans of soup, so he kinda did need groceries...

"Dendron, I-I've finished it!" Reginald hopped in place, trying to get a lid on his excitement. "W-we can s-sta-start the tri-trials!" He mentally cursed his worsening stutter, nervously hoping Rhoda wouldn't scold him for it again.

"You're serious?" Rhoda gasped. "I'll be right there first thing tomorrow with some volunteers. Reginald, you're a genius!"

"T-thank you." Reginald blushed. "I c-c-couldn't have done- done it without you, Dr Dendron."

"See you tomorrow, Reggie." She giggled. "Oh, and please, call me Rhoda."

Reginald barely registered the dial tone, beak hanging open. He numbly hung up the phone and collapsed onto his bed with a grin. He turned to his perplexed flytrap. "Spike, she told me to call her Rhoda!"

Spike whined, straining his stem as he tried to lean over the edge of his pot. Reginald chuckled, pulling the plant close and petting him, much to Spike's delight.

"Rhoda..." Reginald sighed breathlessly. "She really likes me!"