Goddess Cybele's Gift Basket | Weeds? Really?

Anastasius had been woken up by the sound of dirt shuffling around in the garden that he and his uncle worked on together. It was mostly for him, seeing as it was his house, but Moore liked to take care of it for him- which he didn't mind at all. He came out with a small light in his hand, noticing a familiar set of brown horns poking out from behind one of the bushes. "Ugh, Uncle Moore, what are you doing this late at night?" He whined.

As he got closer, he noticed that the other pheromoo was placing some flowers into a basket. Nothing that he recognized planting, that was for sure. He didn't need to ask again. "Ah! Anastasius. I'm sorry for waking you up, I was simply grabbing some weeds from the garden to give for the goddess Cybele as a gift tomorrow morning. I do promise to not take long, just a few more bundles and I should have enough for my basket-"

"Wait, wait. The Goddess Cybele? A gift for the Goddess? A gift of weeds!?" Anastasius' eyebrow raised dramatically, his expression turned into one that seemed to be a mix of confusion and rage. Moore was unphased by the reaction. "Yes! I was told that weeds were a suitable gift by an individual that I've decided to trust on the matter. It's not as dramatic as you might think! You see, as weeds are part of nature and are grown from the earth-" He would have explained further had the younger moo not started ranting ahead of him. "Old man, I don't know who told you that getting a goddess a bundle of weeds was a good idea, but if I had to make a guess, they want you dead. That is, if this whole 'meeting with Cybele' thing is even real, which it most likely is not." 

Moore couldn't fault Anastasius for questioning the whole thing. He was never truly the religious type, and the idea of his uncle going to meet with a goddess definitely sounded like some sort of novel reenactment. "Well, if you're so insistent that it's not real, then what's the trouble in me bringing a basket of weeds?" He chuckled, only for the pink male behind him to groan in anger. "Because in the very small chance that it is real, I'd prefer you to come home alive!"

"I'll be fine, Anastasius. Look, does this basket look insulting to you?" He held out the offering he had made so far, and Anastasius leaned over to glare over the basket. "These... are weeds? Why are they so... pretty?" He questioned, the anger that had been stuck on him previously started to melt away, leaving only confusion left in his features. "Well, there's plenty of flowering weeds that show up in gardens- many of them invasive species! I believed that if I collected some appealing invasive flowers and put them together, it would not only be a symbol of respect for her beauty and the beauty of spring, but a promise to protect parts of nature that may need a bit of assistance every now and again."

"Ugh, you sound like one of the druids from your fantasy movies." Stasi grumbled, though he had to admit that the bundle of plants did look quite beautiful. "So... invasive, huh?"

"Indeed! For example, this-" He pulled out a stalk with bundles of yellow and white flowers across it. "Is toadflax. Otherwise known as the Wild Snapdragon, it's root system is developed in order to snuff out native plants. Of course, I've taken off the roots in order to put it into the basket, as it's quite unsightly in comparison."

"Uhuh..." It was clear that the other pheromoo was only half-listening, his eyes wandering to the basket and grabbing another flower from it. Bright red flowers that bloomed out in a cup-like shape. He couldn't believe he was admiring weeds- and continuing to hear his uncle's trivia certainly didn't help his embarassment. "Ah! I see you've noticed the trumpet vines! Quite feisty things, these are! While in many places they are native and a beautiful addition to a garden, these flowers in particular have tendrils with the capabilities to even destroy trees that are hundreds of years old!"

Anastasius was too busy looking over the trumpet vines to notice that his uncle was shoving another flower in front of his face- a white flower that bloomed into somewhat of a smooth circle. He had to admit that this one was quite pretty as well. "And this, field bindweed! Plenty of people accidentally mistake these for morning glories, but are actually a weed, and a stubborn one too! Trying to get rid of these lads once they're introduced into a system could completely destroy a garden before it's truly clean of their presence."

Something tempted the young moo about all of this. Pretty flowers that could completely destroy a garden. Perhaps someone he didn't like that he knew was more frills than smarts. Imagine, a ditsy bimbo gives them a bundle of flowers for their garden, and who could say no to a face like his? Oh yes, he could destroy a bit more than a few gardens with the knowledge. But then that one word in his thoughts. 'destroy' reminded him of the task at hand. As pretty as they were, if Moore was really going to meet a goddess, she'd likely smite him where he stood if he came to her with only weeds.

"Well, I'll admit that these are nice. But you're still missing something." He stated, returning the flower that had been in his hand to the basket and walking off for a moment. When he returned, he had a small bouquet of roses that he quickly shoved into the basket, organizing the flowers into place as he talked.

"Cybele is the goddess of fertility, yeah? I'm sure there's some connection between fertility and love. So, Roses. Iconic flower of love and romance and one of the first steps to fertility. It doesn't even take away that much from your little weeds." Of course Anastasius would choose roses, but even if it was predictable, Cian appreciated it anyways. "Why, you're quite right, Anastasius. I hadn't even thought of that."

"Of course you haven't." He sighed. "Well, I'm going back to bed. Try not to stay up all night."

With that, Anastasius shuffled back towards the house, leaving Moore to continue picking up weeds to add to his basket. He would go to bed soon, knowing he'd need the rest for the morning, but he just needed to add a few more finishing touches to the basket...