Gar laughed, "Most people call it a clover."
Rolling her eyes, she twisted the stem between her fingers, sending the head spinning around on its axis. "I know it's a clover; I meant why did you give it to me?"
"Well then, you ought to choose your words more carefully," Gar said with a hint of playfulness. "I gave it to you because I thought you might like it."
"I might like a clover?" she looked up at him in doubt.
Gar shook his head, a smile playing at his mouth. "Did your father teach you nothing except to fight off boys?"
Kindra feigned deep thought for a moment. "Nope. I've been doing a rather poor job of it though, haven't I?" She smiled and rocked into his shoulder.
"I don't know," he returned her smile; "you've been doing a fair job against my brother." They laughed to themselves and watched the clover spin in her fingers.
"So you really mean to tell me you don't know about clovers?" Gar looked down at her with a smile, "your parents never gave each other clovers?"
The tone of his question made her feel self-conscious and slow. It put her on edge and she countered rudely. "If they did it was none of my concern."
"Honestly, Kindra," he chided, "open your eyes to something more than the Warriors."
She shrugged, not much caring about clovers and her parents gardening tendencies.
"Don't you see the shape?" Gar tried again. "Each leaf looks like a heart, and there are three leafs. One for Eoin, one for Aleda, and one for Trina."
Kindra continued to look skeptical, "if they are all hearts shouldn't they all represent Trina?" She would have preferred a gift with more use and less subtleties.
Gar furrowed his brow, "you're hopelessly unromantic."
"And you're a hopeless romantic," she snapped back, irritated by his foolish games. "If you wanted to give me something as a token of your affection why didn't you just give me a flute?"
Gar blinked, taken aback by her forwardness. "Oh. I didn't realize you wanted a flute." It wasn't something he had considered yet with Kindra's cold attitude as of late. A flute in Fie Eoin was a proposal of marriage, and he thought marriage was the last thing on Kindra's mind. Then again, outside of the Warriors group Gar really didn't know her that well.
"I don't!" Kindra protested loudly. "I just meant that if you're going to give me something it ought to be useful, not a dying plant." She was blushing profusely as she tore each heart-shaped leaf from the stem.
Gar smiled down on her, enjoying the miscommunication. "Well then, maybe I will get you a flute, since you want one so badly."
Kindra threw the plucked stem at him and stood up. "I don't want a flute!" she asserted, "What I want is a nice long spear, so I can keep you and your stupid plants and flutes and romantic ideas away from me."
Gar chuckled and lay back on the grass, his arms tucking neatly behind his head. "Hmmm, it’s been ages since I tried to make a flute. It might take me some practice. And then I need to learn how to play it!" He was still laughing and talking to himself as Kindra trudged away in a sour mood.