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Hydra loved plants.
One of the first things he'd done after Rusty had agreed to hydrogen conversion, and Hydra had been permanently assigned to Troubadour Yard, had been to ask for permission to grow plants behind the freight sheds, a little patch of garden that got enough sun, and close to the pond where the ducks and swans lived.
Currently, he was hands deep in the soil, adjusting mulch around some marigolds. There'd been plenty of aphids coming to the area,and there weren't enough predators to deal with the amount, so he was hoping to spare his garden a little.
Honestly, the garden wasn't much. Just a few long planters made from wood that Rusty had negotiated from Lumber, and a few tilled patches of dirt. But it was alive. And in a train yard, that counted for a lot.
As he was working, he heard the clatter of small wheels clumsily approaching. Still unsteady in their excitement.
He paused his task, sitting up on his haunches, glancing back in time for two shapes to barrel into him, giggling.
Rusty approached at a slower pace, grinning.
"PAPA!" Lyra squeaked, practically climbing up his shoulders.
Orion approached slightly slower, peering around his body at the garden. "See Lyra! I told you he was growing again!"
Hydra didn't have to look to see Lyra sticking her tongue out at her brother.
"They wouldn't stop asking after you," Rusty rolled to a stop next to them. "I figured you wouldn't mind a little company."
"I could never mind," Hydra stood, kissing his husband. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too," Rusty smiled, pulling him into a hug. He moved to kiss Hydra again, but they were interrupted by the sound of Lyra bumping into a planter.
"What are these? They smell like tea, and candy, and weird grass!" Lyra's eyes were huge as she leaned in to smell a chamomile plant.
"Is that good or bad?" Hydra pulled back, smiling apologetically at Rusty as he rubbed his hands on his overalls.
"I dunno," she said, nose twitching as she shoved her face into a spearmint plant. "Smells like chewing gum!"
Orion crept up to a lavender plant as she explored, frowning. "Why is it fuzzy? Is it sick?"
"Nope," Hydra said gently. "That's just how it grows. The fuzziness protects it from getting too dry on hot days."
Orion stared at the lavender like it had told him a secret, nodding at Hydra's words. "Cool…" He stepped closer, smelling a flower, looking up at him. "Why does it smell like that?"
Hydra smiled, kneeling next to him, before plucking off one slightly damaged flower, holding it out to Orion. "Do you remember when I taught you about bees?"
Lyra squealed in excitement. "OH! I KNOW THIS!" She raced over, skidding to a stop. "Bees help flowers grow!"
Orion nodded, brow furrowed as he thought. "Does the smell help bees?"
"Exactly," Hydra breathed, ruffling both of their hair. "Bees travel long distances to find flowers so they can collect pollen and take it back home. And plants like when they do that, because it pollinates the plants."
"And then the bees make honey?" Lyra asked, looking excited. "And that's their food!"
Hydra nodded. "So a lot of plants make themselves smell really good, which helps bees find them!"
"Plants are smart!" Orion beamed.
"Like you and your sister," Hydra nodded, before gesturing for them to follow. "Humans eat plants too. And I'm growing some of those plants!"
"To give to the humans?" Lyra wrinkled her nose.
"No, no, they grow their own food." He gestured to his plants. "Once these are grown, I'll turn them into food for animals."
"Why can't we eat them, papa?" Orion asked, eyes wide.
Hydra hummed, before tapping Orion's firebox beneath his shirt. "We don't use human food, it can make us really sick. That's why our food is made of fuel, so we don't end up contaminating our fuel lines with something that isn't meant to be there."
"Oh…" Orion nodded, looking mournfully at a strawberry plant. "So like we aren't allowed to take fuel from auntie Slick, but we can from uncle Porter and uncle Lumber?"
"And me," Hydra nodded, tapping the 'Powered by Hydrogen' sticker on his collarbone.
After that, he led them both to the mint plant that Lyra had almost fallen into. "This is my favourite. It smells nice, and we can make it into tea as a treat."
"That we can drink?" Lyra gasped. "Won't it make us sick too?"
Hydra shook his head. "Not if we only have a little. Our systems can handle some liquids." He nodded to the lavender that Orion had pointed out. "We can have that in tea as well. It helps you sleep."
"Is that why you grow it?" Orion asked, looking longingly at the lavender.
"No, but I can make you some tea if you want?" He hummed, thinking about how to put this. "I grow it because it's good for bugs and bees. But it also keeps away mice."
Lyra squinted. "Why do you need to keep mice away? They're tiny! And they don't eat trains!"
"They nibble on plants," Hydra said patiently. "And sometimes wires too. And with them being so little, they could get hurt around big trains!"
"Ohhhhh!" Lyra nodded, beaming at the new information that she'd surely tell Dinah about when she went on her playdate. "Okay, I get it!"
Orion walked a small distance away, peering at the flowers he'd been planting. "These look pretty!"
"Those are marigolds," Hydra offered. "That keeps away bugs that just want to eat my plants. Like guardians."
"KNIGHT PLANT!" Lyra gasped.
Hydra blinked. "Sure. They're kinda like knights."
Orion moved on now, to a small bundle of leaves sticking up from the ground. "And this?"
"Those are carrots, they're food." At Orion's sceptical look, he laughed. "The food part grows under the ground."
Immediately, Lyra hurried over, grabbing one of the leaves and tugging.
Hydra was at her side in an instant. "They aren't done growing yet," he set a hand gently on her shoulder. "They take a lot of time. I can show you them when they're done."
Lyra huffed. "But I wanna see it now!"
"I know," Hydra soothed, kneeling down next to her. "But if you pull it out too early, then it might grow right. They take a lot of patience."
"Ugh, carrots are boring…" She muttered. "Can I grow a fast one?"
"What about mint? Does that grow fast?" Orion asked. "She liked the mint."
"Mint is really good at growing fast," Hydra offered. "But it's grows where it wants to. It doesn't like to be held down."
"That's my plant!" Lyra grinned, rushing over. "Can I grow it papa, can I?!"
Orion pointed to the lavender. "And can I grow that one? It smells nice, like bedtime."
"Of course you can," Hydra stood up, looking back at Rusty. "How about you get your dad to make you both a planter? And then I can get you some clippings so you can grow your plants?"
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lyra hugged his waist, before rushing over to Rusty. "I want my planter to be orange! Can we paint it orange?"
Orion looked up. "We can make them colours? I want mine to be blue!"
Rusty crouched between the twins, ruffling Orion's hair and booping Lyra on the nose. "Orange and blue, huh? I think we can make that happen," he said. "We have some paint left that you can use."
Hydra approached, standing next to his family. "Yeah, if you two want to paint them tomorrow, me and your dad can build the planters tonight."
Lyra gasped. "I can paint it? Myself?"
"As long as you don't paint yourself orange," Rusty raised an eyebrow. "But yes."
"No promises," she cackled.
Hydra looked at Rusty, dramatically stage whispering. "She's totally going to paint herself orange."
"Oh, definitely, Rusty whispered back, standing up. "Now how about we all head back, and you can both tell your grandma about what you've been up to today?"
Hydra grinned, holding out his hands. Orion took one immediately, but Lyra grabbed Rusty's hand, before they all started to walk back.
Rusty fell in step beside Hydra, looping his free arm around Hydra's neck, the twins chattering about everything and nothing as they approached the freight yard.
Hydra loved plants.
He especially loved that he now got to share that with his family.