As Green as the Ragged Grass

"*It was at that point that Gwyn realised that he was more than a little lost to what was happening, and he hoped that he could have as much of this side of Augus, as he could the demanding, challenging side.*"
―Augus Each Uisge[[**As Green as the Ragged Grass**, Chapter 2]]

## As Green as the Ragged Grass

Fanart of older Augus Each Uisge by Ravenemore https://raven-nemore.tumblr.com/post/177153112791/older-augus-is-my-new-obsession-not-poignant

### Link

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15596679/chapters/36211611

## Reading Order

### Next

Smoke in Autumn

***As Green as the Ragged Grass*** is a *Fae Tales Verse AU* with Gwyn ap Nudd and Augus Each Uisge as humans. *Smoke in Autumn* is a story in the same universe sometime after *As Green as the Ragged Grass* that focuses on Augus and a human Mosk Manytrees.

## Summary

Baby arborist and landscape-architect-in-training Gwyn ap Nudd finally - after years of work and training and odd jobs - has the opportunity to look at Augus Each Uisge's grand, closed garden in the Swan Valley, Western Australia. But it ends up being Augus who captures his interest and fascination.

## Character Bios

### Augus Each Uisge

His 'family moved to Western Australia from Scotland' when Augus 'was thirteen. About forty years ago' from the story start.

'A notoriously private mogul from Wales or Scotland, who sunk a lot of his investment earnings into Australian real estate and various business on the stock market provided they were focused on forestry or other renewable resources. He kept to himself, and though many of his clients had heard of him, few had actually met him.' He does woodworking as a hobby. He allowed Gwyn to come to his estate for a trial run, but approved of Gwyn's work, and after the day's work was done said, ‘You’ll do, I suppose'.

When Gwyn first saw a picture of Augus in *Landscape Architect Magazine* when Gwyn was 16, Augus appeared as 'a man in his late forties; long, straight black hair pulled back into a ponytail, green eyes glaring at the camera, as though he was offended that the photographer had wanted a photo of the genius behind the garden. He was tan from spending so much time outdoors, had sunglasses pushed up into his hair, freckles smattered generously across his skin.' In the present, his hair 'had more silver in it . . . and there were crow’s feet around his green eyes. He was slender, hips narrow, and his clothing – over which he wore a white coat that was covered in sawdust – was that of a businessman who didn’t care what others thought of him.' Close up, Gwyn noted that Augus' hair was black 'and white, thick and glossy. . . . He had freckles on his shoulders, on his upper back, and when Gwyn pulled Augus’ hair to the side to see his nape, he even had a few there too.' He has a 'a smooth, cultured voice', which is also 'soft [and] masculine'.

He is particular, and can be sharp and easily dismissive, and is quite open about sexual matters, and noted that 'I’m too old, you see, to bother with things like long, arduous spells of flirting.' He prefers people call him Augus. Gwyn noted 'Augus was far more forward and confident and blasé than anyone he’d ever met.' Gwyn also noted that, despite Augus' lovely treatment of Gwyn during their physical intimacy, 'he was still kind of a pretentious twat. But then, Augus had probably earned it, with the life he lived.'

### Gulvi

Gulvi is one of Gwyn's friends, and she dragged him along to a Pride Parade once, then slapped a Pride flag sticker onto his car before he realized it.

### Gwyn ap Nudd

Gwyn has well-to-do family in Sydney, which he got away from 'as soon as he could, and his family wouldn’t have so much as picked up a phone to wish him death by fire ants, let alone provided recommendations to their friends throughout Australia.'

Gwyn is working on a landscape architecture degree and arboriculture diploma. He studied on weekends and then does part-time jobs in his spare time. Although his tuition 'is covered by the government . . . there’s . . . . books, the other bits and pieces, rent and…equipment.’ It 'was word of mouth, the quality of his work, that built his reputation, and now he was in his third year and getting a chance to look at the gardens of Augus Each Uisge.' He started working on Augus' gardens.

He has very pale blonde hair, to the point it almost looks bleached. Augus noted that his 'hair is very soft.' He's also tall and muscular. He's a bit self-conscious about his inexperience with physical relationships. He tried taking anti-depressants once, but it didn't help things; ultimately, leaving home worked better.

## Locations

### Augus' home

Located in Swan Valley. It has 'giant, black wrought iron gates'. It has a long driveway made of 'dusky cobblestones in warm tones. Two stately carob trees, both at least twenty years old or more, towered over him, and then lawns of rolling green followed. The manor itself was hidden in the distance, behind a screen of exotics like oak, pine and aspen, but Gwyn could also see stands of Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, even Casuarina, with their long pine-like needles that wept down gently and had such a sweet sound when the wind played through them. Gwyn turned left at the fork, looking at how the lawn dropped down towards a large manmade lake that had a healthy number of local, native plants within. . . . The first shed wasn’t a small gardener’s shed made of aluminium Colorbond like so many gardener’s sheds, but a large brick building that could have fit at least four cars inside of it.' The shed had 'enough gardening equipment that it was like being in a store of top end material.' 'There was even a cabinet filled with different raw materials for wound dressing trees, along with grafting and striking equipment.' It also has gardening buggies for travel around the estate. Augus also keeps a shed for his woodworking.

The garden section Augus first let Gwyn work on contained pale 'silver birches, which were only stocked at a handful of rare tree nurseries, bare of leaves at this time of year. Alongside them, the white serpentine trunks of silver-gums, heavy branches weeping foliage. There was the beginning of wide, shady paths cleared out, and Gwyn followed one of them until it forked at a large lemon myrtle. It was in full flower'. It smelled like 'native lemon'.

The mansion itself has 'rammed earth bricks on the inside, giving the whole place a warm, reddish-orange glow. . . . Rammed earth bricks were so wide, so heavy, that every window sill was deep enough that it could be a resting place or a shelf. Turning into a room was an event, each wall a foot thick. On the ceiling were exposed wooden beams that looked like jarrah, and the flooring was wood too. There were rugs everywhere, all in greens or woven from natural materials.

Artwork hung on the walls, almost all nature pieces. Some abstract, some only indicative of subject matter by colour and vague shape, others so hyper-realistic that Gwyn thought one was a window into a garden. Even the lighting fixtures were mesmerising. Geometric, intricate wooden lampshades of a kind that Gwyn hadn’t seen before. They muted the light, made it warmer, gentler. Gave the place a sense of cosiness even though it was so large.'

Augus' bedroom has 'several large wooden display cabinets' contained more of his woodworking projects. There was also a 'window, where the sill was more like a daybed, and beyond it, Gwyn could see a wisteria that was lovelier than any other he’d seen. Augus must have planted that at least twenty years ago.' The bathroom has 'a large shower with clear glass panels.'

## Quotations

* Augus to Gwyn: ‘What a shame. I’m *such* a fucking pervert.’
* Augus to Gwyn: *'You removed my favourite branch. But I suppose this is why I’m having a stranger do it, I’d rather be annoyed at you than myself. The branch had to go.'*
* Augus to Gwyn: ‘I can’t tell if time is moving faster or slower these days. Yes, they do like coming round to take photographs of something, and then I have to deal with phone-calls for a few weeks, and then it stops. A pain.’
* Augus to Gwyn: ‘Aren’t you a gem?’ Augus said warmly. ‘I don’t even get the sense that you’re trying to present yourself like some kind of sycophant. That’s just you, isn’t it?’
* Augus to Gwyn: ‘I don’t know if you want to trust *me . . .* I hope I haven’t given you the impression that I’m a very soft and sweet lover, because I’m neither of those things. I’d want to…challenge you, let’s say.’
* Gwyn to Augus: ‘I like your hair.’
* '‘You’re kind of eccentric, huh?’ Gwyn said. ‘I’m ‘kind of’ a lot of things,’ Augus said.'
* To Gwyn: '‘Aren’t you sweet?’ Augus said.'
* To Gwyn: '‘You are very flattering,’ Augus said.'
* Augus to Gwyn: 'Don’t you just want to relax after the day you’ve had? You can let me look after you, can’t you? That mind of yours, so busy.'
* Gwyn: 'It was the feeling he got with certain trees. That he would be sheltered, no matter what he did, no matter how strong he was, or even how threatening, with his axe or chainsaw.'
* To Gwyn: '‘Honestly I can’t decide if I want to cherish you or rip you apart,’ Augus said'.
* 'Augus nodded like he knew that was the answer all along, even though Gwyn had never known until he’d left. Hard to see what he was escaping, until he was somewhere they’d never come. Hardly anyone wanted to go to the most isolated major city in the world. Gwyn thought it was perfect.'
* Augus to Gwyn: ‘You’re a little addictive, aren’t you?’
* ‘You have an active mind,’ Augus said. ‘I like it. I’m looking forward to getting to know you, Gwyn.’

## Trivia

* Gwyn owns an ute. There's a pride flag on the back of the car, which Gulvi placed.
* Augus noted that Gwyn's 'last name is instantly recognisable *and* quite unique for the country', and Gwyn's family is rich.
* Augus' mansion 'was one of the first of its size to use rammed earth. Did wonderful things for the industry in the state. Before that, it was only hippies using it as a cheap alternative and you could *mostly* only tour one and two bedroom places as a result.'
* Club Freak is a club that Gwyn went to once, 'but it wasn’t really a queer space.'
* In Gwyn's previous semester, he got ‘High Distinctions . . . Except in my elective. A Distinction in Geomorphology and Soils.’
* Augus' favorite food is 'Roasted hazelnuts . . . But not the kind that are from the store. The kind [he roasts himself], with a bit of sea salt. Chestnuts too. The first pea pod [he plucks from his] own garden, because it heralds an oncoming influx of great produce.’ He seems to be vegetarian.
* Gwyn likes 'Macca's . . . Meat Candy . . . The fried chicken sambo, could eat ten at a time.’

## Image Gallery

Fanart of Augus Each Uisge by Ravenemore https://raven-nemore.tumblr.com/post/177153112791/older-augus-is-my-new-obsession-not-poignant
## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 not\_poignant. “As Green as the Ragged Grass.” *Archive of Our Own,* 14 August 2018. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15596679/chapters/36436971#workskin. Chapter 2.
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 not\_poignant. “As Green as the Ragged Grass.” *Archive of Our Own,* 7 August 2018. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15596679/chapters/36211611. Chapter 1.
3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 not\_poignant. “As Green as the Ragged Grass.” *Archive of Our Own,* 9 September 2018. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15596679/chapters/37231202#workskin. Chapter 3.