[OPEN] days don't feel different from the nights

[onegreeneye]

Who: Ginko and anyone
What: Landscape restoration, medical supply collection, and more!
When: about the first half of October
Where: around Enso and islets
Warnings: questionable coping mechanisms

A - Enso

The nice thing about being a troll is that Ginko can get a pretty considerable amount of work done at a time in restoring Enso’s landscape, even when slightly injured. In fact, in the weeks following Ahidalga’s defeat, that’s what he spends most of his time on.

Ginko brings down an axe provided by the Storyteller on a charred, cracked tree trunk, one that was already leaning dangerously over, then plants his hands on the wood, getting ready to push it the rest of the way over.

His ear twitches at the sound of movement nearby, and he glances up just long enough to confirm that it’s a person - whether someone more humanoid, or simply someone he can recognize as not local wildlife - before turning his attention back to the dead trunk. “--Hey. Careful of this one, it’s going down in a moment.”

B - Enso I2

He would hope that anyone else who got burned during Ahidalga’s attack would have healed by now. He almost has, and might have been further along if he had spent more time resting in the last few weeks - but that isn’t an option. He’s got to keep his mind on something.

In this instance, that “something” is harvesting more leaves for treating the burns that people may or may not still be suffering from. He’s managed to get himself up into one of the mangrove trees on this stretch of beach (which wasn’t a great experience with a burn still healing on his hip), and there he harvests leaves from the tree, carefully and methodically. He’d rather not end up hurting it.

Absorbed as he is in his work, he’s not paying much attention to his surroundings - or his tail, which is swishing back and forth below the branch he’s sitting on, potentially at… roughly face height for anyone passing under the tree. From the ground, it might look like there’s some kind of animal up there, honestly.

C - Wildcard

(( OOC: Though Ginko will be spending most of his time on replanting and collecting supplies, he will also occasionally be around to help chase off invasive animals, as well as periodically sleeping in the cottage he shares with Ed and Epsilon on Islet 5, so feel free to run into him anywhere around Enso or on the islet! If you want to plan something out, contact me on this journal, the game discord, or at omixgirl10. ))

Comments

[reflash]

Yukio hands his notebook over right away. It's half-filled with notes, accurate and detailed, despite Yukio's not-so-great handwriting and really terrible art abilities.

"I'm sorry, I should have spoken to you sooner." But he's been... distracted. He can hope Ginko will understand, and forgive his lapse.

[onegreeneye]

Oh. Oh no. Well, at least he seems to be getting the written details pretty well. Ginko glances over the page for a moment before passing it back. "That's quite an impressive start. If you'd like, I can share my notes later."

He shakes his head slightly. It's still not a very energetic motion, but it's pretty immediate - almost before Yukio finishes his sentence. "You've had a lot to deal with. Learning about the plant life here is certainly useful, but it only makes sense that it wouldn't be top priority."

[reflash]

"Thank you for the offer, I'm sure that will be very useful." From what he remembers, Ginko uses plants as much as any Doctor-class exorcist.

"I have been... distracted, but this really should be a top priority for me. There are too many plants here that I'm unfamiliar with, and I really can't let myself remain ignorant."

[onegreeneye]

"It's no trouble." The more this information is spread around, the better for everyone here.

He... guesses he can't really argue with that reasoning. Which is unfortunate, because a part of him really wants to. So: "We can get started now, then, if you'd like. I have to keep collecting supplies for a bit longer, anyway; won't be too hard to go over what I know at the same time."

[reflash]

"Really?" Yukio asks, and for a second, he brightens up. His expression isn't quite as guarded as usual, and there's something edging on hopeful in his voice as he ducks his head.

"I wouldn't want to impose, but if it's not a bother..."

He's a nerd. A nerd who hasn't been able to really learn from someone in far too long, and the prospect of an actual educational opportunity is enough to brighten his mood just a little.

[onegreeneye]

Oh no that is... really cute, and Ginko pushes down a twist of fondness. Whatever he may remember himself, he's all but a stranger to Yukio now; he can't go letting himself get overly familiar.

He does, at least, allow himself a smile. No reason that much would make Yukio uncomfortable. "None at all. To start with--" He gestures at the tree he just dropped out of. "The leaves with these trees seem to help with burns - or at least to soothe them while they heal. Makes them pretty valuable at times like this."

[reflash]

"They're mangroves, I think." Yukio says, reaching up and pulling a leaf off to inspect it. He makes some notes in his notebook, then presses the leaf between the pages. He'll actually press it later, but this will do for now to hold onto it.

The tufted end of his tail flicks back and forth a little, not quite wagging but close.

"The root system is very distinctive, but I haven't seen any in person before."

[onegreeneye]

"Yeah? I figured that might be it, but I wasn't sure." Without much reason to travel far enough south to encounter them, Ginko's experience had largely been restricted to descriptions and rough drawings before now. From what he remembers, hearing about it from others in Ryslig, Yukio's time period would provide plenty more opportunities to get an accurate idea of what plants uncommon to one's own area looked like.

"Guess that's one of the perks of being stuck somewhere tropical. Might not get to see these kinds of trees up close otherwise."

[reflash]

"Do you not have greenhouses when you're from?" Yukio doesn't know exactly when Ginko is from, but he knows he's not modern. And it's not like there are a lot of mangroves in greenhouses, but there's something in the way Ginko says it that makes it seem like he hasn't considered that as a possibility.

[onegreeneye]

"None that I was ever going to see." Not in Japan, anyway - Ryslig was another story, but it's also not where he's from. And also they didn't tend to grow mangroves there. "I heard people talk about them now and then in Japan. Always thought they sounded useful, but I don't think we had any built."

Certainly not anywhere where Ginko would have gone; for all he knew, some rich person somewhere could have had one built for their personal use, but that wouldn't affect him.

[reflash]

That tail's wagging for real now, and the blade in the tuft at the end slices some leaves off of a low-growing bush.

"They really are, we use them a lot for growing herbs for exorcism out of season." He doesn't know a lot about the whole growing process, he buys his herbs pre-processed, but he's had to learn a lot, and quickly. "It makes it much easier than trying to keep certain things in stock."

[onegreeneye]

"I can only imagine." He smiles slightly despite himself, his own tail thumping against the ground a couple times. "Definitely sounds better than trying to gather up as many supplies as possible before they disappear for the year."

Especially given how difficult some remedies can be to find even when they're growing. Being able to grow herbs whenever and wherever you want sounds pretty incredible to him.

[reflash]

"And it gives you easy access to plants that have to be used fresh, like aloe." He isn't exactly lecturing, but there's a little bit of a shift in his tone as he pokes around the mangrove tree and starts looking at the plants nearby. He's a teacher, and he's in his element, and it's a lot less stressful than anything else he's had to deal with recently.

"Of course, some exorcists can summon greenmen, who can grow plants instantly, but most Doctors aren't Tamers and we don't always work with Tamers who bond with greenmen, so we can't rely on that possibility."

[onegreeneye]

For the most part, Ginko tends to be more used to telling other people about herbal treatments than being told about them - but he's never been one to turn down a chance to learn.

Besides which, he's had to learn a lot over the last few years. It's gotten to a point where it's pretty nice for that new information not to be an issue of life or death, at least not for the moment.

"Greenmen?" Of course that term would stick out to him. It feels reminiscent, in a way, to the way some types of mushi were talked about, back in his own world; he suspects that's a coincidence, of course, but it seems worth asking about.

[reflash]

"They're small forest spirits. They're rarely aggressive, and many can even be friendly. They can cause plants to grow extremely quickly." Yukio isn't exactly fond of the little demons, but...

"One of my... friends" and if his cheeks go a little blue after he stumbles slightly into that word, it's fine. "has a greenman as her familiar, so I've gotten accustomed to seeing them around."

[onegreeneye]

Yukio's fumbling over the word "friend" isn't lost on Ginko - but he knows better than to point it out. He knows he sure wouldn't appreciate someone pointing out any similar stumbles on his end, and he doesn't know this Yukio well enough for it to be any of his business to begin with.

"That is interesting... the name kind of reminded me of something from my world, but in practice they sound somewhere between that and the nymphs from the last place I ended up."

[reflash]

"What are they like from your world? We never had much of a chance to talk about any similarities in the Carnival."

[onegreeneye]

That's a weird thought - and kind of an uncomfortable one. Granted, their original worlds didn't come up much back in Ryslig, but having the topic come up now just... drives home how much this "other" him didn't know Yukio at all, and vice-versa.

He can't get into that, though. Can't show it. So there's only a moment's pause, as easily a second taken to think as anything else, before he replies. "There was a type of organism in my world called mushi - but some called them 'the green ones', or along those lines. They were essentially the type of being closest to my world's source of life."

[reflash]

"You mentioned them, in the Carnival." Yukio says, as a clarification. "They seem to be similar to the lower-ranking demons I'm familiar with. I don't want to go over things you've already learned about."

[onegreeneye]

"Oh, yeah. 'Course." It was probably stupid of him not to consider that the 'other' him probably would have told Yukio about mushi already.

"I don't remember a whole lot; I know that y-- that I learned some about the use of herbs in exorcisms. Some about different demons' elemental affinities, as well. But not much more than that."

He supposes there's a chance he may have forgotten some of it - or it might have gotten jumbled up in his head with information about other worlds' life forms, or the monsters in Ryslig itself, and without the notes he took back then, the best way to untangle that kind of information will probably be to talk about it.

[reflash]

His tail curls around one leg, a slight nervousness even if his expression doesn't betray him.

"Is there something you'd like to learn more about?"

[onegreeneye]

As is usually the case with Ginko, he wants... to know anything he can. About Yukio, about the demons that Ginko knows so little about, a mix of ill-advised personal investment and his usual curiosity. But demons are what he’s being offered an opportunity to learn more about, so he’ll focus on that.

"There was something about... where they came from. If I remember correctly, demons come from a different 'world' than humans, or something along those lines... how do they get to Earth?"

He may be somewhat misremembering, what with it having been a couple years since he even had the opportunity to talk to the Yukio he knew about this, but that's all the more reason to ask.

[reflash]

"They come from Gehenna." Yukio confirms. "It's a plane of existence parallel to Assiah, or... this world. Well, not this world, but the human existence."

As for how they get through... that's a little more complicated.

"The smallest demons can pass through easily, since they aren't moving as much power across the barrier, and the strongest can force their way through, but mid-ranked demons either have to be summoned or occasionally stumble through on their own. The current problem we're facing is that the Illuminati, led by Lucifer, King of Light, have decided to open portals into Assiah. Or... we were, when I left." Why is right now the first time he's thinking about this?

"But that was months ago, so hopefully it's been resolved by now."

[onegreeneye]

It's a lot of new terminology, but Ginko listens intently, nodding slightly as Yukio explains. It makes sense conceptually, at least, even if the words used are totally unfamiliar.

"I would hope so. Too many beings from another world crossing into yours sounds like it'd end badly." Regardless of their intentions, which, he gathers, are mostly bad.

[reflash]

"It will. Gehenna and Assiah can't coexist in the same space. Demonic possession destroys matter, and more powerful demons destroy it more quickly. So opening a doorway up between the two worlds won't end well for either of them."