crescentview | December/spring catch-all

December/spring catch-all

WHO: M-21 and anyone!
WHAT: Open + catchall
WHEN: All spring
WHERE: All over the island
WARNINGS: none, TBA if needed. Plotting here!

i. what do you mean 'consequences'

[ On one specific, highly cursed day this month, M-21 can be found lurking forlornly outside the island's little clinic. An internal war seems to be going on; he takes a grudging step towards the doors, then stalks away again. As if unaware he's doing it, he reaches down to rub irritably at his lower back. Maybe someone's a little less suited for farm work than everyone else? ]

This is so stupid.

[ He shoots a mutinous look up at the sky like he'd like to direct a complaint right to the management but doesn't quite dare. Then he's back to his pacing, with an occasional sideways glance thrown in towards the vet. Or he can be found draped somewhat pathetically over the nearest fence-shaped thing he can find, apparently no longer willing to move.

Help. ]

ii. like herding cats

[ On days when the weather is sunny and cooperative, despite all complaints, M-21 is hard at work in his fields. Reluctant concessions to farmcore have been made to spare what's left of his suit, and a sturdy pair of farming gloves covering his hands well past the wrist spare what's left of his palms from the sub-par farming tools. Things are coming in pretty nicely, especially the new stand of trees. They're full-grown and leafy and already showing a crop of... one fluffy orange kitten with oversized paws perched on a branch, chirruping furiously. ]

You got yourself up there.

[ Rescue? Or wait another few seconds to catch M-21 sighing and stripping off his gloves as he goes to climb a tree for what appears to be the five hundredth time that day. ]

iii. wildcard

[ Catch me on my planning link or PM if you want a starter! I welcome any and all bingos or just chaos. Or just hit me with anything, he'll be Around. ]

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Stuck?

[OH NO LOOK AT THOSE BIG EYES. LOOK AT THOSE BIG EYES LOOKING AT HIM.

Reaching... out... a finger... to boop the nose...]

Oh, you mean because it's prickly. I've read that some types of plants have protective things like that to keep birds and other animals from eating their fruit. Like raspberries!

[How long can Jack keep rolling with this joke? Let's find out.]

[ The kitten rewards Jack with a little finger lick. Friend?

It does not, in any way, detach its velcro hold on M-21's shirt. Despite the fact that M-21 is now heaving the world's biggest sigh. ]

It's working. I'm not eating it. [ There's a beat, and a judging look. Can this eccentric man be trusted with cat help... ] You another farmer here?

[FRIEND. He'll be reaching out to pet if he is allowed!]

In a certain manner of speaking...

[Does this man really look like he would know what he's doing on a farm?

...
...
... don't answer that.]

... which is to say, yes. Though not a very experienced one, I must admit.

[ The kitten, of course, allows it and only redoubles its purring. M-21 looks like he might grumble, but if the petting loosens the kitten hold... ]

No one here is. If you've seen the sun before, you're off to a... start.

[ Saying "a good start" seems like a reach. ]

Seen the sun before?

[He blinks for a moment, the kitten petting slowing to a stop. Ah. That's like...

... but this isn't the time or place for that.]

... so you live underground in your world?

Not mine. Probably someone here does. One of the other guys has two suns.

[ Although it had been a while before M-21 had seen anything other than the sterile, fluorescent lights of the lab himself. His nose wrinkles a little at the remembered smell of antiseptic, but he tries to play it off with the quirk of an eyebrow. ]

Where'd you come from?

[ Either his home or his farm here, M-21 is blandly unspecific. ]

Sablier!

[Which is technically the truth! Never mind that it no longer exists in the present world... that's a detail that no one here needs to know. None of them need to know about the Tragedy of Sablier, surely. Even less so his own involvement in that.]

It's quite a large city where I come from. You can find all sorts of things there... but not farms. Those all lie well outside the city, which is why I'd never been on one myself before I arrived.

Is that French...?

[ M-21 hasn't wholly given up on making the locations other people are from make sense to him. He'll just go with that as an interpretation to start with.

...Maybe that means this guy can cook. He eyes his new acquaintance with renewed interest. ]

Yeah. Same for me. Most people wouldn't grow these things from scratch when you can just buy them at the store. ...It's easier than I thought.

[ He's perhaps looking a little unjustifiably proud about that, like the potatoes in the garden are his personal achievement or something. ]

French?

[It's clear the word isn't ringing a bell, so Jack is just going to shrug that off for the time being and continue on:]

Yes, exactly. It would take up most of the estate grounds to plant enough crops to feed the entire manor. Buying them at the market just makes more sense.

[... also M-21 pls does this man look like he can cook? He probably burns water.]

But there is something satisfying about growing your own, I must admit. Perhaps a small plot wouldn't be so bad, just as a hobby...

[ "Estate grounds"... "Manor"... Yeah, he looks like a rich guy. And/or like a vampire, if Jack hasn't updated his fashion since arriving. ]

A hobby? You mean when you get back? ...You move fast.

[ Getting back means getting married, after all. At least as far as M-21 knows. But it's not surprising if people here are a little quicker about it.

The kitten squirms in his hold, dissatisfied with the amount of attention he's getting now that people are talking, and M-21 rolls his eyes and bends to deposit him on the ground. And then startles at the realization that his gloves are still off. He tugs his left sleeve a little lower and hunts around for where he left them. ]

Eh?

[Jack blinks for a moment, not quite seeming to process the implications of that... and then it sinks in, and he proceeds to draw exactly the wrong conclusion from those words.]

Oh, no, I wasn't trying to imply that we should get married! I do hope you didn't take that the wrong way.

[JACK THE TWO OF YOU LITERALLY JUST MET--

At least he absolutely is not paying attention to M-21 looking for his gloves? Or so it seems on the surface, at least.]

Unless you want to, of course.

[JACK PLS]

[ Well, that halts his hunting for a moment. There's 'fast,' and then there's... whatever this is. Probably a joke? Probably. ]

Think you might've skipped a step?

[ At least give him a name first, jeez! Although at least some of the contemplation crossing M-21's face isn't purely bewilderment. He does, in fact, need someone to marry at the end of this. ]

...Would you really just go with it?

[ Nothing's that easy. M-21 finally spots his gloves again and pulls them back on, left first, making sure his wrists are well covered again. ]

[The great mystery. With Jack, one can never really be sure. Judging by the grin on his face, however, that probably is the most likely interpretation here.]

Well, I'm sure there are much worse choices I could make. You remind me of [one of the only people whose company I ever enjoyed] someone I know, so I think that's a perfectly decent reason to consider it right there.

And you didn't yell at me or try to shoo me off when I joked about your furry friend there, so.

[Perhaps Jack is a bit more perceptive than he seems on the surface...]

[ There's a strange sort of weight to reminding someone of... anyone, really, when his own memory is so brief and most of the people who could remember him are gone. He grunts and glances away as he gives himself a moment to consider that. ]

Would've scared the cat.

[ Who, as if aware he's being discussed, tries to wind himself around Jack's legs. Where did the petting go. ]

...If those are your standards, you'll have plenty of options. [ And if his brow is furrowing a little over that--really, did the man expect to be yelled at by a stranger?--it's nothing. ] At least give me your name before proposing.

[ It's probably a joke back. Although it's a lot harder to tell with M-21's naturally deadpan expression. ]

[He's sorry, little friend! He'll just take the opportunity to scoop the kitten back up and resume the petting. ~~Hold kitten gentle like hamburger--~~]

Jack.

["Just Jack."]

Jack Vessalius. And now you'll have to tell me yours, so we can decide which last name sounds better.

[Joke back or not, he's just going to keep rolling with it, because why not? It's worked so far when it comes to keeping the conversation going. Jack is going to consider that much at least a victory on his end.]

[ M-21 eyes Jack's cat-burger conduct, but apparently finds it satisfactory, because he kneels back down by his strawberry plant to resume picking the berries that have come in. It's more comfortable to talk when he has something to do with his hands. ]

M-21. I don't have a last name, so I guess we're stuck with yours.

[ He doesn't even really have a first name, if they're being particular. But for a joke? He sees no reason to be. He casts another sidelong look at Jack, all but waiting for a comment. ]

Ah... well, I suppose there are worse names to be stuck with.

[There's something distant to his expression as he says this, something that hints that he doesn't quite believe he words that are coming out of his mouth, but it's impossible to see his face as he bows his head to look down at the kitten in his arms.]

It will get you enough recognition in my world, if nothing else. And isn't that part of the point of marrying?

[Is that the slightest hint of a bitter edge to those words?]

[ Is this some kind of fancy family thing where the name has significance? Like something out of a TV drama, or a story that couldn't be more removed from M-21's own life. But he watches Jack's body language out of the corner of his eye. ]

I wouldn't know about that. Probably sometimes.

[ Probably where Jack's from, he's inferring. M-21 plunks another strawberry in the basket before he can't feign distraction anymore and turns to look at Jack properly. ]

If you hate it, pick a different one. Anything you want.

[That pulls Jack up short-- his head jerks up, and for a moment he can't quite manage to disguise the openly surprised expression on his face. He opens his mouth to say something, but no words come out; quickly he clamps it back shut again before emotion overrides sense and he lets something slip that he knows he'll regret mere seconds later.

The mask already came far too close to slipping for his comfort.]

... the goddess would probably like that, wouldn't you agree? For us to pick something new to evoke our time here.

[It's not nearly as practiced as his usual banter, but it will have to do for now, a segue back into something easy and casual and absolutely not a serious conversation in any way, shape or form.]

[ M-21 watches the flicker of emotions cross Jack's face and tilts his head, wondering but unpressing. Everyone has things they don't want to talk about, in his estimation. This is something he doesn't need to know yet; he already understands very well the importance of names. ]

You don't need her approval. [ But he's been trying not to dig himself in any deeper with the goddess, so he lets out a tiny huff of concession. ] But I doubt she'd mind.

[ If his codename hadn't been written in the pamphlet for everyone to see in the first place, it might have been worth picking a different one himself. Although that itches at him in its own way— it feels like giving up on finding the real answer. He rolls his shoulders in a shrug to push the thought away. ]

Edited 2022-12-30 03:48 (UTC)

Hmm.

[It's non-committal, neither an affirmation nor a rejection of the idea. For now, that's probably the best that M-21 is going to be able to get out of him on that front, as going any deeper would start to touch on things that he has no intention of bringing up.]

Well, it's not as though I'm particularly attached to my name, so I certainly wouldn't mind changing it. But I suppose that's getting a bit ahead of ourselves.

[He looks back down at the kitten, giving it a gentle rub beneath the chin.]

I was only joking, anyway.

[It's a strange moment of seriousness from someone who had been so cavalier about the entire thing just a few minutes before.]

[ The shift in atmosphere is that much more striking than whatever mood had passed over Jack before. M-21 lets his stare linger before giving a little lift of his eyebrows that very eloquently says, "liar." ]

Yeah? Then I'll save my proposal.

[ It's a concession, of sorts. He won't dig deeper on a subject he wouldn't appreciate excavating himself. Not on a chance first meeting, at any case. With Jack occupying the kitten, M-21 lets the silence stretch a moment more as he deals with a few more strawberries. ]

What brings you over here anyway?

Ah...

[At that, Jack perks up slightly, the smile returning to his face.]

Actually, I was looking for some good climbing trees. I would say I've found one, wouldn't you? Or rather, this little one found it... does he have a name, by the way? He is yours, I assume?

[And if not, M-21 may not be getting him back either way. Jack is clearly enjoying the fuzzy company.]

Climbing... for the bingo? [ Somehow, it hasn't crossed M-21's mind that someone could climb trees just because. ] You have to do those with someone else. He doesn't count.

[ He nods at the kitten, who is still purring vigorously at Jack. Kitten thinks he counts. There's a notably longer pause in response to the very simple question. ]

...I haven't picked one yet.

[ He is neither accepting nor denying ownership of the cat, however. ]

Hm? Oh, no, not for that! I meant just for fun.

[Let that sink in for a moment. This man likes to climb trees just for the fun of it. ... honestly, after all of this, that probably won't even come as a surprise.]

Sometimes it's nice just to sit up in a tree where no one else can bother you. I find it to be an excellent way to clear one's mind...

[Here he looks down at the kitten with a grin. At least someone here most definitely shares his opinion on this matter!]

He agrees with me, apparently. Don't you, Mikan?

[Did he just give the kitten a name? Signs point to yes.]

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feralheart - 2023-01-01 08:35 (UTC) - Expand

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