[audio] @silver; Backdated to the fifth [open]

[shadowsran]

[Someone had been around the docks when...all of that happened, broken an arm, and spent the following days snugly shut up tight in her house. Not a weakness she wants on display, of course, but she's angry, and having been in no useful condition for supply-regathering isn't much of a boon to her pride. But a handful of days shut up are little better.]

Couple things, just, quick.

Couldn't stick around the ferry and people's chief concern seems to have been food, which is fine, but I'm wondering if anyone got gardening supplies, and if those made it? I've mentioned it in passing to a handful, but especially given the exact worry I had was just proven right, no excuse to not be proactive anymore. We have good gardening types here, and it's better for the town as a whole if we can set a couple plots up...immediately? Fast as possible. A couple of small greenhouses are kind of a must at this point too. I'm not really up to building and clearing condition right now, so anybody brave enough to turn soil and move rocks and handle basic construction, drop me a line. People I talked to before, uh, the same I guess? We can divvy up who goes where, five people per square foot's a bad spread of resources.

Second thing - I'm getting the impression nobody's liking those flowers very much. [She's...largely unperturbed. Distressingly accustomed, at this point. Were the month not getting off on such a broken foot she'd be amused.] If it's crippling and you're desperate for something, stop by and I can give you a little cone to breathe through. Plague doctor-style, but tiny. Cute. [Deadpan:] You'll look like little birds, and it'll smell like pine.

Comments

[shadowsran]

Tons, and healthy ones. You'll know no peace.

[Don't be vain, Matt! But her grin remains firmly fixed in place, evidently feeling comfortable enough to jokingly keep this ground.] Pretty good thanks! Heartfelt, and happier than anyone ought to be in this place. And complimentary, I'm not saying you look anything but well put together.

Annnnd-- deal. More than fair. Anything else you think'll put you in this state? Might be good to have an idea going forward.

[catholicisms]

( Misty, it's too late for that. it's like the one sin he doesn't seem that fussed about, and the only one he commits more is the whole lying to everyone he knows thing.

the fact that she seems like she needs the laugh, and Beacon is so short on anything even remotely worth laughing about, is a big reason Matt doesn't mind being the butt of the joke. he's a lot of things, and lot of them are pretty questionable. but under all his flaws, he does quite genuinely want people to be happy. he likes making people happy. ) A woman laughing at me is supposed to be complimentary? ( he asks, tone wry, but just because she can't see his mouth, doesn't mean she won't know he's smiling. he is.

was there anything else that would cause him to react like this? it's a bit of a loaded question for Matt, who doesn't like to talk about his weaknesses. to strangers, sometimes even to himself. the cat might be out of the metaphorical bag, but he's still going to be cagey about it. ) Hopefully not. I'm sensitive to smell, but this is worse than usual. The smell seems like it's everywhere.

( talking about the pervasiveness of the smell reminds Matt that he's not the only one in the house suffering. he sits up again, looking toward her. ) You said you were going to bring two, didn't you? We should try to convince the mandrake to wear one. ( if she didn't, Matt will let the poor thing have his... even though admittedly, it's been nice to have the first thing his palette can sense be something not resembling rotting corpse. he'd still give it up for the poor spirit that is face first in dirt to avoid the stink, though. what a good plant dad. )

[shadowsran]

[Were the smile not evident, she would of course be apologizing. Until and unless he comes across genuinely offended, however, there's still the scant titter tucked between pleased-sounding words.] Just at the current expression, and I'd say making my week is a special kind of compliment, yeah.

Let me know if anything else kicks up the same dust down the line, yeah? Prefer you in working order, my own peace of mind and knowing there's someone around with a little common sense.

[Fortunately, he is freed of much further needling by more important matters:] I brought two, yeah! How much convincing are you expecting it'll take?

[catholicisms]

( Matt likes to think he has common sense. in execution it's sort of arguable. he was sitting here in the dark sick and miserable over admitting he could use some help, after all... though Misty likely knows that and is once again playing to his vanity. damn her!!!

two can play at the distracting weakness game. Matt's weakness is vanity and Misty's is an adorable tree baby. he's shaken her scrutiny, at least for now, by playing to her soft witchy heart. he nods up the stairs, indicating that is where the mandrake is. ) I'm told it likes to copy me, so hopefully it can be convinced. ( his bedroom is darker than the downstairs, though it's also where he keeps his lantern, which means there's a little light to go by.

there's obvious attempts to improve the smell near the bed — some herbs stuffed in the crack of the window, and some open boxes of tea scattered around the room. it doesn't help much, but at least a little. the flowerpot is by a bureau, and the mandrake is distinctly headfirst in the dirt, which is both adorable and sad. he sits down on the floor and rubs a hand along the spirit's back. ) I know it smells, stringbean, but Misty brought something for you. ( the baby just buries deeper in the dirt. Misty might have to do some convincing of her own.

also, yes. Matt does have it in him to use adorable petnames. just not on most people. )

[shadowsran]

[At least for now, indeed. There's hardly time for her to consider as much herself, as the window for thought firmly shuts with that pet name. Truly, Matt has been humanized to hell and back on this day. She settles into a crouch, within arm's reach of the pot but not quite encroaching.]

It smells like trees! [Said with her usual bounce, and an ounce of extra enthusiasm as one must often take on to authentically encourage someone.] Needles right off the pine, and it looks cute, and Matt's got one to match! And it's a lot better now, right Matt?

[catholicisms]

( Misty is wise to keep her distance. at this point Matt can get away with it, though that's from weeks of getting to know each other. he was the first to earn enough trust to get close, and slowly but surely the little thing is growing more trusting of strangers, too.

that said, moving too fast around the poor thing certainly did result in loud consequences.

the spirit is reluctant to move, even with the chorus of voices around. it seemed to only understand snippets of English, anyway — it responded to tone moreso than words. ) Much better. I want you to feel better too. ( he rubs the small back again, idle clockwise motions, until finally the mandrake lifts its dirty little head.

and immediately sniffles, rubbing at the dirt on its face and looking between them teary-eyed. how dare they disturb its dirt nap? it smells! it clearly notices the odd thing attached to Matt's face and curiosity overtakes the pout, as it crawls into his lap to pull at it. ) Looks funny, doesn't it? ( the spirit tilts its head, clearly unconvinced, until Matt relinquishes the thin cone for the little tree child to inspect. it doesn't know what to do with it when it has it, though, awkwardly attempting to put it back on his face with little success. )