IC INBOX

[doubledollar]

Hey, yo! You reached uh, me! You should know who this is, right?
Anyway, you must'a caught me at a bad time, so, uh. Leave a message! I'll get back to you soon as I can. Love and Peace!

username: STAMPEDE

✉ ☏ 📷

Comments

[doubledollar]

...I guess that's not so bad. With the condition his body was in, he'd need time to heal, anyway.

[ broken arm, and enough exhaustion to fill anyone with the need to have a long, drawn-out vacation at home and in bed. ]

Uwah?
Huh?
A gift, really? You--

You didn't have to do that!!
[ his hands are up, they're flailing a bit. ]

I don't have electricity, no, but. My good buddy Jun set me up with a solar generator outside!!
So I can plug things into it to use it, when it charges up enough, like my phone and MP3 player.

[stripartist]

Ah, this doesn't work like that, but...

[He pulls out an electric kettle, an insulated mug, and a few boxes of tea. All things he'd been given and never used (except the tea, which was new) and was otherwise taking up space in the apartment. Hopefully whoever'd given them to him will forgive Yusuke of the crime of regifting.]

[doubledollar]

[ ...look at his face light up when he sees it, anyway. recognition for the item brightening up in seafoam-green eyes. ]

--hey, I actually have been needing something like that??

[ he's been boiling water over a fire with an iron pot. ]

If it's got a plug, I could totally plug it into the generator to boil water. That's amazing?!
Hey!!

[stripartist]

Oh! Really?

[Well then!]

I just thought you might enjoy being able to make tea or something, for relaxation.

[doubledollar]

[ if the man could have a tail, it'd be wagging. he's going to take the kettle with his one hand, to look it over. His eyes all but glittering. ]

Tea leaves were hard to get back home, but I loved it when I could get my hands on it.

Not to mention things like coffee and hot cocoa.
I'm definitely not humble enough to turn down a gift like this. Thank you???

In return, if you wanna grab a basket of fruit from the garden...

[stripartist]

What do you have?

[It's free food, Yusuke is taking that!]

[doubledollar]

[ free food is never something you should give up. ]

I've got apple trees, and a LOT of apples. Pomegranate, too--there's also grapes, and olives... From what I've been told, this garden is actually, er. Greek?
So it has a lot of vegetables from that area. I've been growing carrots and some eggplant.

I have wheat growing, but that's kind'a hard to cook with. I've been trying to learn how to mill..

[ by the end of it, yusuke's gonna be carrying a sizeable basket of fresh produce from a very magic garden. ]

[stripartist]

I see. I'd love to take a basket then, if you can show me which ones are ripe and safe to pick.

[doubledollar]

One basket, coming right up.

[ and the humanoid typhoon is up, taking yusuke by the hand, and leading him outside with a spring in his step.

He'll give Yusuke a basket--one of the weaved ones that were set against the side of the cottage, big enough to be carried by both arms--all with a grin. ]

Let's start up here, with the vegetables.
Most of them are ready--there are carrots and turnip, the potatoes aren't quite done, but the eggplant are definitely getting big.

Take as many as you want.

[stripartist]

[Excuse Yusuke as he just stares in awe]

A-are you certain I can take as much as I want?

[doubledollar]

Yeah, of course, for real.

It's just me, Libra, and Wolfwood who live here, and way too much grows here for just three people to eat.

I'm seriously at an abundance for apples, especially, I'm constantly bringing them to town to give away to people.

[stripartist]

Oh, I'll take apples, if you have that many...have you tried selling at the farmer's market?

[doubledollar]

[ welp. hes gonna bring yusuke over to where the apple trees are, near the back of the garden. using his one arm to start plucking the lowest hanging ones down... ]

Hm? Farmer's market?

Huh, no. I actually haven't considered that.

I think, because this garden isn't mine, rather, I'm taking care of it for someone important.

I'd feel bad making money off it.

So...

I'll just keep feeding people for free.

Back home, we don't have flora like this in abundance. Geo Plants are the rarest kind of Plant there is, so... I'd rather see the apples go to people who can't afford to buy them or to friends. Yeah?

[stripartist]

Fair enough.

[Look, Yusuke of all people Gets That. He's still going to just help himself to the food, though.]

Geo Plants?

[doubledollar]

[ vash is gonna start putting grapes in the basket, too. big, fat purple ones with the apples. ]

Oh, um.

Right. I keep forgetting, they aren't here.
'Plants' back home are a... sort of. Bio-engineered living battery, I guess?
They're like a sort of creature that can generate things that make peoples' lives easier, like food, water, clothing...

Geo Plants are ones that, if properly cared for, can turn even a barren desert into a forest, a field... green all around.
Kind of like this garden, except it takes a really long time and a lot of care.

[stripartist]

That sounds a lot like a regular garden, minus the...bio-engineering?

[Sir what kinda world do you live on? But ooh yes grapes. And apples. And is that--wait. No peaches.]

Then again, the only plants I've managed to grow are the daikon I grew in college so I could save money on food expenses.

[doubledollar]

Sort of, I guess.
Except they're like...
If you own a Geo Plant, they terraform the ground around them to be able to sustain flora.
It's... kind of strange to think about, sorry!!!

[ he laughs, flapping his only hand as he drops another bunch of grapes into the basket, before moving over to where the vegetables are growing. ]

Daikon are a type of radish, right?
Those can be pretty filling.
I think any sort of vegetable-growing is hard, so.
It's powerful that you managed.

[stripartist]

[Yusuke, frankly, does not understand the Geo Plant thing so he will just move on. It sounds very cool, though. Maybe some inspiration...]

They were very small and not very tasty, but they were cheap enough. Very good in cheap ramen, too.

[doubledollar]

[ he's 100% fine with changing the subject. Onward and upward--cheap ramen. ]

With enough seasoning and cooking, anything can be made palatable.
Back on my home world, people who can't afford good food hunt giant sandworms and eat those.

They're pretty tasty when you cook them well enough!

[stripartist]

....worms?

[What.]

[doubledollar]

...Worms!

[ affirmative!!! ]

Bugs! Big and small.
Crunchy, tastes like chicken when roasted over fire.

[ this is a normal conversation. ]

[stripartist]

I know that insects are perfectly edible, even if it's not for me, but I've never heard of anyone eating worms. I'm not sure the worms here would be very good for you...

[The Most Normal.]

[doubledollar]

[ he's gonna move over towards where the olive trees are, and start putting some of those in the basket, too. ]

Oh, for sure. The worms here are different. Back home they come in a few types. Really big and tunnel through the sand or the flying ones. I'd not eat the worms here.

Not when I have enough fruit growing to last pretty much forever.

[stripartist]

[The rest of the conversation as Yusuke and Vash go through and fill the basket is...honestly just as eccentric. Eventually, though, Yusuke's basket is full with enough fruits and vegetables to feed a family of ten.

As they head back through the house, he stops and stares at one of the blank walls thoughtfully.]

[doubledollar]

[ Vash will at least carry the basket on the way out, planning to hand it off to the guy once they're outside at the entrance. But as Yusuke stops, Vash quickly backsteps so he doesn't bang into the artist.

Stopping, with a blink in his eyes. Uh? ]

Oh, um? Something wrong?

...Brick out of place.... ? Or.