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Post by Morgan on Jan 1, 2022 20:36:21 GMT -6
The truth was that these were not Morgan's favorite creatures at all, in their current age. They would probably not even own one if not for their mystical healing berries, which were so important to sciences of all kinds that it was practically ridiculous not to keep one if a person was capable of working with them. However, Morgan could deal with playing with a creature that wasn't as aesthetically pleasing if it meant that they would be able to continue their studies. The Evergreen Kings were only ever really ready to drop berries during a very short part of the year- and Morgan hadn't always managed to get him to be particularly productive the first few seasons that they'd had access to him. This year they really wanted to manage to get Ten Sets of Berries out of him. They had a lot of hope- but they were certain that they wouldn't manage it.
[4]
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Post by Morgan on Jan 1, 2022 20:42:37 GMT -6
Matsuba had grown docile and partial to Morgan over the years. He finally managed to hobble to them, and then he snuffles towards one of their white cuffs to see if Morgan brought treats. "Of course I brought treats, g-good boy." The bespectacled human said to him. "What kind of a person w-would I be if I didn't bring you treats?" Matsuba snuffles a little, though he is mostly silent (as, from what Morgan understood, was very normal for these pine-like beasts). Treats in this case were basically popcorn balls made without any sort of butter, and with natural pet-safe sugars. Matsuba typically was able to feed himself without any difficulty, though Morgan always had their servants bring out kibbles for extra nutrients for a lot of the creatures that lived in the gardens... There was a good chance that Matsuba probably enjoyed kibbles too. However, the creature was always partial to these treats.
[5]
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Post by Morgan on Jan 3, 2022 13:17:59 GMT -6
"Now-now, you don't just get treats for doing n-nothing yaknow." Morgan says to the King of Evergreen, waving him off slightly from where he was sniffing their arm. "I need to check you for berries." Perhaps, if Morgan had time, they'd train him something- but that wasn't really needed. He already had been taught to follow Morgan for the ease of gathering berries from him, and he'd already been taught his name and to come on command. There was not really any need to teach anything else, though Morgan had a few ideas. For now, they really just wanted to spend some time, hopefully get at least a few sets of the coveted berries off of him since this was the only time of year in which they could do so, and then go on their way.
There was something relaxing about gardening, but it was much more fun to do... When it wasn't close to freezing cold outside.
[6]
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Post by Morgan on Jan 3, 2022 15:06:41 GMT -6
It made sense that the so-called King of Evergreens would come into berry season in the winter. They looked like they were covered in pine needles (thus the name they assumed) and they did seem to favor wintry weather in general. However, it sure was incredibly inconvenient to have to be outside for prolonged periods of time in the dead of the cold part of the year, let alone with a notoriously sort of flakey creature that sometimes put off berries and sometimes would not let Morgan even check for them. They really hoped that they would be able to make short work of getting a few sets this year, but there was always a chance that they just might not be able to get any from him at all. For some reason, they remembered the previous year being particularly barren when it came to Matsuba. They reached out to pet him as they thought that hopefully they wouldn't have that issue this time.
[7]
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Post by Morgan on Jan 4, 2022 21:50:42 GMT -6
Matsuba was generally not a very affectionate critter. It made sense, of course, for him to not quite be so cuddly as a well trained houluh or a sweet little enileaf. He was part plant, and though being part plant (or perhaps even entirely a plant, Morgan was never sure what to think about creatures like this one) did not preclude a critter from being cuddly, it most certainly seemed to lend towards that outcome. Matsuba was more of a hermit of a beast, sometimes a little more clever than Morgan would expect but not quite as smart as Squee. Something about all of that made him a little less likely to take to petting him as a form of praising him for doing well. Still, he dips his head this time whenever Morgan reaches out to pet him, and they give him a scritch between the eyes but higher up on the forehead.
[8]
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Post by Morgan on Jan 4, 2022 21:53:30 GMT -6
The bespectacled human reaches back a little further to pet Matsuba on the head to see what the pine needle-like protrusions on his body were like. Morgan had not been sure what to expect, but they were pretty much exactly like pine needles. "Go figure." Morgan mumbles. "Of course a plant critter with pine needles on h-his h-head feels like pine needles." The human withdraws their hand and then reaches into their labcoat pocket for a treat for him. The little popcorn balls were much smaller than a popcorn ball normally was, to be suited to the creatures of the garden- like Matsuba. Not all of them seemed to eat food like this as treats, but Matsuba seemed to like them well enough. As soon as they pulled the popcorn ball out and held it in the palm of their hand, Matsuba was super excited. He was much more laid back than other critters tended to be, but Morgan could still tell.
[9]
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Post by Morgan on Jan 4, 2022 22:02:26 GMT -6
"You like these, dontcha?" Morgan asked. They always felt a little silly when they caught theirself talking to their critters (most of them couldn't even hope to understand any speech under any circumstances of course, especially critters like Matsuba), but it felt a little weird not to do it. They found theirself thinking -while standing in the frosty winter air, trying to get a glorified plant to let them check it for berries, and holding a treat out to said plant-creature- something so absolutely ridiculous as whether or not other people Don't talk to their creatures when they are interacting with them. "Here y-y-you go." Morgan says, offering him the treat a little closer to him. Matsuba was so gentle and anxious sometimes that Morgan had no idea how he did anything. He wouldn't have even worked up the nerve to take the treat himself if Morgan hadn't pushed it a little closer to him, open-palmed.
[10]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 4, 2022 22:19:20 GMT -6
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Post by Morgan on Jan 5, 2022 19:45:29 GMT -6
(Continuing to play with Matsuba, Same Day and All) After petting Matsuba, Morgan went off to go do some general gardening. They really didn't have the wherewithal to stand around staring at a creature that was doing such a good job hiding his tail from them- where the berries should be growing. Each time that Morgan tried to guide him around to allow them anywhere near the tail tip, he would swish his tail to the other way and Morgan would be unable to even tell if there were berries there at all or if (assuming that they were) they were ready to be picked. "Well, if you are g-going to be a mess then I ain't gonna bother w-with it." Morgan said to him, tutting under their breath. "W-we'll check later when you're feeling more inclined t-ta let me check." They mumble. Their luck was not always the best, even with an otherwise well tamed critter like Matsuba.[11]
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Post by Morgan on Jan 5, 2022 20:24:57 GMT -6
If Matsuba was frustrated about Morgan stopping paying attention to him for a moment to collect some toys out of the shed, he did not show it. He followed them around dutifully (and Morgan couldn't help but wonder Why it was that he would do that if he wasn't feeling inclined to be checked for berries at all) as they walked around the overgrowth in the garden and finally on a small rock path that wound around a particularly large tree (which had a hole in it that was being slept within by a very large dragonoak- which they could hear snoring soundly) towards the place where their tool storage shed was. They unlocked and opened the building, stepping inside to grab a few of the tools that they would use to try to garden. They needed to clear out that overgrowth, and probably put some more fertilizer pellets in the squash garden now that it was out of season.
[12]
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Post by Morgan on Jan 5, 2022 20:29:32 GMT -6
Everywhere that Morgan went, Matsuba followed so closely by that it was almost like having a really short friend (especially because he was walking on two legs, it was a little bit off putting to be honest). They almost hit him with the door of the shed whenever they'd opened it to enter, and they managed to catch it before doing any damage to him. "Goodness, Matsuba! We n-need to work on your manners." They said, voice not quite serious. It had really been their fault for being careless, after all. They carried all of their tools out and closed the door to auto-lock with a snick using the toe of their boot with their leg stretched behind them (forcing them to stand on one toe to reach a little bit precariously). Once on both feet, they walked towards the direction of the patch of overgrowth that had caused them some issues earlier- King of Evergreen following close behind.
[13]
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Post by Morgan on Jan 5, 2022 20:31:57 GMT -6
Morgan wondered if perhaps Matsuba was just smart enough to be taught how to use tools to help them clear out the overgrowth. They couldn't help but laugh at the mental image of the creature toddling about with a garden hoe or shovel. Matsuba regarded them curiously as they made the noise. Perhaps he hadn't heard the noise out of them before? He seemed fairly offended by the time that the bespectacled human caught their breath from the full belly laughter again. "H-have you not heard laughter before?" Morgan asked him. "Did that offend you b-boyo?" They asked rhetorically. The facial expression that Matsuba had on his 'face' was a funny one, but Morgan couldn't really put their finger on what was so funny about it. It was most certainly odd. "W-well, I don't think you can hold a shovel very well, unless y-you were using it as a cane... Obviously you can use a cane."
[14]
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Post by Morgan on Jan 5, 2022 20:35:39 GMT -6
That did make Morgan have to think about the possibility more, the fact that he could use a cane so well. That meant that he could hold things in his hands, right? But that probably didn't mean that he would have the intelligence to be able to use a shovel, or even know -where- to use a shovel that wouldn't be trouble. They just knew that even if they were successful in teaching him to use a shovel or something like that- he wouldn't be able to ascertain where he was supposed to dig! Morgan would come into the garden and probably step in a hole and roll their ankle at best, and at worst the entire garden could be dug up into multiple super deep holes and would be a huge problem.
"Well, I g-guess it cannot be helped. Can't have you digging up the garden." They murmured beneath their breath at the creature.
[15]
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Post by Morgan on Jan 6, 2022 15:42:11 GMT -6
Matsuba tilts his head at Morgan, and doesn't appear to ascertain anything. For as wise and strange as these little garden hermits looked, they really just weren't at all very smart in effect. Perhaps that was a good thing in the long run- it would be infinitely harder to coax berries out of critters that were sentient, in most ways at least (and most certainly unethical, though Morgan had to admit that they had been courting the line with ethics for far longer than they really should have been comfortable with- they thought about it often). However, it would be nice if he could help them do some sort of gardening while they waited- having to try to coax berries out of a scared 'animal' was just as hard (probably harder) than it would be if the creature understood why it was needed and could be at least bribed into it with any amount of success.
[16]
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Post by Nadia on Jan 6, 2022 17:17:30 GMT -6
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