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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 9:10:27 GMT -6
[29]
But at least she had something to keep her occupied now, and Nerius turned his attention back to the task at hand. Looking over these tools and supplies to see if there was anything worth keeping. So far, he hadn't found anything even decent. Past the large tools were.. were those old boots? Yes, ew. They had been made of rubber, but it crumbling and cracking, and left flaky chunks of boot all over the floor. Next to the boots were.. baskets, it looked like? The straw they were made of had almost completely fallen apart, but there was still a vague basket shape to the mess.
Juniper's little tower was growing, and she'd managed to stack all the mostly whole ones together. Not straight up, that would have fallen right over, but in a sort of 'house of cards' pyramid, with several at the bottom, and a smaller amount up on top.
(Nerius: 14/20) (Juniper: Lv: 16, 84/85 | Lyl: 16, 84/85)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 9:17:10 GMT -6
[30]
She was out of the full size ones, but still had the broken ones to work with, and Juniper started stacking the larger pieces on top. Cutting her hands on a sharp piece of broken clay might have been an issue if she had soft human skin, but the branch like quality of her limbs seemed to be keeping that from happening.
Those pots might very well have been the most intact thing in the shed, Nerius started to suspect the more he looked around. Past the decayed baskets was a workbench; the bench itself was barely standing, and the items on top were hardly in better shape. He could at least tell what they were, an assortment of buckets and watering cans. They were all made of metal, and all very rusted. Some of the buckets had holes, others were missing handles, and he wasn't sure how the head of a watering can had rusted all the way off, but there it was sitting on the bench.
(Nerius: 15/20) (Juniper: Lv: 17, 85/90 | Lyl: 17, 85/90)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 9:28:38 GMT -6
[31]
Underneath the rickety bench were bottles and jars of, err, what was in those? Other than mold, one jar had so much growing in the liquid it looked like seaweed. What was supposed to be in those containers was anyone's guess, the labels had worn off and were completely unreadable. Though, Nerius wouldn't have trusted them if they were. This whole shed was a hazard, but those bottles and jars were the worst, if they broke or leaked, whatever was in them could be harmful to the critters in his garden. He'd definitely get his TROD for those, he didn't want to end up poisoned or infected by whatever was in those mystery containers.
Juniper was continuing to work on her tower, she'd gotten all the larger fragments added, and now she was 'decorating' it with the remaining little bits. It was a strange, lumpy thing that even a toddler would be disappointed in, but it was the fun that mattered, right?
(Nerius: 16/20) (Juniper: Lv: 17, 86/90 | Lyl: 17, 86/90)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 9:36:33 GMT -6
[32]
There wasn't a whole lot else left in the shed, there was some frayed, disintegrating fabric that had probably been aprons, or tarps, at one point. Either way, they looked like they'd fall apart of he touched them, not that Nerius wanted to touch them. Or anything in this shed, really. Other than a falling apart crate filled with an assortment of tools, he'd looked over everything, and even a slightly closer look at the tools revealed they were as rusted and rotted as the ones on the wall.
There really was nothing useful here (other than the crate of tools Nerius had brought himself), and that included the terra cotta pots. Juniper made a noise to get his attention, and he was surprised to see just how much progress she'd made on that thing. It also made it very easy to see that yes, the pots were all broken, and there hadn't been any smaller intact ones hiding.
(Nerius: 17/20) (Juniper: Lv: 17, 87/90 | Lyl: 17, 87/90)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 9:42:24 GMT -6
[33]
"That is quite the tower you've made there." It might not have been elegant, but it was impressive, for a plant creature and some broken pots. Juniper was pleased with herself, however, and though she might not have understood the words, and made a happy noise at her sculpture being paid attention to. She'd worked hard on it, after all.
He really did need to get rid of those, along with the rest of the junk in the shed, but he'd leave it for now. There was no reason to move it yet, and tearing it down would just make for an unhappy evergreen. It might have made an improvised toy, but Nerius didn't really want pieces of broken clay lying around the garden, where it could injure himself, or any of the less durable critters in the garden. Most of them weren't made out of as sturdy branches as Juniper was.
(Nerius: 18/20) (Juniper: Lv: 17, 88/90 | Lyl: 17, 88/90)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 9:50:12 GMT -6
[34]
He needed to get rid of everything in the shed, actually. He'd have his TROD come and do it later, it was made of metal, and didn't have to worry about splinters, rusty metal, and mystery liquids in unreliable containers. It all needed to be thrown out, he might have donated it, but everything was either broken, a safety hazard, or both.
Even the shed might be better off just being torn down, a lot of the wood was rotting or broken, and the supports were probably bad enough it wasn't worth repairing. For now, Nerius was just happy to get out of the shed, he grabbed the clippers he'd come in here for, and headed out the door. "Come on Juniper," he called to the critter, who was agreeable to following him out. The broken pots had been fun, but the structure itself wasn't her preferred place to be, and even the evergreen could tell the thing wasn't sturdy.
(Nerius: 19/20) (Juniper: Lv: 17, 89/90 | Lyl: 17, 89/90)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 9:59:04 GMT -6
[35]
Once the evergreen had followed him out of the shed, Nerius shut the door. He didn't want any of the plant critters wandering in there and getting hurt, the whole thing was a safety hazard. Tools could fall on them, one of those mystery containers could break, or a piece of the roof could fall in.
Well, tried to shut the door would be a better description, because the door didn't want to actually latch. Of course it didn't. Nerius growled at the door, it shut, but there was nothing to keep it from swinging open again. Maybe he could prop it shut with something? "See anything heavy I can use?" Juniper couldn't really help with that, and just gave him a funny look, not understanding the question. He expected as much, and looked around the immediate area for anything he could use. The door was pretty flimsy, so it didn't have to be anything too heavy.
(Nerius: 20/20 +Added!) (Juniper: Lv: 18, 90/95 | Lyl: 18, 90/95)
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Post by Renathan on Dec 13, 2019 14:00:00 GMT -6
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Post by Nerius on Dec 18, 2019 15:17:30 GMT -6
[36]
Juniper was fidgeting, he noticed, but it wasn't clear what she was doing, and it didn't seem to be anything that would help find something to shut the door with. Searching through the snow, Nerius found a cluster of dead flowers, not helpful for the door, but it was sort of a harvest. There was a place that took in produce and plants in exchange for unusual pachee, they could be useful for that. His own collection of the creatures was quite small, a common male, a regular female, and a spotted, almost mosca patterned, male.
He hadn't spotted any of them today, most likely they were hiding somewhere to keep warm, especially since it was early. They'd likely come out later for some sun, at least he hoped they would, otherwise it.. probably meant that they had escaped. Nerius wouldn't have been surprised if there was a hole somewhere in the fence, with how much of a wreck the rest of the garden was.
(Nerius: 1/20) (Juniper: Lv: 18, 91/95 | Lyl: 18, 91/95)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 18, 2019 15:27:03 GMT -6
[37]
A lot of twigs, a few small stones, none of what Nerius was finding would work, until he came across a large branch, mostly buried in the snow. It wasn't heavy enough to hold the door shut, but he could stick it into the ground to prop it closed. It would be a nuisance to move when he needed in the shed, but everything about the garden was a nuisance. Well, maybe not the creatures.. other than Jumanji, she was a hazard to try to work around. Thankfully the whiptail was boarded at the Pit until the end of the tournament, the ill tempered creature tended to get in the way while gardening.
Juniper, on the other hand, was a much more pleasant garden buddy, even if she wasn't the most helpful when it came to actual work. She was particularly distracted right now, something seemed to be bothering her, and she was waving her tail around in an awkward way.
(Nerius: 2/20) (Juniper: Lv: 18, 92/95 | Lyl: 18, 92/95)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 18, 2019 15:36:16 GMT -6
[38]
Nerius finished sticking the door shut, and decided he'd best check on the evergreen. "You okay?" he asked, though of course she didn't answer, as he looked over the creature. She didn't appear injured, just uncomfortable. Maybe she had stepped on something? The shed floor had been a mess, and it wasn't unreasonable that something had gotten stuck in her foot.
But that idea was proven false as she gave her tail a particularly strong wiggle, and a handful of the berries fell into the snow. "Oh!" Nerius was surprised, but very excited, "Your berries are ready!" He was also thankful for the coating of snow, the berries had fallen harmlessly into the clean powder. Carefully, he picked them up, one by one, setting them in the harvest basket, inspecting them as he did. They all looked ripe, and unblemished, no bruises or tears from the growing process, or their short fall to the snow covered ground.
(Nerius: 3/20) (Juniper: Lv: 18, 93/95 | Lyl: 18, 93/95)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 18, 2019 15:46:22 GMT -6
[39]
Juniper was watching him as he picked up the berries, she wasn't sure why he was interested in them, but they seemed to make him happy. And she did have more of them ripe, and they were uncomfortable weighing down her tail like that. So as Nerius finished picking up the last of them from the snow, she gave her tail another good wiggle, shaking more of the ripe berries into her branch-like hands, and held them out to him.
Nerius blinked in surprise, "You have more?" Sure, he'd come here for berry harvesting, but he hadn't expected her to suddenly start shedding a bunch of them all of a sudden. He sure wasn't complaining though, he was thrilled at receiving more of the berries. "Thank you!" he told the evergreen, giving her a friendly pat on the head, careful to avoid the pointy pine needles, and she happily nuzzled into his hand.
(Nerius: 4/20) (Juniper: Lv: 18, 94/95 | Lyl: 18, 94/95)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 18, 2019 16:11:29 GMT -6
[40]
She deserved something in return, Nerius decided, it wasn't as special as healing berries, but he had brought some of the fancy garden pellets, which she'd liked before. And still liked; Juniper accepted the pellets as he held them out, and happily snacked on them. Had all the pellet treats she'd been given earlier helped with her ending up with so many berries? Probably; unlike Nerius choice in snacks, they were actually healthy.
And it was definitely the time of year for it, which was a little strange to him, as this wasn't the time of year most of the ingredients grew, but the again, most of them could be stored. If his snacking habits worked like the evergreen's, he'd end up growing something like a set of cocoa bean antlers. It was a strange mental image, but even if it had been true, it wouldn't have stopped him from going for the chocolate.
(Nerius: 5/20) (Juniper: Lv: 19, 95/100 | Lyl: 19, 95/100)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 18, 2019 16:55:03 GMT -6
[41]
Back to the evergreen; that seemed to be the last of the berries for now. There were still more on her tail, yes, but the ones he could see didn't look ripe yet. Still, it was an exciting harvest, he hadn't been expecting so many! And there were still more, even if they didn't look like they were quite ripe, he wasn't going to leave just yet. This sudden shedding had been unexpected, and it could happen again.
He didn't want to just stand there and stare at Juniper though, he might as well get some other gardening done while he waited to be sure. The shrubs and bushes were what Nerius had been planning on working with, and since he already had the nippers out, it was as good as any a place to start. They were all overgrown to some degree, but a big monster of a shrub had grown so much it took over half the path, and Nerius decided he'd start with that one.
(Nerius: 6/20) (Juniper: Lv: 19, 96/100 | Lyl: 19, 96/100)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 18, 2019 17:01:28 GMT -6
[42]
The others might not have looked good, but this one was actually in the way. Plus, there weren't' any spiny bits on that one, Nerius had worn cold weather gloves, not gardening ones, and that was something he'd rather avoid. He walked over to the offending shrub, and Juniper followed, still enjoying her snack. That was good, she probably wouldn't be any help, but he did want to keep an eye on the evergreen, and any more berries.
The shrub didn't have any berries, which was just as well, he wouldn't have wanted to harvest them, and risk mixing them up with the special ones. The healing berries were distinctive, but he didn't want any other small berries sneaking into the collection by mistake. It was more than an issue of a bad tasting snack, it could be potentially fatal in the node making process, if a regular berry had snuck in the set of healing ones.
(Nerius: 7/20) (Juniper: Lv: 19, 97/100 | Lyl: 19, 97/100)
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