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Post by Morgan on Dec 24, 2020 0:53:24 GMT -6
Morgan moved around, pushing the thought of the mushrooms from their mind (or rather, letting it slip through their mental fingers like a fine silk- they really were having a weird mental health day today as they typically did) and focused intently on the squash. This left time for Matsuba to calm down from Morgan having interacted with him. He was as introverted as Morgan could imagine a non-sentient being as able to be, so Morgan knew and understood his need for privacy. Morgan spent a lot of time looking over the squashes, and even removed some of the squashes that weren't doing too well. It didn't seem like there was anything particularly 'bad' going on here- not blight or bug or elsewise, but some of them weren't growing as well as Morgan would have liked. Morgan checked the temperature control of the tent, and made some adjustments on the squash side of the tent.
[15]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 24, 2020 18:39:26 GMT -6
Now that this was done, Morgan knew that they could probably leave the squashes be. Most of the 'ripe' ones had gotten overripe, much to their chagrin. They proceeded to ask the king of evergreen to follow them again, so that they could put the wasted squashes into the compost. Matsuba followed as he was bade, and once Morgan got him outside, they gave him another treat. Soon enough, they planned to work on tolerance with him, and hopefully gather some berries if there was any luck to be had! After making sure that the ruined squashes were taken care of, the bespectacled human turns around to look at Matsuba. "W-well, we've got to get started getting you used to people pestering with you. G-getting berries from you last year had been a mess." Of course, they'd spent enough time to get quite a few, so it had been worth it, but still.
[16]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 25, 2020 1:16:27 GMT -6
"Alright fella, let me see y-your tail." Morgan said, finally gathering theirself enough to try to check for those much desired berries. Immediately, anxiously, the typically calm Matsuba moves his tail closer to him, as if he understands but doesn't quite understand the entire situation. He understood that Morgan was after them, but seems to be afraid that it will hurt. Morgan pouts a bit. "C-cm'n critter, you know this doesn't hurt. We went through this last year, h-uh?" Morgan tries to coax him with soft words. Matsuba seems to be unwilling to let Morgan try, at least right now.
That was something that Morgan was not going to allow. His continued anxiety was not something that they could let go forward any longer. It must become easier over time to gather those precious berries. Morgan makes sure that their own body language is neutral, and steps forward with arms about mid-range.
[17] - [Start 'Tolerance']
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Post by Morgan on Dec 25, 2020 15:12:34 GMT -6
Immediately, Matsuba takes a step back, and then a quite rapid couple of more steps. Morgan wasn't entirely sure what to do at this point. They never had issues with this before, but it was so much easier to force the issue when it came to critters that looked like dogs. It was much harder to try to grab a critter, even though it was rather 'dumb', that looked bipedal. Morgan chews a lip, but moves forward anyway after the hesitation. Hands held out, they grasped the shoulder of the king of evergreen, not harshly but firmly. "See, that wasn't so bad." Morgan says to him. They use their other hand to pick up a treat for him. "See boyo, this is okay." They patted his shoulder gently as he was distracted by the half of a treat that Morgan had offered him. Slow steps were tantamount, they knew, with this trick.
[18]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 25, 2020 15:17:19 GMT -6
Matsuba was a shaky, anxious creature when it came to being bothered. It was a thousand wonders overall that he allowed Morgan to train him in the first place, they figured. He shuddered, nervous about Morgan having grabbed him, even now after Morgan had their hand held aloft of him, gently petting his shoulders. It was really, really weird, having a bipedal nonsentient critter. Absolutely baffling, overall. "See, not so bad, s-see..." At this, Morgan decides to move forward a bit, this time patting him on the forehead smoothly. He leaned back a bit, but didn't seem the kind to hiss a warning. Good, Morgan thought, this was good. They offered him another half of a treat. "See, not s-so bad." Morgan continued to murmur as they patted him on the head with one hand, and offered a treat with the other. Everything was meant to be as comforting as possible.
[19]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 25, 2020 16:51:21 GMT -6
After getting to this point with Matsuba, Morgan decided it was a good idea to momentarily back away, and give the critter time to consider that in fact, the contact was brief and did not hurt him. That was what Morgan was hoping he would do, anyway. They knew this was going to be a long and difficult thing to teach, especially if Matsuba decided he was going to be obstinate. However, Morgan was certain that eventually, they'd be able to figure out how to get him to 'get it' when it came to tolerance.
For now, though, Morgan simply asked Matsuba to follow again, using the whistled command, and then they walked over to the berry bushes they had planted. Berries were typically very hardy, and they were certain that there was probably something they could do to make sure that they would produce properly. On the way there, they grabbed the clippers from a supply shed they had.
[20]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 25, 2020 18:51:27 GMT -6
Matsuba had not been afraid of the clippers last year, and he certainly wasn't now. Morgan was secretly glad about this- they would never use sheers like these on the 'plant critters', like they did on the plants. Some plants needed pruning. Morgan didn't personally know any critter that needed pruning like that, so of course this pair of shears was not for that. However, they were a tad concerned about how sometimes the critters seemed to find new and unexpected things to be afraid about.
The human makes their way to the berry brush, and looks a little... Perplexed. Why did they look so overgrown? Perhaps the helpers had been neglecting their duty. Morgan frowned and sighed, and then decided they were going to have a talking-to with the robot helper. They fed Matsuba a treat anyway, and then gave him a quick pat on the head. Berries would have to wait, Matsuba needed working on again.
[21]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 25, 2020 20:27:52 GMT -6
Morgan leans the clippers up against a nearby tree and let out a breath that is clearly visible in the early morning air against the velvety dark of the cloudy still-night sky. It would be a while yet before the sun began to rise, and even longer to be visible since the sky was thickly clouded (like a winter blanket). They were a little bit exasperated, but really, when were they not? Morgan would perhaps find this humorous if it were not so frustrating. "Okay y-you beastie." Morgan says, turning to Matsuba. They offer out a treat and then began petting him on the head again. "S-see, it's not so bad." Matsuba didn't seem near as nervous this time, and Morgan was beyond thankful for that. "G-good Matsuba, good." They said, voice silky and calm. It was infectiously calm out here, with the thick blanket of snow on the ground.
[22]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 25, 2020 20:43:02 GMT -6
Matsuba was reacting much better this time, so Morgan moved their hands down to pat him on his 'shoulders'. They didn't rush, made sure that he allowed this first. Another half of a treat was given, and then Morgan quietly lifted one arm, ever so gently and keeping his movement in mind to keep from hurting him. They didn't move his arms too much before stopping and giving him control of them again. Matsuba managed not to jerk away this go around, though he was obviously unsure as to what was going on. Morgan provided him with another treat. "G-great job, good job Matsuba. See, it a-ain't so bad." They said to him. A bit of a chilly wind picks up for a moment, lifting some snow and swirling it over through the bushes. It was a pretty site. All was so calm and quiet, but Morgan shudders due to the cold.
[23]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 25, 2020 21:11:22 GMT -6
Matsuba was doing well, but Morgan didn't really want to push it. So they gave him a quick pat, and then moved over to pick back up the clippers that they left leaning. They went to begin pruning the cold berry bushes, which seemed to have been neglected for some time indeed. They were sure to keep in mind the type of berry bush that they were working on individually, and even skipped over one altogether to keep from pruning one that ought not to be pruned this time of year. They continued working, and Matsuba continued watching them. It would seem that slowly, Matsuba would get used to Morgan's more erratic movements than his typical surroundings. Morgan was sure that a lot of this would go back to being 'this bad' next year, since Morgan left him alone through most of the year. They didn't want to pester him during his weaker parts of the year.
[24]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 25, 2020 22:11:08 GMT -6
Morgan got a row of the berry bushes trimmed down, and then sat the clippers down again, leaned against a tree so that it wouldn't lay flat in the snow. They turned to look at Matsuba, one hand on their hip. "Alright b-boyo, we'll start working on this again." They called him over, to which he immediately did come on command. Morgan had taught him that well the year previously. "Good job, Matsuba." At that, the blonde human pats him on the head again, and then moves down to the king of evergreen's shoulders quickly, and then lifted both arms before leaving him alone again. "G-great, good, you're starting to get it." Morgan said, voice calm but mostly speaking for their own benefit at this point. They gave Matsuba a half of a treat yet again, and nodded. Yes, this was going a bit better than earlier, now.
[25]
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Post by Silver on Jan 5, 2021 1:49:51 GMT -6
This odd creature seems attracted to Matsuba's berries... and it's shaken quite a few Bunanas loose from the trees while it's there! [You may take this Koguma home; the roleplay requirement is currently suspended while I catch up!]
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Post by Morgan on Feb 5, 2021 11:06:15 GMT -6
Training pets was sometimes a bit of an exercise in patience. Certain bits and bobs were a lot more fun than others, at least for Morgan. They enjoyed a lot of the fast-paced work they did with Nico a while back, but this slow paced stuff was sadly both absolutely required and slow-going. Morgan felt like they trained a new critter the absolute basics over and over again without being able to really go into the more difficult stuff, but they knew that whenever they were finally able to get all of their critters to that high-flying stuff; it would be a lot of fun.
And perhaps even worth it, if they were lucky.
For now, they continued to work with Matsuba, running their hands over him and moving his limbs there and again, then giving him a treat. At the very least, this would make him easier to deal with in the future.
[26]
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Post by Morgan on Feb 5, 2021 11:52:25 GMT -6
Matsuba went from stiff as a board to eventually beginning to calm down. He allowed his arms to be manipulated, and then (with some amount of difficulty at first) his legs. Soon enough, he was allowing Morgan to move limbs without any difficulty at all. Plied with treats and calm attention, Matsuba finally seemed to get the whole 'tolerance' thing. At least Morgan felt so, and they'd trained this several times before so they trusted their own judgement. They would test it out a bit later. For now, they needed to finish doing what they were doing before.
Morgan gives one last treat to Matsuba, pats him on the head, and then turns around to pick up the instrument they were using before. It was time to get the garden all cleaned up. It was not very badly taken care of- Morgan's robotic servant was doing well, but still, there were some things that needed to be worked on.
[27] - [End of 'Tolerance'?]
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Post by Morgan on Feb 5, 2021 11:58:09 GMT -6
After an hour or so, the task that Morgan had settled upon was completed. Matsuba had long since found himself a place in the snow to sit and 'nap' in the paltry winter sun. It was sort of amazing to Morgan that there were plant creatures suited to the winter, but of course it made sense. Matsuba's species was known as the 'king of evergreen' and he did look like he was covered in pine-like needles. Plant creatures were not really Morgan's forte. Sure, Morgan had went to school for botany relatively recently in fact, but they just never felt as close to their plant critters as they did to their others. Perhaps it was because they hardly ever saw them? They sure did love to hide really well in the gardens.
"Matsuba!" Morgan calls out, after having put away the clippers they had just been using. Matsuba opens one eye, sleepily.
[28]
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