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Post by Nerius on Nov 30, 2019 22:07:05 GMT -6
[15]
Nerius didn't really want the plant, he was trying to get rid of the weeds, but still he accepted it, placing it in the pile with the others. He gave Russet another pellet as a treat, and he nibbled away as Nerius went back to digging up more of the unwanted plants. It wouldn't be a quick process, but at least he'd made some progress, he could actually see the start of a path now, in the middle of the overgrown mess.
Russet was still trying to help, he wasn't all that fast at digging up the weeds, but at least it was some company. Usually Nerius preferred to be left alone when trying to work, but pulling weeds didn't exactly take concentration or focus, and if anything he was getting bored. Was there anyway he could multi-task? He didn't want to bring any proper reading material, for risk of it getting covered in dirt, but there had to be something more productive he could do.
- Russet exits -
(Nerius: 13/20 +Added!) (Russet: Lv 3, 15/20 | Lyl 3, 15/20 +Added!)
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Post by Renathan on Nov 30, 2019 22:57:25 GMT -6
What are these? They look like little frog's feet!
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 7:12:56 GMT -6
[16]
Juniper
It had been a few days since Nerius last worked on the garden, though he'd visited briefly to return Juniper after their trip to the Mansion. He was here for the evergreen again, though they wouldn't be going anywhere. While on their way back yesterday, he'd noticed the colorful berries on her tail were starting to look ripe. It had been a bit late in the day for gardening; while he was perfectly willing to pull an all nighter for something important, he wouldn't have actually been able to see what he was doing very well.
So he'd waited until the next day, barely, the sun had just risen, and it was quite cold. That might have been an issue for any other of his plant critters, but Juniper was perfectly happy to be out in the cold, and was the only creature visible and active when he reached the garden. The rest were presumably curled up somewhere trying to keep warm.
(Nerius: 1/20) (Juniper: Lv: 14, 71/75 | Lyl: 14, 71/75)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 7:20:48 GMT -6
[17]
She hadn't noticed him at first, but the horrible screeching of the rusted gate got her attention. Ugh, he really needed to get that fixed, but there weren't a lot of people interested in doing outdoor metalwork in the middle of December. Though she jumped at the sound (who could blame her) Juniper thankfully recognized him, and didn't bolt. The 'bonding time' had at least paid off in that respect, with any luck it would help with berry harvesting as well. He'd never tried to harvest something that was as much a moving animal as plant, so that would be interesting.
Of course, first he had to actually get in the garden, which was easier said than done with the broken, heavy gate. It was solid iron, very heavy, partially rusted in place, had a broken hinge, and Nerius was struggling to open it. It was just as bad as it had been the last few times, but he hadn't expected it to get any better.
(Nerius: 2/20) (Juniper: Lv: 14, 72/75 | Lyl: 14, 72/75)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 7:31:23 GMT -6
[18]
But after a good bit of struggle, Nerius managed to get the gate open enough to fit though it. Now he just.. had to repeat the process to close it. It was just as much a struggle to close as it had been to open, but after a bit more fighting with the gate, finally got it closed. As he paused, leaning against the fence to take a break, he wondered if it would be better to move the creatures to a new plot entirely. It was so out of the way, and run down, it might be less work (and give a better end result) to just start a new garden.
But for now Nerius had this mess, and it would do for a little berry gathering. Said source of berries had wandered over to him while he'd been resting (and after the horrible metal sounds had stopped), and was now watching him.
(Nerius: 3/20) (Juniper: Lv: 14, 73/75 | Lyl: 14, 73/75)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 7:38:46 GMT -6
[19]
"Good morning Juniper," yes, he talked to his plants more often than he did people, and no, he didn't think there was anything strange about that. But Juniper didn't, and she perked up at the sound of her name. The time spent training really had been worth it, even if it wasn't his favorite activity. He wasn't planning on any of that today, he had other priorities.
"Any of those berries ripe yet?" Nerius asked, though of course the evergreen didn't answer. Straightening back up from leaning against the fence, he walked to the side of the evergreen, trying to get a look at the berries on the tail without getting too much in her personal space. There were quite a few of them, many more than the single berry leafscatters produced. Some of them were clearly ripe, but it was hard to tell how many with the variety of colors the fruit came in.
(Nerius: 4/20) (Juniper: Lv: 14, 74/75 | Lyl: 14, 74/75)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 7:46:21 GMT -6
[20]
The trick, he realized after a bit of studying the berries, was to look for a solid color, not a specific color. They came in a variety of pink, purple, and blue, but what he was looking for was a solid color. If parts of any color were still greenish on one end, they weren't ripe. Pretty obvious really, it worked that way for most berries, but with the variety of colors, green didn't stick out the way it would in a cluster of solid red.
And there were several in the cluster that had no traces of green. But uh, how exactly was he supposed to go about harvesting the berries? It seemed rude to just.. pluck them off. Juniper didn't seem to be bothered by the strange attention at least, and was watching him with her usual curiosity. It probably said something about a person when even plants thought you were strange.
(Nerius: 5/20) (Juniper: Lv: 15, 75/80 | Lyl: 15, 75/80)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 7:57:42 GMT -6
[21]
This situation was strange for Nerius as well, the whole 'moving, thinking creature' thing made this much more complicated than it otherwise would have been. Did the creatures actually hand over the fruit? Nerius had heard different accounts involving 'gifted' berries, or about the creature and owner having a close bond, but did that literally mean the creature would pick off and hand him a berry? That seemed unlikely, but with the strange creatures of the Labs, you never knew.
"I don't suppose you know how this is supposed to work either?" Nerius suspected the previous owner had never harvested the berries, or done anything with the evergreen, really. And she didn't seem like she was about to hand over any berries at the moment, at least. She'd been watching him for a while, but since he hadn't been doing much other than staring at her tail, she was starting to loose interest.
(Nerius: 6/20) (Juniper: Lv: 15, 76/80 | Lyl: 15, 76/80)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 8:04:26 GMT -6
[22]
Maybe the berries were supposed to shed naturally? For a normal plant, that generally meant the fruit was overripe, but on a plant creature? Who knew. Well, someone who'd done this before, and maybe he should have asked around first, but it was a little late for that now. He was here now, and didn't want to have to fight with that gate any more than necessary.
Eh, maybe he should work on the garden a little? At least until he got an idea of how to proceed, maybe it would even give him an idea. It was better than just staring at the tail berries, at least. And given berries were on the brain, of course Nerius decided to check on the shrubs and bushes first. Some of them had berries, but not the kind that were actually useful. Juniper had wandered a little, but was still in sight, not as interested as he was in the overgrown shrubs.
(Nerius: 7/20) (Juniper: Lv: 15, 77/80 | Lyl: 15, 77/80)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 8:19:51 GMT -6
[23]
Eurgh, they really were a mess, way too much to be dealt with by hand. He hadn't brought any tools along this time, that hadn't been what he was intending on doing today, but he'd left some here from the last trip. The garden shed Nerius had left them in was in as bad condition as the gate, but at least it kept the rain and snow off. Mostly. Where there weren't holes in the roof, at least. It was better than lugging them back and forth every time he made the trip out to the garden. it was a long enough trip, and it made visiting more of a nuisance.
The door creaked loudly when opened, but at least wasn't as heavy as that awful gate. The sound was enough to catch Juniper's interest, and she walked over to the small structure. She'd never been inside, or even knew that it opened, and she followed Nerius inside.
(Nerius: 8/20) (Juniper: Lv: 15, 78/80 | Lyl: 15, 78/80)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 8:26:29 GMT -6
[24]
Nerius hadn't really checked out the inside of the shed either, mostly because he'd been concerned that part of the roof might fall on him. It wasn't quite that bad, he'd realized, but almost. The shed clearly hadn't been kept up in years, there were holes in the roof and walls, and the small windows that let light in were broken. There was no glass lying around, at least, it seemed the previous owner cared enough to not want to shred their feet on broken glass, but not to actually replace the windows.
At least they let in light, as did the open door, and allowed for Nerius and Juniper to investigate. The box of tools Nerius had brought before stood out dramatically as the only clean and intact feature of the shed, but it wasn't empty. Juniper was interested in a stack of empty terra cotta pots, and was picking them up to look inside.
(Nerius: 9/20) (Juniper: Lv: 15, 79/80 | Lyl: 15, 79/80)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 8:32:57 GMT -6
[25]
Nerius doubted she'd find anything inside other than spiders, but this place was such a mess there could be more. The shed still held a lot of tools and supplies, it was more like the last owner had just abandoned it, rather than selling the items back to regain a bit of money. It was much too late now, everything here was broken down and falling apart, and unlikely to be worth anything. Or even usable, for that matter.
The pots that Juniper was poking around in, as interesting as they were to the evergreen, were all cracked and chipped. Most wouldn't even be able to properly hold a plant, or would leak water, and even the few functional ones just looked ratty and old. Humans did have some strange style tastes, but Nerius didn't think broken pots in vogue. He wouldn't have put them around his property even if they were.
(Nerius: 10/20) (Juniper: Lv: 16, 80/85 | Lyl: 16, 80/85)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 8:41:31 GMT -6
[26]
So he let Juniper play with them, it didn't really matter if she broke one, this place was already a mess. And, well, he really did need to get her some toys. There were an assortment of tools hanging along the wall, mostly small, hand held. Nerius looked these over, it was possible something was usable, but he wasn't expecting much.
There was a trowel, so rusted that all the paint had come off, and the handle was cracked and looked like splinter city. There was also an assortment of weed pulling tools, also badly rusted, and looked dangerous to use on account of accidentally poking himself on a bit of rusty metal. He didn't feel like getting blood poisoning for the sake of gardening, no thank you. The nippers were ratty, but look almost usable, but when Nerius actually picked them up, he found they were completely rusted shut. Those broken out windows hadn't done the metal tools any favors.
(Nerius: 11/20) (Juniper: Lv: 16, 81/85 | Lyl: 16, 81/85)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 8:56:47 GMT -6
[27]
Moving along the wall, he found the larger tools, several rakes, a shovel, a garden hoe. They were just as rusty as everything else, and the rakes were in the worst condition. The small thin bits of metal that made up the bristles of the rake had completely rusted off on one, the broken pieces littering the ground like a bunch of metal pine needles. A second rake had the handle broken, or completely rotted though, and the other half of decaying wood sat on the floor beneath it. The other handles were still intact, though in poor shape, and the broken one suggested that the others wouldn't hold up to any actual use.
Juniper didn't seem to mind the disappointing tools, and was still happy with the terra cotta pots. They might not have held plants well, but they could be stacked, and she was having fun making a little tower on the floor.
(Nerius: 12/20) (Juniper: Lv: 16, 82/85 | Lyl: 16, 82/85)
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Post by Nerius on Dec 13, 2019 9:03:13 GMT -6
[28]
Okay, yeah, he really needed to get her something to play with. Nerius had glanced down to check on her at the sound of clattering clay, and, well, clearly she would benefit by having something to play with. There was a store in town that sold that sort of thing, he was sure, in a city with this many pets.
There was a larger, popular one he'd heard of, but couldn't quite remember the name. Supply and Demand? No, that was, as the name suggested, more utility supplies. Piko.. something? No, that wasn't it. He'd have to ask, next time he was in the city, or have his TROD do it. Smaller shops were also a possibility, they might have less of a selection, but it could be worth a shot if he couldn't find the one he was thinking of. He didn't expect Juniper would be interested in the common sorts of canine toys, so that could be an issue in a smaller shop.
(Nerius: 13/20) (Juniper: Lv: 16, 83/85 | Lyl: 16, 83/85)
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