003 | Video

[walksonrooftops]

[It's not very often that Asato makes a post to the network, preferring to read and hear what others have to say, offering bits of awkwardly-worded input when he thinks it could be useful. He's not one to draw attention to himself, and though it might seem difficult for a relatively big guy with cat ears and a tail, he tends to manage it too.

He's just a quiet guy minding his own cat business, part of which he's spent in the gardens, carefully tending to something each and every day. The result of nearly a year of watering, trimming, checking and double-checking, is what he moves the video feed to quickly after he sees the feed is on, offering only a quick glimpse of his face.]

I have--these.

["These" being a little pile of some kind of fruit. They're somewhere between a peach, an apple, and a currant, the size of a baseball at their largest, ranging from magenta to purple in color. He can't show it through the feed (much as he wishes he could!), but the scent that's coming from them is a strong mix of sweet, sour, and spicy.]

Kuims. Is what they're called. I planted them. I can't eat all of them, but I don't want them to go bad. [Which is why he's happy to offer some to whoever wants to stop by in the gardens and try them out.]

They're really good. In my world, lots of people like these the best. [A great advertiser he is not, but he's trying, and his enthusiasm is genuine.]

Please come have some. I don't need anything in return for them. Um... They're good in cakes, too. [That...should wrap things up, he figures, so the feed gives a shake, comes back to his face one more time, and clicks off.]

Comments

[tg]

[ See, they're actually on the same wavelength. Dave can't read feline body language for shit, and Asato can't parse Dave's word vomit verbatim. It equalizes into the beautiful not-quite-understanding that is their relationship.

Dave follows Asato's lead, picking his way carefully through the foliage and giving a swish of his cape as he does so. He doesn't spend anywhere near as much time in the gardens, but he still knows not to step on the grass. ]

Man, I would've worn my garden frock if I knew we'd be frolicking through the vineyard. Do I get to pick these things straight off the vine or what?

[walksonrooftops]

I picked them already. [Asato actually sounds somewhat apologetic in giving that answer, as if he's expecting it to be a disappointment to Dave. But no, all the fruits have already been picked, unless by some off chance he's missed one tucked away between the leaves. Their scent is strong, though, so he'd practically start wondering if there was something wrong with his nose if he overlooked any.

Minding the rest of the plants and their elaborate setup as he goes--wouldn't want Netherlands angry at him for toppling anything over, and Asato's the last person who'd want to mess with even the smallest bit of their food supply--he leads Dave to his modest little section of the garden, where he's tended to this plant for months. Set close by, in an attempt at neatness, is his harvest.]

You can choose any one. They're all ripe.

1/2.

[tg]

You're breaking my heart, man, depriving a dude the right to pick his own produce. [ But not really. I mean, it's not that big of a deal. Food is food. It all goes the same way in the end.

Dave regards Asato's small bounty the same way he regards most things: with a look of general disinterest. But damn, those smell pretty fresh. Color him piqued. ]

Don't mind if I do.

[ Takes one off the top of the pile—Dave is a jerk but not one who pokes his fingers slap-dash where they don't belong in someone else's pie—and takes a bite outta that juicy motherfucker. ]

2/2.

[tg]

Well, shit.

[walksonrooftops]

[The disinterested look is how Asato remembers Dave most of the time anyway, and while at first it would've made him worry, he's known him for long enough now that he just watches and waits, curious but not particularly concerned. Dave's not critical, he decides. Dave's just Dave.

His words are always a bit more difficult to figure out. Asato can't decide if they're bad or good, so his ears give an uncertain twitch as he worries his bottom lip with a fang.]

Not good?

[tg]

[ Dave chews slowly—laboriously—and lets Asato's question hang unanswered in the awkward silence that accompanies said laborious chewing. His face remains totally unreadable for the duration of his prolonged mastication, which is pretty purposefully protracted.

Finally, he swallows. ]

Nowhere near good. It kicks good right outta the ballpark and into the goalpost.

[ Dave, don't try to use sports metaphors. They never actually mean what you think they mean. Luckily Asato doesn't know sports, right? Right.

His expression finally cracks. He's smiling. ]

And by that, I mean, this thing is fucking awesome.

[walksonrooftops]

[The silence and slow chewing make him a little antsy, so he shifts his weight from one foot to another and flicks his tail behind him.

The sports metaphor soars far over Asato's head, and he's prepared to try asking again in the hope that he'll get a more straightforward answer. Dave continues before he can figure out what exactly he wants to ask, though. At that smile, Asato's ears perk up as his own expression brightens, the wary tension disappearing in a heartbeat. He's probably more glad about someone liking a fruit that he should be--but with that kind of build-up right before, it's almost inevitable.]

You like it? I'm glad. [And with that, he turns to grab another one from his pile.] Here, take another.

[tg]

[ Dave takes another bite out of his cat-fruit—he's already forgotten the name of this tiny piece of heaven, shut up—and gratefully accepts the newly proffered cat-fruit with his heretofore unoccupied hand. ]

Like it? I know you understate shit all the time, but you're missing the mark there, William Tell. Seriously. I am ready to binge myself diabetic on these things.

[walksonrooftops]

[Again with the words he doesn't understand. But it's alright, as long as Dave likes them he won't mind not knowing who William Tell is.]

I still have enough left if you want to take a few home. [He's smiling like a kid who's just aced his show-and-tell, his voice quiet as ever but definitely upbeat, somehow still plenty excited even through his ever-present awkward pauses.]

I like them a lot too. And I've never had so many in one place before. They're hard to find, where I come from. [Understandable, considering he comes from somewhere in a deep ravine where the sun barely reaches and the fog chokes all the plants struggling to grow. Finding himself with a whole pile of kuims on his hands is just incredible.]

[tg]

Now, see, that sure is interesting right there, you know, the idea of cat-people eating fruit. I figured you'd eat fish or dead mice or something. [ But Dave has never claimed to know anything more about the feline diet than is strictly taught by TV commercials. ] You learn something new every day.

Also, I'm taking you up on that offer. Gonna stash myself away some exotic cat-fruit, aww yeah.

[ But first he'll focus on making headway through the fruit he's already got before tucking into the bushel for sylladex fodder. ]

[walksonrooftops]

There aren't many fish around, where I live. [Because the water in that ravine? Toxic as hell. Most creatures with any kind of sense just stay far, far away.] I like meat too. I like chicken the best. But fruit is also good.

[And since it was a matter of hunting versus gathering, most cats lived off a diet of fruits, nuts, and plants. Asato would never turn down a nicely-grilled piece of chicken, but he was usually happy to eat whatever he could get. If that meant he had to eat the scraps others left behind, then that was what he'd do. But a big bushel of kuims, grown by hand to ripe, purple perfection? Drop everything, time to dig in.]

Take as many as you want to carry. Next time, agriculture is going to help. So there will be more than just one plant.

[tg]

How about cows? Do you got a lot of those, where you live?

[ Because beef is awesome, how can Asato not love beef. Also, it sounds to Dave like cat-people are health enthusiasts rather than desperate ravine-dwellers. Alas.

Asato's offer of good will fruit is met with a small smirk on Dave's part. ]

I'm not sure you should give me free rein here. I can carry a lot.

[ Not that he'd swipe the whole lot, but he could, technically. He polishes off that first kuim and discreetly tucks the second into his sylladex. ]

[walksonrooftops]

[Just a shake of the head in response to that. Much as Asato's enjoyed what little taste of beef he's been able to get after a proper restock of perishables from outposts, his own world is remarkably devoid of cows. Not much livestock of any kind, really, except maybe for birds. Chickens. Delicious chickens.]

None at all.

[His eyes narrow a little while he tries to figure out just what that sylladex is doing, but he's not raring to touch it and inspect it closer--he doesn't know how it works, so he doesn't want to risk losing fingers over some simple curiosity.]

I trust that you're not going to take all of them. That's the only thing I wouldn't want.

[tg]

[ The sylladex card now bearing 2D kuim art floats near Dave's hand like a cheap magic trick. ]

No prob, dude. Wouldn't filch your fruits right under your nose. I'll take four.

[ One for Davesprite, one for Nill. Two for himself, because a guy's gotta do what he's gotta do. ]

Thanks.

[ Dave goes right for the headbump, because while brobumps are awesome, his hands are a bit busy taking the fruit he's laid claim to. ]

[walksonrooftops]

Four is good. [Whether they're going to be shared or stashed, parting with that many is hardly painful. It's what he's grown them for, after all; first and foremost to get himself a taste of home and then to help pass that around some, since he's got few stories worth sharing and no relics of note save for a sword and the marks he still diligently draws on his upper arm. He's just glad the fruits have been so well-received.

Anyone who doesn't like them is just weird.]

A lot of people might know how to cook things with them. Bardo, too. Next time, when there are more, we'll have all kinds of things to eat. [And that's as good as things get, isn't it? A nice meal to sit down to, to help ease the stress of being on the S.S. Nightmare if only for a little while.

A bump of the head earns a bump in return, a bump and a second or two of purring. Asato's a little less startled each time--Dave will have his Honorary Cat badge soon enough if he keeps it up.]

[tg]

[ Asato fucking purrs, and that makes Dave laugh. In a kind of, holy fuck, cat-dude just purred kind of way. Dave can bash his head against shoulders all endearing as you like, but purring is a little out of his league. ]

You know, that almost makes me wanna join Agriculture, just so I'd get first dibs on the choice fruits, but I'd be shit at gardening, and I don't mean the fertilizing kind.

[walksonrooftops]

[It's okay Dave, just leave the purring to the pros.]

Netherlands could teach you. [Except probably not. Especially with his tolerance for slacking being as it is, but Asato's never really been on the receiving end of that--doesn't have a reason to, if he just comes in every now and then to help carry heavy things around and otherwise puts his nose in as many flowers as he can manage in an afternoon--so he doesn't know.]

He said you have to use wool rocks. That way you can grow plants so you get fruit all the time.

[tg]

[ Blankest look here, Asato. He'd ask about Netherlands teaching him shit, but something else, something more important, catches his attention. ]

What the fuck is a wool rock. Like, what, a stone in sheep's clothing? Burly bear balls?

[walksonrooftops]

It's a cube that you can put the seed into. It's not a rock. And it's not wool, either. But it's called a wool rock.

[Rock wool. It's a new word, he just learned it, just give him some time and he'll figure it all out.]

I think. Netherlands showed me.

[tg]

Shows how much I know about gardening. I thought you tossed some seeds into soil, took a dump on 'em, and added water.

[ Dave Strider: He'd kill a chia pet. ]

[walksonrooftops]

You have to take more care of it than that. [Here he actually sounds a little taken aback, but that's to be expected when, back home, he would've considered it a lucky break for the rotting soil to let anything grow at all. Food's a precious thing, it deserves that attention.]

Do you not come to the gardens very much? Although, I come here a lot and I didn't know about the wool rocks either.

[tg]

I come to the gardens about as much as the next space shut-in. [ a pause ] Which I guess translates to pretty often, actually. Being on a spaceship makes even the most reclusive of free-styling ninja DJs want to spend more time outside.

Doesn't mean I know squat about hydroponics. I'm here for the relaxing scenery, not to get personal with the greenery.