nomans_land | Near July, before all the chaos

Near July, before all the chaos

Nai's missing, the smashed-up city that Rem had put her house next to keeps changing, there's people nearby, human people, more and more of them all the time, gathering... it's been an eventful few days for a tiny plant!

It's not healthy to sit inside all day, hunched over the radio, waiting desperately for any sign of his brother, and so Vash is out wandering the dunes and cliffs near the station, a small two-way radio clipped to his belt that lets him keep listening to the radio inside, just in case Nai is able to call again. Some of his day is taken up training, working on focusing his plant powers to summon feathers that sprout in tiny downy tufts all along both his arms. Some of his day is just walking, exploring and re-exploring the space around the station, finding holes, bugs, interesting rocks. Some of his day is lying flat on a cliff, watching the human refugees below as they gather around the ever-changing city of July. Sometimes he finds a quiet space where nobody can see him, and cries for awhile. Sometimes, when Rem's been out late working hard, he's inside the station, cleaning and cooking and helping out as best he can. And, late at night when he can't sleep, he climbs up on the nearby ledge and watches the stars.

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It sure is! Every movie about a boy and his dog includes the boy getting slobbered on by the dog. Sadness completely forgotten for the moment, Vash drops down to sit next to the cute little, uh... bird? Dog?

Well, whatever it is, it's soft, and fluffy, and super friendly!

"Don't worry. I'll help you find your family." It's a promise, just... not one that he's sure he can keep. Unless the little creature wandered away from one of the refugees in the nearby human encampments, Vash has no way of knowing where it came from. And what if his sisters brought it here? Without a collar -- without a car! -- he's got no way of getting it home.

He's got a little water bottle in his pocket that he pulls out, pouring a tablespoon or so into the bottle's cap. "Here, are you thirsty?"

The creature just wiggles happily at the promise, even if it really wouldn't do much - it's already with family right now! Technically. It likes plants a lot and tiny plants? Tiny plants are new!

The offered water is sniffed at even if the critter doesn't seem to have a nose, and then the little tongue is seen again as it happily drinks the water. Offering water to strange things sure makes the plantling a good one, but it kind of knew that already.

"Va!"

Hmm. Is this how you get a pet? This might be how you get a pet!

He pets it gently as it drinks, and will refill the cap as many times as needed until it's done. "Can I take you home with me?" If it belongs to somebody else, he needs to return it, but how would he even know where to start looking? "Maybe just until we figure out where you belong. That'd be okay, right?"

This is definitely how you get a pet.

It's absolutely how you get a pet!

The creature drinks its fill of the water and then burps, licking its lips afterwards like it didn't just make an undignified sound. Looking at Vash with big white eyes, it chirps again and then climbs up on him, scurrying over his shoulder and settling around his shoulders like a big feathery scarf.

Did... did it shrink a little, too? Just enough to not be too heavy? Maybe.

Is it smaller? Or do the feathers make it hard to tell how big it is? Either way, Vash giggles the whole time the fluffy thing is scaling him -- the feathers tickle! -- fighting to stand still so his new friend doesn't lose its footing.

"I'm gonna call you Va." He reaches up to give the little guy a scratch under the chin, turning to head back to the station. "What do you think about that? Va? Va-va-va?"

"Va!" That sure sounds like an agreement!

Va makes little content noises as its chin is scratched, new feather-tail wagging happily but the sounds it makes are more of a chirping purr. It holds on to Vash with tiny little claws in his clothes, being extra careful to not stick one in his skin.

Va really likes this little plantling. Its been so long since it made a friend!

It's a long, long walk back to the station, and Vash isn't in any real rush. It's empty anyway.

"If I can keep you, I'm gonna teach you a whole bunch of tricks!" He doesn't have any assumption that little Va can understand him, but that's okay. Even just talking out loud to his new friend makes the world feel a little less lonely. The soft feathers are too much of a temptation, and he finds himself idly petting Va as he walks. "I wonder if you can fly? Most things with feathers can fly, except for tomases. And me." Tessla can't really fly either, but she can glide, kinda, with all her wings. It's just about the coolest thing Vash has ever seen. "Don't tell anybody, okay? But I've got feathers too!"

He holds up a hand, wiggling the fingers, but there's no feathers on that skinny little arm. "They're hard to make, though. I have to try really hard. Big brother says it'll get easier eventually, but I keep practicing and practicing and I'm still not any good at it."

Va understands Vash perfectly, but doesn't really advertise that often. Instead it's just happily purring for the boy as they walk, letting that little hand stroke over the softest, downiest fluff. Petting soft things made you happier, and it's very happy to provide some much-needed oxytocin.

When the plantling reaches over to show his little hand and attempt to grow feathers, Va makes a little worried-sounding chitter and curls up tighter around that neck - not to choke him, but to shrink.

Looks like it does not like a little boy knowing how to make feathers. Feathers on a plantling sounds wrong.

The little thing acts scared when Vash holds up his hand -- is it because of the way he wiggled his fingers?

"Oh, sorry!" Both hands go down quick to his sides, and Vash even stops walking to make sure Va doesn't get unbalanced and fall off. "You don't like wiggly fingers, huh? I wasn't gonna hurt you!"

Va decides to lick the boy's cheek - it didn't mean for him to worry! Feathers on a plantling just wasn't right! Instead the creature starts purring again, to calm them both down.

"Va. Vaaaa." It chirps, feather-tail going again. See, it's not scared!

If Vash knew what it was that upset little Va, he'd definitely argue the point! He can make feathers, so it's fine that he has them. It's part of being a plant!

But all he knows is that Va's tongue is ticklish, and that purr sounds happy. Forward to the station!

"I wonder what you eat? We've mostly just got worm." Which isn't awful, but he's definitely getting tired of it. "Do you like worm?" Hopefully Va eats meat! Otherwise, the options are kinda limited.

"Back on the ship, we had so much food! There was stuff in storage that had been dried a really long time, and the plants would make anything else we needed." He sounds wistful. It's hard, growing up with a varied diet, and then being stuck eating mostly the same thing. Ration bars and worm soup are food, but ugh they're not at all the same thing as stir fry, or spaghetti.

Feathers mean fear and trauma! Va doesn't want to see Vash scared and hurt, that sounds awful. The purring kicks up and he snuggles closer to keep the boy nice and calm.

The plantling mentioning food does seem to make it a little excited, too. Va can eat anything! Meat is good, vegetables are good, catching a worm larvae and eating it raw is good. Hell, it has chewed on drywall a few times, it wasn't bad.

At least Va is really easy to talk to as Vash chats about the food back on the ship, making little curious chirps.

"Vaa."

It's almost like Va understands him! In old movies, the dog always seemed to know what the little boy was saying, so maybe that's just how pets work? Or maybe he's just lonely, and jumping at the chance to talk to anybody.

"You know what I miss?" He leans his head against Va's soft feathers, dropping his voice low like it's a secret. "I miss salad." Isn't that silly? "I never really liked it growing up, but now I think I could eat the whole bowl myself!" All those crunchy, fresh vegetables... "We're not supposed t'ask the plants for anything we don't need 'cause they're working so hard already, but I can still want it."

And sure, he could probably get a salad at one of the restaurants in Octovern, since after several months things are settling down, but when would he ever go into a human city? It's just not safe. "I guess maybe I could grow stuff to make a salad? But I don't know anything about growing food." He reaches up to pet Va's face. "Do you? Wanna help me make a garden?"

The creature really seems to be understanding some, at least - it chirps happily as Vash talks about salad and happily rubs its head against those fingers when the boy reaches up to pet it again.

Salad is delicious, but there's not a lot of green on Noman's Land. Maybe one day Vash gets to see Luida's garden and can eat all the salad he wants.

When they get closer to the station, Va stands up a bit more, the mess of wings fluttering a bit in curiosity.

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Near July, before all the chaos

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