IC CONTACT (RYSLIG)

[onegreeneye]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, GINKO. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 065.32.134.46 *** GINKO has joined 065.32.134.46 <GINKO> okay, i think that worked? <GINKO> i think so. looks like it did. <GINKO> anyway, there we go. let me know if you need something.

Comments

[reluctantreceiver]

Great! Er--the forest is...a short drive. But we don't have to be in any hurry. And it's been a while since we went to the woods I can take care of the sunlight problem...

_{[Henry fidgets with some new growth along one of his arms. He has THOROUGHLY planned this outing.]}

[onegreeneye]

[Ginko gives a very short, quiet laugh.] Glad to hear it. You want to head out now?

[reluctantreceiver]

_{[Somehow he's still surprised.]}

Sure.

_{[He leads Ginko to the car which is looking unusually dinged up and once everybody is buckled in, takes off for THE WILDERNESS.]}

I'm kind of surprised you were so ready to go. I haven't seen you for a while so I thought things might have been extra busy at the clinic.

[onegreeneye]

[As usual on the rare occasions when he actually gets in a car, Ginko makes sure to keep his gaze locked on the interior. He'd really rather not see the speed they're moving at.]

Not really. I just... haven't been out much lately. Sorry.

[reluctantreceiver]

<sub>[An ear twitches thoughtfully at that. Ginko's always been a quiet guy...but today he seems even more so. WELL MAYBE BABY PLANTS WILL PERK HIM UP.]

[Everybody loves baby plants.]</sub>

Hey, it's fine. Haven't been sick, have you?

[onegreeneye]

...No. Not really.

[Just massively depressed.]

It's... it isn't really anything that's happened to me.

[Time to make another attempt at this "actually communicating" thing.]

[reluctantreceiver]

Oh...

_{[As the houses thin and the countryside appears, Henry begins to worry. Soon he pulls the car up to the edge of the road where a few trees stand sentry. He climbs out, closes the convertible roof, and waves to the trees. They creak and groan as they slowly bend down and curl over the top of the car like a couple of protective hands. Nobody was steeling his baby, no sir!]}

Do you want to talk about it?

_{[Henry has been doing a lot of listening lately.]}

[onegreeneye]

[Once the car is stopped and there's enough cover, Ginko follows Henry out, standing to the side with his hands in his pockets as his brother moves the trees.]

It's... [His tail twitches back and forth nervously. How does he even start to explain this? He supposes that, in a way, it started with Jay and Ema vanishing, but... that's not really what hit him hardest. It hurt, he didn't want to think about it, about not knowing what happened to them. But he had been able to keep going with barely a stumble in his usual routine.

He guesses that the last couple bumps in the road were just too much.]

...Tanyuu is gone.

And I haven't heard from Epsilon in a couple weeks.

[reluctantreceiver]

_{[Henry has started heading into the woods by the time Ginko gets his answer out. He pauses, ears up...and then they lower.]}

...Shiemi is missing too.

_{[It comes out in something like a mumble. Seems their house wasn't the only one stricken by...whatever it was. But then it occurs to him why else Ginko may be sad. Oh no. Epsilon.]}

Ginko--I'm so sorry.

[onegreeneye]

[Ginko glances up at that, his ears swiveling slightly.] --She is? ...How are Rin and Yukio taking it?

[And then he winces as that second part sinks in. Oh right. Talking about his feelings is a thing that's happening right now. Which, unfortunately, means thinking about his feelings.]

It's not... I mean, I shouldn't... [He had started to move to catch up to Henry, but now he slows down a bit, staring at the ground.] ...This is probably better. They're... they're not here. For all we know they're back home. They can go on with their lives, it's...

[Of course, he has no way of knowing how incorrect that is in Epsilon's case, but.]

I shouldn't want them here.

[reluctantreceiver]

Badly...

<sub>[And that's putting it lightly.]

[As Ginko slows, Henry turns and walks back to him. He stands by quietly, all too familiar with how weird and terrifying talking about feelings can be.]</sub>

It doesn't make you a bad person to miss someone.

[onegreeneye]

...I guess not.

[That doesn't mean he won't feel bad about it, but.]

[reluctantreceiver]

_{[Another silence stretches between them, broken only by a woodpecker overhead. Finally, Henry sighs and waves for his brother to follow him.]}

Come on. I have an idea. I think.

[onegreeneye]

[Ginko looks up, then gives a hesitant nod and follows. He's not quite sure what to expect from this 'idea', but it's got to be better than just standing there and stewing in his own misery.]

...Right. What kind of idea, exactly?

[reluctantreceiver]

<sub>[While Henry's idea does involve a bit of stewing, it's a bit more...expressive. And pretentious. But still expressive.]

[Soon their journey brings them to a small clearing. There stands an old dead tree, blackened by lightning and covered by tiny creeping vines. Henry draws in a breath before letting out a sigh and tugging his camera off from around his neck. He then turns and offers it to Ginko.]</sub>

Try it.

[onegreeneye]

[He blinks, staring uncertainly at the camera for a moment before taking it, careful and hesitant.]

...Uh. How?

[reluctantreceiver]

You look through here...

_{[He leans to point to the viewfinder.]}

And when you see something you think looks nice or makes you feel something, you hit this button here. I can show you how to roll to the next take after that.

[onegreeneye]

[Ginko nods, lifting the camera slowly and looking through the viewfinder. After looking around for a few moments, he lowers it and casts a sidelong glance at Henry.]

...I don't want to end up using up all your film.

[He's only half-joking. Ginko has a lot of feelings about basically any outdoors location.]

[reluctantreceiver]

_{[The tree man gives him a small smile.]}

Hey, that's what it's for. I have plenty. Try it out.

[onegreeneye]

Alright... if you're sure.

[He lifts the camera again and takes a step back, looking around the clearing. A few seconds later, he aims it at a cluster of bushes just starting to flower and taps the shutter button.]

--Like that?

[reluctantreceiver]

Exactly like that. I can show you what you photographed tomorrow sometime after I develop them.

_{[Henry finally leaves Ginko's side and moves freely around the clearing, checking up on the upright nurse log and making sure the moss on it is properly hydrated.]}

[onegreeneye]

Alright...

[He glances at the camera, then up at Henry, watching him examine the moss.]

How'd you say to turn it to the next one...? And how're those plants doing?

[reluctantreceiver]

They're growing very well. We've had a lot of rain. Okay...

_{[He returns and points to the little knob on the back of the camera.]}

Right here. The number will tell you how many you have left.

[onegreeneye]

[Ginko nods, and, with a bit of fiddling, manages to move on to the next take.

He looks around, ears flicking thoughtfully as he finds another good shot.]

...I really haven't been coming out here often enough lately, huh.

[reluctantreceiver]

_{[Henry's reply is a sort of humming sound that both agrees and sympathizes with Ginko.]}

I know sunlight is bad for trolls but...you could always visit the forest at night.