onegreeneye | IC CONTACT (RYSLIG)

Sometimes. Sometimes I wasn't so sure.

[Steven watches him carefully, his eyes faintly sparkling with concern and compassion. This kid is full of that stuff.]

Why not?

Well... since I had no idea what had happened, I worried sometimes that it was something terrible. There was nobody to tell me otherwise, so I just thought I might be better off not knowing.

...Of course, that was just on occasion, when I was very young.

...It didn't sound terrible.

[A pause.]

Or I mean, it did, but just that...something bad happened, but it wasn't anybody's fault. You're always saying how mushi don't do this stuff because they're mean...

[It strikes him, in that moment, that maybe Ginko had had family before then...family that he couldn't even remember. Or friends...He doesn't even want to ask about that, because it seems like a cruel thing to suggest. Especially now, when it isn't like he could look for them even if he wanted to.

But he can't help but to put himself in Ginko's place, and how awful it would be if he completely forgot about his dad, and about the gems. About his mom, even. About Connie. They were all so much a part of who he was that the idea is almost inconceivable.

He tears up with vicarious grief, and quickly tries to rub them out of his eyes.]

Yeah. No, it... it wouldn't be the mushi's fault, in any case. [He shakes his head slightly.

Then he happens to look up, and his eyes widen slightly. He finally gets together the effort to drag himself to his feet and goes to sit by Steven on the bed.] Steven, you're... are you alright?

[He doesn't immediately answer, so much as just latch straight onto Ginko's body as soon as that option is made possible. His vines gently twist around the two of them shortly after, though not close enough to cut Ginko with their thorns. He sniffles.]

Sh-She said it didn't matter because...because the important thing was that you grew up strong. And...and I think that's true. Because you have people here for you right now, okay?

[In a way, he's talking himself through it as much as he's talking to Ginko.]

[Ginko jumps a little, once again completely unsure of how to respond. Then, as Steven talks, he starts to relax a little, his brow furrowing slightly as he listens. Finally, he raises a hand hesitantly, placing it on Steven's back.]

...Yeah. Okay.

[Steven buries his face in Ginko's chest, and its after a short while of this that the kettle he put on starts going. All of Steven's vines raise up at once in defensive alarm, his grip on Ginko tightening.]

O-Oh, uh. Sorry, sorry.

[One of the vines swoops over and lifts up the kettle off the burner, moving it over to the cool side of the plate.]

[Ginko tenses at that, more out of instinctual alarm than anything, then relaxes a moment later.]

It's alright. You really are getting better at moving stuff around with those, aren't you?

Haha, yeah!

[He smiles, rubbing the remaining tears out of his eyes, before getting up and moving over to the kettle.]

Maybe carrying me around so much made them stronger.

[He rummages around in his bag and pulls out a pair of cups, followed by a tin filled with what's probably tea bags.]

Maybe so.

[He watches quietly as Steven goes through his bag, and, finally, curiosity leads him to break his exhausted silence.] What's in those?

[Steven is giving the kettle a confused look for a few moments, but the opts to just throw the teabags straight in there instead of bothering with the cups. He looks over to Ginko with a little smile.]

I'm making tea! If you want any, I'll pour you some. I'm hoping it's good - it's a mix I've been trying out.

[Read: it's made from the stuff growing on his back.]

Uh... sure. Thanks.

[Yeah he can definitely guess that it's made from stuff growing from Steven's back. But saying 'no' strikes him as almost immoral.]

[Steven isn't amazing at the actual boiling part of making tea. He frowns at the kettle, and then looks back to Ginko.]

How long do you think it should sit...?

Uh... [Ginko thinks for a moment. He's no expert at this himself, really, but he probably does have a better idea of it than Steven.]

A few minutes, probably? It can differ depending on the type of tea.

Okay!

[He comes back over to sit at Ginko's side, swinging his legs a little in enthusiasm. He smiles up at him, and then starts counting off ingredients on his fingers.]

It's got strawberries and...the yellow flowers...and the white flowers...and the purple flowers...

[Steven knows exactly what flowers these are but he can't remember the names that Ginko told him at all.]

[Ginko would be a lot more concerned about this if he weren't already pretty sure that 1. nothing poisonous seems to grow on Steven and 2. considering the freaky plant knowledge that seems to be typical of nymphs, he figures Steven would know if he did come across anything dangerous.

He gives a slight smile, staying quiet as Steven lists off the plants.]

They're all supposed to be good for things like this! ...And the strawberries just because they're nice.

[Steven will just keep talking, in that case.]

I started transplanting things from my back into my garden in the forest - it looks super awesome. You should come visit it sometime.

Yeah; sounds like a good idea. What all have you planted so far? [He'll keep commenting enough to make sure it's clear that he's still listening, anyway. He may be overwhelmed by all this, but he supposes this is better than just sitting alone in his room.]

Ummm...

[He's finding himself lacking more of the names, but he tries to list the ones he can remember.]

I planted a bunch of rose vines around the tree. They're getting really big already! And all the flowers I put in the tea. Oh! And these things... [He pokes at one of his ginger antenna.] I don't have a lot of it on my body, so...

With all the new plants it's getting really busy around there! It's nice.

That's good to hear. [He makes a mental note to go back over the names of the plants later. It's not like it's all that urgent.

He pauses, part of what Steven said reminding him of a few earlier conversations.] How's the tree doing, by the way?

She's really good! She's been around so long I don't think anything will happen to her, especially now that I'm helping her out, too.

[You know, besides a forest fire or something like that, but that's not something Steven can even bear to contemplate.

He rambles for a while longer, mostly talking about the specifics of what he's been growing. As usual, it sounds more like he's talking about roommates or pets than a garden.

Inevitable, he is alarmed when he remembers that the tea has been sitting for a while now and he jumps up to get it.]

Oh no, I forgot!

[Ginko blinks, starting to stand up on impulse.] Ah, sorry, I should've reminded you... guess I forgot about it, too.

It's okay!

[Steven is already up and over there, lifting the lid to smell the tea inside, and then shaking it around a bit. Master teasmith, right here. His tongue pokes out a little as he carefully leans it over to try pouring some of it out into the cups.]

It's just tea, right? I'm not very good at making it anyway.

Hey now, can't be sure of that until we've tried it, right?

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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.