Suddenly, Plants! [Active, Open]

[machitobaye]

Characters: Machi Tobaye, Zetsu, Simon the Digger
Setting: Green House, various
Time: Day 002, Mid-Morning
Summary: Machi meets Zetsu again
Warnings: Smiling! This is serious business.

Comments

[machitobaye]

Machi was so surprised that for a moment he was speechless. Hesitant, he took a step forward, slowly approaching Zetsu with a careful eye on the man. "You... you are fixing it? But... how?" He didn't dare take the gun from Zetsu's hand without pausing a second, but when he did, he loaded the bullets into the chamber quickly and rather deftly for having only one fully functioning hand; he trapped the gun between his chin and injured right hand (safety on) and popped the three bullets into it rapidly before locking it and dropping it back into his free hand.

He knew Zetsu didn't like him and it wasn't hard to see that he was trying the plant man's patience, so he tried to be friendly, slipping the gun beneath his shirt while keeping an eye on the adult. Just having the gun made his heart rise hopefully. He felt more confident. It was like being in control. He was in control. "Thank you," he said, and meant it. It was very big of Zetsu to give him the gun back, he knew, and he appreciated it more than he could say. He did his best to smile at him instead, though he had to take his sunglasses off to do it effectively.

...holy cow the plant house was bright.

[weeatbodies]

Zetsu didn't move; he didn't have to. Let Machi approach at his own pace; he was comfortable with trying not to alarm the boy. Just give him the gun, possibly heal him, and go. Zetsu didn't much care to do any persuasion beyond the bare facts and an offer; if Machi still didn't want any help once he knew that it was possible, Zetsu hardly cared. He'd done his duty and tried, and that could be held up in defense if anyone ragged on him about this. "Ninja doctors can fix things much faster than normal doctors can." Zetsu let himself slip onto short, simple sentences for Machi's benefit; the boy was obviously smart, but it sounded like he had trouble speaking for whatever reason. Odd, since he'd had no trouble understanding any of the other residents, no matter where they'd come from....

Zetsu let his hand fall back to his side once Machi had taken the desired objects from him, and watched how he loaded it so quickly and easily; it was a gesture that suggested practice, oddly enough, though he distinctly recalled Machi not having an exceptional sense of aim. He'd only hit Rayne's arm, after all, when aim counted.... Who knew, though? Maybe that was just because he'd been panicking. It meant he would have to keep an eye on Machi in the future, maybe. "You're welcome." He didn't quite smile, though his expression did lighten somewhat; he found himself wondering if any more residents would get shot, come nightfall. Still, that could always be remedied--once was accident, but twice was arrogant disregard.

[machitobaye]

Machi looked up at Zetsu sans sunglasses (trying not to squint) as the ninja explained. He missed the fact that Zetsu was dumbing down his sentence for him, probably because it was only one sentence and it was an adequate explanation, for its meaning. He didn't really understand how such a thing would work, but he was willing to accept that, given the rest of the house and the past who-knew-how-long he'd spent in fear of his life. Then he looked down at his hand silently, rubbing where it had bitten. He wanted to have his hand back more than anything--now that he had the gun, he had an even bigger reason to need, bigger than playing the piano or being able to do things easily. After all, he could still make food for himself and such with a damaged hand.

The fifteen year old hesitated for politeness, then nodded. "Okay. I... I am accepting." He couldn't think of a better way to say it. Then suddenly he had a thought. "What... are you knowing anything about house? Why is this... happen?" It was a bit of a risk asking, especially since he and Zetsu had so far had a pretty negative relationship, but the man seemed so unruffled by what was happening, he probably knew more than Machi did.

His stomach was full and he had the gun back... and if he was lucky (and Zetsu agreeable) soon he'd have his hand back, too. Things were looking up, as far as he was concerned. Much up.

[weeatbodies]

It probably would have needed dumbing down anyway, or copious amounts of explanation; Zetsu knew his skills weren't magic, but that was the only short and simple answer he could give to someone who didn't know about jutsus. "Hold your hand still, then. If it moves too much, it won't be fixed right." His own hands moved through a few quick seals, and he reached to take Machi's hand into his own, carefully straightening it into its natural position; everything had to connect right for full mobility to be restored, even if the flexing might hurt. The other hand that was pressed over Machi's hummed with a pale blue glow, spreading warmth and easing pain as he worked to repair the damage. Sure, it wouldn't make the scab come off, but Machi could easily pull it off afterwards--it was the function that counted, not what it looked like.

He considered the questions as he worked. "I know that the house grows and repairs itself during the night; this room and more wasn't here before. I know that people come here from different times and places. I know that there are things here that can't be hurt with knives or guns--but I don't know why any of this is happening." He had his theory, of course, though he didn't know how right it was--but then again, he'd already mentioned his theory to Machi before, hadn't he? So there was no need to repeat it again. He let Machi's hand go once he had finished, the light fading away.

[machitobaye]

Machi stiffened his hand when Zetsu grabbed it, then forced it to relax--he didn't want to do something wrong by mistake and make it heal wrong or something. He felt the warmth spread through his hand and was filled with surprise; he didn't have to peel back the scab to know it was healing--he could feel the tightening and pain lesson and he almost pulled his hand away out of shock. As a non-visual person, for Machi the scab was just a painful reminder that he was injured, not the injury itself. Literally. He made a soft exclamation of awe in Borginian before switching to English.

"That... that is amazing!" He looked up at Zetsu, pulling his hand rack and rubbing it reflexively, scraping off some of the scab in the process. The skin was perfectly fine underneath. How was such a thing possible?! It was incredible. If only Lamiroir could have been here, just a few months ago... no. He shook the thought off. It would be better not to think about that, especially not while he wasn't sure if this was entirely real. "Thank you!" He was so grateful he positively glowed, relieved that Zetsu wasn't angry at him any more--at least not visibly so, which was enough to be grateful for.

He paused, swallowing his nervousness around Zetsu to think about what the plant man had said. Machi already knew about the monsters--Zetsu was wrong, though, they just had to be decapitated to die... he'd keep that knowledge to himself for now--but the growing and repairing was new. Had the house grown this plant place? "So house is like... living thing? But I am hearing... sounds of building last night!" A house couldn't build itself... or it maybe could, depending, since everything else here was impossible. First plant men, then time being broken, then monsters, then magical healing... living houses wouldn't be all that surprising, somehow.

[weeatbodies]

Zetsu couldn't help a small smile at that; few people really appreciated healers and the services they offered, despite how necessary they were. A medic's education was a difficult one to undertake, and something to be proud of, even if nobody who hadn't went through it really thought as such--still, people who weren't from his home continent seemed to be easy enough to impress with shinobi skills in general, healing or not. "You're welcome."

Zetsu hadn't run into the hounds, incidentally--though Rayne had mentioned them when they'd talked. No, he was referring to the ghost.... Without Mio arriving when she had, Koizumi surely would have died. Zetsu only shrugged at the question. "It might be.... or it might not. There were sounds of building which could have repaired things and made new places like this one, but I never saw any workers, and the sound was everywhere, not just here."

[machitobaye]

Machi was thoughtful about that for a while, pondering the implications. It was complicated, that was the best he could say for sure. Everything else was up in the air. But now he was healed, and protected... and had one less enemy. That was good enough for now. He would have to see what happened and stay on his toes. So much of what anyone said about the house could be lies, anyway--the house seemed to be filled with them, or at least kept its own secrets, which Machi didn't like... but there was nothing else to be done about that save to wait. He wished someone he knew was here, that would make things easier.

He was very tired all of a sudden.

Having not seen the ghost at all, Machi kept his information about the hounds to himself--it could be useful to keep for later, he decided, and he didn't think giving it to Zetsu would earn much in terms of benefits. Information was like currency, now.

He put on his sunglasses again, glancing around. Were those... doors? And a hallway?

[dig_to_live]

Simon was having a bit of trouble with the door, he didn't want to leave Lagann there at the entrance, but he also recognized that doors were typically a bit more easily operated by human hands... it was a bit of a dilemma, but there was atleast a solution, a cumbersome one, but an awnser nonetheless.
So, there he was, leaning as far as he could out over Lagann's forehead, fumbling with the handle of the door. He was attempting to push the door somewhat ajar with his outstretched fingertips, before quickly reeling back into his seat to creep the miniature gunman forwards a bit so the door couldn't close on his face, er Lagann's face... well that's really most of Lagann... but that wasn't the point and he shouldn't be thinking about that at the moment.

He crept through the door as best one could creep while piloting a 5 foot tall head and peered into the lush oasis of the greenhouse with obvious pleasure.

"We're outside" he wondered aloud, he wasn't very used to buildings, but he really hadn't thought that door was the one leading straight out. Not that where it lead in particular mattered, he had to find his way back to Kamina and Yoko. There was no telling which way they were from here.

It was at this point that Simon took the time to notice that there was a person here other then himself, not too far away, stood a blond youth amid the greenery.
Simon hated to interrupt, but he was already here and really did have to be on his way. So he did the courteous thing and stepped backwards out of Lagann, the robot's legs collapsing into itself as it went dormant before taking a few steps toward him and calling out a friendly, "Excuse me!"

"I'm sorry for the trouble, but I'm looking for my friends."

[weeatbodies]

"Not quite." Zetsu corrected, turning as he heard a newcomer's voice. He was surprised to see an enormous head coming through the door--obviously mechanical, but he'd never seen anything like it in his life--and a boy getting out of it. Clearly a young human boy somewhere around Machi's age, in spite of the strange head that he had emerged from.... He spread his leaves a little further to get a better view as he looked Simon over. "They probably aren't here, but if you could give names and descriptions, it would be easier to know for sure."

[machitobaye]

Machi turned around quickly and then retreated a few steps diagonally--away from Zetsu, so that he maintained the same distance and ended up almost next to the ninja. He was generally prepared for a lot of things (or so he tried to be now), but giant heads were a new one. More to the point, people coming out of giant heads... where was all this madness still coming from? But it was too far away to panic over and somehow it reminded him the Steel Samurai and the other shows he found tapes of in Phoenix's house, which made it significantly less threatening, although no less startling. He adopted a posture of non-commitment, crossing one arm over his stomach and resting the other hand next to the heavy pendant on his neck. Machi turned his head away, looking at the newcomer only briefly. He had nothing to say that Zetsu hadn't already said, and Zetsu had said it much more clearly than he ever could, at least in English. He saw no reason to try adding anything else.

If this boy's friends were here, they were very unfortunate. Of course, so was he now.

[dig_to_live]

Simon was a bit startled that his awnser hadn't come from the person he had addressed, but he was shocked that it came from what he had initially dismissed as some sort of bush. Simon yelped in surprise, he could see it was definitely humanoid now that it had spoken.
W-Was he a beastman?? He didn't think they came in plant but he'd had his definition of "beast" pushed a few times in the past. MmMaybe he's nice. The other person standing there didn't look like he had any fangs at this distance and Simon didn't see any gunmen laying around...
Maybe he was... something else? Was there anything else? Simon couldn't help but wish Kamina were here right now, He'd know what to do.

Right, it had offered to help find his friends, he couldn't be all bad! Though, what was that part about them probably not being here about? Its not like Simon had bolted off in a random direction, he had just tripped. Even after his rationalizations, Zetsu still made him uncomfortable. So, Simon wiped his forehead and decided he'd keep his distance while asking for help...

"Um, I'm looking for my b-Bro, Kamina. He's tall and strong... with big glasses" Simon gestured, obviously not wholly at ease with his audience. "and he's got blue hair and -um- a cape and tattoos... and he's really confident."

Describing Kamina was somewhat taxing, he's just... Kamina... the only way someone could really understand Kamina would be to see Kamina being Kamina. Simon decided he had described Kamina as best he could without doing the pose and he didn't really feel like doing that right now. He was feeling awkward enough as it was.

"and I'm um looking for my friend Yoko who's uh..." Simon tried to conceptualize how best to describe Yoko and wound up blushing beet red.
"she's got.. big.. gun" ,he trailed off meekly, seemingly defeated by his attempts to describe them.

[weeatbodies]

Hah, if he didn't know any better, he would think that Machi was stepping closer to him for protection.... The kid had his gun now, and he had his hand back; Zetsu's part was over. His debt was repaid, and he didn't intend to do anything more with it; he didn't particularly like Machi, anyway. Still, he made no comment about him coming closer, instead focusing on Simon. Dammit, another one who was scared of him? Why did he always have to meet freaked-out kids?

At least this one seemed to be trying to get over it.... So Zetsu pushed his irritation down to listen. Big gun, huh? None of the guns he'd seen had been particularly large, even if he didn't know the standards for gun sizes. "I haven't seen anyone with those names or descriptions around here, fortunately." "Who would I say was looking for them, if I did?" Why was the kid blushing so badly, anyway?