[open] Normal guy, forest guy, just like normal forest guy~

[poaceae]

WHO: Fern Mertens (The Grass Boy)
WHERE: Outdoors, etc
WHEN: Mar 10ish
OPEN TO: All, Diego Hargreeves
WARNINGS: Random violence possible

---

Village Perimeter

OTA

Fern's been feeling more like himself since a week spent on a mysterious quest, fighting monsters and hunting down rare plants. The warm clothes may have helped some too... He's still not good at not being essentially invulnerable, as evidenced by a number of scratches the color of bruised grass on his arms and face. Today he's opted to change his grass shirt and shorts for real fabric pants and t-shirt as well as a blue hooded cloak he found in the store room that he thought looked cool. The hood stays down so as not to interfere with his own (maybe a?) bear hood.

He patrols the village perimeter, marching along like a toy soldier with his wooden sword and waving it at any animal he sees while yelling "yeah, that's right, you'd better run!"

For once, he actually seems kinda pretty happy.

Village Edge

Diego

But one can only patrol an unthreatened perimeter for so long before getting bored. And when he does, Fern turns to pretend-fighting an evergreen bush.

"You think you can just walk in here and attack this here village? You think you can take me?" he demands of the bush, pointing his sword at it. "I'm Fern Mertens, ya heard? Yeah, you're in for it now!"

He then proceeds to throw himself at the bush, attempting to cut it six different ways. It being a bush, and his sword being made of sharpened wood, he manages only to break a whole lot of twigs and cut some leaves off the thing.

"You're not so big now, are ya?"

Outer edges/outside the village, around the bunker, etc

OTA

He definitely loses focus after a while, forgetting altogether that he was trying to patrol the village and make sure everything is safe, hero-style. Instead he takes to wandering, tugging on the occasional branch, moving the occasional rock with his bare, two-toed foot, generally behaving as one does when looking for a hidden door one is certain is nearby. He keeps this up for hours, days, weeks. He may wear the same white shirt and blue pants every day, but he never does seem to bother with shoes or socks.

Comments

Village Edge

[skyward_eyes]

Patrol. Frankly sometimes Nida just needed time to manage things on his own, to think, and nothing helped with that nearly so much as patrols for the watch. And what he finds as he walks is something that makes him pause and smile. But the smile is less because he actually finds it funny even if it is and more about the skill.

He moves to lean against the boar-spear, recently finished by Leonardo, and considers the guy thoughtfully.

"You're good with a sword," he calls out as he looks at Fern.

Village Edge

[excessed]

Exploring the village and checking for threats is definitely something that Diego can understand. While the city he's used to is much more than this, he's also used to having others on the force and electronic surveillance to assist him. It means this is both easier in size, and harder in the grand scheme of things. Especially with little in the way of weapons he might use. Damn but he's missing that case full of knives that had been so easy to take with him anywhere. The troubles in his path do little to slow Diego down though, and he spends day on foot exploring the village and trying to work out what the hell this is. Which is how he finds himself witness to a rather verdant being using what appears to be a sword of sorts ensuring that a bush will no longer being a thread. Which makes him nearly smile. Strolling closer, though keeping his distant, clearing his throat for attention. "You know, if you really want to ensure it's no longer a threat, you should go for the heart of the thing. Other wise he may just heal and come for you when you're not looking."

Outer Edges of Village

[duel_wielding]

North isn't much of one for wandering, to be honest, not even now. It wasn't exactly a traditional thing for him, the wilderness not his cup of tea. Probably something he should work on if he's going to head to the North Village at some point to see Maine. To try and see Washington. For now, though, he just wants a walk and there's not nearly enough space in the town itself. So he walks and walks until he sees a young man toeing at a rock with a bare foot. That's probably not healthy for him, but North's gotten a bit of a push back over the whole being helpful and protective of people, so he supposes he should give the guy a chance first.

"Hey there. Nice weather, right? Not so cold anymore."

[poaceae]

He turns to find out who's talking to him and rubs his neck sheepishly.

"Heh, naw, that's nothing." Yeah, he knows he's good. He doesn't need to brag about it, he just needs some evil to fight.

[poaceae]

The bush threat is very real. But so is the random stranger threat, so Fern lets his sword arm fall and turns to face the man.

"Only if it's cursed," he argues quite reasonably. "I'd know if it was cursed. Maybe."

[poaceae]

Honestly, who can say what's healthy for a boy made of grass? Definitely not the boy. Probably just about anyone else.

He glances up at the strange man suddenly asking about the weather.

"Yeah, I guess so. The weather's alright." Why... are they talking about weather?

[skyward_eyes]

"You willing to give lessons? Asking for a friend."

Literally. Hasn't touched a sword in years, wasn't really the most confident with them. But he could use someone like that at the dojo, seeing as he hasn't found another swords instructor yet, and he's got people waiting to learn.

[duel_wielding]

Because it's a polite way to start conversations. But North does pause with a bit of shock over the green. That's...

That looks like grass. That is SO COOL!

North's expression is briefly one of awkward shock, more at Theta's comment than at Fern. Then it's back to calm and composed.

"So, this is going to sound silly but... Do you know which direction the inn is from here? I mean, I'm still not familiar with the areas this far from the center of town. Well, not when I'm at ground level. Typically have a better idea when I'm in a watch tower."

It's not entirely true. With Theta he'd have no problem getting back and he's got a good sense of direction, but it will give him something to say as he approaches a bit closer to ponder the guy. He's got something resembling tact after all.

Village Perimeter

[clouded_heart]

Foggy is torn between charmed and horrified at the sight of a child playing soldier.

It is rather lovely to see a child playing. But the idea of a child here... a younger child...

"Hey, buddy. What are you fighting off for us?"

[poaceae]

"Uhh, geez, I don't know..." He has no idea how to teach. He doesn't really even know how he uses his own sword anymore. It's just kind of instinct (and a bit of a curse).

"Yeah, okay!" This is going to go very, very badly.

[skyward_eyes]

"You've always got the option to swing by the dojo, try it out some. I haven't done sword-work in a while. See if you can get me a bit sharper on it."

Then he'd be okay with him. For now, though, he's smiling at the bush. "So, what did the bush do to you?"

[poaceae]

Fern's getting used to people looking at him that way. Honestly, being around humans all the time makes them all so weird about other kinds of people.

"The inn? I think it's that way." He points. He may have pointed in the direction of the northern village inn.

[poaceae]

Wow, rude. He may look 12, but he'll have you know he's 16 years old! And also part demon. But that's beside the point.

"Aww," he answers, "just another dumb groundhog. None of the animals around here even talk. It's so boring."

[poaceae]

He turns to stare quite seriously at the bush.

"It threatened the village," he explains, as though this is a normal thing to say about a bush.

[clouded_heart]

Talking animals. Sure. Hardly the weirdest thing even in his own world. "Have you tried talking to the people instead? They might be able to hold a conversation."

[poaceae]

He makes a face.

"I don't want to have a conversation. I want to fight some evil, or go on a dungeon crawl or something." He wants to feel like he has a purpose. You know how it is.

[duel_wielding]

Which isn't actually correct, but North nods his confirmation. He does move forward a bit to offer his hand.

"North Dakota. You?"

Better to be polite. He has to get to know these people, right? To live and work with them. Better to offer what he can.

[skyward_eyes]

Actually, for Nida it sorta is. He considers it carefully, seriously. There is no patronizing edge in him right now. At all.

"There's things like that back home. Plants that attack people to try and eat them. Not a bad thing to do, making sure people are safe. Thanks. Seriously. First few days here I flinched sometimes at some plants with vines because Grats and Ochus and Malboros. Among other things."

[poaceae]

He blinks at the hand, but finally shakes it. It's weird. People don't usually shake his hand, and it has nothing to do with the partly-woven, partly-sprouting texture of his cold grass skin.

"I'm Fern."

[poaceae]

Fern sees nothing wrong with this mild clash between fantasy and reality.

"Yeah, well, I don't do that!" If he's defensive, it's because he definitely does sometimes do that.

"I bet humans taste gross, anyway. Maybe if there were candy people..."

[duel_wielding]

Wow, yeah, he really is a plant!

North smiles at Theta's excitement. Which means he's smiling warmly at Fern.

"I hate to pry, but are you really... are you a plant? My AI Theta is super excited to meet more non-humans. He has so many questions."

Which might be rude, but he hopes the boy doesn't mind the enthusiasm.

[skyward_eyes]

Why would he do that? Nida considers the boy again. Ah, right. Not fully human. Well, he dismisses that. His world has more than one species, so he takes strange things in stride.

"I mean... depends on where you're getting a taste. But Candy would be tastier. Still think humans probably aren't good eating. Too much bone. Sticks in the craw."

[poaceae]

Fern smiles, albeit hesitantly, in response. At least the guy seems friendly enough.

The smiles turns to a frown at the question, but it isn't a particularly angry frown.

"Yeah, I... I guess so? I don't know how many questions I'll be able to answer, but I can try. Where's your friend?"

[poaceae]

He gags outright at the image.

"I'll stick to meatloaf, thanks. Candy people might be sweet and delicious, but they're still people. Heroes don't eat people."

[clouded_heart]

Foggy bites back the automatic reflex of 'what is evil' because it's not a conversation to have with a child, really. "Do you want to go adventuring specifically, or just have something useful to do?"