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 Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:31 pm
Ren did not like being patronized. Ren really did not like being patronized, especially by this girl - er, boy. And especially not when said person was in the wrong and was too stubborn to admit that he was. Ren glowered down at the pale haired boy, bending over to look at him.
"I'll only let go if you promise not to run away," he growled. "And only if you stop treating me like an imbecile, since you seem to be so dead set on treating me like a deaf four year old."
Ren supposed he might have been acting a little bit mean, but it was only in retaliation to the fact that the kid obviously did not find anything wrong with what he had done to Ren's garden. The poor thing was desecrated, leaves and stems flopped into the dirt, the last few ends of carrots and beats, and the dirt was overturned from the kelpie tromping around in it.
"Here's the deal," Ren said to the other. "You're gonna help me clean this up. Then you're gonna help me plant everything again. And then you're going to apologize for being irritating. After that I'll let you go. And maybe give you this carrot.
"Maybe."
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Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:28 pm
Bent over, Calder pouted, watching to see for any sign of a release. At Ren started on his deal, the only highlight of it was being released and, most importantly of all, the carrot. The kelpie was no firmly set on taking that carrot, and perked up at the mention of a reward in the mix of his hostage situation. "Is that a strong maybe?" He asked, and then thought it was best not to push it. The kid seemed like the touchy time.
Putting on a serious face, Calder set a hand on his heart and held a hand up…well, sideways up. His up, which really was more of Ren's middle horizontal. "I promise I will not run away when you let go of my ear, unless dogs come and chase me. I don't like dogs." He stated, and then dropped his hands. "So I have to clean up everything before I get the carrot?" What better way to motivate a kelpie than a carrot as a reward. Short of putting it on a string and tying it to a stick, Ren now had a willing garden helper.
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Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:54 pm
When he was certain the kelpie boy wouldn't run away (the carrot thing had been a good idea, apparently), Ren let go of his ear, rocking back on his heels and folding his arms across his chest to look down at him.
"It's a semi-maybe," he said, somewhat breezily, holding the small orange vegetable in front of the boy's nose and dangling back and forth. "So help me fix this, and maybe - maybe - I'll be nice and give this to you."
Tucking the carrot back into his pocket, Ren stepped back, surveying the scene beneath his feet. They would have to clear the entire little dirt patch first, then replant everything; or, at the very least, clean off all of the snapped stems of the now pathetic looking plants and smooth down the dirt.
"Dogs are overrated, anyway," he said absently, squatting down and collecting a few of the still intact vegetables. "Pick up all of the leaves and stems, please, and put them in a pile - a neat pile.
"And," Ren added, scooping up a handful of peas. "Might as well tell me yer name while we're at it, since I should probably call you something other than horse boy. My name's Ren."
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:35 am
The kelpie huffed, blowing at his bangs as he unverabllly complained about now being stuck cleaning up a dirt patch. Couldn't this guy let this garden rot and go find another patch? There were plenty of places. Calder could close his eyes and point and that would be a perfect place for a secret garden. Still, this boy seemed set on this particular spot, even though it wasn’t hidden or secret if Calder both found it and knew about it. Well, no point in messing with the boy's broken logic and get to work towards getting his carrot. Yes, the maybe was now a definite yes.
Sitting down, Calder started to pick at the various plants around him. A stick. A leaf. A stem. Another leaf. Another leaf. Stem. Since the boy was set on it being neat, Calder turned about to start making a stick pile, a leaf pile, and a – well, things-he-didn't-know-what-they-once-were pile. It was a slow process and after of about 5 minutes, he didn't want to do it anymore. At least they were talking. "My name is Calder, and I'm a kelpie, not a horse. I just look like one. Well, for now." He wasn't able to change into his other, more amazing kelpie form. He went back to putting 3 more leaves on his pile. "Can't we just rake this all up? Why are we making piles?" It was all dead stuff anyways. Couldn't they make a hole, stuff the junk in, and bury it? That sounded like a plan. Nature back to Nature.
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Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:25 pm
Ren knelt beside the kelpie, scooting over a bunch of trampled vegetation into a little pile at his feet. The garden was small enough that it would not take very long to clean it up, but at the rate the boy - Calder, was his name - was going, they would be here for way too long. Ren eyed him somewhat suspiciously, but shrugged it off, pushing more broken plants together.
"A kelpie, eh?" he grunted, wiping his hands. "Never met - or seen - a kelpie before. Sure yer not just a horse?"
A few more leaves. Calder had moved about two. "It'll go faster if you move more than just one," Ren said dryly. "And we're making piles so I can find any broken vegetables that are still edible. Anything else we'll just throw out."
With a sigh, Ren leaned on his hand, regarding the kelpie. "Whatever. Just make sure that it's clean enough for me to plant stuff in it again. After that, we're good - for the most part."
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Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:32 pm
His ears turned back and the kelpie turned over his shoulder to glare at the other boy. "I look like a horse because it's a trick. It's to disarm a person into thinking I'm one. If I'd show you my other form, you'd be dead from shock." That is if he knew how to change into his other form, but Ren didn't need to know that. "Calling me a horse is saying I'm just everyday livestock. It's insulting." He huffed, popping a leaf into his mouth before taking his hands and pushing at the ground and using his hands to rake up everything, no longer organized, into a big heap. If he wanted quick, why didn't he just say so? This boy was confusing.
Chewing, he continued to make a massive pile, no longer having any sort of system as he just reached out for twigs and stems and pulled them into a mound. It was certainly faster, but if Ren was looking to separate these things into different piles, well, it wasn't going to happen. Calder didn't care about dirt under his nails, or in his hair, or anywhere for that matter. In fact, the more he looked like a mess, the better.
Swallowing down the leaf, he looked up. "What are you? A …really weird bird?" He met sirens and other demons before, but none of them had fluffy tails.
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Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:24 pm
Ren let out a snort, eying the pile that Calder was in the process of making. "Mmm yes I'll die of shock from a creepy horse. Please excuse me while I go cower in terror."
Well, the kelpie's way certainly was...faster, at the very least. Ren sighed in exasperation, reaching up to push his hair away from his face and probably smearing dirt across his forehead in the process. "Whatever. I guess that works too." He shoved his own little stick-and-twig pile towards Calder's, combining the two together until it was one, big...messy...mess. Wiping his hands together, Ren turned to look at Calder again.
"No," he said, somewhat testily. "I am not a 'really weird bird.' I'm a gryphon. We're half lion, half eagle, thank you very much."
Surveying the little plot of land that was now free of debris, Ren folded his arms across his chest, tapping his chin. Finally, he said "Plants. You gonna help me plant stuff, or should I just give you this carrot - maybe - and tell you to skedaddle outta here?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 5:57 pm
He thought a moment, and he then squinted as he turned his head. "Half eagle and half lion?" He repeated, unsure of how that even worked. Was his mother a lion and his dad a eager or was it the other way around? Did they fall in love and have a pumpkin together? He turned his head the other way as if this helped him grasp the image. "So …do you have eagle feet and a lion top, or is it a lion front and a bird back." He did see that the ears were on his head and the wings were on his back. "Or is it lion part, eager part, and ten lion part again?" He was working with fractions and he was really bad with math. He picked up a stick and leaf as if to represent these parts, and then turned them about as if he could figure the puzzle of what a gryphon was – that is before he had a better and much easier question to answer.
"Oh! You should grow carrots, and beans, and peppers, and broccoli, and maybe some heads of lettuce and some eggplants. Then you have to have tomatoes, and maybe some corn." He then paused, eyes glimmering at the idea of a big farm right here and how delicious it all would be. "Can you grow trees? I'd like some apples. Red and gold. Where does sugar come from? Can we plant sugar?" It came from a plant right?
It seemed that was not the answer to what Ren asked, and while Calder thought of what the gryphon could plant, he eyed the carrot as it moved.
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:41 pm
"Yes," Ren said testily as he pushed more stray twigs into the rapidly growing pile. "Half eagle, half - what on earth are you even talking about."
The kelpie seemed to be trying to figure out - mathematically - the proportions in his head. Ren frowned, slightly exasperated as he said "Stop that. You're gonna pull something. In my true form, I have the body of a lion and the claws, wings, and head of an eagle. That help your visual image any?"
He debated shifting, just to prove his point, but that would take more effort than he cared to exert at the present moment. "Carrots are good," Ren agreed (surprisingly) with Calder, making a mental note in his head. "The rest are all fine too - except for eggplant." He wrinkled his nose, making a disgusted face. "Eggplant is gross.
"And you can't grow trees here," Ren pointed out, shaking his head. "This is just a small little garden and they take years to even get big enough to grow apples, so I'm afraid you're outta luck on that front."
Not that I would give you any of them ANYWAY, Ren almost wanted to add, but instead he sighed and said "As for the whole sugar thing, well...I have no idea how to plant sugar."
He still had the carrot in his hand. Calder was staring at it very openly. "Oh, for Jack's sake," Ren said exasperatedly, tossing it to the kelpie. "I give up. Just take the damn thing already."
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Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:42 am
Calder whinnied at winning the carrot, and happily caught it, hugging his new prize for a moment before taking a bite. It was SO good, and he was feeling rather triumphant that he managed to get it. He was sure that Ren would keep his promise to give it to him - not that Ren ever did promise of course - and had just been waiting for when.
As he chewed, thinking about how strange a gryphon looked like, he perked back on the mention of the garden. "Aww. No sugar? I bet it grows o a tree anyways." Which would take too long. He wanted things to grow now and be ready now. Couldn't they just get a potion to make this stuff grow? Maybe he should have asked Belladonna if she knew any witch tricks for planting food.
Bouncing a bit as he happily ate (and starting the carrot song back in his head), he smiled at Ren. "Oh, you should plant lots more. Your food was really good. You know how to make great carrots." It was a compliment for a creature who made a habit of eating all over the place. Thinking about Ren's new garden made him pause and, frowning, he looked at the bitten carrot a moment before holding it up. "Could you use this to make more carrots? I can give it back if you want." It was a big deal, but if it would make a whole mess of carrot, he was willing to make the sacrifice, even if he was pouting a bit as he offered the carrot.
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Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 8:25 pm
"I'm not quite sure how sugar would be made," Ren said, sliding a glance towards Calder. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes; the kelpie was practically hugging the carrot to his chest, eyes wide with pleasure as he looked at it with an almost reverent expression. "Good grief, are you going to eat that thing or put it on a pedestal and worship it?"
Tucking the pile of broken twigs and leaves off to the side, Ren stood, brushing off his pants with dirt streaked hands. "Thank you," he answered, almost automatically. "Carrots are rather easy to grow, and they're simple, so it's not that hard to produce good ones."
Calder was holding out the broken carrot to him, his expression a mixture of worry and curiosity, mingled with a pouty, sulky expression. Ren sighed, reaching up to run a hand through his tousled hair, scattering bits of dirt throughout the golden strands.
"No, it's fine," he said tiredly. "Really, just eat it. I have more seeds up in my room that I can use to plant more carrots. Among other things."
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:58 am
As much as he had offered the carrot, he was more than happy to chew on it again, and he smiled, taking it back and starting to go back to work on eating it. Munching along, he looked at the cleared patch of dirt and looked back up to him. "Want more help? I can dig." He looked around. "Or move more sticks.....Oh! I can check on your garden to make sure it's not being messed with. I go by here all the time. Surprised I didn't trample it before." He looked around, and only started to feel a bit of regret at destroying the garden, but now he got to help with a brand new one. Maybe he should make his own garden? Then Ren wouldn't get mad at him if he went in it. They could be garden neighbor, but he didn't have seeds. Hmm.
"Can I make a garden?" He looked up, swallowing the mouthful of carrot he had. "If I find seeds?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:48 am
This was a rather unexpected turn. Calder had gone from defiantly denying his involvement of his desecrated garden, stubbornly refusing to accept any credit for it other than attempting to turn it around to say it was Ren's fault for not fencing in his garden, to offering his help. It was a little odd, but not entirely unpleasant. Ren eyed the kelpie with a vaguely suspicious expression.
Maybe I COULD use the help, Ren thought to himself, his gaze flickering from Calder, to his used-to-be garden, back to Calder again. He seems...relatively...harmless. When he's not being a garden eating horse, that is. And he's kinda endearing - in a very offhanded, odd way that borders on wanting to strangle him. But other than that, he might be useful.
"There wouldn't be like...an ulterior motive to that offer, would there?" he asked, eyes narrowing, but after a moment of scrutinizing Ren let out a sigh of exasperation, throwing up his hands in a gesture of defeat. "Whatever," he said. "I give up. I could use the help, but - " and here Ren pointed a finger at the other. " - this is still a secret, so don't tell anyone about my garden, please.
"Oh, and..." he added, his voice dropping slightly. "...if you find me some seeds....I'll help you plant your own garden."
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 2:44 pm
HE tilted his head sweetly and thought about any motives he had, his hands till on a nub of a carrot and thinking it over. Him? Ulterior Motives? NEVER! He would never want to help in the production of more juicy vegetables that he would have connections to and know the exact location. That was just silly. Then again, if he had his own garden, maybe he could find out how to make those super mutant plants and eat those. Completely outside Ren's garden. He wondered if there were any evil scientists he could talk to to help him out with this. It was worth looking into.
Perking, he smiled up at Ren once more. He crossed his heart. "May rabid wolves tear out my guts and ants crawl in." He said, promising he would spread the word of Ren's amazing garden. "We plant things at home sometimes. I'm good at making holes!" He said, but that was as far as his gardening experience went. Clearly, from what Ren could see of what Calder did, that the boil was at least good at turning the dirt and making holes.
"Can I plant my garden over there?" He said, pointing to a spot next to Ren's secret garden.
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Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 9:31 am
Ren was not exactly buying that sweet and innocent look that Calder was throwing in his direction. Though the kelpie looked as if he were all doe-eyed, Ren had a sneaking suspicion that Calder thought much more differently than just all sugar and spices.
Sugar cubes on the other hand, well...that was a different story. Ren eyed Calder. "That's a rather disgusting phrase, but I guess it'll do." With an exasperated sigh, he rolled his eyes, walking around the edge of his garden. Every few steps he'd duck down, pushing the displaced dirt back to the right area, or pick up a stray twig. Golden eyes flashed back to the kelpie briefly.
"Yes, I'm sure you're very good at making holes," Ren remarked dryly, resisting the urge to snort. He was trying to stay angry and irritated at Calder, but though the kelpie was still definitely a little...different, he wasn't quite as annoying as he had originally thought. In his own way, he was even almost a little...endearing.
Almost. Ren moved to where Calder was pointing. He dug his toe into the dirt and then dragged his leg to the side, making a small, squiggly line.
"There," he said. "That sides yours, and this side is mine."
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