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 Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:32 am
"It's by the water, right? Then it's got all it needs, and if it's dead, then we'll just bring it back." Ezrah spoke the words so casually that it hadn't occurred to him how they might sound to someone else. His aunts had said it so much that it just felt right; when plants seemed close to death you could bring them back with a little loving care, and Ezrah knew his brother could do it. He knew that if you talked about doing that with animals it was bad, though, but with plants it was okay, which he didn't quite understand.
He walked, tall and proud, by his brother's side right up until they came to the
baker's stall. At times it was a little awkward for him around the kind man simply because of an incident that had happened some time ago. Ez had gone to the market with Dris, and in a moment of mindless watching, had watched the man pinch pieces of dough off a larger mold. The tot had then promptly asked if that's how his son had been born, much to the mortification of his mother, since the boy was just as chubby as his papa.
The baker had just laughed, and Ezrah hadn't even known he'd done anything wrong until his mother made him apologize.
For a while he hadn't come back to the baker's stall, but the lure of sweet breads was too much for him to resist...So, Ezrah came when he was with his brother, as support, and the day was all the better for it. It made the taste of the jui jui bread so much sweeter when it hit his tongue.
The little hybrid munched on his treat as they walked out of the village and back into the jungle. While the sounds were different here, if one focused on them, they could be just as loud as any settlement. Of course, Ezrah paid them little attention; his sole focus was on getting to the river and eating his snack. That left little room for grace, however, resulting in the boy damn near stumbling every time he lost focus.
"Hey, Kel? Who do you think was the first person to make bread?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:51 am
Despite living entirely surrounded by forestry, shrubbery, and other plant-life, Mahikel still... didn't actually know much about plants at all. Here in Jauhar, they seemed to grow whether they were prompted to or not, with little care or consideration for anything else around them. So as far as being able to bring them back if enough effort was put forth? Well, Kel didn't really know how to achieve that and wasn't entirely sure he wanted to. It was just one flower. He wanted Ezrah to see it while it was golden and petaled, but if it was dead or something had eaten it or whatever else may happened to it, there were others to obtain. It would be a missed opportunity, but not the only opportunity.
So, he shrugged. "If that's what you want, I'll try my best. But there are other flowers just as pretty, and maybe the experience of actually getting it won't be so strange that I don't wanna show you right away..." He probably should've sucked it up this time and brought the dumb thing home to Ez, anyway, but maybe the thing at least had the decency to live a little longer because he'd planted it.
The trek out of the village led them down toward the forest floor, a place that was less exciting than the canopy, as far as Kel was concerned and also lit dimly only by various patches of glowing fungus.
"Iunno," he shrugged lamely, as he squinted into the darkness ahead. "I'm not that old. People were already making bread when I was born. But bread by itself isn't that great, so I bet nobody remembers whoever did it, anyway. It's all the stuff that you can put into it, like cheeses and nuts and sugar, that make it really good." He glanced down to the snack in his hand, then took a bite from it. "Mm, now cheese sounds good too..."
But that could come later. Their papa would make them just about anything if only they provided persistent enough encouragement. For now, the jui jui bread would suffice.
As the sound of trickling, then rushing water drew near, Mahikel couldn't help but feel a bubble of excitement to show off the thing he'd found, and a certain jittery anxiety blossomed in his stomach. The most logical thing to do to help alleviate that brand of restlessness seemed like... "C'mon, Ez!" With a little hop to start him off, Kel bounded ahead.
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:29 pm
Ezrah had to wonder about what the flower looked like. He imagined it was bright, since most of the worthwhile flora in Jauhar was, but he couldn't for the life of him think of anything 'new' he wouldn't have seen before. Maybe it was mutated? He wasn't...entirely sure what the word meant, but Ezrah had an inkling it meant strange, so that was good enough for him. Something different.
Ezrah was considerably more excited about the plant itself than he was about the jungle's floor. It was dark down here, murky, with enough moisture in the ground at spots to make him think he was walking on water. The boy, while used to wet heat, wasn't used to this, and it put him on edge. He edged a little closer to his brother once his feet made solid contact with the ground, but he didn't touch him this time. Ezrah wasn't completely out of his element...yet.
"Too much cheese and you won't poop. Too many fruits and nuts, and you won't stop. Think the bread helps with all that?" All he knew was that he didn't have issues when he ate the flavored breads; if it were just the source materials, however..."I bet it does. Bet it soaks up all the bad stuff so we can eat it." Bread by itself was pretty bland, but that didn't stop him from loving it, all the same. Ezrah would soak an entire loaf in his soups if he could.
"Bet we could make it blue if we- Hey!" Ezrah kicked up his heels and took off after his brother. There was no grace in his run; how could there be, when he nearly stumbled over an upturned root? The sounds of a vicious river drew him in, calling him closer in those moments that Kel's dark body blended in with their surroundings. "What's it look like? You 'member where you put it?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 5:57 am
"Um, well..." Mahikel couldn't say he knew much about the dietary qualities of many foods, beyond just what they tasted like, and he didn't think he cared too much, so long as he didn't become ill from eating anything. It didn't seem like cheeses, fruits, nuts, and bread tended to make people sick. No one had cautioned him against eating too much of those. Not like raw meat, which most everyone seemed to agree was indeed bad. Smelled weird, looked weird, had a funny texture... So even if he had to disagree with his father on principle most of the time, even Kel couldn't find it in him to argue about raw meat specifically.
He shrugged his shoulders at Ezrah's inquiry and decided that since he didn't have any information to the contrary of his little brother's assertions, might as well let him believe whatever he wanted. "You could be right."
And then they were at the riverbed, wide enough across that in the darkness of the forest floor, it may as well have gone on for eternity in all directions. Maybe such a thing was daunting to some people, to be so blind as to not have a full scope of immediate surroundings, but Kel thought it added an extra intrigue to everything he did. Anything could be just out of sight. Good or bad, he didn't know, but the wonder of it spoke to him.
"It looks like a flower," he scoffed, as he turned and set off alongside the bank. "Prettier than most, I think." Though that was subjective. "And smells nice. It's got a shimmer to it like some mushrooms do. Long petals- Look there!" He set of at a quick prance again, bolting toward a glimmer nestled hidden among some other shrubbery. He hadn't wanted it to be too obvious where anything could find it, after all. Some of the other fronds of the other plants hid the glow just enough to make it appear inconsequential.
But Mahikel wasn't stupid. He knew his forest and knew where he kept important things.
Once at the flower's side, he knelt down to it, dusting the leaves of the other plant away so as to offer a better view for his brother. "Here, this one. It's a warbleroot flower. Isn't it pretty?" The thing was slightly wilted from when he'd first acquired it, but that seemed unavoidable, since it had been sheared away from its roots. It also looked a bit... less luminescent, but still lovely, as far as Kel was concerned.
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 9:14 am
At some point in his childhood Ezrah's logical fear of the gaping river had shifted into an innate curiosity. While still preferring it during 'lighter' hours, or rather, as much light as Jauhar could provide, he found that it didn't bother him as much anymore. He walked just close enough to the kinetic liquid to get his feet wet, but not so near that one false move would swallow him whole. It would be pretty neat to have a picnic here. Oh! Maybe when they got back and everyone was awake he could suggest it and papa could make-
It looks like a flower.
What had crawled up Kel's shorts and bit him?
Ezrah curled up his lip and trudged along, raising his hand to form a 'mouth' which he used to mimic his brother, even going so far as to stop by the rivers edge to dip his hand in some mud so it would look a little darker, just like Kel. Sometimes he could be such a sour puss when answering questions and then he could be just as amazing, like when he finally found the fabled flower. When he looked up, Kel was prancing away, and in what could arguably only be called an 'oh crap' moment, Ezrah scurried to catch up.
He edged his way closer to it, as if it were just some elaborate trick meant to scare him, but curiosity won out. Eventually Ezrah was crouching down next to Kel, using his hands to help him balance as his golden eyes widened. "A real warbleroot flower? Kel, that's amazing!" He never imagined it would look so bright, and without any real knowledge of how bright it may have been, in it's natural environment, it looked all the more ethereal. The boy wanted to touched it, but didn't dare; after all the stories, all the warnings, and the effort his brother had put into it....As far as Ezrah was concerned, this plant was more precious than gold.
"I never...I mean you said, but...." He turned adoring eyes to his brother and wrapped his arms around his waist, snuggling up against him. "You're the absolute best brother ever." And he meant it, every word.
No matter the sacrifices Kel always returned to him, and that's all Ezrah needed. So long as he was happy, so long as he brought back gifts like this....Ezrah didn't mind so much when Kel went off on his own. It would work out because he had faith in his big brother, and no reason to believe otherwise.
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 9:57 am
Admittedly, Mahikel hadn't been entirely sure what he expected of Ezrah's reaction. It was a pretty flower, but Kel would have understood if just the sight of it wouldn't have been enough to make up for the fact that he'd gone on an adventure and left his little brother behind. Ez had been reasonably upset about that only moments prior... Or maybe the younger boy would have expressed again some concern for the danger Kel went into alone. Or he could have just been happy to have had a nice thing brought back for him at all.
It was the last option, and Mahikel was pleased about that.
He grinned. "Of course it's real," he retorted. "You can see just by- well, seeing it, can't you?" His silvery gaze flicked from his brother to the shimmering petals of his prize and back. Ah, yes, there had been something about it that made it all the more covetable...
"It reminds me of you," Kel said, reaching his fingers toward the bottom stem of the flower. It wouldn't live any longer out here stuck in the dirt than it would if they brought it home to a nice fresh water vase, at this point. He pinched the end of it close to the earth and plucked up gently, with the stem sliding easily from its resting place, ungrounded by roots holding it down. "Here, see?" He prompted, touching one of the petals to Ezrah's cheek. "It's the same color as your eyes. A pretty, bright golden... There's not much here in the jungle gold like that..."
He shifted, tucking the stem behind Ezrah's pointed ear, not so different than how the flower had been passed to Kel when he'd initially claimed it, but he could say without a doubt that it looked nicer on Ez than it did on him. Detached from the rest of the plant, it was harmless. Just a stem with no poison, and faintly glowing golden petals with no defense.
"Perfect. Like it belongs there."
It had been a bit of a ridiculous mission from the outset. Maybe he shouldn't have gone alone, maybe he shouldn't have gone at all, but such was the way of things. When he saw something he wanted and liked, he went for it. All the better if it was something that pleased Ezrah as well.
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