Welcome to Gaia! ::

True to his word, Noah turned up promptly a few minutes after his last tweet, having changed into his oldest jeans and a very faded t-shirt that was starting to develop holes at the neckline; he obviously knew that he was going to get dirty. His eyes went to the missing arm, rested on the shoulder for a moment, then skittered back to her face; the burning curiosity was evident on his face, but, with an effort of will, he suppressed it. "I'm Noah," he stated, probably unnecessarily. "You wanted some help with your planting? Oh," he said, as if struck with belated realization, couldn't help looking at the missing arm again, and then made himself stop looking. "Sorry," he squeaked, going bright red.

Noah took the bucket, but actually jumped at the question. "Uh," he said intelligently. "Yes, er no, I mean, um, I'm sorry, I was trying not to stare, it's none of my business or anything, sorry, I'll shut up," and he ducked his head, embarrassed.

"Uh huh, I know him," Noah agreed. His eyes went very wide at the warning. Had he narrowly missed actual dismemberment in one of his first few spars? He remembered the look on Rep's face when the guy had told him to quit pressing his luck, and concluded that maybe he had.

"Okay," he squeaked in a very small voice, going pale.

The pat and reassurance made Noah's eyes go even wider, if that was possible, and his grip on the handle of the bucket go tighter. He had been accused of gullibility on Twitter. This was clearly quite true.

Rin's grin indeed did not dispel the impression she had given. "Okay," Noah squeaked again, regaining some volume but not any apparent confidence. "Just, just show me where."

Noah followed Rin obediently, taking note of where they were going. He had a good memory, if nothing else. The greenhouse she led him to wasn't new, but it had been repaired and attended to; he could see through the bright, clear windows that the interior was immaculately clean. That was impressive. "Wow."

He set the bucket of supplies down inside; with a quick look at Rin for permission, he walked up and down the rows, getting a good look at the operation. Some of it was manual, some of it was hydroponic, and he could see signs that the conversion was ongoing. The plants themselves were green and healthy, no pests anywhere, and the greenhouse smelled right, earth and water and green growing things in proper balance. In the work area, shelves of books sat, texts and manuals, instructional and informational.

"Awesome." Noah grinned brightly at Rin, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. He was going to get his hands into the dirt again. "What are we repotting today?"

"Got it. We're using cow manure?" Noah asked, taking the can. "I mean, there's no animals on the island so I guess you gotta bring it in, but no sheep or goat? Rabbit or bird is probably cost-prohibitive if you're not buying in bulk ... do you have a compost pile going yet? I bet the cafeteria produces plenty of organic waste that we could be recycling." He moved along the rows, carefully nudging the spout of the watering can under the leaves and saturating the soil evenly in each pot.

"Which side of the greenhouse gets more light?" He looked up at the windows, analyzing the layout of the surrounding land. "Are you planting anything outdoors after getting it started here, or is everything you're growing staying here? No, you've got to have another location, right," he answered himself. "This isn't enough space for a good variety of vegetables unless you're getting really specialized. Are you growing any berries? I bet you could get good money for strawberries or blueberries around here." He put the empty watering can down and petted the leaves of the plant he'd just watered, much like another person might gently stroke the ears of a kitten and giving it a smile just as affectionate.

"Would they die or mutate? Probably not good for the plants ... I wonder why Fear affects animals but not plants. Is it the presence of a brain or some other factor? A nervous system, a circulatory - no, it can't be circulatory, plants have the vascular system, that's close enough that that can't be it. It's got to be some higher function. Somebody must have already studied this, I can't believe nobody would, I'll ask the library." Noah trotted back to mix a fresh watering can full of fertilizer.

"Okay! Where would be a good place for me to build a bin, and who do I ask to get materials?" He grinned brightly, apparently excited by the prospect of having a project.

He listened intently as he continued along the row, glancing rapidly back and forth between Rin and the plants. "Oh, I see," he said thoughtfully, missing the defensive tone completely. "That makes sense. Wow, then we must be importing like everything we eat, no wonder the veggies in the cafeteria are so crappy, they must be canned." The last word held a kind of scandalized horror at the thought.

"What kind of growth medium are you using for the micropropagation?" he asked with interest. "I've never had a chance to be involved with that, I was hoping to get the opportunity in college, but they wouldn't have let me have any hands on for ages, this is awesome."

"The plants look great," he agreed. "Really healthy. This is all you and Melvin? That's, like, super impressive."