[PRP] Like Minds? (Sephos & Polair)

[ImaginationsParadise]

He plants trees to benefit another generation...
While she plants trees to strengthen the species next generation....

 

[DraconicFeline]

ImaginationsParadise

Four Fronds. Seriously. ******** Four Fronds. Sephos emerged from the depths of the forest, glowering at the new-revealed lake, though that wasn’t what annoyed him. Of course it wasn’t - it was a perfectly good lake, even with spaceship debris and the occasional pollutant. Nor was he mad at the trees or flowers that grew around him, or - even - the abundant gardens.

No, it was all the damn trolls. Everywhere. Swimming in the lake, stomping on the flowers… it was hard not to think of it all as his. Not as a possession, obviously - you couldn’t own nature, even if it was (or wasn’t) in your territory. But as his responsibility, to care for, nurture, and adapt. Apparently, that was one thing that Maku had managed to beat into his skull.

These other trolls didn’t have that sense of responsibility towards nature, and they were annoying. Especially these ones. Sephos had noticed that these were especially snooty. Also, cool-colored bloods. Not that he wasn’t cool colored himself, and not that they were the only colors of trolls that were annoying (They all were), but they were the ones here, and so he glowered at them as he pulled a cart of fresh flowers and herbs behind him. Normally, he would mind his business and ignore their stupidity as best he could… Alas, it was his business to need their business. So he was here, with his flora, and it was all so annoyingly complicated.

He sighed. Alright, where to first. There'd been a blueblood around here that had really wanted cut flowers, so… maybe there first? Sephos began to pull his card in that direction, not expecting it to pan out. The world, after all, was both predictable and unpredictable, and he never assumed anything before it happened. It was just a direction to try first. That was all.  

[ImaginationsParadise]

Polair decided that night, she would visit the famous Four Fronds. Although she was more interested in the forest itself than the tourist attraction place all highbloods gloated about. She didn’t even know why they found it so intriguing, unless of course they were fascinated with nature. That she’d get. The skinny seadweller looked around the lake, her eyes widened as she saw the metallic debris scattered about. Wonderful, simply wonderful!

Oh how she would’ve loved to be there when it crashed. She was about to touch a piece of burnt metal when she heard a growl. Claud shook his head, she wasn’t supposed to touch it. The child sighed and stepped away. What else could she do, throw a fit? Her eyes scanned her surroundings once more and this time a cart with different plant specimens caught her attention. She looked at the seabear, indirectly asking for permission. “Can I? I promise I’ll be careful Claud.”

The bear rolled his eyes and nudged her to get closer to the cart. She didn’t even pay attention to the troll who owned it. How could she when there were specimens calling her name? She tried her best not to rush towards him but it was hard not to.

“Oh!” The purpleblood exclaimed. Seeing all of these plants huddled together made her bloodpusher flutter. Imagine the wonders she could do with them, or the things she could see with a magnifying glass! “Are these rare?” She said, taking one of the plants and touching its leaves carefully. Claud on the other hand, watched the greenblood’s hat as if he was under a trance. He hadn’t seen such a hat in sweeps. Oh the temptation.

DraconicFeline

 

[DraconicFeline]

Sephos stopped to let the seadweller take a look, watching as they started touching the bundles of plants and herbs. “No.” he replied. They weren’t rare, not generally. Then again, rarity could be a matter of place. “They don’t like open air, though, so you don’t find them around here…” Maybe in the bustling Four Fronds but in the depths of the woods, they were common. “You want them?”  

[ImaginationsParadise]

“It’s peculiar.... I’ve never seen these specimens before.” Polair stopped rubbing her fingertips against their leaves, put the plant back where it was and directed her attention to the greenblood. Claud directed his gaze upon Pol and growled again. She nodded and looked back at the troll. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched them without your permission.”

There, she had apologized just like the seabear wanted.

Such a shame they weren’t unique. Rare plants gave off interesting by-products and all. However Polair still was interested in them and couldn’t believe what the other said. Was offering just one or the whole cart? If there was a price then she had enough beetles to pay for it. But first she needed to learn a bit more about these specimens. “Hm, interesting! Is there a chance for them grow in cramped spaces?” She just needed to know everything about these specimens. “Do you happen to know their water intake? The moon and sun light they each need to grow properly? What else… Do you happen to know the creatures that might be attracted by them? What about their uses?” The child threw one question over the other, feeling a bit excited about the information she might receive. Yet Claud didn’t seem all to happy. He covered his spongeclots and growled menacingly. STOP IT ALREADY.

Noticing she had angered her lusus once again, Polair went silent. Then another question made its way into her skull and it occurred to her to ask, “Do you grow them?”

DraconicFeline

 

[DraconicFeline]

Sephos shrugged at her apology - touch them or not touch them, he didn't care. So long as she didn't run off with them - he needed them. He watched her with mild interest as she began to interrogate him, his expression unchanging as she questioned him. Not that she gave him much of a chance to answer in between questions, but it was... nice that she gave a s**t about the plants? He guessed? (actually he was a little pleased.) He was not, however, unwilling to answer her questions. As she seemed to sort of run out of steam, he took a breath... and then let it out, watching the large bearfishthing with some wariness. And then she asked one more, final question./Oh look. I can answer now./ he thought sarcastically, as he reclaimed his breath...

"Okay, so, these here..." he pointed to the plants she had been inspecting, "They grow in the understory. That’s the bottom of the forest. Not a lot of light there. I don't know nicht about what you mean by cramped places, but you can get them to grow in a pot und stuff, and they're fine growing close together. Dicht. Thick. Like a mat. They need lots of water, but not at once, because you'd drown their roots. Das icht schlecht. You need dark, fibrous loam - that holds the moisture in well and lets it get at the water when it needs it, not all at once." he said, “They use the air to breed. And they taste bitter, so lots of animals avoid them. Except for this one worm - it eats the leaves… lots of the leaves… and then has the… uh… bitter bits in it’s body when it’s a butterfly. Makes it taste nasty. I think it’s toxic too, but auch immer… I don’t eat them. I just grow them. At home.” He shrugged, “Anyway, you can use it in medicines and some teas, it’s good for that” Had that answered all her questions? Oh wait. “Oh. Yeah. And you can’t grow them so well from cuttings. You need seed. I don’t have seed in my cart.” he crossed his arms, glowering at her “So, what? You want to buy them?”  

[ImaginationsParadise]

“Hmm, impossible to grow them by cuttings…. Interesting.” Polair didn’t even notice the greenblood was glowering at her. Maybe it was because of her mentally processing all the information he had provided her, or because she was still mesmerized by the plants themselves. The fact that she could make tea from them and possibly attract that worm beast the lowblood mentioned made her even giddier inside, yet her face wasn’t really showing it. “You know, that worm you mentioned sort of reminds me of a Eunice aphroditois, even if both creature both defend themselves from predators differently, they are both highly dangerous.” She said as a matter of fact. And then he asked her a question.

“Oh yes!” The child exclaimed. “These are impossible to find in the ocean floor, and even if they aren’t as rare as I originally thought, that doesn’t make them any less interesting.” The seadweller looked at her lusus and back at the other, wondering if either of them (if not both) wouldn’t allow her to buy the whole cart. “You wouldn’t mind if I… bought all of them…”

Such an imprudent question. Claud snapped out of his hypnotic trance and growled at her. It seemed he didn’t like the idea of her buying off all of those plants. After all, they could be highly poisonous or worst, have flashlights hidden all over them. If she was to buy some it would only be one, the safest plant in the cart. “I apologize Claud but they just seem so interesting and if he doesn’t mind… then I’m willing to buy them all.”  

[DraconicFeline]

Well no s**t they were impossible to find on the ocean floor, they didn't grow on the ocean floor. They were a forest plant. They'd drown or dehydrate... or both. The salt would do them in, if the lack of air didn't. Or the lack of sunlight. He didn't even grace her statement with a correction - if she didn't understand that plants couldn't grow on the ocean floor when they grew in a land forest, then she, as a seadweller, had problems. Serious problems. Problems Sephos did not give a s**t about.

But she wanted to buy all of them. Sephos blinked. "Uh." he frowned, "Can you even carry them all?" he asked. He wasn't averse to getting rid of all his goods and getting out of Four Fronds proper a little sooner than expected, but was she seriously expecting to manage them all herself? "I don't care. Do it if you want." he said, crossing his arms, "Wie du willst. Up to you."

He squinted at her, curiosity getting the better of him for once. There was a lot of plant in the cart, after all. "What are you going to do with it all?" he asked, "Not like I care." he added quickly.  

[ImaginationsParadise]

Polair directed her attention towards the greenblood, feeling pleased he would let her buy the whole cart. After all he would get his pay and she would get her plant specimens. A win-win situation. “Of course I can and, even if I couldn’t, I could always ask for help.” Polair said as a matter of fact. “Just need to surpass the ground’s friction with the cart and I’m good.”

Then he asked what exactly would she do with all of them and precise moment she felt inspired to tell him. “I want to expand my plant specimens collection. I try to grow them myself at my greenery to attempt cross-breeding them or keep an eye on their growth. If that’s more or less impossible, depending on the specimen, then I proceed to grow them inside these pods underwater-- consider it something like a garden inside the ocean. I’ve heard some trolls are trying to grow terrestrial crops underwater… so I’d like to try something different contribution for our scientific community.” She cleared her throat and looked at him squarely. “Sounds weird I know but it drives you to see the results and help keep the species alive.”

DraconicFeline

we ran out of doc heart

 

[DraconicFeline]

ImaginationsParadise

Just need to what...? Sephos's face contorted in puzzlement. Was that some fancy way of saying that she needed to get enough muscle to pull the cart? Why didn't she just say that? Why use a bunch of words - fourteen or fifteen or just plain too many - instead of three or five? Why did she need all those words? What a waste of energy.

"'kay." He said. He didn't really care.

But then she said something interesting. A lot of somethings. "You have a collection?" he asked. He knew what the word specimen meant, sort of, and that she had a bunch of plants... was intriguing. She had decided to talk, and talk, and instead of ignoring her, he found himself actually listening.

"You're growing them underwater?! How do you provide ventalation? Wind movement? What sort of light do you use for sun? How much do you distill the water you use for them?" he asked, rapidfire and blunt, crossing his arms as he watched her with renewed intensity.

"How much space is in the pod-things? How tall are they? Are they tiered? What soil do you use? Are you growing from seed or graft or what?" And, perhaps the most important question, "What plants do you have?"  

[ImaginationsParadise]

“Yes, I own a fair amount of specimens and grow them in an artificial island of my own. Well, not exactly an island but more like the top part of my hive. Just a way for me to conserve both common and nearly extinct species and challenge their offsprings to grow far stronger.” It was nice to see he was interested on what she talked about rather than feel like she was just boring him. Polair listened to his questions and awaited for the last one so she could answer them all nonstop.

“One may think I try to grow them on the bottom of the ocean but because of the Sodium chloride would kill them… I thought to myself “bubbles are filled with air inside despite the medium they're traveling in.” I realized that by emulating the same thing, there was a slight chance for them to survive without the oceanic environment intervening with their growth. Later I found out some trolls were trying to do so by placing various plants inside an air-filled biosphere made with different polymers. Mine are simpler though… My “pods” are more or less transparent, by placing them on the right spot, I calculate the sun ray beams refraction so they can produce oxygen and their own food. As for the water, since the pod changes temperature, it slightly heats up inside, thus creating sweetwater for them to drink. No extra thermal energy required. Wind movement for them would be the ocean's current-- they are always moving. Um…. I suppose it's spacious inside the pods, I mean a kid can fit their upper half just fine! It's tall enough for you to almost fit inside and even breathe air inside of it. They are potted, I use regular soil, zero pesticides, for now I'm using seeds and I'm currently growing small crops and herbs! Strawberries and basil at the moment to be more exact.” Polair took a moment to breathe before asking,

“Have I answered all of your questions?”

DraconicFeline

will make it pretty tomorrow done <3

 

[DraconicFeline]

ImaginationsParadise

Sephos listened raptly, nodding as she spoke. She used about fifteen fancy words to say what she could have in one or two, but though he didn't catch everything she said, he got her basic meanings:

She grew plants in the top part of her hive.
She grew plants in troll-made bubbles.
She grew a variety of plants.

All well and good, given that she was a seadweller and underwater. But... Hmm...

"Well, sort of. Yes and no." he said, thinking, "I mean... I've got more questions and stuff.

Like, it doesn't sound like you've got much room in the pod things, so the plants are limited in how far they can grow, and ocean currents... aren't those on the outside? How do you keep the air moving? The air has to move. That keeps leaves healthy and makes sure they aren't, uh..." he hesitated. Plant respiration had only very awkwardly been explained to him. Of course he knew that plants breathed in what trolls breathed out, and breathed out what trolls breathed in. Maku had explained that. But, to Maku, the act of breathing was indescribable... however, this much was obvious to Sephos; "Breathing in their own out-breath?"

"And what about trees? Or shrubs? Small crops and herbs, that's fine, though you're going to have to thin them at some point so that they don't fight each other and produce less, but plants that are gonna get bigger?" he shook his head, "Sounds like you don't have a lot of room, and these plants..." he gestured to the groundcover plant she'd wanted to buy, "They need some space, you know, to spread out. On a single layer, obviously, and they can grow with taller plants, but they don't like growing on top of themselves, if you know what I mean..."  

[ImaginationsParadise]

"I don't really see it as a problem since "breathing it's own air" over and over again doesn't affect its breathing patterns. My plants do breathe, and as far as the carbon cycle goes, they give out carbon dioxide and absorb oxygen from the air that surrounds them. The air doesn't require much to move, as it's water vapor, or H2O, particles freely interact in the presence of electric and gravitational fields in a constant velocity. See, if we were to analyze the particle theory or at least the Brownian motion, plus me showing you my biosphere, we'd see how recycling the same amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules doesn't affect plant growth." She said as a matter of fact. It was nice to see this troll actually point out the problem she'd have if she set them all huddled up in her greenery. She had too many plants and some were forced to survive her environment, others weren't so successful.

Though Polair had to admit, they gave out interesting results when put together. But it'd be pointless to buy them just so they'd die without a duplicate. If they indeed needed to spread out, then she'd have to work on the biosphere's size as well as her greenery's. Perhaps purchase another lot?

"Hmmm..." She pondered, obviously the child was going to buy them, trial and error never scared her. "Is that so? Well... I was planning to put them in my greenery, to see it's growth development. However, if they require a specific amount of space..."

There was one way she could solve this problem. "Is there any way you could inspect my greenery? That way you can tell me how much space they need and any other requirements I would need to address for them to grown successful." Polair crossed her arms as she waiting for his answer. Sephos didn't have to do it if he didn't want to, yet if he agreed, it would save her a lot of time.

DraconicFeline

-WHEEZES-

 

[DraconicFeline]

ImaginationsParadise

What she was talking about was way over his head, but he supposed he got the point - the outbreath shouldn't be a problem. He was sure he'd heard something about wind currents being needed for proper growth, but if the seadweller thought she had it covered, he couldn't really say otherwise unless he...

Saw her greenery.

Sephos blinked, his pumpbiscuit skipping a beat briefly. "I guess I could go out there. Sure." He did like seeing other troll's greenhouses and nurseries and farms and gardens and such... he just hadn't been expecting her to invite him right then and there.