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 Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:19 am
Tit for tat is how it went, Chalcanthtie would assist Benitoite in exchange for added protection of the lower ranked captains as he would undergo his own research. Though looking into how these plants would survive and maybe thrive down here seemed to stray far from his own goals in a way. Maybe looking at things from a different perspective as well as keeping Benitoite’s company would help keep his own head clear. Things were still touch and go with his own mental state now that his crutch of liqour was gone, not that he was dealing with it alone anymore. Now he could think of things clearly and reoganize his priorities accordingly, thanks to the three people in his life that stuck around even after all this time.
Stepping up to Benitoite’s office, an almost forest-like smell wafted under the foors mixed with various other scents of plants that may or may not be doing to well down here. Plants were a thing he knew very little of, other than what he had seen the seasonal landscaper do as he grew up on the outskirts where large houses could be built with large areas of land to have a nice quiet space. He knocked lightly with the same knock he always used before letting himself in. “Good day Benitoite, how are things going so far? I got your request for aid and I am here for that.” Looking around, the office that was before only mildly covered in plants was now looking more like an actual greenhouse. “Oh my, this reminds me of that rooftop garden we met at once before.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:20 am
Blond head peeking out from around a rather large plant, which seemed to have taken to producing flowers, he nodded his head. “Indeed, thankfully no one comes round to bother me much. Everyone is far too busy to bother the less important officers.” Waving a hand as he spoke he motioned to his office. “So my personal office greenhouse goes unnoticed.” Which for now was a good thing, he didn’t care to have anyone else discovering his little project.
“It seems I need to do some more repotting, a few have become pot bound and won’t continue to grow.” Though they would instead grow flowers, if they were capable of it, as most pot bound plants did.
“I’d like this secret to remain between myself and my team; for now of course. I want to see what these plants can provide, aside from energy gathering.” Which he was only just now letting the other know about, perhaps an off handed warning as well. The plants could and would steam some energy here and there…a slow siphon really.
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:22 am
“I can do my best to help with repotting, I never gardened myself but there were landscapers and gardeners that I watched from my window growing up. I can keep things secret as well, given that everything is still developing. It would be bothersome to have additional prying eyes while things are moving along.” He careful removed his coat and rolled up his sleeves a bit so that he wouldn’t get as much dirt on his clothes. He was a bit more comfortable with his skin even as pale scars were now visible crisscrossing up his forearms.
“We need to carefully take them out and break up the dirt so we can detangle the roots correct? Just let me know what I need to do to assist. I would like to learn a bit more about these all as well, I have seen so many different types of plants here over my visits but I do not think I really know what they are all called.” He really only knew about roses and hedges but not anything specific. He had illustrated many of them while growing up just as he started illustrating the youma he had seen over the years.
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:24 am
“Yes, but in this case we’ll likely need to break the pots as well. Pot bound means there is no room for the plants to grow further…so it makes removing them difficult as well.” Which wasn’t why he needed help, he could break pots easily enough, but it might not be easy to move some of the larger plants. Also, it was easier in general to have extra hands working to replant things, especially to keep them in place while moving soil to cover the roots of the plants. It would do him no good to have them tipping over as he tried to do it on his own.
We’re going to add bone meal and ground up dark crystal to the soil as well, it’ll help them grow. Bone Meal is a good thing to add to the soil, a food of sorts, and the dark crystal I think is helping them thrive down here. It’s also why, and how, they are collecting energy.” He was certain of the last bit.
“I can tell you about them as we go, ask whatever you wish to know. I plan to, at a later date, test the medicinal effects of them. Many I have here have at least one medicine purpose, though not all of the ones here, and I want to see if they are stronger now that they’ve been infused with dark crystals and energy.” It was his hope that they would be stronger and better able to help people, like his fellow officers. Benitoite already was topless, knowing he’d wind up a dirty mess, he took a moment to set his notebook down before motioning for the other to follow him between some plants. “Let’s get to work.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:25 am
“I see, that I did not know. I do find it fascinating that there are living things growing down here though with what you have added to them.” He took a moment to look around at the various plants and then the tools and mix-ins that would be used today for their work. It took him by surprise to see Benitoite shirtless, but then again others were more comfortable in their skin that he had become. Though he may have to take a few layers off to avoid getting caught on plants, he removed his ribbony tie and rolled his sleeves up even more. That would be about as far as he could go without feeling that creeping shame and dread over his scars. Even now just looking down at the additional scars from when he had been utterly broken to pieces by an order senshi as a captain put him on edge.
He shook the thoughts form his head and followed Benitoite between the other plants. “Yes let us get to work. Is this big one the first one on the list?” He looked between a few larger plants that would probably grow up to the ceiling and beyond if allowed. “How do we go about breaking the pots, with a hammer? Or is there a better way?” It would definitely get increasingly messy in here as they went along.
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:27 am
“I’ve used tools to break pots, I typically do, since you can’t really throw them or hit them off the ground. I don’t want to damage the plant by banging the pot on the floor.” He also didn’t want to grab anyone's attention if he could help it, he was trying to fly under the radar for now. “I have a few small hammers and chisels so we can get the pots broken.” Without doing damage to the plants, hopefully.
“This one, yeah. This one needs out.” And he had a pot sitting nearby for it to be moved into, along with soil and bone meal and the ground up sparkling black crystals.
“This one is a rubber tree, a burgundy rubber tree, it can get to ten foot tall provided it has a big enough pot to allow for it to grow that tall. Eventually it’ll hit the ceiling of my office and I’ll need to move it somewhere else.” Somewhere taller with more room for it to grow. He might have to worry about it keeping upright under the weight of it’s own leaves as well, but that was a worry for another time.
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:28 am
“That works, I can break the pot and you can make sure nothing falls over. We can then move it over with the meal and crystals to repot it then.” He was taking mental notes of the steps and he knelt down with a hammer and chisel and carefully, but slowly, chipped away the previous pot to reveal dirt and a bundle of roots. It took awhile since he was being careful but it was starting to fall apart on its own after he got to a certain point. He could see how the roots were in sort of a ball now at the bottom and had taken the shape of the pot.
Looking up towards Benitoite before standing up and dusting the dirt off himself. That was probably the easiest part he had done, now it was time to move and get everything settled in the new pot. “Time to move it if you are ready, since it is tall I can try keeping it steady for you while you get everything settled back into place.” The plant would definitely be too tall for Benitoite to handle on his own once it got to that full height he had mentioned. At least Chalcanthite had a few extra feet of height to help with the bigger and taller things that would be getting repotted today.
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:28 am
While the other worked on breaking apart the pot he’d been working on the new home for the plant, adding soil and the other needed materials to it. With a divet in the middle, where the plants would go, he was ready by the time his fellow general was done busting the plant loose of its confines.
“That would be good, I was hoping you might be able to help with steadying it.” If it ever got to it’s full height he’d need a ladder and maybe some massive youma to help him. Pointing to the area he wanted the roots put down he was sat on the floor, indian style, with his legs neatly folded. “Right down in here. I’ll cover it while you hold it. Once it’s settled in we’ll be good.” He’d get to watering it once it was inside it’s new home, he’d water each one after they were repotted, but for now it needed to get into the soil.
“Thank you for the help.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:29 am
Chalcanthite nodded and moved the tree carefully to where Benitoite had prepped the pot. He held it steady as the other filled everything in. It didn’t seem to take too long to get everything settled and done, leaving the clean up before moving on to the next one. “So what have the crystals been doing to these plants, you said they gather energy? I know I made my fife out of some of the crystals Voce and I found a few years back but they had to be without inclusions or faults in order to work for my purposes. If they are the same thing I can always bring you some more shards from the rejects as I look for better specimens.”
It was a very tedious process that he had been working through with his youma, sending them out to look for certain things while also making sure not to complicate it too much since they were just a bird in a way after all. “I can clean up this old pot before we move on as well to keep down on the mess.” Carefully cleaning up the shards as he spoke so that they could move the next one into position.
There were at least a few other bigs ones from what he could tell and a few small ones that had roots growing up and out of the pot almost. It was something he hadn’t seen before since all the plants from back home were outdoors and in the ground except for a few things along the walkway.
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:32 am
“I wasn’t picky about the crystals I grabbed, since I was smashing them up into fine powder anyway. I’ve also seen plants that don’t grow flowers…budding. They’re going to flower when that isn’t possible. I can only figure being down here, or the dark crystals, are causing these changes. I assume it’s the crystals because of the energy they carry in them.” Rather than living down here, which he figured would otherwise kill the plants.
“I’ll still have to find a place to dump all the pot remains.” Cause down here things would just pile or or sit around and gather dust. He could, if he really wanted, just dump it all someplace in the rift, but why? Why would he want to add to the mess down there.
“I’ll have to move the remains somewhere…bring them home so I can dispose of them and let the garbage collectors take it.” Shrugging from his place on the floor while he moved towards the next pot bound plant. This one also a nice and tall one, not the same species, this one was only a bit shorter but still it was nice and healthy looking.
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:34 am
“That seems odd but the fact that they are living down here and, well, thriving probably means something with the crystals has changed them in a way. I wonder what other things would happen over time. How long have they been growing down here?” He moved over to the next pot and started chiseling it apart like the precious one, keeping the conversation going as he worked. “If you know any artists, the shards of pottery can be reclaimed into stoneware and be reused. I have seen it done while I was on campus in the past. A few of my students….” He coughed and stopped talking, he needed to keep things separate. Nothing bad could happen to his students or to those he cared for in both lives even if it was selfish of him to grasp so tightly to both.
“Anyway…I can help remove some of this when we are done. I have a large amount of space to leave stuff at this point in time since it’s been abandoned for a bit even if maintained and kept running.” After the pot was cleared and the roots freed, he stood up and held the plant to be repotted. Benitoite probably had the next pot ready and with this one at least, he could feel the faint titles of an energy aura in its leaves.
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:34 am
“I’ve had some of them a few months down here, I started them out as small and young as I could.” Giving them as much time as he could to adapt and change to fit the environment they were to live in. It would, he hope, allow them to adapt to the soil mixture as well. It seemed his plans had worked, at least for the ones which had survived. “I might try from seeds next and see if they don’t do better…” But where to fit a tray of seed packs? He’d eventually wind up needing to replant them into proper pots, if they survived, and he was running low on room.
A bigger room, or a room just for this, might be a need in time. But would anyone give him a place to grow plants? It was something which was certain would raise brows…growing plants down here. It seemed more an obsession driven hobby than anything else, and he was certain others would look at him oddly, he was sure people would find out if he was given a room for this. People would visit and no doubt have questions, as well as comments, on what he was doing and what purpose it might serve if any. Though he was certain this would serve a purpose; wasn’t it already?
“I know plenty who are into art, I’ve taught art, but I don’t know any who work with stone. I worked in paints myself.” And high school students wouldn’t typically take up such out of the box and unusual paths in art. That was more something you'd see in a college or university.
Indeed, he had the next pot ready and as soon as the roots were settled he started to cover them up nicely so the plant would hold and not fall over. “I might have you help me with the remains then. I’ll see if I can’t figure something out for them, your idea isn’t a bad one.” He rather liked it honestly.
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:36 am
“It would be interesting to see what happens if they start their growth here from seeds. I wonder if they would have any visible differences from their relatives growing in a normal climate. You really do need some extra space. If you need to I would offer use of some of the space in my office. I don’t think I have had a single individual step in there since I got one.” He mostly meant for the pot shards so he could slowly bring them out since Benitoite would want to keep a close eye on the plants especially when growing from seeds.
“I have no green thumb so I do mean for the shards and things that are not living.” He just had to clarify since he wasn’t ready to try taking care of a plant down here let alone a regular plant topside. With that he moved the plant over so they could get it settled together.
“I am no artist, really, unless you could my diagrams and sketches. Though, those are not so much for art as for education in a way if only for myself. I am a musician if it was still a mystery, given you have met my sister and I am sure she screams musician as well.” He wasn’t sure how much she said but he hoped she had enough respect for him in the pits of her black heart to not tear his life apart for her own sick pleasure.
“It was something I saw, they crush up broken pots and add them to the clay and it makes it stronger when firing. I assume it works like rebar in concrete?” After the plant was repotted he dusted himself off a bit. This was definitely more hands on dirty work than his own research so far. He did start to wonder if these plants would still gather energy if they were moved topside after being started here. That could be pretty useful for a few reasons and maybe justify a bigger space? He wasn’t sure exactly how that was all decided upon given his absence and laying low period between larger happenings.
“Just curious but, have you tried bringing any of these back up to see what they do up there after being grown here with the meal and dust? Do you think they would still gather energy? I think that, given it being a city with a lot of public works, it would be easy to plant new things without too much attention if they look like the same plants that are there?” Nobody really ever gave a second glance to the landscapers that did the seasonal tulip and plant changes outside of the university. They just went up and swapped out the plants in what seemed like only a night or two when the students weren’t walking to and from classes.
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:40 am
“Your office would be nice, for the shards, for now anyway. I might try and find a larger room myself, somehow, for the plants though. They are taking up a lot of space and seedlings will need even more. But growing them from seeds, versus those which I bought small but did not seed down here, might be interesting and well worth my time. If I could get some bulb plants, like tulips, to grow down here I might give that a try. Since they get replanted every year I’d wonder if the bulb would be changed, in that it would grow the following year changed…and than the year after perhaps even more changed.” As he spoke he got more ideas in his head, and thought more about what he could do. If he had time and space…oh he might be able to really experiment with things.
Tulips…hadn’t he watched something online recently about them? Yes, he knew he had. The colors, or at least some, were due to a virus even. A plant might start normal but the following year it might not look the same, due to contracting a virus between it’s bulb being pulled from the ground and when it was replanted.
Oh, he was getting ideas…
Broken from his thoughts he took a moment to go over what the either had just said. “I haven’t yet…it is an idea. When I leave today I’ll take one up with me and we’ll see what it does. I’ll test it for a while.” And, of course, write down everything he observed. He’d keep it at home, letting Katya, Hudson and Mason know. If it still drained energy, and didn’t seem to stop, he’d approach someone about it.
“It might help us…” By us he meant, of course, the Negaverse. It might help their cause and further things along a bit.
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:41 am
Benitoite looked deep in thought between his words, as if the gears were working overtime with new ideas and plans. “I look forward to seeing where this goes. If they gather energy even above ground that could help while keeping things quiet under the guise of regular garden maintenance.” He nodded as they moved on to the next plant, the process was getting smoother as they went and each had their focuses on different trains of thought. Chalcanthite was thinking of how best to help while keeping everything separate and Benitoite was probably coming up with all sorts of different plants to try bringing down. It was amazing to see how it was all coming along even if plants weren’t his thing.
That would be how the rest of the day continued, as they would work through the list of plants that needed to be replanted in new pots. When he would eventually go home, he hoped that Liam would be there and he could have some time to just rest and not do anything for a while.
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