tabularasa_rp | Gardening and catch-call (Open!)

Entry tags:

Gardening and catch-call (Open!)

Who: Merlin + anyone!
What: Making a garden, being a bum, and general catch-all for shenanigans
Where: Various, see prompts
When: Throughout the month, any specific timeframes will be mentioned in prompts
Content Warnings: None in initial prompts, if threads venture into iffy territory warnings will be given in comment subject lines!

[General]

If anyone interacted with Merlin shortly after everyone first arrived and the world came to be, he nearly always presented an almost annoyingly cheerful attitude. If someone interacted with him several weeks later, that was more subdued, less with the over the top nonsense and occasionally absent entirely. Lately, though, Merlin's been acting, well, almost emotionless for the most part. There's the occasional display of something or another, and his focus and attention for anything that currently holds his interest hasn't waned in the slightest, but an increasing majority of the time he's just simply not emoting. Weird, huh?

[I. Gardening]

The appearance of the small flower patch in the church-slash-bakery had given Merlin an idea, and the later appearance of the flower fields (even if, admittedly, apparently on fire) within the peculiar doomed structure gave him even more reason to properly pursue it. And while many of the proper tools for such things are lacking, as finding gardening tools in a market that never sees sunlight is a longshot at best, that's far less of an inconvenience to him than having lost proper use of his powers in the first place.

All of which means he's taken the time to painstakingly clear a wide space near where the river flows out from the base of the mountain, even going so far as to retrieve soil from the nearby forest to fill and even out places. Once this is done, it calls for several trips back and forth to the flower fields in the dome to dig up a plant or two at a time, carry it to his dirt patch, and carefully replant it. All largely by hand, given that he's yet to find a proper trowel. At least he can make use of empty bottles and cups to haul water from the nearby river, which may or may not even be necessary for the plants at this point, but probably won't hurt, at least.

Oh, and while some of the flowers ceased 'burning' once removed from the field from long enough, and others Merlin deliberately extinguished the flames, there's still a few that remain stubbornly fiery. These eventually receive their own designated section of the sparse but growing garden, ringed by a low line of rocks.

Needless to say, this is all very labor intensive, and Merlin's spending quite a bit of time with it, so it's probably one of the easiest places to catch him if one happens to be looking for him!

[II. Familiar Companion]

For all his seeming affability, Merlin's never been one to really spend too much time in the company of others, and that's only increased as time's gone on. He certainly makes his presence known often enough when he deigns to, but more often than not he's likely off on his own, whether investigating whatever strange new features the world's developed, or simply avoiding dealing with all the people.

Except that, he's never actually truly alone. One of the small, winged and furred creatures has been ~~stalking~~ following him around since near the beginning as it makes a game of trying to chase and pounce on his long hair. For the most part, Merlin simply (seemingly) ignores it, only occasionally shooing it away, for all the good that ever does. At just this moment, it's running about pouncing on leaves near where Merlin's sitting with his back leaning against a tree, paying it no mind as usual.

Until, that is, the poor thing is struck by a sudden furious hunger, causing it to botch the landing of its latest jump and tumble on the ground, letting out a plaintive cry. Merlin glances over at the sound, gaze utterly expressionless as he takes in the scene.

"Oh, stop complaining, you," he mutters flatly, and looks away again. But even as he does so, his fingers slide briefly into a fold of his robes and, with a brief flick of a wrist, a small piece of giant mushroom is tossed at the critter, which naturally devours it ravenously before resuming its earlier play.

[III. Making Sense of Nonsense]

Of course, not everything Merlin does is full of melancholy and/or solitude. There's still the mystery of this place to solve, or at least figure out how on earth to get his powers to actually work on things here. In fact, while he's managed not to show it, certain aspects of that last bit actually have him just a little bit concerned, for various reasons he's naturally refusing to divulge.

But all this means he simply needs more information, and as he can't simply use Clairvoyance to observe whatever and whoever he wants, that means actually going up to people and asking them.

"Has anything new that you recognize shown up here, since you've arrived?"

There's something nagging at him that he can't quite shake but still can't put a finger on, either.

[Wildcard/Notes]

None of these scenarios work for you? Feel free to hit me up in PM or on Discord (AC#7235) if you want to plot out something else! Or just tag with whatever you have in mind, that works too. The stuff noted in the 'general' section at the top applies to all threads unless otherwise noted, I just didn't feel like repeating it over and over again.!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ah, yes, it's a little harder to express when he's joking when he's not projecting the appropriate emotion, isn't it?

"Well, for one thing, while fire seems to be harmless enough right now, there's no telling how long that will last, given how things have changed so far. And it wouldn't do for the whole field to simply be turned to ash should the flames there suddenly begin burning."

Aubergine eyes take in the layout, the flowers he's managed to put out and those that stubbornly 'burn' on, and she crosses her arms thoughtfully. "Bene, and what about those that you were unable to put out? Do you already have a plan for them? Perhaps we could place a border of stone or water around those particular ones?"

"That's the idea," Merlin replies, gesturing to the bare patch of ground surrounding the cluster of still-burning flowers.

"But there's little I can do about the rest where these came from right now."

She angles herself to look in that direction of origin flowers, lips slightly pursed. This new world is too unstable, and she finds herself thinking the very same thing told to Damien; that she is liking it less and less. But Mel merely nods, accepting this.

"Mm. What, then, can I do to help you, Merlin?" Melinoë elegantly lowers herself to kneel before a non-burning flower, at first observing it without touch.

The blooms are fairly large, big enough to fill a person's hand, and pink to reddish in color. Each has five or six long petals that narrow at the tips. Altogether, a flower that wouldn't look at all out of place on Earth, yet not quite matching any existing species or cultivar.

Merlin blinks a bit at the question, not really having expected many people to express such an interest.

"You like gardening?" That, or she's just plain bored, but either way he'd need to know how much to explain.

Her giggle is as light and sweet as angel food cake. "My beautiful friend, have you forgotten who my mother is?" Melinoë winks, reminding him that, "Between Persephone and Demeter, I have a vague understanding. My niche is more dead things, obviously, but I'm willing to learn. And to help you."

It need not be strictly sex between them. That sort of relationship was sufficient enough with Set, but Mel prefers quality over quantity; she values connections.

"Some children avoid certain things all the more simply because of the associate with their parents," Merlin points out mildly. He's just not making assumptions!

"But if you insist... The soil around the burning ones and the general perimeter needs to be packed and leveled, so that stones can be placed to edge it."

He'd actually already started on that, setting up a low border around the garden area, when the dome and its fiery field had appeared and given him incentive to shuffle his priorities a bit.

That said, for his part Merlin isn't thinking at all about possible connections or quality relationships. Instead, he's just taking her interest precisely at face value: a bored demigoddess looking for something to occupy her time.

As Merlin explains verbally, Melinoë glances at the work already completed and begun for the visual assistance, more so to copy his format than anything else.

Knowing it'll be dirty work, she picks at her dress, looking from it up to Merlin, and then back to the dress once more. "If I work in the nude, will it distract you too much?"

It's to avoid tripping on the strings and nothing borne out of vanity. But should it be an issue, Mel is already thinking up a way to keep the outfit from becoming a hindrance.

If Merlin was surprised at her offer to help a moment ago, this latest question most definitely catches him off guard. Enough that there's a small but genuine flicker of surprise in his expression before he quickly recovers his composure.

"Not really, but I can't guarantee that no one else will pass by."

He's not the only one here with an interest in flowers, after all, and he'd discussed the possibility of transplanting some with at least one other.

"Then, I suppose my follow up question would be if that would bother you?" They aren't exclusive, have set up no rules beyond getting together every few...well, it can't be called days, so moments? So, while Mel owes Merlin nothing, she at least respects him and their relationship (as in connection) enough to not deliberately cause friction. Because she could give two fucks about who sees her.

"I imagine that would be more entertaining than anything, depending on who it happened to be."

There's definitely an individual or two he's sure would get a little worked up at the sight of a naked woman gardening. He's not one to get attached or even really care much about most people as individuals in general, so there's little fear of any sense of possessiveness developing on his part. Nor does he feel any particular compulsion to 'protect' her; she could do whatever she pleased, as far as Merlin's concerned.

Melinoë laughs something wicked, honestly debating if said fun would be worth it, because there's the off-chance that it won't even occur. And just her luck, the world would introduce fucking sunburn at the most inopportune moment.

She voices this aloud to Merlin while tying up the numerous strings into bows, one at each hip. "There." Satisfied, she sets about readying the soil, setting shoes aside and wiggling freed toes against the cool earth first.

From her kneeling position, Mel asks, "How long have you been doing this?"

If she hasn't already, she'll probably sooner or later learn that amongst other things, Merlin is a huge troll. It's just that lately this place has put just a bit of a damper on the fun of his usual antics.

He does, though, have to pause and consider a moment before answering her question, considering the still somewhat inconsistent state of time in this place.

"I haven't really been working on it nonstop... But it's been at least a few of the forest's cycles since I started."

He can't say for sure how many, seeing as the trips to go collect the flowers and such would take him out of sight of said forest for periods of time.

"I don't know about you, mago mio, but I am very much done with this lack of day and night. It would be maddening, except this place seems to prevent such breakdowns." A pause follows, deliberately stretched out, and then it's quietly broken. "It hasn't been this quiet in my head since before my memories and abilities started coming back. Years."

Merlin shrugs a bit at that.

"I suppose it's a bit peculiar, but I admit I've spent quite a long time indoors, so day or night didn't matter terribly much to begin with."

That'll happen when you spend over a thousand years cooped up in a tower in Avalon, really. The self-described biggest shut-in in all of history.

The later remark does, however, get his attention.

"Because those abilities don't seem to work quite right here?"

She gently prods the dirt with just one finger while slowly shaking her head. Melinoë's demeanor is forlorn and perhaps a smidgen embarrassed. "Not yet, at least."

It's the way he's asked that has her looking up at him with mild suspicion. "But neither are yours, corretto?"

"Neither are anyone's, it would seem. It's as if this world doesn't even possess the basic principles that make things such as magecraft possible."

He's discussed that topic in particular with one of the other people here.

There's a wave of relief that threatens to drown her at hearing that. Though death also seems to elude the world, Mel would surely wish for it had she been alone in being powerless.

"And your abilities, are those a result of your paternal side or does the rumor that you were born fatherless hold value?"

Every story has its own version of truth, after all.

Now that's an interesting question, and Merlin actually pauses and blinks a moment while considering how to answer.

"Some might consider being sired by an incubus to be essentially the same as having no father," he points out. "But I possess those same abilities such that I might as well be considered one myself, yes."

With a small smile at the memory of Ty, Mel relates, "I helped an incubus once by summoning his mother. He was more affectionate with me than anything else, but I think that's because he adopted me as a mother-life figure.

"The point I'm circling around is that he fed off others during sex." And she leaves it at that for the moment, allowing Merlin to contribute whether or not he would normally do the same.

"I believe that's rather common knowledge, isn't it?"

That incubi and succubi feed off of sex.

"Human--their minds, emotions, and dreams--produce an energy on which incubi feed. Sex is one of the more direct methods. If you're trying to ask whether I'm holding myself back in the regard or something, I'm not."

He quite simply can't feed in his normal manner. The rules of this world don't allow for it.

The Goddess has paused her task to look at Merlin with a touch of concern, with empathy. Gently, she asks, "Is that the reason for your change in demeanor?"

Were it merely a lack of flirting, she wouldn't even be asking. Without knowing how long its been, she can't put an exact number on how long they've been having sex, but of course the depth and level of flirting would naturally conform itself. Yet, Merlin's brusqueness is beginning to make sense, and Melinoë feels slightly foolish, if not guilty, for failing to put the pieces together.

Merlin blinks at that, momentarily confused. A chance in demeanor? He hadn't thought he'd changed much in regards to their occasional encounters, as even if he derived no extra benefit from it, going through the motions was at least better than nothing. Probably.

It's only after a brief moment of thought that what she might possibly mean occurs to him.

"Incubi don't possess emotions of their own. Only a copy from the humans they feed on. If that spoils your experience, then you're free to call things off, of course."

She releases something between amused snort and doubtful sigh. "Merlin, if you were no longer satisfying me, and I would think that's been rather obvious, then I would have disengaged at said moment. I still enjoy your company, only I was indirectly asking if the same was felt by you? Because if it's a matter of needing your abilities to fully take pleasure in sex and that the act has become mundane, well then I think I could wait."

The latter is said teasingly, because it's an honest admission; no point fucking someone if they are no longer into it.

Merlin is silent for a long moment, considering. Ordinarily he dislikes telling people much of anything about himself. For a number of reasons, but the fact that humans typically reacted poorly or didn't truly understand definitely ranked up there. But then again, she is apparently a goddess, which doesn't make her exactly human, does it?

"I'd doubted from the start that it would make any difference, and that was proven rather immediately in any case. But it's not a bad way to pass the time, even so."

Much like how many people still took some solace in drinking or eating the food that appeared with some of the locations here, despite not actually needing to.

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