Private Finished A Breather in the Brush

PixelatedGlory

Mmm oderator
Moderator
Mar 30, 2018
2,988
East Coast, USA
Gender
Male
Pronouns
He/Him
Posting Status
Daily
Ebbie was very pleased with how Remi was handling this conversation. Either she had been taught how to deal with fae or her people had similar ways of interacting. It might be something to ask about later. For now it was good to have someone to accompany her that wasn't likely to do something to upset her.

Underneath the bark and vines, in Ebbie's core, she actually was a little worried herself. It had been very difficult to make any friends at all after she came to this island. Most people she tried to offer friendship to didn't seem to value it very much or she scared them away when she was upset by things they didn't understand were wrong to do or say. So there she was, in the woods, hoping not to scare away Remi. Not that she was likely to admit her worries. That would be giving someone a way to manipulate her.

Ebbie accepted the bag, using her vine to wrap around it and pull it back to her. She would remember this small gift even if it wasn't intended to be one. "These cannot be composted. They are filled with toxins that will leak out and kill the life in the soil," she explained while she bent down, using her hand to scoop the cigarette butts into the bag. She was careful not to actually touch them and seemed to be digging into the dirt around them to both shield herself and remove the contamination. "I am however, curious about your recycling here. I am not very used to dealing with unnatural materials and I believe you have been here longer than me?" She stood back up with the bag carried by one of her vines, noticeable brushing her hand one last time against the burn scar on the tree. "I was just walking loosely in this direction and planning to just see to any problems as I found them. You may follow me if you wish, but feel free to take charge if you notice something I do not." She then began slowly walking and her butterflies seemed to spread out further.


@Keen
 

Keen

Clown Town
Nov 23, 2016
4,470
keens-bakery.carrd.co
Gender
Agender
Pronouns
They/He
Posting Status
Irregularly
Ebbie seemed to know what she was doing as she moved to clean the cigarettes. Picking up some nearby trash, she listened to her newfound friend speak, occasionally nodding to suggest she was listening without interrupting her.

"I've only been here for a few months, but recycling's pretty easy, for the most part. Instead of, like, throwing things away, you reuse them. Cardboard, paper, plastic, glass, batteries, and metals are stuff you would recycle. I don't think I'll keep any of this stuff," she jiggled her half-filled bag of recycled material, "so I'll throw it into a recycling bin later." That may not have been the best explanation, but it felt like an accurate enough summary.

Remi followed Ebbie as she continued to move through the forest. Once in a while, she would divert away to pick up some trash she smelled. There was a slice of molding pizza she had to trash that nearly sent her gagging from the sight. Why throw away pizza in the middle of the forest? Aside from how disgusting it was, it was not hard to find a trashcan to dump it in. After every encounter with trash Remi would find—which, thankfully, was sparse—she would return to Ebbie to continue enjoying her company.


 

PixelatedGlory

Mmm oderator
Moderator
Mar 30, 2018
2,988
East Coast, USA
Gender
Male
Pronouns
He/Him
Posting Status
Daily
Good, she's not interrupting me unless it is necessary. That shows respect, which of course earns some in return.

Just as Remi had listened without interrupting Ebbie, she then carefully listened to the explanation about recycling. She would have preferred that people didn't even use such materials in the first place, but she did understand why they were needed in this world. Heck, even her own clothing wasn't all natural- she couldn't afford to be too picky right now without a job. "Then I will leave the recycling to you Remi. You seem to have a good grasp on that," she said as she pointed towards the bag of recycling. Double meanings were so enjoyable, even when they were just tiny jokes.

It seemed like Ebbie wasn't exactly used to talking to someone while patrolling the woods. However it was fairly evident that she was enjoying the company. As they continued walking Ebbie's vines relaxed and uncoiled so that they spread out from her in all directions, rubbing against the trees and plants as she passed near to them. Each time Remi returned from her diversions a few extra motes of green light danced out from Ebbie's body to float and then disperse- even when she wasn't looking towards Remi. A few of the butterflies even tried to land on Remi when she approached close enough.

"Remi, what is family like where you come from?" It might have seemed to be rather abrupt but it was something Ebbie was genuinely curious about. "For us 'family' isn't really a thing. There is only the Troop and everyone is raised communally."

@Keen
 

Keen

Clown Town
Nov 23, 2016
4,470
keens-bakery.carrd.co
Gender
Agender
Pronouns
They/He
Posting Status
Irregularly
Ebbie had a sense of humor too. It took Remi a few moments to catch on, but when she did, she promptly made a, "Oh!" before giggling. The joke was nothing special, but the time it took for Remi to grasp it was what made it funnier to her, even if she was a little embarrassed.

It was rare for Remi to just have a friend to accompany her through the woods. More often than not, if she was with someone, it was to hunt with them. Being able to just walk and talk, or even just walk in silence, was a nice change of pace. The ground was still wet and mushy and the cool air smelled of rain, just like Remi liked it. She would miss that when summer came along and she would need to put her cold charm to use. Already she could feel it warming up, but it was not yet at a point where she had to worry about her safety.

Remi snapped out of her thoughts when Ebbie spoke up. At first, she had not registered Ebbie's question. It was so off topic to what they were doing, Remi swore she misheard. After about three seconds of silence, Remi knew that what she heard was correct and quickly made a response. "Family for us is... It's very communal too. Most of us live in large families with fifteen to twenty people, more or less. Parents, siblings, cousins, grandparents, aunts or uncles, and friends will live in the same house. Not that that matters much. We're a small species and we're all cared for by the island, so it's like we're all family."

She worried the way she explained came off as her trying to play her culture off as better than Ebbie's. It was a nice way of living, but the obvious downside of living with fifteen to twenty people all the time was the lack of privacy. There was no way you could keep secrets when everyone could hear your every step or smell you before you entered the room. Just living with her two moms and little sibling felt suffocating enough.

Remi continued on with her explanation, adding in some more detail that she thought of as a "fun fact." "Actually, the markings on my face," she pointed to the orange circles below her eyes and the crescent moon on her forehead, "identify which family or, uh, house I belong to. This is for the Afolabi-Soies."


 

PixelatedGlory

Mmm oderator
Moderator
Mar 30, 2018
2,988
East Coast, USA
Gender
Male
Pronouns
He/Him
Posting Status
Daily
@Keen

It took so long that Ebbie was starting to think Remi might not have realized there could have been a second meaning to her phrase. But in the end she had said "Oh," and began giggling. That was enough.

Ebbie let her feet sink in whenever they came across an especially soft and wet portion of the ground. Each time she would pause for a moment and let some of the water and nutrients in the soil nourish her body. There was no hurry, so why not enjoy it that much more?

She grew concerned when Remi didn't answer her question about family right away. Did I bring up something uncomfortable for her? I guess I have learned that some people don't get along with their families... Oh good she was just thinking about how to answer me.

Ebbie listened to Remi explain how her people's families functioned. If she had taken any offense it didn't show. "There are quite a few more of us in our Troop than in your families," She was careful not to actually give a number, "but we only really see everyone once a year to gather and make new ones. Most of the time we are quite spread out, traveling only with the partners we have been set with."

Ebbie was being friendly and carrying on the conversation, but she was also keeping details back. Like for instance that the gatherings were dangerous times because that was when debts between each other were evaluated the most. Or the exact number of her people there were. Some things weren't meant for pleasant conversation and others needed to be held back for safety reasons.

When Remi mentioned the markings, Ebbie walked much closer to get a better look. She didn't touch but she was quite close.
"Interesting. I think I have seen a few others here... not of your family but similar...species?"
 

Keen

Clown Town
Nov 23, 2016
4,470
keens-bakery.carrd.co
Gender
Agender
Pronouns
They/He
Posting Status
Irregularly
Remi must have still been on the right track so far, judging by Ebbie's reaction. Discussing family always made Remi tense up a bit. Her family was quite chaotic, to say the least. It was the reason they were sent to this island, so they could learn to control themselves. Béatrice was the one who needed to learn control, but back home, her current behavior put her in danger.

It was easier to focus on the lighter aspects of her family and her culture as a whole. Criticizing it made her feel less connected to her relatives, and by extension, her species. Hearing Ebbie's explanation of her family comforted Remi. It was interesting seeing how others set up their families and societies in general. Just listening to Ebbie speak sparked a boost in energy within her.

"Keeping ourselves close helps for when we need information to travel fast. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone back home knows I have a human charm and a human boyfriend by now." Hopefully they would not take that as a sign of Remi betraying her species in an attempt to be human. In her heart, she was an oricenta, and nothing would change that. She lived to serve the elements, even when she took on the form of an abnormal human and dated one too.

Ebbie mentioning other oricenta living on the island made Remi giggle. Not from finding what she said funny, but from nervousness. "O-Oh, yeah. Well, there's the Meis. We haven't combined our families yet and changed our markings, but they are family. They're Earth oricenta, and the ones I would've shown you to heal the plants here. There've also been some visitors here who come and go, but another family moved here. The Kaliinés. They're..." She bit the bottom of her lip, trying to remember their faces and what they were. "Air and Fire. Right, that's what they are, yeah.

"But anyways, do you have any family here? You mentioned partners." Remi had to be careful to not only focus on her half of the conversation.


 

PixelatedGlory

Mmm oderator
Moderator
Mar 30, 2018
2,988
East Coast, USA
Gender
Male
Pronouns
He/Him
Posting Status
Daily
Remi had been tensing up a little while talking about family and it wasn't just from the surprise over the abrupt entry into the subject. Something was clearly bothering her a little but she was being too polite to explain that she didn't want to speak about some things. Though she did seem a bit better when Ebbie was sharing about her people.

I suppose it's fitting that you experience a little discomfort in exchange for an equal measure of pleasure. Don't worry, I don't intend to let you get too uncomfortable. That would be rather rude of me. And I would like to be friends.

Ebbie knew all too well how fast information could spread between members of a group. Much of what her people knew of this world came from the accounts of those who scouted the portals leading here and relaying back what they thought was important. Though the part about the boyfriend might make for an interesting subject change. We'll see.

"A boyfriend huh?" She was nice and just let it dangle for Remi to decide whether to go into it or not. It wouldn't bother Ebbie either way.

Ebbie was pretty familiar with feeling like she had to alter her appearance to appear human when in their society. She wasn't the least bit ashamed of how she really looked but fitting in did two things. One it allowed her to get get a better read on how the people were before they had to deal with the shock of how she really looked. Second it protected her a little from prejudices and from possibly revealing a weakness. She might even have admitted the human body was a little fun too.

"Oh, so that's how they relate to your family. I should probably meet with the ones who can heal plants. And you are all based on elements?" She didn't really understand the whole combining families thing, but as she had said family wasn't really a thing for her people.

She was a little annoyed at being asked if she had family here. She had thought she was clear that her people didn't have families. But perhaps it was just an accidental use of the wrong word. Ebbie turned her head towards Remi as if to make sure it was clear, "There is no one else from my Troop here, no. I came through the portal alone and my partner would have been reassigned to someone else by now. Most of my people think this is a waste of time." There was a distinct hint of sadness in her voice, though it was hidden beneath a layer of frustration that was aimed towards her own people and not at Remi.

@Keen
 

Keen

Clown Town
Nov 23, 2016
4,470
keens-bakery.carrd.co
Gender
Agender
Pronouns
They/He
Posting Status
Irregularly
Remi's cheeks turned a light shade of orange when Ebbie focused on the boyfriend part. Of course that was the part she focused on. She attempted to hide her panic from embarrassment behind a neutral expression and spoke with a half-succeeding monotone.

"A-Ah, yeah. His name is Koda. He's not a normal human, but those are pretty rare around here. But he has beautiful white hair and eyes that reflect the sky during different times of days. He's very—" Before she could let herself ramble any longer, she covered her mouth, then proceeded to cover her face as her blushing grew more intense. The way she was acting was shameful. Sure, she was barely an adult to her species, essentially being a teenager, but here, she managed to pass herself off as an adult. As much as she could when most of her friends were teens, her boyfriend was a teen, and she could blend in with a crowd of high schoolers here.

With a harsh sigh, she managed to resume her neutral expression, despite the blush remaining. "Anrong would know how to take care of plants better, but Henghai's also a botanist. And yes, we're all Air, Earth, Fire, Water, or combinations of two of those four. Like, I'm Mud, so Earth and Water. But, like, I take more from my Earth side, really." Which was apparent based on her color scheme. Her horns and eyes gave off the optical illusion of gentle waves taking a long time to move within a gemstone, but that was the most Water she looked. The only other ways to know other than sight was by touching her cold skin or seeing her cry and sweat excessively.

Finally, Remi fell silent at the last part of Ebbie's response. Partially because she felt like she misspoke and stepped out of line, partially because she was unsure how to respond to Ebbie's sadness. Remi's need to make sure her friends were okay prevented her from just staying silent, however. As an older sister and regular babysitter, she had the instinctual need to take care of anyone who looked to be in pain.

"I didn't mean to offend you. I find it hard to think of this island as a waste of time. There's just... so much to learn and do. Being able to learn about other species and cultures from books is fine and all, but actually being there to experience them firsthand is much more rewarding. But, uh, I hope I can be some sort of companion to you. A friend, I mean, since you're here alone."

She wanted to bite her fingers off with how much she stumbled over her words and rambled on, but it was the best she could think of. Although she already felt like Ebbie was a close friend, Remi knew it was because she was an elemental and that she knew barely anything about her. It was hard to treat someone as a close friend when you only knew the most basic of information about them.
 

PixelatedGlory

Mmm oderator
Moderator
Mar 30, 2018
2,988
East Coast, USA
Gender
Male
Pronouns
He/Him
Posting Status
Daily
Apparently the boyfriend topic was very embarrassing for Remi to talk about. Ebbie didn't really understand the need for all the blushing, but then again that wasn't really something her people could do. Sure she could put extra color on her glamoured face but that would be a conscious decision and not an emotional response. Remi was trying very hard but still failing to shield her emotions from Ebbie.

A significant portion of the butterflies gathered near Remi as Ebbie watched her struggle to hide her blushing. "It is ok to show strong emotions Remi. Not everyone has the opportunity to hide how they are feeling," she said as she gestured to the swarm of butterflies as if to remind her. "You are not obligated to share anything with me that you are uncomfortable with."

She's still worried about the impression she is making on me. That's excellent but perhaps sharing a little more of myself will put her at ease.

"While relationships and things like that here are different than I am used to, I am no stranger to having strong feelings for another person. Take one of my previous partners, Liri, for example. She and I traveled together for several years. She had lovely vines that were much softer than my own and she could sense things like no one who I had worked with before. We might have been assigned to each other but we grew close..." The butterflies almost seemed drunk as Ebbie recalled her memories. They moved slowly and a few even fell for a second every so often as if they forgot to fly.

Ebbie didn't finish her sentence. She had shared enough to let Remi know that Ebbie could relate at least a little with how she was feeling but hadn't over shared. This was how friends interacted right? She didn't exactly have much experience with friendship here.

"I will leave introductions with your family or people to you unless I happen to come across them myself. You are the expert on whom would be appropriate and not but I would caution you that smoke and fire are not comfortable for me." Earth and water was a good combination for a friend of Ebbie's. As long as neither of them upset the other they would probably be great friends. Even if something did upset Ebbie, Remi would have more leniency in regaining Ebbie's favor than most people would.

What sadness had been in Ebbie's voice had now gone. Whether it was the result of Remi talking or just Ebbie moving past it, it was unclear. "But I am not alone," Ebbie said as she moved towards Remi and one vine extended to tap her lightly on the shoulder. "You are standing right there," she laughed and her joy echoed through the woods. "I too am here to experience other species and cultures and would enjoy having you as my friend."
 

Keen

Clown Town
Nov 23, 2016
4,470
keens-bakery.carrd.co
Gender
Agender
Pronouns
They/He
Posting Status
Irregularly
As Ebbie talked, Remi's face softened, her body loosened, and she moved slightly slower than before. It felt like ice was encompassing her heart while Ebbie spoke. It was nice. It was relaxing. In her short time with Ebbie, Remi already knew she was a great choice for a friend, even disregarding the magic that made her trust any elementalist that came by. If there were any warning signs, she would have noticed them by now.

"You're right. I'm just used to hiding my feelings most of the time." Funny, coming from royalty of a species who values the transparency of emotions above all else. It just goes to show that Remi would fit much better with humans than her own people. Or maybe that was just a byproduct of the unorthodox way she was raised.

Was she still blushing still? Remi was more focused on Ebbie's story about her partner to care too much, though she figured her cheeks would have lightened up a bit. The trailing off of the story worried Remi, but overall, it sent butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. A hopeless romantic like her had trouble not swooning over stories like these.

"She sounds lovely. I guess it's just me being new to all of this. This island and," she made a vague gesture with her hands, "all the cultures clashing. Always something to catch me off guard. My friends here have made it much easier. You're making it easier right now. I appreciate having you here with me. I, uh, don't have enough elemental friends here to connect with." Ebbie managed to get a laugh out of Remi. She was careful about touching others here, knowing how clingy her species could be, but she allowed herself to lightly touch Ebbie on the should back.

"And don't worry. One of my family is Fire and Earth, but he's, like, the second oldest in the family and knows how to control himself. His powers are all about making plants grow anyways. He's more Earth than Fire, really. If you want, I can explain how to tell which element an oricenta is. There's only a few of us on the island, but I know some of us visit once in a while. Helps to let you know which ones to be careful around." It was easy for the most part. All you had to do was look at the eyes or horns if the colors of their body did not make their element clear.


 
Forgot your password?