theattic | Weird-looking, half blind, spook wrangling world-walkers that smoke.

JW couldn't resist swatting a time or two at the sensation of the panicking mushi leaving his shirt. Luckily it was off and drifting above his head by the time he started patting his shirt down in ernest.

Cue full body shudder.

"What WAS that? I wish I had something that worked half as well on ghosts!"

"Mushi repellent. That particular type is specialized to this species of mushi." He stepped back and dusted the remnants of the powder off his hands. "It's the same basic formula as the cigarettes, though; just altered a little and dried and ground."

"Oh..." He looked up and around as if he could catch some shimmer of the evading shrimp, but as usual, saw nothing but empty air and a few stray snowflakes. "Great, now I'm gonna wonder if every tingling sensation I feel as I try to fall asleep is a ghost shrimp."

He tried not to sound so sour about it, but he'd liked being the know-it-all back home.

"Thanks again, by the way." Even if he hadn't been in danger, Ginko was quick to act and preserve his comfort. Or at least his nerves.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. Even if your world does have them, if they haven't been a problem before, they won't suddenly become one now." Not really the point, Ginko, but okay.

He shrugged a little. "No problem. It's not uncommon for people to have trouble getting used to interacting with them, after all."

JW found himself pouting again. He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets as he had to swallow back more and more doses of his own medicine. And the fact that Ginko dished it out so kindly somehow made it worse.

He would get good at mushi. He would. He'd show this Ginko that he wasn't afraid or impressed by them!

He slapped at the back of his neck. Nothing was there.

Ginko raised an eyebrow a little at JW's pouting, but mostly just assumed that he was in denial about having been upset by the mushi. Which wasn't really the whole problem, but that was what Ginko gathered of it.

He shifted his box on his back again, glancing back toward the village. "Should we start heading back, or would you rather stay out here for a bit?"

Go back to owl-eyes city? No thanks. But watching Ginko shoulder his bag reminded him of his quest. With a new urgency, he crouched down to his own and unzipped it.

"That reminds me, I brought you something." He dug out a single, full-size snickers bar. None of that leftover halloween 'fun size' bullshit. There was nothing fun about them, especially after you've eaten twelve. "Here."

He paused, watching as JW went through his bag. He took the candy bar when it was offered and started to open it before pausing, examining it with equal parts curiosity and suspicion.

"This isn't going to... explode or something, is it?" He's got his doubts about future food at this point, okay.

James snorted. "Nah! Might give you cavities though, but one cannot have pleasure without a little pain."

He grinned. He was missing two teeth.

Ginko hummed thoughtfully before peeling back more of the wrapper, examining the chocolate one more time before taking a careful bite.

He raised his eyebrows a little, glancing at JW. "...it's pretty good." And it really isn't exploding. Always a plus.

He made a satisfied humming sound of his own before digging in the bag again. "Hope you're not allergic to peanuts."

He probably should have said something about that before hand. Oh well. The next treasure he surfaced with was one of those little handheld fans that took batteries. It was bright blue. He may or may not have stolen it from a Good Will.

"Probably won't need this now but...never know?"

"Not that I know of." Not that he had eaten them a whole lot, but he couldn't remember anything seeming wrong the one or two times Adashino had shoved them at him. He would go ahead and keep eating this.

He watched, curiosity still pretty evident on his face, as JW took out the fan. Once he had a hold of it, he pressed the button experimentally, releasing it immediately and blinking in surprise when the blades started spinning. "...Huh. That does seem useful."

The bag of wonders continued to produce! A disposable lighter, a toothbrush (unopened), and finally a keychain flashlight were revealed. At this point JW really was emptying his junk drawers in attempts to impress this strange man from the past.

He handed all these wonders with what he hoped was a sly, aloof grin, but really he just looked excited to see Ginko explore all these things.

"One of these can be considered a weapon."

Junk or not, if he meant to impress Ginko, he certainly seemed to be succeeding. The fascination on Ginko's face as he examined the objects and considered JW's comment was obvious, and after a few moments he hesitantly pointed out the flashlight, clearly not expecting to be right so much as just guessing.

"Uuh... that one?"

"Mmmmmnnnclose." JW watched Ginko's face as he inspected the treasures. "I guess if you hit someone hard enough with it."

He wanted to shout 'try it out, push the button' but he wanted his new friend to have the satisfaction of figuring it out himself. And maybe watch him freak out if he happened to blind himself. One or the other.

He was still a little curious about what JW had said to begin with, but now that he had it in his hands he did want to figure out the flashlight.

It didn't take long for him to find how to switch it on, and-- yep, he did definitely just shine it right into his good eye. "Dammit--"

Ginko nearly dropped the flashlight as he fumbled to turn it off, hurriedly pointing it away from himself. "Thought you said that wasn't a weapon," he mumbled sarcastically, squinting a little as he waited for his vision to clear.

His mouth fell open. It...actually happened. He'd had an entertaining cartoon of it in his head, sure, but then it played out in front of him, beautifully, like some kind of dance. JW let out an unflattering honk of a laugh before settling for shaking his shoulders and wheezing.

Ginko didn't seem to think it was very funny at all. He wasn't as upset as he could be, certainly, but there was definitely some sincere low-level grumping going on here. He grumbled, rubbing at his eye and blinking a couple more times.

"Hey, you could have warned me. Next thing you know you're going to give me something that'll take my eye out for good."

To save some of Ginko's face (and eyebrows) he took up the disposable lighter and gave it a flick, bringing the flame to life.

"It's this one. This is it."

He raised his eyebrows, examining the lighter for a moment. So that was what that was. He'd seen a few mechanical lighters before, but not quite like that. "They sure did get smaller, huh..."

Then he glanced at JW again. "Were you seriously planning on just handing that to me without warning me it would do that?"

He was joking, mostly.

"I thought you might just say which one you thought it was, not point it at your face!"

He gave Ginko a big old eye roll before offering the lighter.

"I think I need to get home before I either freeze to death or you kill yourself with a rubber band and I have to witness it."

"Well, it's not like you stopped me, either."

He huffed quietly, examining the lighter carefully for a few seconds - and making sure not to touch anything that looked like it might actually do something. He would figure this thing out later.

Ginko looked at JW again, raising an eyebrow. "...Alright. How long do you think it'll take to walk back there?"

Come to think of it, he had been out here for a while now, and he certainly wasn't dressed for it.

Standing, JW looked back the way they came. He made a doubtful hum in the back of his throat. "All the way home? About dark, probably..." He tugged out his cell phone and flipped it open to look at the time. "Timezones..."

He suddenly slapped at his neck. It had been nothing, but the breeze made him think the invis-shrimp had come back. JW suddenly froze and forced a grin for Ginko, having no way of knowing if he'd just squashed one of the guy's bugs he liked so much.

He gave a quiet hum, glancing back in the same direction. Then he paused at JW's sudden movement, glancing toward him an raising an eyebrow slightly.

A moment later, he gave a quiet huff of laughter. "Don't worry, there was nothing there. Can't really fault you for reflexes, anyway."

He stood up as well, readjusting his pack again as he considered the distance. Then, after a moment, he reached up and unwound his scarf from his neck, passing it over to JW. "Here. Still going to take a bit of walking to get there, and you've been out here dressed like that long enough."

JW relaxed visibly and let his arm fall to his side. "It's really weird being the blind guy--"

What Ginko did next cut off whatever comment the antlered man was about to make and he stared, almost stupidly at the scarf. JW had been making tacky advance after advance not unlike a big twiggy magpie. And here was Ginko showing him up with pure class. It was freezing and JW didn't even own a scarf. He didn't think he knew anyone who did back in muggy Hawksaw.

He snapped out of his daze and accepted it before tying it around his neck exactly the way someone who didn't know how to wear a scarf would. He made a weird knot and after trying to figure out what to do with the long ends, just let them hang.

"Better."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject