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

[goldeneyeball]

THREAD DIRECTORY

One Fine Day
A Taste of the Future
Pumpkins
Aches
Trauma 50% Off!
I Got a Disease and You're the Cure
Taco Night
Buck Eyes
The Turns Have Tabled
JW and Ginko's Fancy Dinner Date
You Know What They Say When You ASSume...
Sit, Stay, Beg

Comments

[onegreeneye]

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.

[goldeneyeball]

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?"

[onegreeneye]

"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."

[goldeneyeball]

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."

[onegreeneye]

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?"

[goldeneyeball]

"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.

[onegreeneye]

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.

[goldeneyeball]

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.

[onegreeneye]

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."

[goldeneyeball]

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."

[onegreeneye]

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.

[goldeneyeball]

"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."

[onegreeneye]

"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.

[goldeneyeball]

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.

[onegreeneye]

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."

[goldeneyeball]

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."

[onegreeneye]

Ginko, of course, had no idea he was showing anyone up, because he had yet to realize there was anything going on here. JUST BEING FRIENDLY FRIENDS, NOTHING MORE TO IT, CLEARLY.

He suppressed any unneeded commentary about JW's scarf-wearing technique, not reacting to the clumsy knot beyond a slight twitch of the corner of his mouth. He nodded and turned toward the village again to hide his reaction, gesturing for JW to follow.

"Come on, then. Should try and get back sooner rather than later."

[goldeneyeball]

Ginko taking the lead was another surprise. He'd been expecting to wave and tromp away, leaving Ginko to his path. Where did he even go when he wasn't checking wells? James was more than happy to fall behind and take in the scenery without worrying about going the right way.

"You still have me wondering if America has mushi."

Now that they were walking, JW could already tell that the scarf was an improvment.

[onegreeneye]

He gave a quiet hum, glancing over his shoulder. "Maybe. ...If you wanted, I could always come check."

It was a cautiously-given suggestion. Showing him bits and pieces of the future was one thing, but Ginko wouldn't be surprised if JW was reluctant to actually bring someone from the past there to see it firsthand.

[goldeneyeball]

Uncertainty rippled across JW's face, displacing the toothy, over-eager grin he often wore in Ginko's presence. He was thinking the exact same thing...he'd been so wary about even talking to this strange, white-haired man. But his heart (and other things) got ahead of his brain and now he'd gone and polluted this era whether he liked it or not. James tucked his hands into his pockets.

"I'd love to, honestly, I just...I dunno if that's a great idea. I doubt you'd cause any trouble but...they make a lot of movies about this kinda thing and there's always shenanigans."

[onegreeneye]

He nodded slowly, somewhat more understanding than disappointed. He couldn't say he wasn't curious, but, well... "Makes sense. Seems like there are a lot of ways that could go wrong."

[goldeneyeball]

"There's gotta be some way to work around it...because I've been visiting this place for months and keeping a close eye on the news. Nothin' weird seems to have cropped up."

At least he wasn't watching the History Channel.

A gust of wind bites at his ears and JW takes up one of the long floppy ends of the scarf and winds it around his head. Was this how you scarf? It was working anyway.

"You deal in anomalies like this anyway. It might be my job to let you have a peek."

James was trying very hard to talk himself into it.

[onegreeneye]

Logically speaking, Ginko knew that it probably wasn't a good idea.

But it wasn't like he had never let curiosity outweigh caution before.

"Right. And if there are mushi around, it would probably be best to know about it. Just have to be careful."

[goldeneyeball]

JW's grin slowly returned.

"I like the way you think, Clover! We're doin' mankind a favor! They oughtta be thanking us!"

The antlered man suddenly took the lead, yammering on about billboards and Mushi Land and how much money there was to be made but how it probably would'nt help because money in Nowhere Japan was different than US Dollars or anywhere else really. Finally the empty stream bed presented itself and JW skidded down the bank, scarf trailing behind him.

"It's this way. Your ears might pop, don't freak out."

[onegreeneye]

Ginko trailed behind JW in comfortable silence; as overwhelming as dealing with him had been at first, Ginko was gradually getting used to his... particular brand of enthusiasm.

He followed more carefully down the bank, gripping the shoulder strap of his box as he tried to stay balanced. He gave a slight, uncertain nod at the warning. "I'll keep that in mind."