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

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."

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."

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.

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.

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."

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."

"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.

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."

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."

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."

Honestly, Ginko is the only thing he's felt this enthusiastic about since finding all those coupons in the basement that were somehow still good. He took hold of one of the thin trees with his mark darn on it and held out a hand to help his new friend up the bank.

"It's kind of gradual, but when it happens, you'll notice. It's not so bad after the first few times."

The threshold was hard to notice, but it was there if you knew where to look. If you peered between two specific trees, the world was suddenly autumn, not winter. The trees were thinner, paler, the ground covered in nuts and mushrooms and puddles. Beyond the first hill were mounds of soggy hay bales and miles and miles of long-since-trampled barbed wire.

He took hold of JW's hand gratefully to climb up the bank after him. When he noticed that one spot, the change in season and location between the two trees, his eyes widened slightly - far more a look of fascination than one of shock or fear.

"...That's Hawksaw, then?"

JW strained to pull him up. Ginko made nearly a JW and a half. But once he was up and peering into the future, he wasn't worried about his aching joints.

"Only a tiny piece of it. The back woods, wait till you see the buildings."

Ginko peered between the trees in silence for another few seconds. He'd seen one space lead to another in ways that didn't seem possible before - the Uros' tunnels couldn't possible fit in the trees they seemed to occupy, and he knew perfectly well there was no way to access the light flow merely by digging. That's wasn't what amazed him about all this.

The tunnels, the river, those were their own spaces. They existed where they did, and only there, to serve their own purpose. This wasn't like that. He was looking at another time, another place entirely, hundreds of miles and over a century away.

He turned to JW again, a tentative sort of excitement lighting up his one eye. "Better get going, then."

Laughing, James led the way.

Like a couple of wild hares, he led the white-haired man on a run down the pig path he'd been following for months. The feeling that he was doing Something Wrong never left. However, instead of filling him with dread like he expected, it only egged him on. It reminded him of being young again and stirring up trouble in Westchester.

Briers and barbed wire tugged at their clothes and as the trees grew farther apart, the skeletons of old farm equipment emerged from the undergrowth, their blades rusted still long before JW was even born. One was a combine harvester and the other, a bush hog. In the distance was what was left of a barn. It sighed and leaned in the fall wind.

As the two of them moved through the forest, Ginko kept glancing around, his own uncertainty still outweighed by quiet excitement. It didn't take long for him to slow down next to one of the machines, examining it curiously. "What's this?"

JW stopped several feet down the way, having taken the machines for granted as just part of the scenery. On his way back, he puffed and stopped with his hands on his knees.

"An old farm machine. I think...that one used to gather and clean wheat. Don't touch it, it's rusty."

He liked this Ginko a lot but he didn't have the funds to take him to the emergency room.

It was impossible to hide the concern that flitted briefly across Ginko's face; it didn't seem to him that they had been walking for long enough for JW to be this tired. Granted, Ginko was used to walking more or less continuously for hours on end while carrying a massive wooden box of supplies on his back, but still.

"I wasn't going to." He did keep looking over it for a moment, though, before turning to JW again. "You alright?"

JW straightened back up, still puffing, not yet realizing that he'd been Caught. "Well I had to make sure. You did blind yourself an hour ago." Surprised by Ginko's sudden question he just shrugged. "Sure?"

"Believe it or not, we do have rust in Japan."

He nodded, still not looking totally convinced that nothing was wrong. "You look kind of tired, is all."

JW made a face.

Okay, Ginko had him there. He decided to find something else to look at, like the half destroyed bird's nest above them.

"It's been a long day. You walk between worlds often? Takes it outta ya. C'mon, you aint seen nothin' yet."

He waved for Ginko to follow and started puffing up the ridge. Not far away was a cow pond and a less dilapidated house.

Ginko raised an eyebrow, but he left it alone. For now.

He followed behind JW with relative ease, taking in the scenery in silence until JW pointed something out - or until something struck him as especially odd. At least he was pretty used to rural areas, even if this one wasn't quite what he was accustomed to.

Suddenly their wandering through the woods emptied them out onto a paved road with faded paint down the middle. JW leaned out of the brush not unlike an actual deer and looked both ways. A distant hiss grew into a growl and in a rush of wind, a pale blue pickup rattled past and was gone. With the coast clear, he jumped out onto the asphalt and motioned for Ginko to follow.

"The house isn't far now. We just gotta cut through a pasture and climb a hill."

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