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

Ginko listened curiously to each explanation and description, asking occasional questions about where they were found, if they had shown any other odd qualities. Injury aside, he was honestly glad he came down here (not to mention pretty sure that Adashino would kill to see this place).

"Sounds likely." He nodded and followed JW back to the stairs - then hesitated at the bottom. After a moment, he braced his good hand against the wall to balance himself a little better, his other arm still hanging unused by his side as he made his way up the stairs, trying not to let it move too much.

Luckily, the next stair case JW led him up had a railing, which JW kept his hand on out of compulsion. At the landing to the right was a small bathroom. Dead ahead and to the left were three different closed doors. A string hung from the ceiling and it was this string that he grabbed to let down the ladder.

Cold air rolled over them from above and JW ascended into darkness as easily and as quickly as he'd descended into the basement.

"I gotta warn you, though, don't walk off up here. It's a lot bigger than it looks."

The last thing he wanted Ginko to deal with after busting his ass on a stone floor was to stumble into the Boxlands and have Lost find him.

Click!

Another naked bulb shown down and haloed JW's antlers like a small, flickering sun.

"Uh... right."

If he could get up there at all. Ginko stared at the ladder uncertainly for a few moments before making an effort to grip it with his good hand and step up. It was a little awkward, but maybe he could do this...? Though he wasn't sure how to keep the fact that he still wasn't using one arm from being BLATANTLY OBVIOUS. "...Hang on."

JW peered around the attic for what could be the most mushi-infested area. He eventually became aware that he was still alone. The antlered head appeared before the 20 watt sun again and JW lifted a brow. What was he doing?

"What's up?"

"Um... just having some trouble." Way to be vague, Ginko.

He made another effort, trying to grip the side of the ladder instead of the rungs, leaning forward a little to keep his weight closer to it. He slid his hand up the side to hold on higher and started to take a cautious step up, only to wince and let out a quiet, pained hiss when his injured shoulder bumped against the other side of the ladder.

This wasn't working. He sighed and stepped back down to the floor, this time letting himself set a hand on his shoulder to stabilize it a little. "...Sorry, I... don't think I can get up there."

It took a moment for it to click.

"Well why didn't you say something!" He shook his head and turned off the light before backing down the ladder. "Let me look at it."

He was no expert, but he'd had his own share of bumps and bruises on his journey through the multiverse.

"It didn't seem that bad at first." For about five seconds, and after that he was just planning on hiding it until he got back to the village. O O P S.

He stepped back to give JW room to get down, hesitantly moving his hand away from his shoulder. "I can't move it - think it might be dislocated, but I'm not sure."

At the bottom of the ladder, JW found himself in a pickle. As anybody who often let their mind wander when daydreaming about a crush (and it was nice that he let himself have them again these days), he'd be lying if he ever said he hadn't imagined sweeping in to Ginko's rescue.

But now Ginko was actually hurt and JW wasn't entirely sure how to go about touching him. His brow furrowed and he felt along the man's shoulders with an ever-growing grimace. The last wound he treated on another person was a huge gash on Shirley's side.

She'd been wolf-shaped then. It had been different. And patching up Deuteronomy didn't count at all.

"It's not good. Shit, this is my fault, I should have warned you."

"No, it's alright - you told me to watch where I was going, and I didn't. Kind of brought this on myself."

He grimaced a little, trying not to flinch too much as JW checked the injury. It shouldn't surprise him that it hurt so much, or that it was feeling worse as time went by, but he guessed it had been longer than he thought since the last time this happened.

He huffed out a sigh. He wasn't sure he was strong enough to move it back to where it was supposed to be. Or even if that was the case. He wanted to call on Shirley...but that would also mean suffering Shirley. Maybe Vidia was the best choice after all...she was so far away though, they'd have to drive.

"Wait here. Si'down if you want. I'll get you some aspirin."

Ginko had no idea what aspirin was, but he nodded and sat down against the wall, clutching his shoulder and gritting his teeth a little.

He felt bad, honestly - he had hoped that he could just hide it until there was a good chance to head back without seeming like he was cutting the visit too short, and then he could talk to the doctor in the village. He didn't want JW to have to deal with this, but he doubted that protesting would do much good.

The world walker returned with a glass of water and two small white pills in-hand, both of which he passed to Ginko. They were low dose, surely they would be alright.

"I don't think I can fix this myself...I've got some friends around. One is into more, ah, natural medicine. Andmaybemagic. The other has traveled to some pretty remote places and helped folks out. She can also benchpress me. S' up to you."

He stared uncertainly at the pills for a few seconds. "Should I... bite down on these, or...?"

He glanced up again, his brow furrowing slightly. He felt like he didn't catch part of that. "...I'm not sure. I don't really know them, so... I guess I'll leave it up to which you think would be a better idea."

"Oh--uh. You just swallow 'em down with the water. If you chew them up they'll taste awful." "After some hesitation he leaned against the stair railing and folded his arms. It wasn't fair to make Ginko choose with so little go go on. "One is the lady I told you about earlier. You don't have to dye your hair, but she's a witch and magic might hurt less than Shirley ramming your shoulder back into place with her bare hands--assumin' Vidia can fix something like that. She's only really done magic on me once and that was to change me back into a man after I got stuck as a bird."

He nodded and dropped the pills into his mouth, gulping down a few mouthfuls of water and listening as JW explained.

Ginko gave an uncertain hum. "Well, hurting less is certainly good... if it works. I guess it's worth a shot, anyway."

He assumed that, if JW was suggesting this woman, she must know what she was doing well enough not to make it worse.

"Okay. Vidia it is. We'll have Shirley on backup if she doesn't have a potion or spell or...weird bee dance to help you. Follow me. You can just leave that up here," he gestured to the glass.

JW led his guest back down the stairs, not bothering to close the attic and save on their heating bill. There was yet another door Ginko had not been through--the front one. The front yard was just as overgrown as the back yard but here it was obvious just how much of a 'house on the hill' JW lived in. The whole of Hawksaw sprawled below them with its squat buildings and patchy asphalt. At least a dozen steeples stood above the rooftops. Powerlines hung like a spider's web across the little city.

But the most pressing matter was the thing that sat in the front hard: a big, black van--the kind with no backseat windows and double doors in the back. JW walked toward it.

Ginko set down the glass and pushed himself to his feet to follow JW, watching his step carefully on the way down the stairs. The last thing he needed right now was to fall again.

He paused outside the door, looking over the town in front of them. It wasn't like any town he had seen - the architecture, the streets, they were all unlike anything he was used to. Unfortunately, he didn't really have time to appreciate it at the moment. He followed JW to the van, eyeing the vehicle uncertainly.

JW found himself constantly teetering along a line--to explain things to Ginko to make his journey through the unknown easier, or to assume he could figure things out by himself. He stepped up to the van, yanked the door open, and climbed in.

"You can ride shotgun."

He reached across and unlocked the passenger side door.

"You're not walking all the way to Vidia's." Also he was still bushed from the walk from JAPAN.

After watching JW get into the car, Ginko went ahead and pulled the door open to climb in next to him, still looking slightly doubtful - but not enough to argue.

"Right... is this another truck, then?" And if so, how fast is it going to move.

"Yup. It's old but it works, I got an inspection sticker and everything."

Two years ago.

"You'll wanna do that belt looking thing to your right like this." He demonstrated putting on his seatbelt before cranking the engine. The van wheezed and puttered and came to life. So did the radio. Static filled the cabin and JW cringed. He turned the nob until most of a rock and roll station could be heard. "Sorry about that."

He managed to get his seatbelt buckled - and then immediately jolted a little as the radio started up, hissing sharply and grabbing his shoulder again. "--What was that?"

"That was static. I guess I'm outta range for that other station to pick up." He backed the van up and turned, taking them down his incredibly steep gravel drive. Once they hit the road with actual paving, the ride smoothed out.

"Vidia lives out even further in the sticks than I do, but we gotta hit the highway and circle back around. The other road got washed out this year. S' a big pain in the ass."

And to get to the highway, they had to drive through town. Hawksaw was primarily dirt and blacktop with some towering oaks that the people who settled the town didn't have the heart to chop down. They threw thin shadows over the street with their leafless limbs. A car lot, two funeral homes, six flower shops, a King's Reel movie rental place, and the co-op passed them by before they came to the town's only real stoplight. To their right was the Micky's gas station with its tall, rotating sign. A black and blue car was parked outside it and JW frowned, pressing further back in his seat.

"You see a car marked up like that? You get the hell outta sigh, okay?"

Ginko stayed mostly quiet as JW talked, keeping a hand on his shoulder and cringing a little at the initially bumpy ride down to the street, and gradually realized that he was starting to understand more of what was actually being said. He guessed that was kind of inevitable, given how much he had already learned about the future, but it still felt strange now that he really noticed it.

He watched in silence as the buildings passed by, quietly taking in the closer view of the strange structures that he had noticed from so far off. He glanced toward JW curiously as they moved up alongside the gas station. "Why?"

"Weeell..." He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as they waited for the light to change. "You don't have any ID on you...and he miiight be able to tell you aren't from around here."

That just got a vaguely confused stare. "And... what would happen?"

As someone who's used to wandering around and clearly not being from anywhere he goes, the idea that that might be a problem struck Ginko as a little strange.

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