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.
"In America, you have to go through a whole bunch of--" Red tape wouldn't mean anything to Ginko. "Gates and...approvals in order to visit, let alone live here if you're from another country. You need something called a passport and to get that you've got to have a birth certificate and a bunch of other shit."
It was one of the less glamorous parts of the future.
"Now, Bugle--that particular cop, I don't think he'd give you trouble if you were with me. But if somebody else caught you alone, they might, I dunno, try to deport you."
"...That sounds... complicated." That was about the best word he had for it. It seemed kind of needlessly complicated, frankly, but for all he knew there was some reason for it he just didn't have the context for.
(Though, to be fair, it wasn't as if Ginko knew a lot about how immigration or identification worked in his own time and country to begin with.)
He sat back again with a lopsided shrug. "But, alright. I'll try to keep from... being deported."
"Yeah, it's complicated..." His worried frown finally turned back into a sneaky grin. "Luckily, we got inter-dimensional tree gates on our side. I could show you all sorts a' great stuff so long as we don't get caught."
The buildings thinned on either side of them and the van passed between vast pastures of cattle before taking a wide turn into a forest.
"Right. That makes things a little easier." He offered a small smile in reply, adjusting his hold to keep his shoulder steady as the van started moving again.
As they kept moving, the land shifted again to what he was a little more used to. Ginko kept looking around, though, apparently no less interested in the woods and farmlands than in the futuristic town.
"The whole magic thing is kinda secret...just like I tried to keep time travel a secret from you."
JW, you could become a wonderful history professor but no you use this rare gift to pick up guys.
The trees rushed along either side of them and were gone again. Soon they came to a highway packed with roaring cars, trucks, semis, and more. Nothing but soybeans stretched either way. JW pulled out onto the road and started to head west.
"She's not too far now. I wish they'd fix the roads...oh hey!"
He turned the radio up slightly as The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" began to play.
"Makes sense. Could cause trouble otherwise." One person talking about strange things that those around them don't understand always seems to make things complicated.
And then they hit the freeway. Ginko jumped a little as the first semi roared past, pressing back against his seat and staring wide-eyed out the window. He barely seemed to notice as JW turned up the radio.
JW grinned at the radio, almost humming along with the song.
And then he saw poor Ginko's face. He casually turned the music up a little louder.
"Yeah it's--busy this time of day! Don't worry, they all stay on their side of the road. There's laws and markings and all that good stuff."
Somewhere a car honked.
Soon enough they came to a long gravel road that turned off the high way and ducked back into the forest they left behind a ways back. The bustle of the four-lane faded behind them and soon more and more roads began to appear. Houses too--little houses, big houses, some were trailers backed by sprawling, muddy horse pastures. Dogs barked and cow ponds reflected the sky.
"Right. Good." Ginko nodded, but kept staring suspiciously out the window.
He relaxed a little as they left the highway, watching the houses and pastures go by instead. The gravel road meant he needed to try a little harder to keep his shoulder still - the pills JW gave him certainly helped, but it was definitely getting worse as time went by, and he couldn't avoid wincing occasionally whenever the van hit a particularly notable bump.
Soon the houses thinned and the driveways grew longer and longer. They entered the neighborhood of those who did not want to be bothered and that is where they came upon Vidia's trailer. It was situated on the furthest back corner of a weedy property against a tree line. The place was squat, white, and decorated with a vegetable garden that was empty, a collapsed above ground swimming pool, a ramshackle internet tower, and lastly, the beehives. They stood in a neat row, all six of them, near her door.
Vidia did not like salesmen.
JW honked twice, waited, and then honked once more. The storm door opened and a small, squat woman (much like her house) in a faded NASCAR t-shirt with brown hair and one false leg peered out. She broke into a grin when she saw the big black van.
"Never saw a bird that could drive!"
"You're hilarious." JW killed the engine and hopped out. "I did bring you an injured animal though. You know anything about jacked up shoulders?"
"A thing or two." Vidia's attention moved to the passenger's side window. Her brows lifted at the sight of his hair. "Where'd you pick him up?
"A few centuries back. Come out, Ginko, she's harmless."
Ginko stayed silently in the van as they talked, examining Vidia's house for a few seconds before turning his attention to the two in front of him.
When JW called him out, he gave a slight nod and, after a bit of fumbling, managed to get the door open. Then, after more fumbling, he unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the van.
"Hey, uh..." He winced a little, shifting his hold on his shoulder again. "Good to meet you."
Vidia looked Ginko up and down again now that he was out of the van.
"How dare you be so tall," she said to him before holding out a hand for Ginko's functional one. "Vidia Kamora. I don't have a degree, but I'll see what I can do. What happened?"
"Fell." JW said quickly, leaving out the somewhat embarrassing circumstances. Or he thought they were anyway. It wasn't an injury to be proud of--nothing like being attacked by a wild future beast or injured by some future weapon. No, it had to be a terrible thing from the beginning of man himself.
Stairs.
Vidia scratched her neck as she thought. "I'm guessin' you want me to whip you boys up a spell."
"If it's not too much trouble."
Meanwhile, a lazy honeybee landed on the collar of Ginko's shirt and investigated him.
Vidia squinted at Ginko one more time. "Well, the girls like him. Come inside. And don't touch anything."
She quickly bustled inside, letting the door slam loudly behind her.
JW let out a huge breath he'd been holding in and propped his hands on his knees. "She didn't mention a trade at all, her bees must really like you."
"Ah... sorry." He sounded as if he was kind of used to apologizing for his height, even if he wasn't used to people being quite so blunt about it. "Name's Ginko." He shook her hand, a little awkwardly, and didn't add to JW's description of the incident.
He glanced at the bee on his collar, watching as the tiny insect clambered over the fabric before glancing up as Vidia hurried back into the house. He turned to JW again curiously. "The bees, huh."
"The bees." JW couldn't help but roll his eyes. Vidia was a good friend and JW was a nosy creature by nature, but man, there were some things he just didn't want to know.
He led the way inside. The trailer was well-lit and smelled strongly of potpourri. The overhead fan was going even in winter and every available surface was packed with NASCAR memorabilia. Cereal boxes, model cars in various states of construction, posters, framed photos of famous races, collectible plates. It was everywhere.
An enormous St. Bernard named Dale Jr. snoozed under the kitchen table and didn't so much as twitch an ear when the men entered. Vidia was hovering over an electric crockpot.
JW eyed the dog with obvious discomfort and went so far as to edge Ginko forward so that there was something between him and it. Still, he craned his neck to get his friend's attention. "So what are you making?"
"Beanie Weenies."
"For Ginko's arm!" JW struggled to rein in his irritation.
"That won't take near as long as these beans will. Sit down."
Once again, when their surroundings changed, Ginko found himself distracted by... well, everything. And Vidia's home had a lot to be distracted by. Ginko, of course, had no idea what NASCAR was, but that just raised all the more questions in his mind about the memorabilia surrounding them. He glanced briefly between JW and the dog when JW nudged him forward, but Dale Jr. was far too busy sleeping and everything else in the room far too interesting for him to be all that concerned.
He gave James a very slight, asymmetrical shrug. He wasn't looking much less strained himself, really, but he could wait. And ask more questions in the meantime. "What are Beanie Weenies?"
"It's like...sausages. In beans...with sauce..." JW offered with a grimace. He didn't particularly dislike beanie weenies but his fuse was running short. Why was she just fucking around? She had an injured person in her kitchen!
Vidia continued puttering away over her pot, adding dashes of things and humming pleasantly to herself.
JW coughed loudly.
"I can whip up something for that cough, too, but it'll cost you."
JW sucked his lips inward and finally sank down into a chair, keeping his feet as far away from Dale Jr. as possible.
Finally, once the beanies were weenied, Vidia brought the whole mess over to the table and sat it on a ceramic cooling tile shaped like a race car. Two bowls and two spoons were supplied and then she disappeared into the back. When she returned, she had a small purple crystal in one hand and a pouch in the other. She offered Ginko the crystal.
"You hold this and don't break eye-contact with it."
Ginko didn't move to sit down until JW did, dropping into another chair with one hand still clasped over his shoulder. He sat there in silence until Vidia returned with the crystal, and he reached out cautiously to take it, glancing briefly and questioningly at Vidia before shifting his attention to the crystal with a nod. "Got it."
The crystal pulsed with a soft light as it sat quietly in Ginko's hand. Vidia inspected his shoulder and coaxed the bee that had ridden on his shirt onto her hand before shooing it out an open window.
"Mmmm, you had a nasty fall? Looks it. You keep watching the crystal." She opened the pouch and pulled out a single starlight mint and popped it into her mouth before she set to work. The witch placed her fingers in a shape around the mushi master's shoulder and made a sucking sound with her mouth and drew her fingers away. Slowly, slowly, the pain seeped out into the air as something thick and ugly like smoke but oily at the same time. JW's eyes widened as he watched it happen but he didn't want to do anything that might get Ginko's attention.
Then, in a flash, the smoke fanned out and shot in all directions, thinning, thinning, until it was barely visible. Suddenly, in a swift, violent motion, Vidia grabbed Ginko's shoulder and wrenched it back into place with a wet popping sound. Like stretched elastic, the grimy smoke came rushing back in and with it, came the pain. It throbbed and settled into Ginko's bones.
"There." Vidia dusted her hands off. "Damage is fixed, but it'll still hurt like the devil for a while, 'course. You like that rock? Friend of mine from the internet sent it to me. Has a little battery in the bottom."
JW opened his mouth and then occupied it with the beanie weenies before he could say anything he might regret.
He kept his eyes fixed on the crystal, not letting himself look away even as he noticed the pain in his shoulder fade away, seemingly out of nowhere. In many ways, Ginko could be a difficult patient. But, when it came to vaguely-or-entirely magical things, he knew better than to fidget or make things difficult.
Ginko didn't even let himself look up when Vidia shoved his shoulder back into its socket, even as his expression shifted with an automatic, purely instinctual flinch that didn't move beyond his face. When the pain all rushed back, though, he couldn't suppress a sharp, choked hiss, curling the fingers of his now-functional hand against his leg.
"--Thanks. Uh, yeah, it's... it's nice." It made a good distraction, he would certainly give her that.
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theattic2015-08-13 03:59 pm
no subject
"Right... is this another truck, then?" And if so, how fast is it going to move.
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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."
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"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?"
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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?"
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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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"In America, you have to go through a whole bunch of--" Red tape wouldn't mean anything to Ginko. "Gates and...approvals in order to visit, let alone live here if you're from another country. You need something called a passport and to get that you've got to have a birth certificate and a bunch of other shit."
It was one of the less glamorous parts of the future.
"Now, Bugle--that particular cop, I don't think he'd give you trouble if you were with me. But if somebody else caught you alone, they might, I dunno, try to deport you."
no subject
(Though, to be fair, it wasn't as if Ginko knew a lot about how immigration or identification worked in his own time and country to begin with.)
He sat back again with a lopsided shrug. "But, alright. I'll try to keep from... being deported."
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"Yeah, it's complicated..." His worried frown finally turned back into a sneaky grin. "Luckily, we got inter-dimensional tree gates on our side. I could show you all sorts a' great stuff so long as we don't get caught."
The buildings thinned on either side of them and the van passed between vast pastures of cattle before taking a wide turn into a forest.
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As they kept moving, the land shifted again to what he was a little more used to. Ginko kept looking around, though, apparently no less interested in the woods and farmlands than in the futuristic town.
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JW, you could become a wonderful history professor but no you use this rare gift to pick up guys.
The trees rushed along either side of them and were gone again. Soon they came to a highway packed with roaring cars, trucks, semis, and more. Nothing but soybeans stretched either way. JW pulled out onto the road and started to head west.
"She's not too far now. I wish they'd fix the roads...oh hey!"
He turned the radio up slightly as The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" began to play.
no subject
And then they hit the freeway. Ginko jumped a little as the first semi roared past, pressing back against his seat and staring wide-eyed out the window. He barely seemed to notice as JW turned up the radio.
no subject
And then he saw poor Ginko's face. He casually turned the music up a little louder.
"Yeah it's--busy this time of day! Don't worry, they all stay on their side of the road. There's laws and markings and all that good stuff."
Somewhere a car honked.
Soon enough they came to a long gravel road that turned off the high way and ducked back into the forest they left behind a ways back. The bustle of the four-lane faded behind them and soon more and more roads began to appear. Houses too--little houses, big houses, some were trailers backed by sprawling, muddy horse pastures. Dogs barked and cow ponds reflected the sky.
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He relaxed a little as they left the highway, watching the houses and pastures go by instead. The gravel road meant he needed to try a little harder to keep his shoulder still - the pills JW gave him certainly helped, but it was definitely getting worse as time went by, and he couldn't avoid wincing occasionally whenever the van hit a particularly notable bump.
no subject
Vidia did not like salesmen.
JW honked twice, waited, and then honked once more. The storm door opened and a small, squat woman (much like her house) in a faded NASCAR t-shirt with brown hair and one false leg peered out. She broke into a grin when she saw the big black van.
"Never saw a bird that could drive!"
"You're hilarious." JW killed the engine and hopped out. "I did bring you an injured animal though. You know anything about jacked up shoulders?"
"A thing or two." Vidia's attention moved to the passenger's side window. Her brows lifted at the sight of his hair. "Where'd you pick him up?
"A few centuries back. Come out, Ginko, she's harmless."
"I'll beat you with this leg."
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When JW called him out, he gave a slight nod and, after a bit of fumbling, managed to get the door open. Then, after more fumbling, he unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the van.
"Hey, uh..." He winced a little, shifting his hold on his shoulder again. "Good to meet you."
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"How dare you be so tall," she said to him before holding out a hand for Ginko's functional one. "Vidia Kamora. I don't have a degree, but I'll see what I can do. What happened?"
"Fell." JW said quickly, leaving out the somewhat embarrassing circumstances. Or he thought they were anyway. It wasn't an injury to be proud of--nothing like being attacked by a wild future beast or injured by some future weapon. No, it had to be a terrible thing from the beginning of man himself.
Stairs.
Vidia scratched her neck as she thought. "I'm guessin' you want me to whip you boys up a spell."
"If it's not too much trouble."
Meanwhile, a lazy honeybee landed on the collar of Ginko's shirt and investigated him.
Vidia squinted at Ginko one more time. "Well, the girls like him. Come inside. And don't touch anything."
She quickly bustled inside, letting the door slam loudly behind her.
JW let out a huge breath he'd been holding in and propped his hands on his knees. "She didn't mention a trade at all, her bees must really like you."
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He glanced at the bee on his collar, watching as the tiny insect clambered over the fabric before glancing up as Vidia hurried back into the house. He turned to JW again curiously. "The bees, huh."
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He led the way inside. The trailer was well-lit and smelled strongly of potpourri. The overhead fan was going even in winter and every available surface was packed with NASCAR memorabilia. Cereal boxes, model cars in various states of construction, posters, framed photos of famous races, collectible plates. It was everywhere.
An enormous St. Bernard named Dale Jr. snoozed under the kitchen table and didn't so much as twitch an ear when the men entered. Vidia was hovering over an electric crockpot.
JW eyed the dog with obvious discomfort and went so far as to edge Ginko forward so that there was something between him and it. Still, he craned his neck to get his friend's attention. "So what are you making?"
"Beanie Weenies."
"For Ginko's arm!" JW struggled to rein in his irritation.
"That won't take near as long as these beans will. Sit down."
JW shot Ginko strained, apologetic look.
no subject
He gave James a very slight, asymmetrical shrug. He wasn't looking much less strained himself, really, but he could wait. And ask more questions in the meantime. "What are Beanie Weenies?"
no subject
"It's like...sausages. In beans...with sauce..." JW offered with a grimace. He didn't particularly dislike beanie weenies but his fuse was running short. Why was she just fucking around? She had an injured person in her kitchen!
Vidia continued puttering away over her pot, adding dashes of things and humming pleasantly to herself.
JW coughed loudly.
"I can whip up something for that cough, too, but it'll cost you."
JW sucked his lips inward and finally sank down into a chair, keeping his feet as far away from Dale Jr. as possible.
Finally, once the beanies were weenied, Vidia brought the whole mess over to the table and sat it on a ceramic cooling tile shaped like a race car. Two bowls and two spoons were supplied and then she disappeared into the back. When she returned, she had a small purple crystal in one hand and a pouch in the other. She offered Ginko the crystal.
"You hold this and don't break eye-contact with it."
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"Mmmm, you had a nasty fall? Looks it. You keep watching the crystal." She opened the pouch and pulled out a single starlight mint and popped it into her mouth before she set to work. The witch placed her fingers in a shape around the mushi master's shoulder and made a sucking sound with her mouth and drew her fingers away. Slowly, slowly, the pain seeped out into the air as something thick and ugly like smoke but oily at the same time. JW's eyes widened as he watched it happen but he didn't want to do anything that might get Ginko's attention.
Then, in a flash, the smoke fanned out and shot in all directions, thinning, thinning, until it was barely visible. Suddenly, in a swift, violent motion, Vidia grabbed Ginko's shoulder and wrenched it back into place with a wet popping sound. Like stretched elastic, the grimy smoke came rushing back in and with it, came the pain. It throbbed and settled into Ginko's bones.
"There." Vidia dusted her hands off. "Damage is fixed, but it'll still hurt like the devil for a while, 'course. You like that rock? Friend of mine from the internet sent it to me. Has a little battery in the bottom."
JW opened his mouth and then occupied it with the beanie weenies before he could say anything he might regret.
no subject
Ginko didn't even let himself look up when Vidia shoved his shoulder back into its socket, even as his expression shifted with an automatic, purely instinctual flinch that didn't move beyond his face. When the pain all rushed back, though, he couldn't suppress a sharp, choked hiss, curling the fingers of his now-functional hand against his leg.
"--Thanks. Uh, yeah, it's... it's nice." It made a good distraction, he would certainly give her that.
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