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 snorted softly.

"Don't worry about it. This stuff happens all the time; it's not your fault."

[goldeneyeball]

"Yeah? You look pretty well-put together to me."

Then again, Ginko was always bundled up head to toe. Or at least he had been since JW met him.

[onegreeneye]

"Mm... thanks, I guess. I suppose I've gotten used to it - which makes it a little easier to deal with when it happens, for the most part."

He took another breath of smoke. At least JW seemed to be right about it helping with the pain.

[goldeneyeball]

"I guess you'd have to be as much as you stay in the woods."

He shut his eyes and listened to the forest finish waking up. He wasn't looking forward to walking around the long way. He was pretty tired.

"How're you doing over there?"

[onegreeneye]

"Better, I guess. Sort of." That's not a useful answer, Ginko.

He tilted his head back and looked up at the cliff face above them. "...Least we'll be able to see our way back."

[goldeneyeball]

"Yeah. Just lemme know when you wanna try. I'd offer to let you lean on me if you want, but I, uh, don't think I'd be much help."

Suddenly he got an idea.

"Both my legs still work. I'll find and carve you down a crutch."

[onegreeneye]

"...That might be a good idea. Thanks." Even with his leg stitched up and the pain receding a little as the smoke he's breathed in takes effect, he doubts he'll be able to get back up there unassisted.

...Actually, come to think of it, the smoke will probably make it harder. He may not know what, exactly, he's smoking here, but it's definitely not making him any less tired.

[goldeneyeball]

Meanwhile, JW, who was used to operating under a fine haze most days, stood and started looking around for a promising sapling. Finally he found one that wasn't too bendy and pulled out his pocket knife.

While he worked, his guts decided that it was time to loudly proclaim that neither of them had eaten breakfast. JW had not considered this when he lit up and he made a face as he carved out a cradle for Ginko's arm.

"Say, Ginko, you ever come across a dead person before?"

Why was that the first distraction he could think of? He wasn't sure. Maybe because with Ginko's white hair, the rest of him would have blended in with the snow eventually.

[onegreeneye]

Ginko blinked and looked over at him, his brow furrowing. "...What kind of a question is that?"

A moment later, though, he sat back against the slope again with a sigh, watching JW work. "...Once or twice. Not an experience I'd like to have very often."

[goldeneyeball]

"Just wondering...I mean. You see so much more of your world than I do of mine." He turned the crutch over a few times and bent it this way and that. "That and this is some pretty dangerous wilderness. You saw my place. There's not a lot left somebody hasn't paved or fenced off."

[onegreeneye]

"Hm. Guess that makes sense. But it's not as if people die out here all that frequently... most who are going to be out here a lot know how to deal with it."

He was quiet for another few seconds. "I take it you haven't, then?"

[goldeneyeball]

"Not unless the undead count." He held the crutch up and turned it over a few times in his hands before shuffling over to Ginko on his knees and laying it beside him to measure.

Gosh he was tall. Gave JW a good run for his money. Hngg.

"Though there aren't any mountains near where I live either."

[onegreeneye]

"Good point."

He watched as JW checked the length of the crutch, his gaze drifting over the cradle carved out of the top. "...'S pretty good."

[goldeneyeball]

"Thanks," he said automatically. If he'd blinked, he would have missed it. The antlered man held his head a little higher. "I can still trim it down once you test it out." He flopped back down and sat, legs straight out in front of him. His jeans were soaked from the snow by now but he didn't like looming over Ginko. It felt weird.

For a moment he ran out of things to say. As soon as he thought of something and opened his mouth, his stomach interrupted him again. "So...you use that for winter camo?"

He gestured to Ginko's hair.

[onegreeneye]

"Hm? Oh." He glanced upward at his own bangs, lifting one hand enough to push his fingers through his hair, unusually careless about whether he ends up exposing the black pit of his empty eye socket.

"...I'm not sure what I would be trying to camouflage against, actually. Not like it's going to fool the mushi."

[goldeneyeball]

"I dunno...people...wild animals?" What kind of wild animals did Nowhere Japan have? JW was cut off by the sight of that hole in his head. There was an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach that wasn't a growl. Was he going to end up like that one day?

"Don't guess there's any hiding from something invisible..."

[onegreeneye]

"Guess so... don't usually want to hide from people these days, though."

Somehow, through a combination of barely catching that break in JW's speech, and noticing where his hand was, and years of experience, Ginko realized that the place where his eye should be was in full view. His hand jerked away from his face for a moment before brushing his hair hurriedly back into place and dropping by his side, his fingers curling nervously against the ground.

"Sorry. Usually better about keeping that covered up." He frowned slightly, staring for a moment at the roll of paper and plant matter held between the fingers of his other hand. "...What's in these?"

[goldeneyeball]

"Hey, it's fine. I'm just not usually on the other end of this kind of thing."

He was the one who got stared at back home. Everyone thought he had jaundice. And of course he continued to stare at the man's hair where he knew the socket was. He couldn't unsee it now.

"Weed." A shrug. Then he realized that probably wouldn't mean much to Ginko. "It's just...a plant. Helps with pain. Has some side effects. Isn't very legal so don't go wavin' it around in public back home."

[onegreeneye]

Ginko gave a soft hum of acknowledgement at JW's reassurance, but he didn't look much less uncomfortable over the whole thing. Letting people know he was missing an eye was one thing, but inadvertently giving them a nice, clear view of that pit? That was quite another.

"Side effects, huh." He gave a quiet huff. "That explains a lot..."

He looked up the slope again with a frown, then back to JW. "Think we should probably go?"

[goldeneyeball]

"They don't make medicine without side effects." He stood and held out a hand. "Let's. My ass is frozen. Time to try out that crutch."

Plus side to this stressful situation JW did not realize until just this moment: EXCUSE FOR HAND HOLDING.

[onegreeneye]

Ginko nodded, getting the crutch under one arm and taking hold of JW's hand. He struggled to his feet, wobbling a little and hissing through his teeth as pain panged through his leg.

"--Seems to work alright." He kept a tight hold on JW's hand, not really in any shape to be too shy about physical contact.

[goldeneyeball]

JW suddenly realized how not-cut-out-for-this he was when Ginko nearly yanked him back down onto the snow. He scrabbled backwards and took hold of another sapling nearby to help pull him up.

"Hup! Good. Good to hear. Lemme grab our junk and we can get out of this pit." With one hand on his traveling buddy, he stooped down to start putting things away. The smoke was finally hitting him and he didn't feel nearly so worried. He'd stopped imagining Ginko's leg falling off anyway.

"Tent's not too far."

[onegreeneye]

"Right. That's good." God, he felt awful. His leg didn't hurt as much as it might have without the weed, but it still hurt, and he could still feel the cold working through his limbs. Not to mention that he was hungry now. Why this.

Ginko grimaced slightly, leaning heavily on the crutch as he waited for JW to finish packing up so they could start making their way back up the cliffside.

[goldeneyeball]

JW slung the pack on, moved into position so that Ginko could lean on him if needed, and began the trek.

The smoke did little to warm him from the inside out and he couldn't think of anything to talk about until the sides of the gully started sloping enough to suggest they really could get out. Then it was around the side and up the hill.

"We can crack open that instant coffee when we get back to the fire. That'll be nice. How you makin' it?"

[onegreeneye]

He definitely did lean on JW - he wasn't really sure how long he would be able to stand upright if he didn't, honestly - but he tried to put enough weight on the crutch not to bowl his friend over entirely.

"'M alright." There was an audible, pained twinge to his voice, through the slur of smoke and exhaustion. But he just tightened his grip on JW's hand a little and did well enough at keeping pace with him. After a few minutes, he found that his head could rest pretty easily and comfortably against the antlered man's shoulder, and so there it stayed.