deercountry | Sun rises, night falls, sometimes the sky calls...

[ It feels good to be able to do this, hold the guitar and actually play. He'd been taught ages ago at the boys home, but picking the guitar up again had been like riding a bicycle.

Easy. It felt right.

He pours himself into it with all the fervor of someone who's been repressed their entire life, unable to take time and enjoy something that brings him joy. ]

[Entranced, she rests her elbows on the stage, resting her chin in her palms. The song is unfamiliar, but there's something she likes about it.

She likes the idea of a weight being taken off of Dean, anyway.

He's had a lot on his shoulders.]

[ He sure does.

And when he finishes he'll bow, cheeks flushed with both elation and embarrassment, and scurry off the stage, his guitar still in hand.

She can probably easily catch him when he moves to pass. ]

[She gets so caught up in clapping, it takes her a second to realize that he's going right by. Quickly, she pushes off from the side of the stage, chasing after him.]

Dean! Wait!

[And she starts to reach out for him, before thinking better of it. Singing on stage can be a vulnerable position.

The last thing she wants to do is startle him.]

That was...amazing.

[ It startles him a little, but he's in a good mood and feeling pretty great about himself so he stops, flashing her a bright smile. ]

Yeah? You think so?

Yes!

[She knows so. Alastrians take their music very seriously. And she is her father's daughter, at heart.

She carries his flute for a reason.]

I...I didn't know you could do that!

I learned a long time ago, when I was a teenager.

[ He shifts the guitar over his back, strap around his chest. ]

I thought I'd be rusty, but it's like riding a bike.

Like riding a bike?

[Her brow furrows a little bit, her eyes flicking back and forth, trying to understand.

She fails.]

I...I don't think so. I mean, Deerington gave me a bike and...it doesn't make any music.

[Does she know how to ride it? No, she does not.]

[ He chuckles. ]

I just mean it was easy to pick it back up again. It's been really good for me, I think.

It...seems good.

[She'll have to make a note to ask him about bike-riding later.

For now, she's just going to enjoy this glow all around him.]

What was that song you were singing?

[ He feels lighter, less worried. The lines on his face smoothed, the feeling of something like peace in his bones. It's a new sensation. ]

It's called 'The Weight', a song by a band called...well. [ snort. ]

The band name is literally 'The Band'. Not very clever, I know.

[That makes her giggle.]

Well, at least they're very clear about what they are.

...who's Fanny, though?

[ He grins. She's right about that. ]

Uh, well. There's actually a lot of debate about what the song actually means. There's a lot of biblical subtext, but the band members deny it's religious. I don't think anyone actually knows.

Oh.

[A pause. It's inevitable.]

What does "biblical" mean?

[At least she knows 'subtext,' right?]

Airy it is, then.

Manabu startles a little, retracting the unshaken hand, for a moment uncertain of what to do in the face of a curtsy. He defaults to a slight, polite bow of the head and a bit of the shoulders while wearing that uncertain look of his. She's so polite! It's rare in his encounters.

"Uh, li-likewise," he manages, straightening back up and...staying that way. Almost at-rest in attention? It's an old habit. "But! But you don't have to say 'Sir'...just Manabu's good."

[ At least. ]

Remember how I told you about the religion stuff in my world? All the Christianity crap? It's based off a book called the bible.

Oh! Well, that makes more sense!

[Valerian religion has a holy book too.]

So you're saying the song...pays homage to this book?

In her experience--particularly with Humans--it was better to assume a title and be wrong, than to be informal and end up insulting them. But she wasn't exactly enamored with formalities, so she smiled happily, giving him a nod. "Of course. Manabu. It's a very nice name. Does it mean something?"

She walked over to a small, iron stove in the middle of the room and added a few twisted branches she'd salvaged from the forest.

Ariadne really didn't like fire. But it was a necessity. And she was still a little cold from before.

Plus, she had a guest!

There was no greater hospitality than ensuring your guest was comfortable. Or so she'd been told.

Given the recent loss of bits of her sanity, as well as the number of odd things in Sunnydale, the sight of Ariadne prompted a double take, but no other real reaction. It might be was seeing something or her mind shifted what actually was, as it seemed to be doing of late, or this might just be some random green person.

There were stories about nymphs, but those tended to be mythology. There were demons of different colors and abilities, but it seemed rude to make assumptions. And given the nature of this place, there were a lot of things that existed outside of her general information.

So, what was there really to do? Walk up to a stranger and question her? That felt...off and a bit more than her shyness could take. Instead, she followed the purpose that brought her here, which was meditation. She sat against a nearby tree and reached out to the earth, trying to feel the magic beneath her.

Serenity Garden was meant to be a public amenity. Ariadne dreamed of a place where everyone felt warm and welcome. Where people could pass the time or share their thoughts or fall in love.

All of the best things of humanoid society.

She hadn't anticipated anyone being eager to use the garden in the middle of winter. Not the way the strange Human lady seemed to be using it, anyway.

A crease of concern formed between her eyes. "Excuse me a moment, Dagmar," she said to her lemon tree, before take a few tentative steps in the stranger's direction. "...aren't you cold, my lady?"

While Manabu may be more reluctant to roam, his omen has no hangups whatsoever: The dog pads around, sniffing at fixtures near his level, craning his head to get a sniff of some of the herbs around.

"Eh?" The meaning? Not a question he'd expect to hear, really. It's kind of a nice surprise. "Aa, uh...we-well, it uses the same character for, like, to...to learn. My own name, I mean. My family name's like..." He sighs, rubbing at the back of his head. "It...depending on how you read it, can be like...possessing a history? Or having a future, I guess. But it's--it's just what the characters mean if they're not read as names, if...if that makes sense."

"It sounds like someone..." Fate. Destiny. Parents. "...expected you to be a scholar of history," she said.

Even if nominative determinism was something Alastrians hated and feared, she found it fascinating. A sort of insight, a window into the hopes and dreams of parents of children.

She gave him a smile. "Are you one of the scholars here in Trench?"

"It's a planting method," he answered as he followed her in.

"The beans use the corn for support and the squash keep the ground from drying out. You can plant three times as many crops in the same amount of space and they all support each other- wow.. this is incredible."

He could nerd out about gardening for hours. Never the best student in school, Raleigh made up for it with thirst for knowledge and relentless insomnia. He'd entered Deerington the previous October and was immediately met with persisting food insecurity. Nothing he hadn't known in his life before but in the dream, at least, he could do something about it, and suddenly gardening became incredibly important to him. Trench was no different. Having long gotten bored of mushrooms, and the chickens he farmed bring more important for their eggs than their meat, He needed to be doing more. And wouldn't you know it, there just wasn't an agriculture supply to stroll into.

"You did all this?"

"Well, Deerington helped," she said. "The shop, the apartment above it, the orchard...all of them were part of my home there. A part that somehow came with me to Trench."

But there was no disguising the pride on her face, the absolutely radiant smile. She really loved her orchard and her trees. They were her family and she was so happy that they were with her. Someone she could talk to, someone who would listen; while the rest of her world made almost no sense, half of the time.

And as for the rest? Well, she had big plans for it. Serenity Garden was meant to be a public amenity. Ariadne dreamed of a place where everyone felt warm and welcome.
Where people could pass the time or share their thoughts or fall in love.

All of the best things of humanoid society.

Raleigh would have to agree with her, the idea was a romantic notion and he possessed a poet's heart.

"Ohh.. I thought we had something like this back there. That was you. Right, I'm with you."

A hur dhurr dhurrr

"My partner's house came with us here, too. Amazing, actually."

It was also very helpful, even if it had taken them a week or two to find the place as they searched for somewhere more suitable to live than a gross squat. He'd searched Ache and Feed but apparently not well enough the first time. In Chuck's words, he hadn't been looking with his eyes, he'd been looking with his ass.

Sun rises, night falls, sometimes the sky calls...

me tooo he's so talented

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