harvest moon: yogen

[mermaidcursed]

WHO: Gardening Club
WHAT: Did you know the roof has gardening plots? 
WHEN: Before bodies start dropping, September
WHERE: The roof! 
WARNINGS: Hopefully not. 

One meeting after school, Nene announces that with access to the school rooftop granted, there's been a delightful discovery: rooftop garden plots! The first time she leads them up there- careful as they cross through the fourth floor's right wing, because it feels wrong to pass through a graveyard so carelessly- it's to survey what needs doing- it's been left alone for a long time, after all, and she'd hate to find damage in it too late. Once everything is correctly examined, Nene puts together a list after consulting Lucifer a little, and announces that on the following Sunday this September, because I definitely didn't die from the sleepover and stuff last month, the club will work together to fix up the rooftop gardens and plant some fall vegetables that the shopkeeper helpfully provided seeds for. As a matter of fact, they even made a special request, and Nene will see it through. 

Fall Seeds: 

• Onions (red, yellow), Garlic
• Root Vegetables (beets, carrots, radishes, turnips)
• Leafy Vegetables (spinach, lettuce (variety except iceberg, which i have a grudge against), cabbage) 
• Snow Peas, Snap Peas
• Shopkeeper's Request: Mung Beans 

It's time to get to work! (Thankfully, cold drinks are also prepared and hauled up, as well as plenty of rice balls and other snacks.)

Comments

[notsosou]

[Cold drinks : ( ...okay he doesn't hate them, but he def has a preferred drink temperature (hot water do not interact). Snacks though...

As usual he arrives late and inconsistently and mysteriously disappears/is busy elsewhere when something looks like it needs heavy lifting or too much dirt (a varying threshold), but it's also been two months of peripheral clubbing and that's enough time to settle into a sort of place. And also to have picked up a few things about gardening beyond his previous starting level of 'idk, you water the green thing', having that mix of overcaution and newbie mistakes still.

Today though, it's planting... He's learnt rapidly to have his scarf stuffed inside his jacket because with indoor gardening he could somewhat get away with just being careful with it and remembering not to reflexively touch it but outdoor gardening is not so kind. His neck feels a bit exposed without it; he keeps rubbing the back of it or pulling up his jacket's collar. Midway up it, a thin, completely uniform ring of scarring about an inch wide is still a little raised and reddish.

He's easily found helping out in a corner or roped into doing something specific or leaning against something catching his breath or eating a rice ball near the clocktower wall while looking out at the courtyard.]

LIKE YOU'D GET OUT OF MANUAL LABOR ON MY WATCH

[radnarok]

Scary guy!

[ Crona waves Shin over with their trowel. He thought he'd managed to mysteriously vanish when they were pulling out dirt...but Crona is smarter then that! They see where he's hiding! ]

Come help with the dirt! I can only carry three at once, you need to get the fourth one!

NOOOO leaves fingernail marks on the ground

[notsosou]

[I'm gonna assume this is the day after the sleepover now, but before the elevator and pool body. Man the 12th was a busy day.

Oh no, he's been spotted. He gives the area a quick reflexive glance, but no, everyone else is preoccupied and he is trapped by that most insidious of cages: social convention. He has no choice but to half-pace over.]

C-coming, coming, jeez.

[He stares down at the lone forlorn compost bag like it's Sisyphus's rock. Shades of the stuck cabinet door travel across his eyes.]

.....you can't just do two trips?

[He's seen Crona's lifting prowess before in this club and honestly: how.]

[radnarok]

You're already here, scary guy.

[ Points down at the bag with a quizzical but...slightly smug expression. It couldn't be this is their own little harmless form of revenge... ]

Nene said work fast and I'm taking three. Were you doing something?

[notsosou]

[Ohhh he knows revenge when he sees it. Why didn't he just pretend not to hear...]

I'm supervising you. [Very important role, totally didn't just grab for it on the spot.] Besides, aren't you losing time just talking to me?

[TWO CAN PLAY THIS GAME.]

[mermaidcursed]

Are you having fun?

( don't mind nene popping up! she definitely will need to wash her leggings later, but she seems satisfied at the moment. ... maybe not entirely happy but... satisfied. sometimes, that has to be enough. )

I'm really excited for fresh veggies. Growing them yourself is the best.

[notsosou]

[Is he having fun? Well he's puffed and tired just from the little he's done, uncomfortably sweaty and gross, and the wind on the roof minus his scarf is a bit chilly for his liking, he keeps feeling like people are looking at him, and he's going to have to really scrub his fingernails later...

But... there's something simple about it he has no good comparison for. Even the rare quiet night shift nights where nothing needed doing and nobody came in, just him and his coworker and some hot drinks, the only sound the quiet noises of the city outside and the occasional turn of a magazine page... that was different. It's a bit sad in hindsight, realizing that sort of thing was what he looked forward to, apart from new episodes of things coming out.

Satisfaction, though. That really is it.]

Yeah, it's... actually kinda nice, huh. [He'll admit this to Nene but not to anyone else in case they decide that's permission to make him move more things.] R-right, that makes them taste extra good, doesn't it?

[Or so he's heard. It hadn't really hit home they'd actually be doing things with the plants they're growing. Like he got lost in the process of it but also. Thinking about the future... it's usually something that doesn't feel that great to do.]

[mermaidcursed]

It does! It's the love you put into it and the satisfaction of your hard work paying off! Plus, it's allll natural!

( and she sounds so excited when she says it all, too. of course, she's got a few years of experience with this sort of delight- months of hard work for a delicious or beautiful payoff. it doesn't last long- things need to be eaten, and flowers don't stay forever- but it's still worth it in her opinion. )

[notsosou]

If you care about that sort of thing...

[You know, all natural this and organic that, like all the labeling on packets he's skeptical about. But there's no bite to the statement at all.]

Haha, I wonder what kind of soup they'd make.

[You know how in fandoms where like, a character mentioned a favorite food once and it's become their entire personality? Turns out Shin is just genuinely just Like That. He's already imagining it... perfect winter food, with the aforementioned love and satisfaction... Now he's actually getting ahead of himself about that delicious payoff.]

[hanaban]

[ Maybe his neck wouldn't be so red if he'd stop touching it— or maybe he's sunburned? The reason really doesn't matter, just that it caught Hanako's attention enough to sneak up behind Shin (not hard when you're a ghost floating three feet off the ground) blow freezing cold air at the back of his neck. ]

[notsosou]

[Oh he's absolutely getting a touch of sunburn... even with his natural gravitation towards a good warm sunbeam, it's been two months stuck indoors... and three days stuck underground... and about a year stuck working night shift... Shin your vitamin D. Shin.]

Urk!

[The sudden blast from the arctic has him jolting quite impressively! He tries to play it off, holding onto his beanie with one hand as he looks around for the source.]

[hanaban]

pft— Ahaha!

[ The source is right there behind him, eye level with Shin because he's a ghost and gets to cheat. ]

Feeling more awake now?

[ He sees you bumming around, Shin... even though he's doing the exact same thing not doing any heavy lifting and Nene is stronger than both Hanako and Shin combined anyways. ]

[notsosou]

[They're all ghosts here... it's double cheating! >: / But he doesn't know that yet. Thankfully he's had that mental preparation that like, ghosts are a thing, but he's still lingeringly unnerved and trying to hide it. The idea of being invisibly watched... brrr. He's not fond of people enjoying spooking him either, but that's more mundane.]

Geez... don't you have anything better to do?

[The answer is, no. They are both slackers. Look at Nene go.]

Isn't there a place you're supposed to be haunting, or something?

[mermaidcursed]

i. debris

( it's honestly impressive that there's branches up here, some of the plots are even filled... but clearing them out is important, and perhaps they branches could be part of firewood for the fireplace come winter? they'll definitely need to stock up for that. nene stands in one plot, picking up branches and stones. )

I haven't seen any cracks, thankfully- I'm not sure how we'd deal with those...

ii. cleaning

( admittedly, nene is... a little less involved in this matter- despite the red jacket covering her arms, her tights on her legs, she's still wary of activating her curse in front of people. but she can at least haul up buckets of soapy water, sweep up the stray messes from moving branches and rocks, everything else. )

It's looking really good!

iii. planting

( this is the fun part, she thinks- divvying up seeds amongst the plots. since the shopkeeper had asked her specifically, she takes the mung beans- and then carrots and bibb lettuce, and... ... carrots.

sideeyes the radishes.

anyways. )

We've only got limited tools, so lets make sure to let people know when one's in use! Does anyone need a trowel?

iv. wildcard

( GARDEN..... GARDEN TIME )

planting

[radnarok]

Neeeeneee.

[ Holding a trowel like you would a bloody knife and covered in dirt, Crona appears! ]

How deep do you want the holes for plants...? I keep hitting bricks.

[mermaidcursed]

Oh-- uh, remember, the back of the seed packets or the label on the bag the bulbs were in will always say how deep to go! Now let's get some of the soil back in-

( they're a little confused... but they got the spirit, at least. )

[radnarok]

[ The spirit, yes. They bring the determination of a slasher movie villain to the noble art of gardening. ]

Sorry, I don't know what cm means. I tried my best. [ They dug...a very big hole! ]

I can do it, if I messed it up. You can get back to your work, Nene!

[mermaidcursed]

Umm... can you go to the crafts room, and get a ruler? It's very important, and with it I can show you what 'cm' is and means. Okay?

ii

[moraloutrage]

[Ishimaru is in heavy-duty cleaning mode. Wearing gloves and a facemask, he's relentlessly scrubbing away at any dirty area. Like gardening itself, it's helpful for him in giving him something he can more easily have control over. A problem that seems more solvable.

As Nene comes up with a fresh bucket, he looks up towards her with a grin.]

Why thank you, Yashiro-kun! I am working my hardest at making this as neat and clean as possible. Hopefully this area will be fully ready to become a flourishing garden in no time!

[mermaidcursed]

( a facemask and gloves... that probably could help about her curse, but... even then she still was wary, to be honest. at least everyone's not said anything, if they've noticed. nene sets the bucket down for him, taking a (purposeful) step back to admire the plot he's so diligently caring for. )

Thank you so much for your help! We'll definitely make sure it stays this clean up here, too. And I'm so excited- have you ever had a fresh grown carrot?

[moraloutrage]

As an honorary helper of the gardening club and as a diligent student of this school, it is my honor to help out where I can!

[Ah, a fresh bucket! He quickly utilizes it to move on to another dirty spot.]

I do not believe that I have tried one! So I very much look forward to the idea of trying out such an authentic taste for myself! Just thinking about this will make me hungry!

[mermaidcursed]

Fresh grown vegetables are the beeeest! At home, we had a nice big plot for all kinds of veggies, and we grew flowers and succulents in the classrooms.

( she wonders, briefly, if he ever got to see my neighbor totoro... the scene of the girls picking vegetables from the garden and getting to eat the fruits of their labor, the simple joy of living... she thinks he'd enjoy it, actually. )

A lot of these were chosen because they should be able to grow quickly. We've only got so much time before winter... I dunno how that'll be in a place like this though.

garden time...

[hanaban]

[ So he's not here to work, but, you know. Sometimes you're gone doing ghost things for most of the day and only get to see your favorite person when they're safe in bed asleep and you miss them. ]

Yashiro~ I've come to see your special skill!

[ It's one of the first things she's ever told him about herself, although the rooftop isn't where he'd expected her to host a garden of all things. ]

i Yelled when i saw this thank u ori for my life

[mermaidcursed]

( the sound of his voice has nene perk up almost entirely- september... she's tired, and embracing her life as a liar if it means people won't worry about her. but hanako? he'll always make things so much brighter. so he'll get a genuine smile while she tugs him over to one of the plots. )

You're just in time, we finished cleaning up! Look, look, I'm going to plant a row of carrots here-

lifts you up, it's time

[hanaban]

[ As if he didn't time his entrance right after the bulk of the boring work is done. He follows easily enough, a little crouch down beside the plot so he can hug his knees and watch Nene do her thing. ]

He~h... Are you starting from seeds for this too?

[ What does a carrot seed look like... For all the balance between the dead and te living he tries to keep, he doesn't really ever deal with the birth or growth of anything. ]