lumberlady | Noctium

[ gps . . . thank god, he’s learned and still has his fingers. konoha will get the little 🚩 on her messenger with the location ping, just at the edge of the park.

he’s there, with his taur legs folded beneath him after a recent fall from an attempt to get up, but he’s saving his energy— that, and extremely mindful of where he’s sitting, which is on the pavement and not the grass. he doesn’t want to harm it. ]

[What does someone who just became a jinba need? Konoha hurries around her house gathering a few things, a harness for aligning the spine while running... ah, she should maybe grab a loincloth... ?!

Soon enough the sound of a canter will announce her arrival, pulling up short in shock to see someone she knew was a human (right?) shaped more instead like her own kind. Weirdly enough, she had an easier time seeing people with strange tentacles or tails or horns or wings—- that was imaginary, jinba were real???]

I’m here, I’m here! Oh, no, Eren what are you doing on the street?!

[At least get on the grass???? Didn’t he say he got pushed here? He’s going to scrape his belly and his knees on that awful hard pavement stuff?]

Did you just wake up like this?

Edited 2021-04-20 02:41 (UTC)

[ the casual damage beneath him might have already healed, to his luck- and that was fine! a strange jinba he was, one of scales and fur rather than a simple horse’s coat, his belly was like a snake’s with its red plating, but black hairs covered his flank, back, lean legs and tapered into feathers (not real feathers, but the furry untrimmed fur that flowed behind his hooves). his ears flopped to her direction before his torso had, the shine of a protruding, single horn curving up to a sharp point and crystalline texture. ]

I started changing in the house. [ and the house was way too small for a taur! he managed to get out somehow by holding walls, ledges and bars, but that would only take him so far. did you know some of the guards here are way too strong? and that’s how he made his way here! ] I can’t just lay on the grass, so . . .

[ this is where he’s staying! although, eren tries to monitor the way konoha stands and how her legs move with a lot more attention. if he could try and mimic it, then—! (easier said and thought than done) ]

Edited 2021-04-21 10:18 (UTC)

[Konoha thinks she recognizes this sort of transformation, now, after her own companion had gone through a similar one. The single horn, the elements that spoke to the draconic and not just equine... Kirin? Her own transformation is more subtle, the jet black spiral horn of a unicorn peeking through her thick bangs, the hooves now cloven rather than rounded. But she's flustered by the idea of him just having been shoved here somehow, and Konoha can't help but prance a little, her heavy weight bouncing lightly from one hoof to the other as she approaches and holds out her hands to offer to help him up.]

Of course you can lay on the grass, jinba lay on the grass all the time- ?!

[That didn't even make sense, Eren!]

Let's move over there so it will be softer... You have to practice and you might fall! Here... grab my hands, then get on your knees first, okay? Your front knees! Then we're going to get to just one front hoof... then get your back legs...

[Will talking him through it help him at least manage to stand? She'll try that first- !]

[ he could definitely argue why he couldn’t lay on the grass (he could not), but a matter more pressing takes his attention: arms motioning to help him up and instructions he could follow (or thought he could). front knees, not back— who would’ve thought it’d be him sprouting equine parts after pinning the horse jokes on jean. if it hadn’t been for konoha’s hold, which eren uses fully in squeezing her hands and pulling his weight up . . . !

it was disorganized and messy at best, on his front knees and wobbling to get his hocks aligned and secured under him in a stand. he unfolds his front legs too soon after and would’ve fallen to the side in a much uglier fashion. uncoordinated, dropping, wobbling, dropping again but trying much faster, eren finally manages after awkwardly spreading his front legs horizontally.

he doesn’t dare move them just yet, having yet to feel he was secure from a unwanted drop. they’re trembling, like they’ve never walked before, like a foal’s first stand. ]

It feels like I’m standing with sticks.

Edited 2021-04-23 23:47 (UTC)

[Thankfully, as petite as Konoha was considered for a mountain jinba, only (only!) about seven feet tall, she has been laboring on a lumber yard for years, only adding to the natural strength of her kind. It isn't too difficult for her to assist Eren up, even if he was heavier than her now. She splays her forelegs, braces, makes sure to hold tight and try and compensate for any tilts or wobbles he encounters, encouraging, until-]

There you go, you did it- !

[... Okay, so she might accidentally have been talking to him like she did when she'd been helping her infant daughter learn how to walk, but you know what, he's standing!]

They're not like sticks at all! They're supporting you aren't they? And you're at least half a ton now... Which means you can walk on them!

[To demonstrate, she prances slowly in place, ending with one front hoof pawing the earth.]

How about just following me a little... Here we go...

[Still holding tight to his hands, she begins to encourage him to step, backing up more onto a swathe of park grass.]

The earth will feel nicer on your hooves than that hard street anyway!

[ with no difference in his widened stance, despite watching konoha intently as she walked, at the realization that he really does weigh at least half a ton and her destination is the grass—

he throws his weight to his flank and causes resistance. ]

I can’t do that, I’ll— [ no, no, just the thought makes him feel horrible that he’d do something so cruel to an innocent patch of grass, ] I’ll kill it, [ and just when he had risen, his backside begins to lower in objection. sitting feels unnatural but he’d sit until he was convinced he wouldn’t harm the plantlife. ]

No, sir, do not put your rump down!

[Konoha yanks on Eren's arms to try and convince him not to, squaring her own legs up to get in better position to pull him backup if he threatens to go back to the concrete again.]

Grass doesn't die just because you step on it! How do you think there's all this grass in this park? That's all leaf!

[Why are there so many city folk in the Gembonded, honestly???

... And also, why in the eight million myriad of gods was a grown man worried about killing grass in the first place? One problem at a time!]

[ the rump of resistance doesn't rise so easily to her pull, and when he opens his mouth again to speak— oh, what a whiner. like a kid who's never seen his shadow before. ]

I'll hurt it at least, look at my weight! That's not fair to them!

[ they're just trying to live their best plant life! the opposition falters for a moment as eren's legs waver and numb forward, looking as if he would stand, and it had served as an adjustment to the second he needed it, but . . . it turns into a disorderly spiral step that, that— ends in him falling back into the very grass he feared to slay. ]

It's grass, it doesn't matter if you're fair to it!

[Why is he being so weird about grass? Was the man who gave her such a hard time about using powers at Camp Whitegrave seriously doing this right now? Konoha bites into her bottom lip and struggles to keep him from falling backwards, but his whole weight becomes dead weight, and she was strong enough to keep a stallion who was trying up, but-

Okay, she releases him. And huffs, cheeks puffing up in frustration.]

Do you want to learn how to walk right or not? I'm going to roll all over this grass if you don't get up!

[... So she holds grass hostage? Sure. Why not.]

[ not the grass

!!!!!!!!!! eren's arms— his human ones— shoot out once he's successfully rolled back onto his belly in almost shrieking gesture of peace: ]

Alright! Okay!

[ never mind that for a split second, he considered attacking her for it, the passionate flicker of his hair and puffy mane burst into a split second crackle of embers. in second flat, it was hair again. for one, he couldn't do any of that, and fighting for JUSTICE on grass was still like . . . trampling over millions (this is supposed to be ironic).

now, to figure out how to do this one his own— just like she showed him, but this time, he heaved a breath, and steeled himself to do it on his own. first his front knees, then his back lags (back legs ended up standing upright foremost, leaving his forelegs still in a bend). after a heavily swung one-two-clobber of his hooves, he's up right, balancing his best with his human torso and arms as wide as his hind legs have stationed.

a good try, for someone who doesn't want grass to be held hostage. ]

[No, sir, you did not just spit embers at her!!! Konoha stands firm, still utterly confuddled by his obsession with the health of the grass over the comfort of his new hooves and also his entire body if he was going to keep falling down, her hands moving to her hips to purse her lips and stare down at him like a displeased teacher.

He makes it back up, at least.]

There.

[Moving around him where he stands (and stepping on grass all the while without a care), Konoha begins to lay hands to correct his stance, sandwiching his haunches between her hands and pushing inward a bit.]

Now... You don't have to splay your back legs this much, you're just straining your hocks for no reason... just try standing with them straight down.

[ they slide easily enough into the correct position until eren is better off trying to adjust them properly on his own. he's got this. even when . . . the grass is a goner but also, reminder that they don't just die when stepped on. it's a stranger push and pull of two different ends to his mind, but he tries to lean towards the one more favorable to rationale.

they straighten, stiff but no longer apart wish a whisk of his maned tail. ]

Like . . . This. [ now comes the hard part. ] What about walking?

[Eren, stop thinking about the grass! Technically you're just bruising it and bruises can heal! Focus on your legs! Or actually... don't.]

Okay, we're going to walk, but... we're not going to think about how!

[This is her idea, it worked with someone else, and Konoha is just hoping it works with him, too.]

You know how if someone asks "how do you breathe" it's suddenly weirdly hard to breathe, even though you do it naturally? Let's do that.

[Coming back around, she takes Eren's hands in her own and starts backing up.]

Just try looking at my face and not your legs.

[ he’s never actually tried to think about breathing, and hopefully konoha wouldn’t see it when he actually tries (and fails to see difficulty in it— you just breathe in and out, right? or maybe it was thinking about the hows that led to endless question). despite that and breathing normally, eren’s hands hold onto konoha’s mostly by the press of his thumb to the inside of her palm and the curl of his fingers around them. don’t think. just walk. ]

We should talk about something else. [ his tail flicks sideways and his hide shakes; he really is trying to get his mind of things and starts with, other than the grass: ] Do you live out here?

[At least he's trying? As long as that's happening Konoha is actually willing to be as patient as need be, and making sure she keeps a hold of his hands for now until he seems a bit more steady, watching his tail... It's more solid and weighty and... dragon-y? than hers, so it could throw his balance off...]

Mm, I do! There's another centaur here, so we live out in the farming area... the Embassy people told us we could, so we found a farm willing to lend us a barn in exchange for work.

[And now she also had something to fill her days with now that she isn't juggling basket weaving, sewing, cooking, laundry, child-rearing, shelter building, senior care, and foraging...]

I prefer it... the ground is softer, and if you're in just the right spots you don't even have to see the big metal buildings!

[And remember... that you're in a weird alien world... as much.]

[ it holds and sways more like a whip that gradually lowers down to be dragged across the earth. she asked not to think about it, so he wasn't— so konoha was correct in assuming his mismatched balance. one side would teeter more than the other, if not for her sturdy leading. mm, he manages, finding his gaze falling and keeping to the grass before he inhales and forces his attention up and ahead. maybe around them, around them was good. emerald park was a breath of fresh air. ]

I don't like them either. We're living in one now, but . . . [ he shakes his head. ] I'd take farm work over those streets any day.

[Teeter away, Eren. Even though Konoha wasn't strong enough to keep a larger stallion on his feet if he was intent to not remain on them, she was more than strong enough to help keep him upright when he was cooperating.]

Why don't you find work there, then... ?

[One step after the other, she keeps up the chatter to help him focus on things that aren't overthinking how to move his legs.]

If you save enough money maybe you can move, too... We don't know how long we'll have to be here, so you might as well be comfortable... and I know all those future world city folk think the metal and lights are where things are more comfortable, but...

[It definitely isn't. Not for her, anyway.]

It’s too much for me. [ the lights, the noise, and especially the walls— ] You can’t look out a window without feeling like you’re in a cage.

[ he gets hotter (in literal temperature, touch included) just thinking about it, but at least, look—?! the wobbles come less, and feeling confident enough to let go of his first training wheel, one hand slips away to a free hang at his side. they may have easily produced a trickle of manna, too! ]

Is there enough work for two more people?

[Tell her about it... Even if she'd been willing to put up with it if she had to, unsure of how to deal with the Embassy and insist until her "roommate" had taken care of things... Konoha wouldn't have been happy there, in those high stone apartments full of light and noise of the city.

Thankfully, said roommate was also a qilin, so she's used to some heat. Also... okay, there he goes, he's getting better...]

The farm I work at probably has more than enough, [not to boast, but centaurs could handle a lot of field work in a day], but there's plenty of farms in the Park! There's fruit ones and grains and vegeables and cattle... I'm sure at least one of them should have room for two, right?

[ she’s honest enough that it sits positively with eren— because then came the other suggestions, and other farms he hadn’t considered existed (though he should’ve, it was pretty point blank). and, look at him! he’s walking on his own enough to let the fingers slip completely. eren’s gaze is briefly triumphant in looking at his new legs, then back up. ]

I’ll talk about it with Mikasa. [ the clip of pride comes with a clip of his hoof (gently) on the grass, more as if he were caressing it instead of beating the earth down. ] Thanks for the help— and the suggestion.

[Farm distractions for the win! Konoha still has her own hands hovering, ready to catch him if he ends up needing it, but... she gives a little smile, front hooves prancing in place a bit and betraying her excitement at getting him to walk by himself.]

You're welcome- ! And if you need any introductions... let me know!

[Hicks who would prefer to work on farms than live the high life in a city of metal and machines had to stick together, after all.]

[ the fruit of konoha's aid is satisfying and possibly more than enough for a teacher is soon to come! as he pauses to bow his head and offer a smile, eren lifts his hand halfway to express a curt goodbye. from the turn of his torso came the rest of his qilin body, and with a little more confidence, he walks, and then some meters away, trots off to bring home the news.

he'd trip once or twice on the way back into the city, but he's bound to get up far quicker than he did, especially when he's learned to hover inches off the grass at mach speed (????) #justqilinthings! ]

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