songerein | [Catch-All]

Entry tags:

[Catch-All]

Who: Old Man Nier and YOU
Which: Open Log + Interactive Dream
Where: Reverein fields, the town itself, Nier's home village
What: Catch-All for March 2022. Old Man tends fields and mends fences. Old Man picks up orange hate feathers. Old Man picks herbs for Jude and co clinic. Old Man dreams of his home town where no one there seems to know him at all.
Warnings: Probably nothing worth mentioning. Will update as necessary

01. 'Spring'ing into Action

[Just the thought of working in the fields makes him think of older, more simpler days. Although he supposes in retrospect, there was nothing simple about them. Yonah had once asked him to grow her watermelons and somehow, he'd managed to accomplish it. Never does he consider himself an accomplished man of gardens and growing, but when he thinks about the amount of time he spent trying to cultivate a Lunar Tear, then he supposes he might be underestimating himself.

It's provided him a great reason to busy himself. To busy his thoughts. To think less about what happens when he leaves. If he leaves. If the others leave. He wants none of this. Instead, he's focused on the situation at hand. Or at least, he pretends he is. Honestly, he's more caught up in his thoughts than he'd like to be.

Fences are where he's chosen to begin. A decent number of them were damaged and before any planting can begin, they'll need to be tended to. He's in the process of covering some breaks, knelt down, pensive and probably up until the next few moments, has likely been a little quiet. Whether it's approaching footsteps or those being led elsewhere, he's not shy about speaking up.]

Get me that hammer, would you? I left it back there somewhere.

[He jerks his right hand over his shoulder indicatively. Help an old man out?]

02. I'm Not Angry; You're Angry!

[There's no shortage of things to be done in Reverein and Nier is usually more than happy to keep himself occupied by taking on any number of requests from the locals, which seem to be growing in number as the days go by. Gathering feathers seems like a relatively monotonous and unexciting task, which means it ought to be something he can get done in short order.

He's wandering around the town and along its outskirts to gather them, looking high and low. By this point, he's already managed to collect a few, which he has tucked into his somewhat barbaric-looking garb. Nier's a man with a lot of heart, though more than once he's lost his cool in the face of the circumstance. Where he'd normally be a rather patient man, it seems said patience is in absent supply today.]

Hey. You just gonna stand there, or do you feel like moving?

[He's had days where he was nicer.]

03. Go Green or Go Home

[When Jude announced the opening of the clinic, Nier was very quick to jump onto the idea of being able to supply him regularly with useful herbs, plants, and other like things in the forest. It reminds him of the times he's done something of the same for Popola. The names might change, but the situation always seems to be the same. In that respect, it's kind of nice. Something familiar. Just the thought leaves him comforted.

Whatever reason you might have for being out there, it won't be hard to spot him. Nier doesn't blend in well with the surroundings. On the contrary, he kind of stands out. And if he finds you, there's a very good chance he'll be nosy and want to figure out what you're up to. Why not lend him a temporary travelling partner?

Don't mind him as he's huddled down close to the ground, trying to get up a plant without destroying it completely.]

04. Home is Where the Heart Is (Unless You're Nier) - Interactive Dream

[...What is this place? It's a seemingly quiet and laid-back village, many of the structures appearing rundown and touched by the elements of time. There are people by the fountain not far from a dilapidated house.

Up the hill, along a variety of wooden steps that are in slight disrepair, there's a library with no shortage of books and a room that doesn't seem to make much sense.

Gates exist in different cardinal directions that lead outside of the village, each guarded for the safety of the village inhabitants.

Down in the market plaza, there's no shortage of item shops, and a plethora of relatively friendly villagers, who are ever willing to ask for assistance with their daily errands. A tavern, where a pretty girl named Devola plays music and sings a song. And on the docks behind, a little boat willing to take you to places called Seafront and some other main settlements that exist outside of the village.

It's a nice place, if not a little bit sparse. But it's the place that he calls home. He can easily be found wandering through the town, into the library, but spends the most amount of his time at his house, perhaps with his face in a very particular diary. His daughter, Yonah, is also here, and she may seem a little perplexed about what you're doing in her house, but she'll be very polite.

It's no real big surprise to him personally, but it seems like no one in this town knows a Nier. Not even Yonah. Who could this mysterious man be?]

[OOC: Please feel free to wander around the village by yourself, with a friend, or visit Nier. Character thoughts and feelings may affect the surroundings and the things witnessed, or experienced in this place.
Please also forgive how small these images seemed to be. Evidently larger images from Gestalt are difficult to come by. I may update these at a later point.
There is no restricted access to the town and its inhabitants. Do note that given this is also Brother Nier's home village, he has the same influences that Old Man Nier has here.]

05. Wildcard

[If the above don't strike your fancy, please select this option for whatever something special we might be doing. You can plot with me via PMs, discord (available upon request), and by contacting me via ofthesky.]

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[ If it helps at all, it's his first time hugging anyone as well and he looks just as confused as Nier does when he looks up the man. The pat on the back is nice though??

Clearly, though, he's made some sort of mistake in interpreting that and slowly lets go. ]

Ouh....

[ Right--okay! Trying this again. He mimics hugging the air like Nier did. Was that right? ]

[As he watched Unnamed imitate him, Nier airs a soft laugh, not quite like the ones that sound rough around the edges. It's a little charming. Kind of like days before Yonah could speak and she had only her facial expressions and her hands to gesture about with. In a way, it's almost easier to work with that keeping the thought in mind.]

Yeah, keep your arms like that.

[Nier reaches over and adjusts his arms just to be a little more comfortable and then he offers a thumbs up sign.] If you stay put, I'll hand them to you and you can carry them for me. [Indicatively, he bends down to pull up a few of the plants and then he leans over to Unnamed for him to hold carefully.]

We're not taking a whole bunch. Just enough for Jude and his infirmary.

Ouhhh...

[ Aha. That's what he means. The moment the light bulb finally goes off inside his head is plain to see; straightaway he puts more enthusiasm into the task at hand, nodding with a wide smile.

He can help! He got it right...ish! And when Nier offers the plants he's quick to take them with great care so that he doesn't drop any ]

[Nier grins. Sometimes all it takes is action over words. He tends to be a man of action, admittedly, though often times it's of the violent variety. He supposes he's not always swinging his sword for something. Even when he's running errands for someone, he supposes he's keeping himself busy. Better to be busy than to be idle, he supposes.

Regardless, he's more than content enough to pluck some more plants and load up Unnamed's arms with them.]

Huh. Wonder how many we should get. We're just gonna drop 'em off at the clinic, so it's not like we need to go too far. I can always come back for more.

[...Maybe he's just talking to himself at this point. So hard to tell.]

[ To himself or not, when Unnamed catches Nier's lips moving, it fills his chest with a happy, bubbly sensation. Nier talking means they're communicating (or close enough), which means they're getting along, which means he isn't alone. He'd wanted the bare minimum from the undead back home for so long--to be noticed. To have any kind of meaningful interaction that he hadn't initiated himself.

Even if it's one-sided for the most part, he's still glad to have it at all. He accepts bunch after bunch of the herb, beaming up at Nier each time he's handed more. ]

Auhwah?

[ He notices a few sprigs of a plant that looks similar to what they're gathering off to the side and points to it, looking at Nier for confirmation. ]

[Nier can't help noticing that he looks so happy. He doesn't get a chance to address it just yet, however, as Unnamed draws his attention aside. He lights up and offers him a nod.]

Heeeey, good eye. You're a natural at this.

[After a moment's thought, he offers both a smile and a thumbs up. Maybe the combination will get across the point that Unnamed has done good.

It doesn't take him long to bend down to the indicated section and put his back into pulling up some plants from the patch. Never mind that one ought to lift with their legs, not their back.]

[ He did it. Cue him turning into one (1) happy ball of energy as Nier gives him the thumb's up--he's picking up on that gesture's meaning fast. The sounds of delight he makes are nonsensical, but he's grinning as Nier pulls up the plants like nothing--and he makes sure to flash a thumb's up back at The Buff Man when next their eyes meet.

Teamwork makes the dream work C: ]

Ihih, aooh, eeh!

[Teamwork. Makes the dream work.

He can't tell at all what Unnamed's trying to convey in a colloquial sense, but he gets the message well enough. It'd be easy, if it were just him, to get caught up in spending hours picking plants, but the nice thing about having a companion is that he's unwilling to put Unnamed through the same rigorous process.

As such, he spends just a few minutes more before he gets a good look at what they've gathered so far.]

I think. We're probably good. You need anything else while we're out here, kid?

[On second thought, he gestures with a hand around them and lifts a shoulder. He has no idea how to draw or write any of that either. He'd like to think Unnamed will keep him from going too far if he needs something in the forest, though. After all, wasn't he already here for a reason?]

[ The irony here is that being a zombie and having spent all his time with his fellow undead, Unnamed has spent the majority of his life getting caught up for ~~hours~~ ~~days~~ ~~weeks~~ m o n t h s doing the same thing, at times. But let it never be said that Unnamed wouldn't completely adore Nier for making that kind of consideration for him♥

Although he doesn't completely grasp what Nier is trying to ask him as he gestures about the forest, he interprets it as being asked "why are you out here?"--which is close enough.

He thinks for a minute on how to best convey his thoughts, and summons up his journal again so that he can concentrate on the pages and then produce a very realistic-looking print of a rabbit within its page. ]

Au.

[ He points at the picture, then points to his mouth as he opens it. ]

[At first, Nier's reconsidering how he's asked that, wondering if there's a better way for him to convey himself. But soon enough, Unnamed seems to have gotten the message. Even if they didn't quite reach it the same way. Sometimes all that matters is patience, when it comes down to understanding.

Nier leans over to get a better look at the journal and he straightens the way he stands, trying to get some feeling back into his legs after the way he's been hunched over. He's still an old man, after all. Things don't exactly move the way they once did and though he'd love to say he's untouchable by age and elements, that's simply not true.]

Oh, you need a rabbit.

[Rolling his shoulder through a crack and snap, he nods slowly.] We can probably trap one. Not sure what you need it for. If you're hungry, we can just get something in town? [Lowering his hand, he pats his stomach. Maybe Unnamed will get that? ...Food?]

[ Well, he...sort of gets it. At first he just stares at Nier as the man rubs his own stomach. Then he tries copying him and wonders if this is like the thing where he thought Nier wanted a hug--and then he wonders if maybe the gesture has some other meaning.

He's felt something in his stomach when he's been hungry before...is that it, he wonders? He tries miming lifting something to his mouth and taking a bite out of it, then pointing at his stomach.

Is that what Nier means? ]

[He seems... to be getting it? Nier's not absolutely certain and at first, he's not even sure how to interpret Unnamed's gesticulating. But after some thought and some real close consideration, he's pretty sure he's gotten it.]

Uh... Yeah. I think that's...

[As he's manifesting his journal again, all he has to do is envision the cafe he went to when he arrived. Dreambucks? It was something like that. All of the different little things they had, and by this point there are different places to eat.

He shows what his journal spits back out at him.]

What do you think? Get something to eat?

Ouh....

[ Oh...yes, he recognizes that place. It was when he'd first arrived, and everyone had given him all those awful teas and cookies. A den of foul-tastes, to be sure.

A shadow overcomes his expression as he materializes his own journal and produces an imprint image of said tea and cookies, looking up at Nier with wary trepidation. ]

[Furrowing his brow as he's met with the image of tea and cookies, Nier studies Unnamed's expression. One doesn't usually need words when it comes to expressing an extreme emotion, evidently. The turn in his face says it rather plainly. Whatever experience he's had there has been a poor one, though he can't imagine why that would be.

Maybe—]

Guess that kind of stuff isn't your interest. So what... uh. What do you like to eat?

[He's turning the thought over in his head and after some consideration, he ends up with an image of a plate and a set of utensils. And then a question mark. Because he has no idea how to better convey this.]

[ Aha--this he recognizes. Aether cooked some chicken for him and put it on a plate with a knife and fork, so luckily that image translates nice and easy. It also doesn't take him long to produce an answer, concentrating on his book before he flips it around and produces an image of several things: chickens, rabbits, deer, birds, ducks, swans, geese, rodents, foxes, weasels...pretty much any mammal he's ever seen before and remembers well enough to produce an image of.

Zombie boi here is a fervent carnivore ]

Aha. You like meat. A guy after my own heart.

[Not that Nier has anything against a nice salad now and again or a watermelon, but sometimes the best kind of meal is a hearty stew. And mutton. It's a lie if he tries to claim that he isn't the slightest bit fond of mutton. After how many sheep he had to chase down, he supposes he might not have had much in the way of alternatives when it's come to meet.

He simply nods along.]

Then we'll have to find a place that serves something like that. Not the cafe.

[ Oh, glorious mutton... He has not yet had the chance to partake in such a meal--so clearly, Nier should introduce this to him sometime! Most domestic sheep have been wiped out in his world, and the ones in the wild are far too agile and live in locations too difficult for him to safely traverse. He's never seen seen a mountain goat before. ]

Ouh!

[ YES, not the cafe. Not that he knows Nier is saying cafe, but--Nier nods, so he nods. An understanding has been reached!! ]

Sounds like we have a winner, then.

[He gives Unnamed another look over, takes just a moment to eye the patch of seemingly indiscernible weeds that they've been plucking healing plants from, and then makes a firm conclusive decision that they've gathered enough.]

Let's head on back. [He lifts an arm transparently bound by muscle and gestures back the way he came.] To the town.

[ Gosh dang new dad is built like a HOUSE. He wonders if maybe one day he could have huge arms like that... He bets Nier can lift so much stuff with those arms.

--Ohright, yes, talking is still happening. He might've zoned out there oggling new dad a little, but he's going to nod quickly now and fall into step beside him as they back on in to town. ]

Ouh!

[Nier looks down to him, one more check to make sure he didn't hurt himself. Everything seems to be in order. He takes a moment to revisit the situation as a whole. When going into the forest to look for plants, he never imagined he'd come out with a kid. If that's going to be a routine thing, maybe it'd be wiser to keep the forest a safe place.

Or... for Nier to offer his services as an escort. It gives him something to think about. He offers Unnamed a 'thumbs up' motion and a bright grin.]

Yeah! Just had a great idea. We're gonna do an 'all-you-can-eat.' See which one of us can eat the most.

[Unnamed might not get it, but Nier's sure when they find the right place to sit down for a good meal, he'll get the point when they don't stop bringing on the grub. And as much as Nier can pack away, there's no underestimating what a kid can eat.]

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[Catch-All]

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I think we can fade to their fooding here soon. ♥

sounds good! c:

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