they had a curio museum

[lancifolium]

WHO: Lily & you, if you like.
WHEN: Throughout March
WHERE: Ke-Waihu
WHAT: A catchall! Being cursed, blocking cocks, gardening and other adventures.
WARNINGS: None yet


[ open and closed prompts in the comments, happy to switch formats to suit people's preferences! feel free to pm or reach out on plurk if you'd like to plot something else not covered below. ]

Comments

[bearshermark]

Eleven turned to stare at the vegetable patch, bewildered.

"I've never-"

"Nooo," moaned the tomato. "Don't eat me. I'm overripe."

A cabbage ruffled its leaves, sounding strangely close to tears. "My cousin became a salad just last month."

He truly didn't know what to make of it. "I- we're not going to eat you?" The idea was unsettling now at the least.

[lancifolium]

"We're not?" Lily frowned thoughtfully, wondering how everyone else she currently shared lodging with would feel about that promise before shrugging, realizing threatening to eat them was definitely not going to solve the problem. "We're not."

"Suspicious! Trying to lure us so we're relaxed and tender for the culling!"

Turning towards the modest patch of potatoes, she sniffed at the accusation.

[bearshermark]

Eleven brows rose as he turned toward Lily, his sentiment clear: do you really want to?

Certainly, his own appetite had gone. For lack of knowing what else to do, Eleven bent to take a seat on the ground.

"I'm going to see what I can sense from them."

[lancifolium]

"Taste is a sense!" Objected the tomatoes, before a shrill cry of terror sounded up from the lettuce.

Taking a step back at the sound she crossed her arms over her chest and stepped off to one side, giving El space to do what he needed to do.

"We're mealy! Sir! We're very mealy," added a zucchini.

[bearshermark]

"I'm not going to eat you," Eleven muttered, sighing as he closed his eyes and reached for the familiar spirit hidden in the hollow of his chest.

From there, he let his senses spread from his body to the grass, wilting from a lack of nutrients. He spared a brush of energy to strengthen it, then turned his focus toward the curious touch of magic he found in the patch itself. Eleven followed it, let his senses seep into the roots and stalks.

Something shrieked.

Eleven's eyes snapped open. He huffed, then shook his head. "They're touched by magic, but it doesn't feel like a curse as I expected it would."

[lancifolium]

"I should hope so," she said from where she'd been sitting and playing spectator, a look of intense curiosity on her face. "If they just grew that way it doesn't do much for my hope we won't all be stuck on millet again."

Lily's expression softens as she watches El, tipping her chin up, her vexed scowl turning into a smile.

"Thank you for coming to help, but, what should we do with them if eating is off the table?" She supposed leaving them to live their lives was likely the best option, but still - they were so accusatory it was difficult to just ignore them.

"Can they be appeased?"

[bearshermark]

Eleven tipped his head, turning a speculative frown up at the warbling vegetables in the patch. 'Appeased', as though they were wayward spirits. He shrugged.

"They don't want to be eaten," he said, hesitating. "But I'm not sure what else could be done? I don't know that the magic will keep them from wasting away like ordinary plants."