( closed ) Hard to be soft, tough to be tender

[freewoman]

Date & Time: Current
Location: Outlying areas of the city
Characters: Ygritte and Stanley
Summary: Hunting for shrooms
Warnings: Drugs?

[She doesn't know how the topic of local food turning into a discussion on mushrooms, but he seems interested, so there's no harm in letting him tag along. She knows where some good spots are. There's mushrooms in some places in the city, given all the rain and the rot of the old buildings. So it doesn't take her too long to get to one of the pubs to meet.]

You ready? [She calls to him, holding her hood up, wearing her furs like she's seen most often doing. She throws a bag at him, holding onto her other one.]

You can help with this, too.

Comments

[lazyinlove]

They're a fungus?

[Emphasis on fun! But that part he doesn't say out loud. Some people get kind of uptight about that stuff.]

[freewoman]

Aye. [She moves along the street, looking back at him.]

I'm taking this isn't about stew?

[lazyinlove]

Just seems like a good idea to know what I'm eating.

[And which ones not to bother with. And maybe even which ones will kill him, 'cause that would suck too.But she is taking him, and that's a pretty direct question. Besides, she's going to notice if he picks all the good ones anyway. So he glances around and lowers his voice a little, trying not to draw any attention.]

We eat them for fun where I come from.

[freewoman]

Ahh. [It clicks. Ygritte gives him a wide smirk.]

Y'want to know where the other mushrooms are. I haven't purposely gone lookin' for'em, but we can look until we find some.

[lazyinlove]

Cool.

[Stan shrugs, not particularly sheepish, and eagerly waits to be shown the way. Hell yeah.]

[freewoman]

Well we're getting both, but I'll teach y'at least how to avoid the poisoned ones if y'decide to go out and do something stupid. [Because you're a boy.]

[lazyinlove]

Avoiding poison sounds good.

[He follows, keeping pace at her side. Even in a place where theoretically you probably come back after death, it's not something he's eager to flirt with. He just wants a little taste of the esoteric apple, that's more than enough.]

[freewoman]

What you're lookin' for is tiny, brown mushrooms. But even then, there are several look alikes that can have y'spewin' yer guts out. Make sure y'know what they're on. Like if it's a rottin' tree or soil. Makes a difference.

[She comes to an empty lot, big mushrooms all white with a hard cap are dotted wherever there is grass.] Avoid those. Look for wood or soil.

[lazyinlove]

Wood is good?

[He glances at the bad mushrooms, but doesn't give them much thought. He's spewed his guts up a few times before in his life, and it's not really something he's eager to do again anytime soon, so those ones are off the list.]

[freewoman]

It's more preferable. But they can grow on most things. [She starts to flip things over seeing if she can find any edible mushrooms.]

[lazyinlove]

Does it taste different?

[Not that he cares anyway as long as it works, but hey.

He casually turns over something himsf, copying what Ygritte is doing.]

[freewoman]

It all tastes pretty grimey-- the ones y'don't eat to eat, I mean. [She doesn't appear to like what she sees.]

Need to get further out, see if we can find any o' the places where they keep the livestock.

[lazyinlove]

[Yeah, they tend to taste a little mossy. But hey, they work.

Stan nods at the suggestion and starts away.]

Gotcha.

[freewoman]

You're looking for little brown ones, but they've all mostly the same taste. It's grainy, gets stuck in your teeth type. [And so they move on.]

So you do this a lot? Take the other mushrooms?

[lazyinlove]

What's 'a lot?'

[He can't help a little grin at that, though. Has he done it more than once? ...Yeah. But not habitually or anything. Just for fun. It's fun.]

[freewoman]

[That actually gets her to laugh a little back.]

So that's what you did for fun-- [She knows he's a modern boy, and while she's vastly different than more modern people, it doesn't mean she always judges them. Sometimes she just wants to know more.]

[lazyinlove]

Pretty much. We had TV too, but this is better.

[Unfortunately Stanley isn't much for elaboration, so he doesn't follow that up with any details or explanations.]

[freewoman]

TV... that's like the metal thing they gave us, aye? [She's heard a few people talk of it.

[lazyinlove]

Uh. You mean the tablet? Is yours metal? ...It's not exactly the same but if I try to explain it'll sound crazy.

[He kicks over a few small rocks along the path, not because he expects to find mushrooms there but because it's nice to kick things.]

[freewoman]

The tablet, yeah.

[She's heading west now, thinking to check a few other abandoned lots before they just start to head out the city.]

Most o' this world sounds mad to me.

[lazyinlove]

Okay. So the point of TV is you watch people pretending to do stuff. And you pretend like it's real until the show is over.

[See? Totally insane. He doesn't think to see if there's performance arts in general in her time, because school plays aside -and no one takes those seriously- TV is about the sum and whole if his exposure to these sorts if things.]

[freewoman]

Like a game? [She's not entirely sure if she follows, but she's learning these pads are entertaining enough.

It's down the street she turns into another lot, this one more overgrown than the last.]

Watch out for snakes, but kill it if y'can. I know someone who uses'em for stew.

[lazyinlove]

[Okay...that gets her a weird look. Snake stew? Gross. If he does find any, he'll be pocketing them quietly instead.]

Yeah, sure.

[freewoman]

[She moves to the end of the lot, looking at some moss. There are small white mushrooms she's observing, looking for any signs that they're poisonous since many mushrooms look alike.]

These y'can eat. No spots, single color, medium sized.

[lazyinlove]

No spots, no spewing.

[He repeats dutifully, picking one out of curiosity. Maybe he'll take a picture for later just in case someone ever wants unfungus.]

[freewoman]

Or death.

[She's a chipper one. She gives him a smile before she starts to bag the dozen or so mushrooms.]

[lazyinlove]

Also something I try to avoid.

[He's not that phased by it these days. Every other discussion around this place seems to revolve around death.]

[freewoman]

[She crouches down by the stump of a larger tree. It seems to be something she's looking for, but there's no mushrooms here, yet. Just a bit of moss.]

Come to the wrong place.

[lazyinlove]

Yeah.

[He sighs, and glances around. That's something he's definitely noticed.

Then again, there's a good chance he's dead at home anyway.]

[freewoman]

[She stands and moves on.]

D'you even know how to fight?

[lazyinlove]

Uh...

[No. He's never even needed to try. Until he came here, if he was really unlucky he might get kicked around in a more brutal gym period or punched in a mosh pit or shoved during a party brawl, but nothing serious. Nothing deadly. This is way over his head.]

Probably not.

[freewoman]

Y'have a weapon though? [Mildly interested now.]

You should learn.

[lazyinlove]

Yeah, sure.

[Actually, no to that too. But if the look on his face doesn't give him away, he's definitely not going to just confess it either.]