[Open Log] Sh'Ka Plants Time For Tommy

[doubled_speed]

WHO: Tommy Shepherd, OTA
WHERE: Sh'Ka
WHAT: Looking at Plants and Estates
WHEN: Late October
WARNINGS: None

A. More Greenhouse Times | Greenhouse

Keeping his mind off of things was probably the best choice that Tommy had in this situation, right? Something weird was going on in Temba, he couldn't get in touch with the people he cared about, he had no clue what was going on, and now... Now he had to keep his mind occupied. His first days back in Sh'Ka after his birthday Tommy had intended to come here so he could find more plants, get back to work now that his leg was better.

He hadn't expected to be cut off from people he cared about. He hadn't expected how much he would long for the Twin Roses. He hadn't expected the anxiety that would build up.

At least now he was focusing, right? Today's focus, most day's focus actually, was here in the greenhouse that he had returned to. Tommy had found himself higher up this time, avoiding the levels that were darker from thick forests. He'd already found some grasses and woven them into a basket, and today he was busy harvesting.

"Stupid fucking aliens. Stupid fucking kidnapping. One of these days I'm going to stop caring and blow up their shit just to get Billy back and NO one is going to like that," he mumbled to himself as he worked. His left hand held stalks in one hand, his right hand vibrated enough to be a possibly disturbing blur before he struck through the stalks lower down, cutting through them easily with the movement. And each stalk he immediately started to process into edible chunks.

Different city, still need to feed people.


B. Meeting The Robots | Estates

Not even Tommy can always work to avoid his stress and his fear. He was powerless, and there was nothing in him that was very good at handling feeling powerless. Hilarious, right? Hilarious given in the grand scheme of his family and their drama, he remained the one who had no power.

When he was just too tired some days to keep working in the greenhouse, but still had too much energy to go and try and find somewhere to sleep. There was this middle ground of energy levels that needed distracted, and that led to wandering. Today's wandering had led him to the estates, where he now stood outside, watching some robots go about and attempt to manage the grounds.

"Poor things," he muttered as he watched them. "You just keep trying to plant things and take care of stuff, and there's no way you can do that."

They were like him right now. Trying to go through a routine and the world was against them.

"Maybe I can get you guys seeds? Maybe it will rain?"

Woudl it be fair to the seeds to plant them when there wouldn't be water?

After a moment he moved toward one of the planter bots and placed a hand on its side. The machine stopped for a moment, clearly pausing to not hurt the human there.

"I wish I could take you to Temba. There would be so much work there for you. You'd be happy."

Comments

Greenhouse

[the_tailor]

Considering how much time Lance spent in a greenhouse as it was, going to this one provided some sort of strange comfort. Enough to get his mind a little bit off of things; mainly, the worry of being stuck, and god knows what happening in Temba.

Though he didn't hear Tommy's mumbling, the sudden blur was more than enough to announce his presence. It didn't take all that long for him to come across him proper.

"Here too, huh?"

[doubled_speed]

Ah, Lance. Tommy looked over his shoulder from his work and considered a sharp retort. He was upset, he was stressed, the guy he was dating and his brother were both in Temba, not to mention other people spanning a list he wasn't certain of, and he knew ht wasn't good company right now. But he aldo knew food was needed.

"People gotta eat, Lance. Even here."

[the_tailor]

"Oh--Oh, I didn't mean-- Sorry, I should have actually said a complete sentence. I meant it as in 'You're here too?'," Lance said apologetically, frowning. He could understand where the misunderstanding came from easily, though, and the stress Tommy's clearly under must have been doing him no favors.

"Can I help out?"

[doubled_speed]

Can he help out? Does he have one of those giant flying lions so that Tommy can get back to Temba to find his twin?

"Alright, yeah. I'm harvesting some of these to cook for tonight. Not sure about how many I need, so I'm over harvesting. It's normally something I wouldn't do but..."

But he wanted to make sure he had all the energy in case he wanted to be able to run immediately if needed.

[the_tailor]

God, he wishes he did.

"Better to be safe than sorry, really. And good to have extra. Do you have an extra basket? I mean, I can try to make somethin' if anything, but..."

[doubled_speed]

Tommy wishes he did too. Hell, he didn't even know which direction Temba was from here, so he couldn't even run the damn distance.

"Get me some grasses and I can weave you one up double quick. But most of my harvesting tools are back in Temba. I only came here to, you know, find new things to preserve for the winter. And instead, you know, everything."

He hated feeling powerless.

[the_tailor]

"Gotcha, gotcha."

It isn't long before he gathers up a small pile of them. Lance isn't exactly sure how much is needed, but he'll grab more if necessary. Once that's done, he hands it over to Tommy.

"I'd ask you how you're doing, but I'm guessing that's a pointless question. ...Do you wanna talk about it, though?"

[doubled_speed]

There, something to do that requires his fingers at speed, and his mind with them, but also interacting with someone in normal speed. See, this will distract him a bit. Tommy starts preparing the grasses and shakes his head a little.

"What's there to talk about? People are missing right now. I liked to believe that the Agrii cared about us, and now I don't. We're stuck here and suffering and we can't fix it."

[the_tailor]

"Yeah, it really...really sucks. Sometimes just venting or talking about it helps, though. Even a tiny bit," he explains as he watches him. "But you're right. It is crap what's happening. Sure, we've gone through some stuff here, but this seems particularly wrong."

[doubled_speed]

Tommy wasn't really in the mood to vent. Last time he'd needed to vent he'd hung out with Keith and the guy had let him play with Kosmo. It was better than talking.

"I wasn't there when whatever happened. I heard from some people that something happened. And I don't know what . I don't understand it."

[the_tailor]

"I don't know what, either. I wish I did."

Lance grows quiet. Usually, he's pretty good when it comes to comforting people, but this sort of situation feels even beyond him. And unfortunately, Kosmo isn't with him right now.

"No mess in this universe seems to last forever, at least. Even when shit hits the fan, the fan doesn't spin at top speed for long. ...We'll figure it out. We'll do something."

[doubled_speed]

Some would say that Tommy was a mess in this universe and he was sure lasting, but he nods along at the point. He gets it. He respects it. And he's tired from it all.

"Honestly, we haven't figured a lot out yet. Two years, Lance. We've been here more than two years, and what have we even achieved?"

[the_tailor]

"Nowhere as much as I'd hope we would have. And yeah. It blows. We're moving at a snail's pace. All we can do is keep trying and stick together."

It's not as comforting as he wishes it would be, but mental exhaustion will do that to you.

[doubled_speed]

Snail's pace was right. And given Tommy used 'snail' as an insult for people who went at normal speeds, it was additionally offensive.

"Was it like this, with that Fleet thing?"

[the_tailor]

"It wasn't really as dismal," he explains. "The ships were actually pretty cool, so day to day life was definitely easier and more chill. We didn't have this whole air of post-apocalyptic life weighing on us. Not to say we didn't run into some horrible things every so often, but..."

Some of them he'd rather not remember too much.

"Quality of life was definitely better."

[doubled_speed]

"You suggesting this ain't heaven?" Tommy asked, and he had a sarcastic twist to his lips. Yeah, he knew this sucked.

"It's okay, we're learning how to be the best lives we can. ANd we're saving people."

[the_tailor]

He rubs the back of his head again, giving a tired smile.

"Yeah. We do the best we can. That's all we can do, but I don't think we're doing too awful in general at it, all things considered."

[doubled_speed]

Well, maybe they aren't doing too awful. But were they really making progress here for anyone but himself?

"Hey, could I ask you something about the fleet?"

[the_tailor]

"Sure, go ahead. I'll answer best I can," he replies with a nod.

[doubled_speed]

"Were the ships always so cramped?"

It was the worst part of them actually.

[the_tailor]

To that, he can't help but laugh a little.

"Nah. I mean, it didn't feel as cramped, at least? The fact that we could easily go ship to ship and had a much bigger ship as a sort of hub helped things. Even if the personal ships weren't big, the freedom of movement made it feel bigger. I mean, sure, we couldn't exactly leave the ships when we were in space, and we can go around the world here, but... I dunno. Could be psychological, partly?"

[doubled_speed]

Huh. Weird.

"I guess I'm just used to hearing about bigger crews and the ships SO don't have a lot of space. Guess people were just talking about changing crews."

[the_tailor]

"Oh yeah, the crews were bigger," he says with a nod. "More people in general. But even with that, it didn't feel too cramped? And changing crews and ships were easy. Here, you can't do that. If you get trapped away from your significant other...then there's nothing you can do."

He bites his lip. It sucks.

"Back in the fleet, I was able to switch ships to stay with Keith. Here... Seems I can't. And it really blows, whenever we get trapped on them."

[doubled_speed]

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I wish I was with Kyle. Or maybe with Billy. I think I'm about the only one lucky enough to be with someone they're close to."

He had Wanda, but that was it. Just wished he had more. That he could keep people he cared about close to him.

"Have you ever tried messaging the Agrii themselves to ask?"