terrariums | open; 2024

"Already? Incroyable! You really are good at this." How had Jade thought of something in mere moments, even when he's so unfamiliar with the savannah climate? He must know his stuff, or at least have an idea of where to start looking. He can't wait to see how it turns out, whether he's involved or not.

Why does Jade look so surprised by the suggestion, though? Isn't it only natural to offer? Sometimes Jade really does feel like a mystery, no matter how much fieldwork he does..... "Why do you think it would be boring? I like being out foraging. Why wouldn't it be fun to bring part of the outside back inside with me, too?"

"I imagine digging for rocks and succulents is far different than hunting and strenuous physical activity..." Jade takes a moment to look over Rook's face. Taking in the shape of his eyes and the way he smiles... so seemingly easy despite this. Being so used to most of their classmates avoiding him unless absolutely necessary it is a strange position. There are the off and on students who dare approach, but usually their intentions fall more along where he expects.

His hand comes to rest on his chest for a moment as he considers his words. He isn't sure if this is a road he should take, but having someone to hike and forage with doesn't sound terrible... Azul may not currently have a use for Rook, but perhaps in the future it might benefit him to be more friendly now.

"Alright, I accept. I would like to do some research on Savanna foliage, substrates and cacti with you."

"I guess a little....." Is it really that different, though? It all involves long, potentially strenuous treks through the wilderness, roaming far afield looking for interesting things. It's more like..... a less targeted version of foraging, isn't it? Something for pleasure, rather than hunger. You get to enjoy wandering around and finding things that are pretty or interesting enough to want to keep.

It's such an effortless smile, isn't it? Especially the way it suddenly turns dazzling, his whole face lighting up in excitement to hear Jade agreeing to the outing. "Magnifique! When do you want to want to come by?"

"I had planned to spend my day hiking and foraging regardless... I suppose I can be ready now, if that isn't too short notice for you." With how few and far between his days off are he can only lean into the 'no time but the present' mentality here.

He's dressed for strenuous work--well broken in shoes, his shorts as well as leggings to protect him from tall grass and potential bites from pests. Certainly not prepared for snakes, but he's never been intimidated by creatures like them to begin with.

Though he'll need to pack the mushrooms Rook placed for him away... he decides to move to kneel and do that. "My days off are rare as of late."

"That sounds just perfect! Roi d'Effort really is keeping you busy, isn't he? Maybe we can bring something back for him and Monsieur Spontané, too?" After all, they're a part of his little pride too now, aren't they? Floyd directly by virtue of being his friend, (practically a littermate, the way they hunt each other) and Azul by association, by virtue of being so close with the twins. He'll make you a proper friend one of these days, Azul. Just wait and see!

Bringing back treasures for them seems like the least they can do. Looking Jade over as he kneels, though..... He can already clearly see the problems that are going to arise. Jade isn't even wearing a hat, and his skin is just as pale as Rook's--how is he going to manage, going out into the blazing savannah sun? What about his canteen, it's so small..... And he doesn't see any signs of Jade a hunting knife, hatchet, or spade at all. They definitely can't go right away.

He draws a paper bag from his shoulder bag, gently shaking it out before carefully admiring each mushroom as he tucks it away inside. For optimum freshness it's important to use paper rather than anything that encourages moisture... drawing out their natural internal wetness would, while not making them useless, leave them damaged and lose some of their beauty. He'd like more time to sit and sketch them, but he will have to manage that later on. Unless they stumble upon where they grow on their journey... then he might let himself do some personal field study.

Jade stands, dusting off his knees as he tucks the last of his supplies away before turning back to the lion of a man. He feels almost overdressed in comparison, but that's to be expected when one of them is used to rolling and mudding through the savannah grass and dirt. Octavinelle must feel too clean for someone like Rook.

"Perhaps. I doubt Azul will hold much interest," unless he can use it "but Floyd may enjoy a gift from you. He was rather fond of the jerky you prepared for us last time." He starts back down the hill, head turning to look at the blond beside him while he does. "He is rather fond of foods with rough and 'springy' textures."

His brother can't say he isn't anything but a wingman for him if he's encouraging Rook to provide him with suitable gifts, can he?

"Oh, I love those, too! Don't you?" That should be a universal like, as far as he's concerned. Floyd and Jade both have fangs, after all--doesn't that mean they both should enjoy being able to gnaw on something? Not that he needs to bring back a gift for Jade, when they're both going out together..... Who knows, though? Maybe he'll find some prey while they're out and about.

He wonders what Azul would like, from a trek like this. Everyone likes food, don't they? But the portions Azul eats are so small..... It's a little sad, honestly. How is he not hungry all the time? He's never going to get tall and strong without more protein. Oh, well. The twins are more likely to convince him of that than he is. In the meantime, they can enjoy the fruits of his labors even if Azul turns his nose up at them.

Before even that, though? Rook is studiously resisting the impulse to latch onto Jade's arm, at least until they pass through Savanaclaw's mirror. Jade isn't as tactile as Floyd is, is he? He might be uncomfortable with it, at least until Rook needs to guide them back to his dorm room so they can load up on supplies.

"Cephalopods have my favorite texture. There is a perfect balance of interesting textures that varies by species." He won't lie, land animals don't exactly compare... but he does prefer meat to a majority of vegetables. He eats them, of course, but it wouldn't be his first choice if he wasn't attending to a human body's needs versus what he craves when he's hungry.

It doesn't help that all seafood on land pales to compare to something he rips apart with his bare teeth.

He's walked this path many times now that it's a short enough trip back to the mirror, leading to just a hop away into the ~~disgusting~~ heat of Savanaclaw's dry climate. Already Jade looks slightly less enthused, but his smile only twitches rather than completely slip. "Summer isn't even upon us, but it is already this warm..?"

"Cephalopods..... I've never tried them before. Maybe we could go fishing sometime?" Were he actually a lion of a man, his ears would immediately be pricking up with interest. How can he resist the idea of a new meat to try? Vegetables are nice, sure, but they can hardly compare to the pleasure of tearing flesh straight off the bone. What do they taste like? What do they feel like between your teeth, if their texture is perfect?

Rook is at least tactful enough to resist the urge to laugh, hearing Jade so quietly dismayed the moment they set foot inside Savanaclaw..... It doesn't stop him from grabbing the merman's arm, though, tugging him towards the dorm building with more enthusiasm than strictly necessary. "It never gets too cool here. We won't have to worry about getting much rain until it gets properly hot, either--but you'll still burn like kindling if you don't at least put on a hat. You can borrow one of mine!"

Normally he enjoys the cool feeling of leather on his skin, but the sheer warmth of Rook's hand latching onto him is almost unbearable in this heat. Even without sleeves he wonders how any of the Savanaclaw students don't simply wither away... though considering a large majority of them were born in the conditions he can't be surprised. There are non-merfolk in Octavinelle, after all... some beastmen too. They must hate the cool, dark oceanic views just as much.

"I suppose that is fair enough. I rarely wear my own outside of my uniform..." Because it's more for show than actual purpose. He's easily dragged along--still just as impressed by Rook's strength despite his average height as he was the first time he met him.

Fortunately Jade seems compliant as he follows along, his free hand shielding his light colored eye from the sun. "Do you do much fishing? I imagine your options here are somewhat limited."

"Oui! Fish can get simply enormous if the lake or river are big enough to accommodate them. It's great fun! Monsieur Dent-de-lion even accompanies me on fishing trips, sometimes." Because as light on his feet as Ruggie is, a strenuous sport like hunting simply isn't his style. Far more pleasant for him to relax in the shade with a rod in hand most of the time, lounging and chatting, eating a picnic lunch together while they see what they can catch and roast up for dinner.

It just sounds bizarre to him. Why have a hat at all, if it's not going to be useful for something? Hats are for protection, after all! Whether they're to keep you warm, or protect you from the sun, there's no point in wearing something just for style alone. At least the hat he digs out for Jade, once they make it to his room, is nicely functional; Rook is quick to dig through his wardrobe and find the broadest-brimmed hat he owns, for poor Jade's sake. Enjoy admiring the rough, rustic wood and stone, and the bold patterned rugs--he's going to be in there for a hot minute. They'll want a nice sack to carry everything, a spade to dig with, a good stout hunting knife just in case, his bow and quiver, a canteen--

No, better make it at least two canteens, the big ones. Jade is going to need plenty of water, he can already tell. It isn't as though he'll mind toting along the extra weight. What would the poor thing do if he got all dried up out there?

There is a sort of rustic charm about Savanaclaw's dorm rooms. While they hold a completely different feel than those of his own, he can appreciate the way they suit their students needs. Such open, airy rooms bring some relief from the heat and he can't say that the room doesn't fit Rook. Conquests skinned and tanned, various bows and weapons that would make others wince laid about in easily accessible places... He wonders briefly how many more he can't see.

Though as Rook rummages through his belongings, Jade takes the time to look around. Fingertips brushing against the wood of the standard school provided furniture as he slowly explores. His belongings don't seem as thrown about as others in the dorm, but nor is it exactly as diligently clean as Jade's own half of his room. "Fishing in the ocean is rather different. Catching what I like to eat with a pole would be more along the lines of luck than skill..."

The clanging of various metal items draws his eye, but he finds himself looking at the knife peeking out from beneath one of Rook's pillows instead. Even waking up to Floyd attacking him (if the other wakes up first, which is rare) he hasn't ever felt the need to pull a knife on him. It's an interesting tidbit to tuck away into his mind. A side of Rook that he's unsure what to make of just yet... but then he notices just how much the junior seems to be gathering together. "Is all of that necessary?"

"Vraiment? Do you catch them with your bare hands, then? Or maybe a net?" Are cephalopods really that hard to catch? He admittedly doesn't know much about them..... they're probably saltwater only, hmmm? He should probably do a little research first, if he ever tries to catch one. Or they ever try to catch one? Could he convince Jade to go on a fishing expedition with him?

Either way, it's a very telling little peek into his mindset, being allowed to come into his ~~den~~ room and look around like this, isn't it? For someone who usually seems so sweet and thoughtful, so playful and affectionate..... there certainly is a lot of extremely dangerous gear very easily accessible at any given moment. Rook just grins at the question, reaching up to deposit the hat directly on Jade's head. Perfect!

"Bien sûr! You won't want to dehydrate out there, would you? Or not be able to get at what you want. And what if I come across some perfect prey before it notices we're there? We wouldn't even need to come back for lunch." Can Jade tell he's used to long, hard outings? Even sleeping under the stars doesn't really bother him, especially with the weather so comfortably moderate and dry this part of the year.

"Ah," His fingertips take the brim to carefully adjust it. The band makes it a little snug on his head, but he can't exactly be choosy when borrowing such a considerate tool.

Truthfully he's a touch hungry to begin with having gone to that familiar spot in the mountain explicitly to eat his second breakfast of the day... but he supposes he can wait until lunchtime to dig back in his bag if he doesn't have to use it to secure an escape route or something. From Rook or something out here in the savannah? It's difficult to say, so it doesn't hurt to be prepared. "That is true. Although if I knew no better I would think you were going to either torture and flay me or bury me alive somewhere far off where not even the most trained nose would find me."

A pause before he smiles, hand motioning toward the open 'doorway' leading to the disgustingly hot and not at all moderate weather outside. "Just kidding, of course. Shall we?"

Rook laughs aloud at the 'joke', even as he fills the canteens from an earthen jug. It may not be cold, but it's still cooler than the weather outside; Jade will be glad for it, no doubt. And so will he, depending on how long they're out and about for. "Ahahaha! What a kidder you are! I wouldn't have brought you brought you to my room first, if I wanted to do something like that, of course. Too many witnesses!"

So that means..... what? That he has a secret stash of tools to gruesomely murder people, hidden somewhere out on the savannah? That he would ambush Jade somewhere up in the mountains, where people knew Jade often went, so he wouldn't be considered missing for a good long while? Or is he just playing along with Jade's little jest?

Ah, it doesn't matter. Rook reaches for Jade's arm again, all bouncy energetic excitement. "Oui!"

"Ufufu~ Of course. It would be more wise to ambush me somewhere I am expected to be. Perhaps all of your attention recently is just practice?" The laugh comes easily before he catches himself, his fingers coming up a second too late to hide the flash of needle-like teeth that he so carefully keeps under wraps. While Floyd's smiles are flowing free and a sign of danger, his own has always been one he keeps close. Even if sometimes he feels his face struggles to do what his twin's does so naturally...

He feels Rook's hand before it even touches him, but he doesn't pull or jerk away. While he can't fathom why the hunter needs his hands on him, there is something comforting about such a knowledgeable hand leading him through the dorm.

When in the savannah, you do as the lions do. It is similar to the ocean even with its complex differences.

"Although... you seem rather excited. Is thr prospect of watching me collect dirt really so exciting for you?" It isn't the extent he asked for, but it is about how he expects the day to go.

"Perish the thought." What beautiful fangs! Ah, just like Floyd's. Jade could tear his throat out in a heartbeat just as easily, if he really wanted to. Is it any wonder just how ridiculously attractive the man is? Tall, strong, gorgeous, so dangerous if you know how to look for it..... He would have actively questioned just how disinterested Jade really is, if the man had thought to question aloud why Rook wants to hold onto him so possessively while in the walls of the dorm.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be excited to show you around my home territory? I've gotten to look around Octavinelle plenty already, but you've never visited Savanaclaw before, have you?" There's been no reason to come here, really--dorm aside, they have very little but wide open spaces. But plenty of students are going to have reason to come visit the Lounge once it's in full swing, won't they?

"I suppose that's true. You have great pride for your home..." He can relate. It is just unfortunately a little more difficult to show off the Coral Sea without additional assistance. While students can reach the dorm easily enough due to magic, it is entirely different from returning home... He still remembers the time Floyd tried to bring candy floss back home for their parents only for it to dissolve immediately upon passing through the mirror.

It was as funny as it was a little sad.

As easily as he lets Rook guide him through the open dormitory he can't help but feel the eyes on him. Perhaps it's just his natural instinct as a predator to know when he is the one being watched, but to have so many eyes of such strong beastmen so openly staring is unsettling.

Is it because he's the outsider here? Or perhaps it's because of how easily he's letting Rook touch him? Maybe it is a combination of the two as well as the fact Rook is carrying a small corpse-disposal set up. Hm...

"Does everyone here always watch you so closely?"

"It's too bad I can't show you where I'm really from. But this is a good substitute, non?" He would love to show Jade the real savannah, the one without such 'cramped' artificial boundaries. The savannah you could get lost in for days on end, full of pristine beauty and simply bursting with life of all kinds..... His home, the one that had not only taught him how small he really was, but also that it was no bad thing, either.

Had he a tail, it would be wagging right now, feeling the eyes of so many of his dormmates lingering on them--watching them, together, as they headed off for their excursion. Instead, Rook just laughs lightly as they step out into the morning sunshine, making a broad dismissive gesture. Explaining the others looking because they're touching so readily is so obvious as to be pointless, isn't it? "Everybody wants to make sure they don't get too close, when they see I have my real arrows with me. Plenty of us enjoy exploring or training in the savannah, but not many of the others are interested in hunting like I am."

It's easy to imagine Rook running through what Jade imagines the Sunset Savannah is like if this place is any 'replacement'... Rook's hair blended with the dry, yellow grass. His bowstring taut as he watches any variety of beasts wander and explore--comfortably waiting for the best time to let his arrow fly. His body practically one with a land he's so intimately familiar with that the mirror had no hesitation to place him among his kind. More beast than man, but still man.

"Are they nervous that you will turn your arrows on them?" It's an instinctive fear, he thinks. Something he's intimately familiar with after what (he believes was) just a few short months of Rook's attention when Jade first enrolled. Even now he can feel his skin prick with how close he is... it's too similar to how Floyd and himself cornered and guided their prey back home.

It's exciting too, but that's a thought set aside. "I wonder if they feel the way I do about you."

"Heh heh..... They know I could, if I wanted to. I train with Monsieur Fier-à-bras quite often, after all. Why wouldn't they be nervous?" Rook grins, perhaps a little too pleased with himself. Why shouldn't he be smug, being able to inspire so many predators to feel that instinctive, visceral fear of a mere human? At first, some had thought he might be simply an herbivore..... It hadn't taken long to disabuse them all of that particular illusion, had it? Ah, such memories!

"Well, who knows? They might. How do you feel about me, Monsieur Prémédité?" Is he looking forward to this answer a little too much? Maybe. Juuuuuuust maybe.

"Mm... I believe my more personal opinions are safer close to my chest." Especially if Rook takes so much pride in his observations and skills to strike fear into the hearts of predatory beings. He respects it. It's one of the reasons why Floyd and Jade so like him... he's an interesting human. Perhaps that much is alright to say at the very least as they walk through grass that's getting taller by the step.

"But, I find you to be an amusing human. Normally I find them boring in comparison to my own kind."

"Oh là là..... are they, now?" Rook's gaze sharpens immediately with a fresh glitter of fascination. Silly Jade, doesn't he know that the more his quarry runs from him, the more he wants to chase them down? The more you want to keep secrets from him, the greater his urge to pry them from Jade's heart.

Still..... amusing is better than nothing, he supposes. Better than boring! He thinks he'll take it. Maybe they just need need to spend more time together, to make Jade fonder of him..... "Such rare praise! I'm honored, Monsieur Prémédité."

"Is it praise? I had thought my interest in you was fairly obvious." He hasn't told Rook to stop showing up at the Lounge nor to leave him alone when he is on his walks through the mountains. Even if the Savanaclaw man doesn't always approach him, Jade can still feel him nearby on occasion. He isn't so blind as to think that Rook isn't there on purpose... he just can't fathom why when his brother so clearly gives him everything he needs or could want.

Jade's hand reaches toward the grass, fingertips brushing against the long yellow stalks. As he'd thought--it isn't likely to be something that can easily work in something so confined as a terrarium.

"Although, I--" He pauses as his gaze shifts at the sound of a step in the grass that isn't their own. Another student? An animal, maybe? Perhaps one drawn in by the scent of food in his bag or even his own body? It must be a scent that the savannah is unfamiliar with.

"How could it not be praise, to be one of the few humans who can hold your interest? I'm happy just to hear it." He'd thought the signs were fairly obvious himself, after all. His presence alone isn't unwelcome. Jade enjoys spending time with him, he doesn't need to be a beastman to pick up on that much. The problem is, Jade is just so stoic..... It's so hard to tell if Jade is tactfully ignoring his signs in hopes they'll just go away, or merely overlooking them entirely. Wouldn't it just be easier to get hissed at or clawed, and know for sure one way or the other?

"Yes?" Rook doesn't lose the thread of the conversation, even as he perks up attentively at the sound of rustling grass. He pulls the bow from his back in one smooth motion, reaching for an arrow to nock--better to draw a bead on his fellow students and spook them, rather than risk not being ready to fire if they're being approached by a less-than-friendly creature. Do you see now why he'd brought so many things with him, Jade?

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