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ERIKA'S GARDEN - AFTERNOON
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Tarbin huffs a but to himself, his hips beginning to ache from his wandering. He's been out of the clinic for a few hours, having left just before Plume's last appointment began, determined to try for a bit of independence from the good Doctor. That's at the back of his mind now, though, as the smells of the city have become tinged with the smells of the forest, and a familiar tingling in his core. Though he can't see it, a veritable tiny jungle is a short distance ahead of him, calling.
Erika is working her garden (what else), knee-deep in mulch as she's again digging the roots of something or another. Though she had more acute reactions for a while after her change back, she's more or less gotten back to the habit of just hyper-focusing on her work.
Tarbin nearly passes the alley completely, a fortuitous breeze bringing the smell of sap and flowers through to him. He stops to take a breath, looking between the buildings and seeing the blurred greenery. After a short pause, Tarbin turns on his crutches and hobbles down the alley, not really considering it's owner's feelings as the impressive plants draw him in. He sees the sparking beauty of Nature all around as he immerses himself into the foliage, his crutches and feet missing tripping roots and young plants by inches. "[Oh... Yesssss~]".
Erika perks up at the sound, crawling herself away from the underbrush: "Buh? Anyone there?"
Tarbin is pulled from his euphoria by a voice ahead, stopping his movement. He speaks from the underbrush, not stepping out right away. Partly because he doesn't want to, partly because he hasn't determined where 'out' is yet. "[Apologies, I am... Wait.] I am sorry, was drawn to the plants. Er... Where are you?"
Erika tilts her head, then gets up to kneeling facing the direction the voice comes from: "I, err... right here? Are you lost?"
Tarbin chuckles at the question, turning toward the voice and carefully hobbling out of the plants. He see's Erika's blur as he does, shaking his head. His body is marked by streaks and blotches of orange scales that slowly turn back to dark blue after stepping away from the leaves they'd been touching. "Perhaps, I was wandering, smelled this place. Is your home? I am sorry for... [intruding]? Being burden?"
Erika blinks, then smiles: "Oh! Not a burden at all. It's my home, yes, but also my hobby and my job." She glances around her garden-jungle and smiles fondly.
Tarbin looks about as well, though seeing the patch of healthy nature somewhat differently. "I am happy, it is beautiful. So much life in this place!"
Erika shrugs, blushing slightly at the praise: "I just do my thing."
Tarbin nods, his tail brushing against the plants behind him as he straightens up a bit, able to stand free of one crutch at this point. "You 'do your thing' well, this is wonderful, Nature is content here." He turns back to her. "I am Tarbin, may I know who you are?"
Erika smiles, getting up to stand: "I'm Erika, and this garden is my... life. Sorta. Not literally."
Tarbin nods into a shallow bow, smiling. "I am pleased to meet you, Erika. You are this garden's life as well." His tail brushes a fern, scales turning color as they pass over the leaves. "The plants, as much as they can, they like you."
Erika looks curiously at Tarbin's tail: "...they certainly seem to like you too. How do you do that, changing color?"
Tarbin chuckles, leaning on his crutch as he glances toward his tail. "Ah, it is a hrm... side effect, Plume said? Nature's power passing between them and me. Magic."
Erika blinks, leaning on the biggest tree next to her: "Oh. You're magical, that would explain it." She pauses, shrugging: "I'm not magical at all, I just have knack with the things I've worked with all my life."
Tarbin turns back to Erika, looking mildly surprised. "Nothing at all? I had thought you have some connection to Nature... I am more impressed."
Erika shrugs, looking around then at Tarbin: "Nope. Or if I do, it hasn't told me."
Tarbin grins, nodding. "You may, you may not. Nature has it's whims. You say this garden is your job. You are... medicine maker?"
Erika nods slowly, musing: "Of sorts. I grow whatever people need. Often medicinal plants, certainly." She grins a bit: "Although once I grew a tree by mistake! Didn't want to uproot it when I realized my mistake, it was too cute." She leans on the biggest tree in the garden.
Tarbin chuckles, noticing the blur she's leaning on. "That one there?"
Erika nods with a grin: "Yup! Didn't have the heart, and now of course I couldn't if I wanted to."
Tarbin hobbles forward, the life coursing through the tree becoming clear to him as he looks up it's trunk. He reaches forward, setting his palm on the bark, scales turning color. He's silent for a few moments, smiling. "Beautiful. It knows, as well as a tree can." He turns his gaze to Erika, nodding. "You have same root to Nature as this tree."
Erika blinks, tilting her head: "Same as..." She looks up at the tree branches: "Huh. Didn't tell me, did you?"
Tarbin chuckles, drawing his hand back, the bark where it had lain looking somewhat more youthful than the rest as his scales turn back. "Even if you have no control, Nature... Magic flows in everything that lives, connects us all. Some connections are stronger."
Erika looks at Tarbin in wonder: "That's... amazing. I never saw anything like that."
Tarbin looks to her, unsure of what she means. "Well, we are standing in the proof of your making."
Erika blinks, tilting her head: "My garden? But that's not really magic..." She trails off, not exactly sounding confident now.
Tarbin shakes his head. "No, is also skill. Did you grow everything?"
Erika shakes her head: "No, this is my Mother's garden, I just took over." She looks up at the tree: "Well, and I guess got excited."
Tarbin nods, looking about himself at the nearest plants. "Your mother taught you?"
Erika nods, grinning: "Yup! Taught me everything I know."
Tarbin grins, nodding as well. "That's good, a wonderful gift to pass down! She must be proud."
Erika shrugs, blushing: "I think she is. She certainly keeps saying so."
Tarbin chuckles, his tail tip scraping the ground a short way from the tree's roots, at a spot his gaze has rested on. "You deserve it, so much hard work and love in this soil."
Erika blinks: "What do they do in the grou- oh. That's not what you meant."
Tarbin laughs, shrugging. "Perhaps meant both?" he lays the tips of both tails on the freshly scratched dirt, their color shifting. "You know, there is as much happening under the earth as above."
Erika nods, leaning down to touch her hand on the mulch: "It's rich, yeah. All kinds of small beings down there."
Tarbin watches as a green stem struggles it's way from between his tails, a single leaf matching those on the tree above unfurling and wiggling proudly atop the slowly darkening young trunk. He speaks as if nothing is happening, of course. "All critters doing important tasks, of course. What is in this mulch? Very rich."
Erika pauses her grasping of the mulch to stare at the plant growing as Tarbin speaks: "Uh... Tarb, you're... your tail is doing something odd. A plant... growing fast."
Tarbin nods, chuckling. "A little encouragement for the young one." The sapling stands a few inches tall when it slows, four more leaves unfurling from the trunk as it goes. Tarbin draws his tails back after. The veins of the leaves have a red tint to them that fades only slightly after the tails draw back, unlike the stoic parent Erika had grown.
Erika blinks at this sight several times. "You're... very magical, then." She looks at Tarbin, smiling: "That's pretty amazing."
Tarbin smiles at Erika, nodding. "Nature granted me with a gift, I am honored to have it. I can encourage growth and healing in all connected to Nature's power, and see the flow in my mind."
Erika grins, getting back up: "That sounds so amazing! ...I said that already, but anyway, it is!"
Tarbin chuckles, though his cheeks darken slightly from a blush. "Perhaps, but it is a gift to give, not my own skill. Your garden is proof of your talent."
Erika shrugs: "Talent schmalent. I just do my thing and it works." She can't stop herself from glancing at the tree she has grown by 'mistake', though.
Tarbin grins. "Talent and wisdom."
Erika giggles, waving a hand: "I'm not wise. Just ask anyone."
Tarbin nods, chuckling. "Wisdom is many formed. I've already asked the tree and the plants, perhaps I shall ask the people."
Erika blinks, then nods as she touches her hand on the tree. Notably, nothing happens. "Maybe. I can't ask the plants, so I can't make a comparison."
Tarbin shrugs, looking at the tree again. He turns the topic away from them personally and toward the plants themselves, and finding the scope of Erika's knowledge in herbology fascinating. She easily flows from subject to subject as the lizard slowly quiets and just happily listens to her enthusiasm.