[He's tempted to try it himself, black and then red, to see if they cancel each other out, but Amada being in this place makes everything more complicated. The notion of just leaving the kid alone again without warning if something happens to him twists at his stomach.
(And, reluctantly, he's willing to admit to himself that it'd be kind of horrible to watch someone die from trying to help you, regardless of how little Shinjiro cares about his own well-being)
So he's pacing, pondering if there's some trick to this, like if you're supposed to mix the teas or if you should pour them somewhere or what, when Tsurumaru speaks up again. Shinjiro slows at first, then stops as the words sink in. "I can only feel this body", he'd said. His true form is a sword. That's...well, that's a new one in this place, he supposes. But truly, why not? It's not like there aren't plenty of stories about tsukumogami back in Japan. He's seen much weirder at this point than a possessed sword having a human form.]
I definitely don't know how to reforge a sword or anything, for the record. But it's a big city. Someone can probably do it. [...] Don't have to say it's for you.
[Since he gets the feeling this guy would prefer people to assume he's human, based on how this situation has gone down.
...But all that's immaterial if he doesn't find the sword, so it's time to get looking. There doesn't seem to be anything buried within the nearby plants, but ... that sure is a shelf, over there. Is it large enough to fit a sword in? Maybe. Time to start opening some drawers!]
(It isn't so much that it's a secret and more that in this particular situation, the thought that his sword may be close has his hopes raised and he hates being disappointed. He'd rather have a broken sword than no sword at all. At least then he would feel whole again after all this time.
While Shinjiro looks through the cabinet, Tsurumaru tries to help. He moves more slowly, careful not to worse his own condition but when Shinjiro opens the drawers he'll find packets of seeds. The names are faded and worn but the colors are still easy enough to see.
Red. Yellow. Green. Blue. Black.
Each color corresponds with a different tea. )
Those packs. (It's too much of a coincidence,) Do they say anything?
Shinjiro looks at the color-coded packets, turning them over in his hands, holding them up to the light, anything that might reveal some kind of clue as to how they're related to the tea.]
Tch. Squat.
[He tips out a couple of the seeds into his palm to try to examine them as well, but as far as he can tell, they just look ordinary???]
Maybe you're supposed to plant 'em? Some kinda ... bullshit circle of life metaphor or some shit. I dunno.
(He cranes his neck and tries to look. The writing is so faded that the only clue they have is the colors of the packets.)
And wait a whole season...?
(Like this? He sounds disappointed, like a child hearing he has to do something boring but really, he's frustrated. He can't stay like this for a season. He'll surely break apart by then.)
Most medicine comes from plants. (There are some traditional medicines that can come from animals but most are from plants.) Flowers, leaves, roots, bark, and even seeds...
(With bandaged fingers, he reaches out to clumsily take one and hold it up. There's no compulsion to consume it. If compulsion was an effect of something dangerous like the tea, could this be a safer option...? Or "nothing?")
I don't want to eat it. It must be safe then, right?
[Shinjiro cringes just faintly at 'wait a whole season', because no, that's not a good solution at all, it's just. The best he could think of.
But then the other man comes up with another idea, and ... well. There's only really two possibilities, here. It'll fix things, or it'll make them worse. And when even the worst-case scenario means waking back up on the train the next day...ugh. He's not entirely unaware of the hypocrisy to the thought that it's probably better than doing nothing and wasting away slowly, but things like this always seem to matter less when they're about him than others.]
...Who knows. ["Maybe that's what they want you to think", etc.] But if it's a choice between death and maybe-not-death, not like you can really go wrong tryin' it.
(Eyes linger on the seed, his expression thoughtful and curiously at peace despite the situation. It's hard to read. Is he worried or not? )
I'm Tsurumaru.
(In all of this, he'd never introduced himself and now seems like the best time. Unprompted, at a sudden time, without any further explanation. And he reaches to take some more of the seeds from Shinjiro,)
I wonder what other surprises will await me today. (He looks over at Shinjiro, a calm smile on his face,) I hope its fun.
(Suddenly, he tosses the seeds into his mouth and swallows.)
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(And, reluctantly, he's willing to admit to himself that it'd be kind of horrible to watch someone die from trying to help you, regardless of how little Shinjiro cares about his own well-being)
So he's pacing, pondering if there's some trick to this, like if you're supposed to mix the teas or if you should pour them somewhere or what, when Tsurumaru speaks up again. Shinjiro slows at first, then stops as the words sink in. "I can only feel this body", he'd said. His true form is a sword. That's...well, that's a new one in this place, he supposes. But truly, why not? It's not like there aren't plenty of stories about tsukumogami back in Japan. He's seen much weirder at this point than a possessed sword having a human form.]
I definitely don't know how to reforge a sword or anything, for the record. But it's a big city. Someone can probably do it. [...] Don't have to say it's for you.
[Since he gets the feeling this guy would prefer people to assume he's human, based on how this situation has gone down.
...But all that's immaterial if he doesn't find the sword, so it's time to get looking. There doesn't seem to be anything buried within the nearby plants, but ... that sure is a shelf, over there. Is it large enough to fit a sword in? Maybe. Time to start opening some drawers!]
no subject
(It isn't so much that it's a secret and more that in this particular situation, the thought that his sword may be close has his hopes raised and he hates being disappointed. He'd rather have a broken sword than no sword at all. At least then he would feel whole again after all this time.
While Shinjiro looks through the cabinet, Tsurumaru tries to help. He moves more slowly, careful not to worse his own condition but when Shinjiro opens the drawers he'll find packets of seeds. The names are faded and worn but the colors are still easy enough to see.
Red.
Yellow.
Green.
Blue.
Black.
Each color corresponds with a different tea. )
Those packs. (It's too much of a coincidence,) Do they say anything?
no subject
Shinjiro looks at the color-coded packets, turning them over in his hands, holding them up to the light, anything that might reveal some kind of clue as to how they're related to the tea.]
Tch. Squat.
[He tips out a couple of the seeds into his palm to try to examine them as well, but as far as he can tell, they just look ordinary???]
Maybe you're supposed to plant 'em? Some kinda ... bullshit circle of life metaphor or some shit. I dunno.
no subject
(He cranes his neck and tries to look. The writing is so faded that the only clue they have is the colors of the packets.)
And wait a whole season...?
(Like this? He sounds disappointed, like a child hearing he has to do something boring but really, he's frustrated. He can't stay like this for a season. He'll surely break apart by then.)
Most medicine comes from plants. (There are some traditional medicines that can come from animals but most are from plants.) Flowers, leaves, roots, bark, and even seeds...
(With bandaged fingers, he reaches out to clumsily take one and hold it up. There's no compulsion to consume it. If compulsion was an effect of something dangerous like the tea, could this be a safer option...? Or "nothing?")
I don't want to eat it. It must be safe then, right?
no subject
But then the other man comes up with another idea, and ... well. There's only really two possibilities, here. It'll fix things, or it'll make them worse. And when even the worst-case scenario means waking back up on the train the next day...ugh. He's not entirely unaware of the hypocrisy to the thought that it's probably better than doing nothing and wasting away slowly, but things like this always seem to matter less when they're about him than others.]
...Who knows. ["Maybe that's what they want you to think", etc.] But if it's a choice between death and maybe-not-death, not like you can really go wrong tryin' it.
no subject
I'm Tsurumaru.
(In all of this, he'd never introduced himself and now seems like the best time. Unprompted, at a sudden time, without any further explanation. And he reaches to take some more of the seeds from Shinjiro,)
I wonder what other surprises will await me today. (He looks over at Shinjiro, a calm smile on his face,) I hope its fun.
(Suddenly, he tosses the seeds into his mouth and swallows.)