Logs:Informal Gardens

Informal Gardens
Dramatis Personae Daiki, Noah, Shane
In Absentia	2020-04-20 "Damn, yeah, it's been a blessing getting some sun again."
Location Guerrilla Gardens
<NYC> Guerrilla Garden - Lower East Side Situated on the lot directly adjacent to the distinctive sleek form of the Mendel Clinic, this space was once abandoned. The chainlink fence around it is still rusty, dilapidated, and the signs affixed to it still unwelcoming -- rusty as well, reading KEEP OUT, and PRIVATE PROPERTY. For those who venture into the slitted gap cut out of the fence, though, the yard within tells a different story. Neat and cleaned of any garbage and weeds, the once-abandoned lot has been rebuilt. Packing crates have been broken down for their wood to create raised beds full of rich soil, each bed neatly tilled and tended. Stakes label the different plants growing -- a wealth of vegetables growing three seasons of the year in the carefully tended soil. Around the edges of the lot, smaller beds have had brightly coloured flowers planted, lending even more cheer to the little hidden garden. Very eclectically mismatched seating has been brought in; old packing crates, chairs scavenged from curbs, though it's all been brightly painted. Even though life has returned to the city in recent days, the weather has decided not to reflect that temperament. The temperature has dipped to be rather cool, almost nippy with the occasional breeze that picks up. Intermittent clouds keep the sun from shining long enough to leave any lasting warmth. Still, Noah is dressed against the chill in jeans that already already have patches of dark soil on the knees and a thick blue flannel, his boots heavy on the concrete whenever he shuffles around the small spot in the garden he's claimed. Alex is asleep against his chest, snugly held in place by the pastel rainbow wrap he has tied around his torso. The fact that she is asleep does nothing to stop him from lowly talking to her while he works. He tells her what squash is, how it grows, how he'll do his best to make his mama's squash casserole whenever it comes time to harvest them. The garden shows signs of fresh planting in some areas, with signs that label them as 'Carrots', 'Eggplants', 'Peas'. Still, there are a few beds that need to be cleaned up still from where things had overgrown during the lockdown. "Apocalyptic fashion is in fact shaping up to be a trend for the fall/winter season," Daiki is saying as he ducks into the garden. His outfit today, however, is not so very apocalyptic, though it is somewhat casual by his usual standards -- a sage canvas jacket open over a lilac oxford shirt with no tie, worn brown corduroy trousers, and tan chelsea boots. His long black hair is cinched neatly in a ponytail and he carries a canvas tote over one shoulder that reads "Chimaera Art Space" over a line drawing of a cartoon chimera. "I don't think anyone's surprised, exactly, but Taylor did call it before the major houses." His smile when he spots Noah is fluid, automatic -- neutral and friendly. "Good day, Sir," he offers, though he does not, for the moment, go any closer -- waiting for his companion, perhaps. "I mean, yeah, that doesn't surprise me, Taylor's got mad style. Maybe just less opportunity to show it off." Trailing behind Daiki is a much smaller figure, tiny and dressed neat in a sleek blue-gray gabardine jacket cut to accentuate the unusual angles of his unique physiology, a pale chambray button-down, dark gray trousers, and black engineer boots. One of his webbed hands is on the handlebars of -- a sleek silver-and-blue thing that looks more like someone's stylized sci-fi interpretation of a motorcycle than like an actual usable vehicle. It doesn't seem to even have wheels, just slender silver metal frames where wheels should be. Still, clearly Shane had been moving it along easily enough a second ago, but as they actually come into view in the cut-out entryway he's just leaning it up against the fence, pausing a step behind Daiki, his enormous black eyes widening in his narrow face when he spots Noah. The hesitation is brief, his gills fluttering quick, before his chin lifts in a sharp nod. "Yo." His head darts up at Daiki and Shane's approach, Noah's gaze first catches on the bike. His brow furrows, confusion overtaking surprise--all of which is wiped out by wide-eyed shock once he looks to the bike's owner. He falls back into somewhat more of a defensive crouch and raises an arm to curl around Alex... before awkwardly glancing between Daiki and Shane, taking them in, unsure. "Uh." Feeling caught, he tries not to stare at Shane's teeth. "Hi?" Daiki hefts the tote he's carrying. "We're just here to do a bit of gardening," he reassures Noah. "Or at least take stock of what gardening needs done. We've unfortunately been neglecting this during the crisis." He ducks his head slightly, his smile going just a touch shy. "My name's Daiki, and this is my friend Shane." Shane's head tips down, and the smile he flashes is brief and small. "Afternoon," he offers lightly. "Sorry, we didn't mean to startle. Not usually a lot of other people 'round." He moves back towards his bike, leaning down to unhitch one of its saddlebags. "We usually get started on these beds way earlier in the season, but -- y'know. The Rona." Noah slowly relaxes and stands, trying to get his heartbeat under control before Alex wakes up. "I'm Noah," he offers, with an attempt at a smile aimed somewhere between Daiki and Shane. "Sorry, I never seen--anyone here." He glances down at the bed he's cleared out, the few mounds of dirt and the squash plants that have already been planted. "It okay that *I'm* here?" The slow release of Daiki's tension is subtle, probably not apparent to anyone who doesn't know him well. He picks his way between the beds, admiring Noah's handiwork and assessing the chaos of the parts that haven't yet been tamed. "This isn't ours, legally, though we do our best to be good stewards. I think the lot is technically in escrow?" He glances to Shane for confirmation. "Someone might come along and try to build a condo on it eventually." His smile is easy and unconcerned, though. "Nah, you're good." Shane sets the bag down, tipping a glance up towards the tall clinic building that overshadows the lot. "I think this one's gonna be fine, nobody wants to build condos next to the freak clinic. Someone had plans to but that fell through after --" He gestures up towards Mendel. "So now the Clinic wants to expand here, but the city does not want to give them the permits, so --" One shoulder hitches up lazily. "We're probably good for a while. We planted like, a dozen of these with my Pa a few years back and a couple of the others have been built over since -- so it happens. There'll always be more empty lots, though." He glances over towards Noah casually as he trails after Daiki. "Georgia?" he hazards, brows lifting. Knowing he isn't going to be kicked off of the lot, Noah sinks back down besides the plant bed with a sigh of relief. "Shame the clinic can't expand. But y'all've done good work with the place. It's nice." Considering his use of the word 'y'all've', it is probably not a surprise when he shyly nods in answer to Shane's question. "I guess it's pretty obvious," he says, working on shaping another mound of dirt. There are still a few plants that need to go in the soil before he can water them. "I'm from Nahunta, or well. Round about there." "Even if they do go and try to sell this as the new bohemian living trend," Daiki says, the faint bemusement in his voice tightly managed, "we might be able to get City Planning on our side." He sets his garden tools down beside an upturned steel pail clustered with some other make-shift seating. "Oh! I've spent some lovely summers with Shane's grandparents in Georgia, though --" He blushes faintly. "-- it's a big state, of course." "My Ba's from Georgia --" Shane nods towards Daiki, acknowledging. "Way-way up north, though. We get down there plenty to visit my Bà and Ông but s'all the way up in the mountains." Shane doesn't take out tools first but a thermos and a tupperware of crisp-fried turmeric-dill catfish chunks, peeling open the lid to offer Daiki out the food. Then Noah, the hairless ridge of his brows raising. "My Ba works miracles with green things. I just try to keep the weeds and garbage out. -- See you're starting to teach this one early." The lazy sweep of his claws indicates the slumbering child, here. "I was gonna say, you musta been up north if you enjoyed the summers. 'Lovely' ain't the first word that comes to mind, thinkin' of summer in southern Georgia." The small grin Noah has with this fades, his own eyebrows raising at the offered food. "Thank you." As he glances at his dirt smeared hands and reaches into his pocket to pull out a swiss army knife, there is a slow tension that runs into his shoulders. The slightest twitch at Shane's sweep of claws, even as he spears a piece of fish to take. "I'm hopin' to. Just happy to have her outside." "It was still pretty hot!" Daiki agrees with a laugh. "But I'd have thought it was lovely no matter how hot, probably." He plucks up a piece of catfish for himself delicately between thumb and forefinger, popping it into his mouth. His dark eyes follow the pocket knife, though his mild expression doesn't change. "Do you have plans for all of these beds, Noah?" he asks. "Damn, yeah, it's been a blessing getting some sun again. How old is she? She looks teeny. What a welcome to the world, huh." Shane settles down on an upturned milk crate opposite Daiki, setting the container of fish between them and skewering a piece for himself on a long claw. Munch, munch. "We had exciting hopes for getting some berries in --" He's not pointing to the beds but the fence along the garden's edge, "this year but." A small shrug. "Should ask Pa if it's too late for that. You all in the neighborhood?" "Oh no, not *all* of 'em." Shaking his head, Noah gestures to the beds that have already been planted. "I'unno who did those. I was just gonna put some squash here, maybe some radishes with it to keep the bugs off." Smiling down at Alex, he presses a quick kiss to the top of her head before starting on his own piece of fish. "She just--Damn, this is *good*--she just made it to two weeks. Happiest and most stressful two weeks of my life." He peers at the fence while eating, tucking his knife away when he finishes. "May not be too late for blackberries?" he suggests, but not with much confidence. "And no. Well, we were, but moved when we found out about Peanut here. Up in Harlem now." "We'll clear the rest of these, then." Daiki nods, looking around thoughtfully. "We only have an extremely rough plan, anyway. Blackberries would be a lovely addition to it." He plucks another piece of fish from the tub in Shane's hand. "Oh, and you've probably put this together, but since this is a nominally public lot it's possible someone may take what you plant." He dips his head, mildly apologetic. "Especially if you're not able to come down here very often when it comes harvesting time." "Hey, congrats, baby. Good job on surviving. Two weeks in this world is nothing to sniff at. -- Oh! We do have a lot up in Harlem we took over too, though. It's up like --" Shane squints uncertainly, looks momentarily to Daiki for confirmation. "What, like, 137th and Edgecombe? Somewhere round there. I haven't been up to check on that one yet but I think my sister has. If you're looking to get your hands dirty more like. In your neck of the woods." He grins -- broader and toothier than before, a truly exceptional number of teeth flashing briefly behind his blue lips. "You like it? I've had so much time to practice cooking lately. I was proud of the sear on this." "That's fine," Noah lightly answers Daiki, still squinting thoughtfully at the fence. "Only so much squash two people can eat, and it's better than lettin' it go to waste. Or lettin' people go hungry." Speaking of squash. He breaks his attention away from solving berry-type problems to continue his initial task. Alex meanwhile stretches and wiggles in her sleep, raising a tiny fist out of the wrap almost as if answering Shane--Yes, go me!--before settling again. "137th and Edgecombe? I'll have to remember that. It'll be nice to have somewhere to go closer to home." He shoots Shane a small smile, and momentarily freezes, tries to continue on a moment later like his eyes aren't just a bit wider. "Yeah, it's good. I dunno if I've ever had fish that wasn't fried, but I like it." "That's the place. The entry spot is in an alley off Edgecombe." Daiki nods. "It was probably a much more tempting spot for a future condo up until a couple of months ago, but now -- who know." His smile warms at Noah's easy response to his revelation. "That's more or less the spirit of these gardens. You might get on with Shane's pa." The smile does not fade when the man struggles not to react to Shane's toothy grin. "This man does know his way around a fish, and I do not say that lightly. May we all have a good harvest, though -- and need to learn our way around a ton of squash."