The Park; Sunday Afternoon [04/09].

[beautiful_boc]

After the whole name fiasco with Raiden at the pizza shop, Boc had vowed to stay put in the shop and not be such a bother to anyone ever again, but then a shipment showed up with all sorts of fancy clothes for something called a prom, and he got so overwhelmed by being around so many pretty and fine things that he had had to escape and get some fresh air.

It was a nice day, after all, and he liked visiting the pond in the park and watching the funny birds that lived there, so that was what he did. Until a bright splash of color nestled in some tree roots caught his eye and he went to investigate.

It was an egg! Boiled up and splashed with yellow and orange specks. And a few ways away underneath a bush....another egg! And eventually another, and, ohhhh, there were eggs hidden all over! Some of them were even plastic that you could crack open to discover little wrapped sweet things, or colorful little beans, or sometimes coins, too! And so now Boc was definitely on a mission to discover more of those eggs, though he suspected he'd run out of pocket space soon, he might need to take off his hat and carry some in there, too!

[[ stuck at work all day and praying I don't get sucked into bullshit busywork because we're dead as tombs, hooray! ×_× SO have an impromptu egg hunt, why not? Open park is open! ]]

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[stykera]

Stark had gone out for another walk today since the weather was still pleasant enough. He often ended up in the park for at least part of these wanders around the island and today was no exception.

He spotted Boc and stopped to watch him for a moment before moving any closer. From Stark's brief experience with him he thought he might be startled by an unexpected approach so he was walking slowly and carefully and trying to make perhaps an extra bit of noise as he did so. Just in case.

And then he offered a soft "hello, Boc."

[beautiful_boc]

It was an impressive effort, Stark, but Boc, distracted as he was in hunting for all these strange and colorful eggs, was still a bit startled, enough that his first instinct was to wince and start apologizing.

"Sor-sorry!" he stammered out. "Begging your pardon! I was just collecting all these strange eggs, if that's alright. I can put them back, though, I wasn't sure if they were for keeping!"

Mostly anything found just lying around was fair game in the Lands Between, really.

[stykera]

"You don't need to apologize," Stark said gently. "They look like they were put there to be found, don't they?"

Maybe some sort of mystical rabbit left them behind!

[beautiful_boc]

"I thought perhaps they were eggs from the bright pink birds," said Boc, ducking his head toward the flamigos, "but they all seem to have been cooked! ...well, except for the plastic ones, but those have other things inside. Very strange."

[stykera]

"There's a holiday with eggs," Stark said. "Sometimes you're meant to hunt for them. And sometimes they're full of candy. Did you find candy?"

[beautiful_boc]

"A holiday?" asked Boc, with his brow creased a little with concern, especially since holidays and celebrations around the Lands Between mostly seemed to involve either a lot of fighting or a lot of eating people.

Both of those things were pretty big problems, really, in the Lands Between.

"With eggs? And I'm....I'm not sure, actually. But I did find these." He dug into his pouch to pull out some of the beans and shiny wrapped things, to save for later, or to maybe give to people who tried to help him, and held them out toward Stark. "They're quite sweet. Is this candy?"

[stykera]

"A holiday where you get candy," Stark explained. "Not the one where it's shaped like hearts or the one where you dress in costumes. This one you get candy in eggs that are meant to be brought by a rabbit and it's all supposed to celebrate someone coming back from the dead."

Stark could have explained that better but that would have been less entertaining.

"They look like candy," he confirmed. "Jelly beans and probably chocolate in the wrappers."

[beautiful_boc]

"I....see," said Boc, although he really didn't, especially since things came back from the dead a lot back in the Lands Between (especially Tarnished), and it really didn't seem like much to celebrate, especially when you accidentally wandered into a tomb filled with skeletons or corpses.

"I don't think I saw any rabbits, though," Boc admitted, "but the....candy?" He still sounded a little uncertain on that word. "Is nice. I do rather like it."

Not as much as pizza, though.

Then, feeling suddenly a bit selfish for hoarding, he grabbed another handful of candy from his pouch and thrust both hands upward toward Stark.

"Have some?" He offered. "There's plenty, as you can see."

[stykera]

"It was something of a miracle," Stark explained in a rather impressive understatement. "His coming back. I still don't really understand how the rabbits and eggs and candy fit in to that."

"But," he added, smiling at Boc and reaching for a few jelly beans, "I do like the candy. Thank you, for sharing. You don't need to."

[beautiful_boc]

"It's all a bit much for just me, anyway," Boc reasoned, feeling like this was quite the understatement, really, but even he had to admit, he found it, fair and square, so even he should get to have some. This seemed like quite the king's bounty, though. "Besides, everyone else has been so generous, to me, even though they certainly don't have to." Or really should, in his opinion! "So it's the very least I could do..."

But that did make him think of something else, too, and he chanced a glance up at Stark after his head tilted slightly.

"Do you....do you suppose...most people here like candy, as well?"

[stykera]

"People on this island tend to be kind," Stark told him. "Even when they don't have to be. They've always been kind to me. Even if I don't always deserve it. And...yes. I think most people here do. I couldn't speak for everyone. But most people, yes."

[beautiful_boc]

Boc nodded a little at that, thoughtfully, although, really, if Stark didn't deserve some of that kindness, then Boc was pretty sure he didn't deserve any of it himself. And yet...

But his mind was quite a bit on something else just then, anyway, and, after waiting a moment to see if Stark would pick out any more, lowered his hands, shifting it all into one palm, moving it around a little with one long finger before plucking out a purple bean and holding it up to his face to look at it speculatively, held between finger and thumb.

"What sort of plant grows," he wondered, "from a bean such as this one? I've never seen beans so bright and colorful before."

[stykera]

"I don't think they'll grow a plant," Stark said after giving the bean some consideration. "They're mostly made of sugar but stranger things have happened on this island than plants growing from candy beans."

Maybe a jelly bean would grow a jello tree! Nobody tell Summer.

"They're really just for eating and not planting. As far as I know. I'm sure we could find you some things you could grow, if you wanted to."

[beautiful_boc]

Boc's shoulders sunk a little in disappointment with the news that these weren't the kind of beans for planting, with a dismayed shake of his head and the smallest of sighs.

"No, no," he said. "I wasn't looking to plant anything. I don't think I'd be very good at it, anyway, growing things. The seedlings would take one look at who put them in the ground and decide they'd much rather stay right where they were! I just thought...

"Oh," another small sigh, "never mind."

It had probably been a silly idea anyway, and to console himself, he brought the bean to his mouth and gave it a nervous sort of nibble or two.

"But thank you," he said,"for letting me know."

[stykera]

"Why would plants do that?" Stark asked. Boc looked perfectly fine to him. He didn't look human (or Sebacean) but Stark wasn't human and neither was anyone he'd known before he came here aside from Crichton.

"I do wonder if they might grow here...this is a very strange island." If it could snow sugar then surely candy could grow into something else!

[beautiful_boc]

"Begging your pardon, master," said Boc, "but I'm not sure strange can even begin to describe this place. But plants are...well, most plants, anyway, even the deadly ones," especially the deadly ones, actually!, "are quite beautiful, aren't they? I would only make sense that they'd prefer someone beautiful to take care of them, as well."

It would make sense, really, why someone like Nell, then, would be so good with them, wouldn't it?

"And I'm just about as ugly as they come. Perhaps I'd only get ugly plants to grow."

[stykera]

"Please call me Stark?"

"And yes...plants can be very beautiful." Boc, you had no idea how Stark felt about plant life. Well. One specific plant. "But I don't find you ugly. I don't think the plants would either. I would think they'd be pleased to be cared for. I know of at least one plant who would have liked you."

[beautiful_boc]

Boc winced, cringing into his hunchedshpulders and shaking his head a little, because he'd been doing so well, but he'd slipped up and called someone master again, but it was such a hard habit to break. And then there was a small wimper as he got flashbacks of his recent conversation with Raiden, and he'd cover his face in shame if his hand weren't still full of candy. Shame and distress, over not knowing what to do with another person claiming he was worthy enough to speak their name.

"Would...would sir be allowed?" he nervously asked. "Bad enough, being so offending to the eyes, I'll do what I can to be less offensive to the ears, as well. I'm sure I'd make much better company overall if I'd actually remained a tree this time, for people and fellow plants alike."

[stykera]

"I just like to be called by my name," Stark said very gently. "That's all. I'm not...I'm just Stark."

He used to be a slave, Boc! Calling him master was just absurd.

"And my eye isn't offended. Nor are my ears. It was just a request. That's all. I'm glad you're not a tree. I wouldn't have known about the eggs today if you were a tree. And you wouldn't have had any of the candy."

[beautiful_boc]

Boc whimpered with distress again, but there was a edge of defeat to it, as if accepting that this place was, in fact, so strange that even the most basic show of respect was offensive, and he's apparently be much better off just avoiding calling anyone anything at all!

"Oh, but you wouldn't have needed me to know about eggs. They're quite bright and colorful, after all; surely, you'd have noticed them yourself eventually. And I'd be fine, without the candy. I'm fine without most things."

[stykera]

"Please don't be upset," Stark said quickly. He held up his hands, palms out. "I don't mean to cause any distress."

"And," he added, "I wouldn't have even have thought to look for eggs if I hadn't seen you with them. And you shared your candy with me, which was kind of you to do. Should we look for more? Of course you'd be fine without it but why not have it when it's available? I never had sweet things like they have here before I was here but I try to as often as I can. No reason not to."

[beautiful_boc]

Existence was distressing by default, Stark! It was inevitable!

"Oh, no," Boc shook his head. "My apologies, but I simply cannot agree there, mast-- si--"

He just went with another helpless whimper, at that point.

"There are plenty of reasons not to. Multitudes, even! It could make you feel ill, for example, it might belong to someone else, my having the sweet things might mean someone else....someone far more deserving!...might not! Just to name a few!"

[stykera]

"If sir is easier," Stark said with a soft sigh, "if sir is easier you can say sir."

It was quite a change to find someone even more worried that others were upset with him than Stark himself was.

"If there is one thing I know about food here is that there is never a lack of it. There is always enough to go around. More than enough, often. You're just as deserving of the food as any of the rest of us. More, if you're hungry."