The Preserve, Wednesday Afternoon

[joan_of_bark]

It felt... dangerous... to spend too much time in most of the island's open spaces. Pam had no interest in making Harley-not-Harley's life more difficult, now that she had chosen to stay here by necessity. But that did strike quite a few locations out of her potential new daily routine.

(Wasn't it always easier to avoid a problem than to face it head-on?)

But that was fine. There were still some mysteries left to uncover on this island, and the preserve had the advantages of both containing some - and being very unlikely to contain any kind of Harley.

Coming here felt like a relief the moment her feet touched the forest floor. The Green still didn't speak to her quite the same way it once had, but its voice was louder here. She felt so much stirring in the soil and the treetops, familiar and unfamiliar things. Things that were dying. Things that were growing.

And before she knew it, her search for answers had turned into a stroll between the trees, her fingers sliding past bark, branch and shrub as she let them trail beside her. It was... grounding.

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Comments

[okteiviakom]

Pam was not the only person looking for some peace of mind in the preserve today. Octavia had already been there for... a while. She had her club shift in the evening, and some days were like this, filled with almost a compulsion, to go out, to be surrounded by the trees stretching way up high, to breathe in deep.

To sit down and push her hands into whatever undergrowth happened to be near her.

Which was what she was doing when she heard someone coming. Thought she did, at least. She looked up, towards the sound.

[joan_of_bark]

And Pam-- stopped, her hand pressed against the bark of a large tree, an old tree. She could feel its life, its age, beating underneath her fingers. Her red ponytail fell over her shoulder as she tilted her her head quizzically at the pretty, grim woman.

A fellow traveller? She didn't seem lost. Not with her hands buried in the soil like roots.

[okteiviakom]

Good to know Octavia's ability to tell a person and a deer apart by noise alone remained in tact. She eyed the woman for a second (that hair color really stood out against all the green, didn't it?) and then rasped, "There's not usually anyone else here."

That wasn't counting all the times other people were there and she just didn't run into them.

(And no, she didn't pull her hands away from the undergrowth. Why would she?)

[joan_of_bark]

"Good," Pam said, her eyes taking in the color of Octavia's voice and posture.

She seemed like a part of the wild, didn't she?

"The last thing these woods need is tourists trampling the young growth and damaging the old for their own amusement."

[okteiviakom]

"I don't think any tourists make it this deep onto the island."

More of that mild rasp. A little bit of faint calculation (or something like it) behind the eyes as she took in Pam's general vibe.

"But I think it's only a handful of people from the island who come out here in any kind of a regular way."

[joan_of_bark]

Pam's one shoulder pressed itself gently against the tree. The other gave a slight shrug, as she crossed her arms. "I'm new," she said.

It felt like an answer to both statements. Didn't it?

[okteiviakom]

"And I'm very old," Octavia replied, and okay, that was a heavier drawl, right there.

But she also followed it up with a little nod. "Octavia."

(Something, right there, made her wish she'd had a kru to add onto that. Don't ask her why. It was a quick but sharp stab of longing, all the same.)

NFB from here

[joan_of_bark]

Pam looked up into the trees, and watched a single squirrel skitter away. When she looked back down, she caught Octavia's eye again.

"Some people call me Poison Ivy," she said.

She wasn't sure why she'd opted for that name here, now. Bar that these were the woods, and it felt-- appropriate.

Re: NFB from here

[okteiviakom]

There was no particular reaction on Octavia's face to this information, but safe to say it was being filed away as information with some relevance.

As would this, most likely:

"And why is that?"

Re: NFB from here

[joan_of_bark]

"I can sting," Pam said. "And I love being with the little things that grow."

Re: NFB from here

[okteiviakom]

"I think poison sumac was more common where I'm from."

Just a tidbit, sure.

Re: NFB from here

[joan_of_bark]

"Well, that narrows you down to any number of bogs and swamps in North America," Pam mused, watching Octavia thoughtfully.

Re: NFB from here

[okteiviakom]

"It was more or less around here," Octavia replied - relented? - as she finally pulled her hands away from the ground. Mostly just to straighten up a little. "Give or take a century."

Re: NFB from here

[joan_of_bark]

"Forwards or backwards?" Pam asked. "The century, I mean."

Re: NFB from here

[okteiviakom]

"Forwards."

And yes, Octavia was noticing that for a newcomer, Pam seemed to be taking some stuff in stride.

"And with a nuclear apocalypse in between, so not all of the plants and the animals... were exactly like they are now."

Re: NFB from here

[joan_of_bark]

"I was going to say, then it's encouraging that poison sumac still grows," Pam remarked. "Though depending on how much of it there is, your soil might be a lot more acidic than ours."

Re: NFB from here

[okteiviakom]

"Black rain, sometimes," Octavia replied, on the tiniest hint of a shrug. "That's acidic, so... Probably."

Re: NFB from here

[joan_of_bark]

Pam sighed.

"We really are running out of time," she said. "Honestly, a hundred years feels remarkably optimistic."

Re: NFB from here

[okteiviakom]

Well, to that, Octavia really only had one thing to say.

She looked past Pam at the trees further off, and said, "Thirty."

Re: NFB from here

[joan_of_bark]

Pam made a soft noise, following her gaze.

"More realistic," she said, a little quiet, yet somehow still firm.

Re: NFB from here

[okteiviakom]

"I don't know if that's what's gonna become of this world," Octavia replied, mildly. "But it's not looking great for this one, either."

Some people wouldn't have been this openly maudlin at complete strangers within five minutes of meeting them, but Octavia had always had something of shaky grasp on caring about what was appropriate.

Re: NFB from here

[joan_of_bark]

Being openly maudlin about the future of the environment seemed nothing but natural to Pam, personally, but she realized her own expectations were somewhat skewed.

"No, it isn't," she agreed. "Not if we keep polluting and destroying at the rate we have been."

Re: NFB from here

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's gaze slid away from the trees again, back to Pam.

"I'm trying to find the people trying to get that to stop."

(It was the first time she'd said so out loud.)

Re: NFB from here

[joan_of_bark]

"Well," Pam said, and thought--

--about finding the right people to fight, rather than the easiest--

--about death and rebirth--

--about wanting to heal something for a change--

--and sighed. "I guess you found one of us, at least. For whatever it's worth."

Re: NFB from here

[okteiviakom]

Octavia just watched her, for a beat. Her face unreadable, at least to a stranger.

"Just arrived, hmh?"

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[joan_of_bark]

"Just arrived," Pam agreed. "Thinking about my next steps."

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[okteiviakom]

"And you've got a place to stay and that sort of thing sorted out?"

Call it idle curiosity.

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[joan_of_bark]

"Someone practically shoved the deed to Pick Your Poison into my hands when I got here," Pam said wryly. "Someone with... questionable taste in cosmetics. So many supposedly 'eco-friendly' brands that aren't."

... look, it was a personal point of great annoyance.

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[okteiviakom]

"Because enough people care just enough that they sell better like that."

Welcome to 'Everything I've Ever Learned About Capitalism Sucks', with your host, Octavia.

Re: NFB from here

[joan_of_bark]

"I'm throwing it all out and replacing it with home-grown products, and reinvigorating the store garden," Pam said. She crossed her arms. "You're free to stop by."

She wasn't going to give Adrian's products away for free, but...

Re: NFB from here

[okteiviakom]

"Yeah, that's usually how it works with stores," Octavia rasped.

Not unkindly, but that was how the public-facing side of her sense of humor tended to run. Very dry.

Re: NFB from here

[joan_of_bark]

"Hilarious," Pam commented.

She pushed away from the tree.

Re: NFB from here

[okteiviakom]

Octavia tilted her head by a fraction. It still communicated a sense of something wry louder than anything else in her demeanor.

"Yeah, my partners tell me all the time."

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[joan_of_bark]

"You're welcome, either way," Pam settled on. She didn't see the point in friendly sniping or awkward jabs. "I'm looking for some ways to help improve local conditions. Maybe we can help each other."

Re: NFB from here

[okteiviakom]

And for that, Octavia had a small nod, and nothing dry or wry about it.

"Maybe."