Can we find that real answer?

[hedgehogsdilemma]

♥ Who: Shinji & Good Friends
♥ Where: Anywhere between the community gardens and your house!
♥ When: Last week of August/Achtom
♥ What: Special delivery \:V/
♥ Rating: PG, probably. Will update if someone decides to have a pottymouth or something.

A whole summer of work has been put into the community garden from Shinji has paid off, and left him with a number of watermelons grown from seeds he had received right at the start of the season. How amazing...! Truly amazing. It probably wouldn't be too much trouble for him to just take them all home and make them last for a little while just snacking on them, but there's gotta be a much better use of these fruits.

He spends a bit of time on any day where it isn't i n c r e d i b l y h o t in the garden, looking over the watermelons so that he can figure out which ones are nice and ripe. It isn't a particularly hard task, so it would be nice and easy for him to be pestered by a passerby...!

Once he's made his selections for the day, all that's left is to distribute them. For friends of his who he may have the contact information for, but not their address, Shinji will send out a text message,

'Can I ask where you live?'

But for the rest of the people he'd want to see, if he knows where their houses are, off he goes with at least one (1) melon in tow. Knock knock! Guess who's here for a surprise visit!!


[[OOC: Feel free to assume Friendship if Shinji and your character have a fairly positive thread history, but if you're unsure, you can easily get in touch with me via PM or over at sandshrew! If you wanna go with brackets or whatever instead I will match formats. Follow your dreams, friends.]]

Comments

[the4united]

"You're out here a lot, aren't you?"

The statement isn't remotely accusing, but more mildly amused. This isn't the first time in the last few days that he's wandered by the gardens where he'd first met Shinji. He'd almost always heard him there, or at least somebody there since without Shinji speaking he'd have no way of truly identifying him.

[hedgehogsdilemma]

It's true, he is out here a lot! He's a little surprised to be called to like this, but at least it's not a complete stranger trying to tease him about it, or anything.

"Ah, yeah." Good afternoon...! "I've honestly been kind of worried about the heat taking a toll on the plants," he says thinly, but at least it looks like the gardens have been mostly okay. "But some of the stuff I've been growing has been ready to harvest, too."

[the4united]

"I guess you kind of have to be if you're looking after plants, right? I don't really have a lot of gardening experience..."

He doesn't stay in one place enough to ever really have reason to learn.

"Do they need to be watered?"

[hedgehogsdilemma]

"I didn't have any experience before trying this, myself."

So, hey, it's not like he's an expert or anything! Just a kid trying to get a feel for something new, maybe picking up a hobby out of it.

"I haven't gotten around to that yet," he has, perhaps, gotten a little excited at the prospect of actually picking some of these watermelons, and put the rest of the day's work on the back-burner for it. He can kind of see where the question might be going, though, "Did you want to help out a little...?"

[the4united]

"Really? You could have fooled me!"

Devon wouldn't have the vaguest idea where to start if someone asked him to grow something.

"Sure! You'll have to tell me what to do though."

[graspthepotato]

Shinji has probably seen Sougo around on and off, helping to take care of some weeding or watering whenever he happens by. So it shouldn't be a surprise when Sougo is there while Shinji is trying to pick out the ripe melons.

"Oh! These look amazing, Shinji-kun!" He crouches down to give one of the melons a little pat, smiling up at Shinji. "You've really done a great job raising them."

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Thank goodness the little melon pat doesn't raise any protective hackles this time! What a truly weird occurrence that had been!!

He looks pretty sheepish at the praise, though, and he's sure he doesn't deserve that much of the credit...!

"Well, you know, back when we all first started arriving here, there weren't a whole lot of plants or anything around. A lot of things just started springing up a few months ago, after a lot of rainfall, so... I wouldn't be surprised if the soil was somehow still really fertile, you know?"

How much of this is his hard work? How much can he chalk up to circumstance? He's not sure, and therefore unsure of how much praise he should actually be accepting.

[graspthepotato]

Yeah, that was a super weird occurrence wasn't it? Somehow, Sougo isn't particularly surprised by the hesitance to accept compliments that Shinji displays, though.

He nods thoughtfully as he rights himself.

"I suppose the fertile soil might have helped. But it was you who tended to them and brought them up this far. So I still think you've done a great job."

Sougo INSISTS on making sure Shinji knows he Did Good.

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Hey! Let him brush off that praise as he sees fit!! Gosh.

But rather than trying to downplay his own role in this verbally, Shinji instead opts to just... quietly regard the melons for a moment. They definitely wouldn't be here if it weren't for him, that much he can't exactly deny.

"It's been... kind of amazing," he says softly, "watching them grow."

[graspthepotato]

Wow, Shinji is adorable. Sougo can feel his heart swelling just from how in awe Shinji seems. He can absolutely understand that feeling, though. It's exactly how he felt the first time he managed to play music that sounded like music.

"It is, isn't it? Honestly, the fact that you've watched over them will make them taste better too. Because you'll think... 'I made this' and that just makes it so much more."

Please don't get too philosophical up in here, Sougo.

[daikonrose]

Oh hello. A text from Shinji! With a very innocent and simple question. Probably he's just out of soy sauce or something and wants to swing by?

My house is [ a number, wow ] but I don't mind coming over! Just tell me what you need, and I can be there in three blinks!

[hedgehogsdilemma]

A very harmless text for a very harmless task! And he's glad to receive such a speedy, compliant reply.

'I wanted to drop something off, actually. Are you home right now? I can just leave it by your door, if you aren't.'

A mystery gift! And with that out of the way, he can pick out the perfect gift from his available selection before making his way in the direction of her house.

[daikonrose]

Drop something off...? Mysterious, indeed. Did she accidentally leave something at their place? But then, he should just let her come get it, in that case. Or maybe he needs her to keep something safe for him? Kaito's birthday is already long over, though, so it's probably nothing along the lines of a present... right?

Shinji, are you--are you dealing in some kind of contraband??

No, I'm home right now! Don't worry! I'll be able to let you in right away!

[hedgehogsdilemma]

So suspicious, this suggestion he's put forth is!! Honestly, someone like Shinji could be bringing just about anything over, it's probably best to be on your toes, Kyoko!

'Okay, I should be there shortly.'

Fruit selected and carefully plucked from the vine, he beats a hasty retreat to Kyoko's place and, just as promised, arrives nice and quickly.

Knock knock! You have company, friend!

[daikonrose]

It's always the quiet ones....

Eager to help her friend through whatever he's gotten mixed up in, Kyoko had camped out by the window, watching for him at an angle so as to make it hard to see her from the street--you never knew who was watching, and this had to remain a secure place!--so that she could zip over to the door as soon as Shinji got near. He's barely done with those knocks before it opens, and Kyoko quickly ushers him inside with a very bright grin.

"You made it! So quickly! Come in!!"

Tanjiro may show up because they're basically stuck together...

[zapdope]

When he receives the text from Shinji, Zenitsu realizes that even though Zenitsu has visited the other's place a few times, Shinji has yet to visit his.

'Hi Shinji-kun! And sure thing! It's [ insert address here. ] Tanjiro's living in the same house, but that's probably obvious, huh? Did you need something?'

If nol's up for it then aboslutely!

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Nice, nice. Zenitsu and Tanjiro living together isn't new information, and he'd already been planning on using the one visit to take care of two deliveries at once. Getting the information so easily just makes that a nice, simple task.

'I just wanted to drop something off, if that's okay. Are either of you home right now?'

o>!

[zapdope]

'Yeah! We're both at home! Did you want us to head over instead?'

Not that Zenitsu minded either way, they can always stand to walk around the city instead of sitting at home. Daily training totally didn't count, nope.

[hedgehogsdilemma]

'It's okay. I'm already out, so I can be over there in just a little bit.'

If anyone wants to go for walks later, surely that wouldn't be an issue, but he's not going to ask them to go out of their way just to receive some gifts...! Knowing that he's picking out treats for at least the two of them, Shinji goes ahead and selects a pair of watermelons from the ripe selection. With that, off he goes!

It isn't a terribly far walk, so as he's said, it's only a short amount of time before there's a knock on the front door. Guess who's here!

here is i

[scentsitivity]

Zenitsu had given him the heads up that Shinji is going to drop by watermelons for them soon, and Tanjiro couldn't hide his enthusiasm at all. Living Havenwell has him used to working with limited ingredients, but it makes him all more appreciative when he gets to taste something new or something he hasn't eaten since arriving here.

He opens up the door with a bright smile-- but it quickly turns into a gasp, "it really is here! Shinji, you really did it!"

W A T E R M E L O N

[begguiling]

[Magolor's house is sadly not any more ready for company than usual; he opens the door to see who it is, and then instead slips outside to chat, rather than invite Shinji in. Who ever heard of keeping their place presentable for visitors?]

Hellooooo, what's all this about? Not that I'd ever complain about your company!

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[He couldn't possibly expect anyone to be completely prepared for a surprise visit like this! He looks a tiny bit curious as Magolor slips so stealthily outside, but that feeling is quickly swept off with that bit of flattery slid his way. Very smooth, enough to tug a tiny smile out of Shinji.]

Is that so? [He's not entirely sure how much of that is lip service or how sincere it might be, but it does cause a little bit of warmth to bloom in his chest. Ah, how nice.]

Sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but I have, [here, he lifts up the treat he's brought along with him - one nice, round watermelon! - up into view,] a present I wanted to drop off.

[begguiling]

No, no, not at all! I mean, I'm a busy man and stuff, blah blah, etc. More importantly, a present for me?!

[His eyes go all big and excited when the melon comes into sight. Ahhhh! It's all for him! Melons are the best! His flattery had been some sincere—Magolor is too secretly prickly to literally never complain about anyone's company at all, but Shinji is extremely high on the list of company he'd complain least about—but now it's just even moreso!]

I knew you cared about me! I'll savor every bite of the proof of your love.

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[That may have just been hyperbole, but dragging out that L-word so casually sure does catch Shinji pretty off-guard! He takes a moment of pause, but other than looking a little surprised, he won't call any special attention to it.

Still, goodness.]

Of course, you're one of the people I really wanted to make sure got one. [He'll go ahead and hold it on out for Magolor to take.] Kaito and I split one already, so I can promise you that it tastes really, really good.

[begguiling]

[He cradles it carefully in both hands. It's probably a decent percentage of his size, but not enough that he has any trouble carrying it. Some instinctive part of him wants to put the entire melon in his mouth and go flying around like that, but he just smiles a tiny bit at the ridiculous thought.

Ah, Shinji had really wanted to make sure he got one . . . geez. The love thing had indeed been hyperbole, in his joking way, but as exaggerated as it is to frame it that way, it's still . . . some type of feeling. He weighs the melon in his hands.]

You're really too kind to me.

[He might normally say this differently. You're reeeeally too kind to me! ♥ But this time, he says it like this. There's the edge of a truthful statement in it.]