Green Thumbs

Naka shivered as the fog seeped into her clothes and around her neck. It was cold season, and so she had to bundle up even more in case she didn't want to get sick. So now she was donning a thick grey jacket over an orange sweater and long, white pants. Her feet were happily protected by stockings and boots as well.

After meeting Ibari at the cafe, Naka was immediately intrigued by his status. A plant, a human, both. It was just so amazing! She couldn't help wanting to know more about him, his past and his future. She had a natural green thumb, thus why the attachment to all things photosynthesizing. And here she was, on his doorstep, (information emotionally blackmailed from Ate) carrying a little potted plant and waiting for someone to open the door. Either it was going to be him or his foster parents, Naka had just come unguarded and decided to go with the flow... She snapped out of her thinking spree and looked up as the door opened. "Oh! Hello..um...I'm Naka."

Ibari opened the door to his apartment, stretching, wearing a plain black t-shirt and blue jeans, his feet bare and his hair messy. It wasn't all that early, but he'd been up late and so had only woken up to the doorbell. Not that it was a problem, only Ibari had little energy due to not being exposed to sunlight for the past 8 hours. Yawning, he looked down to see the girl from the café, Naka-chan. He smiled warmly, eyes sleepy. "Morning....afternoon, whichever it is," he greeted. "Come in, it's cold." He moved back and allowed her to step in. "So what brings you to my humble abode?" The abode in question was a simple, small apartment, the floor and walls wooden and patterned with vines. He led the way to a little kitchen/dining area, and offered Naka a chair.

"Ah!" Naka blinked and her eyes widened when she realized he had just woke up, and most likely because of the doorbell ring. This made her guilty - did he wake up just for her. She looked down and say that his feet were bare too. So Naka came in and slipped her boots off at the entrance so as not to make a mess, wiggling her stockinged feet on the cool, wooden floor. Ah damn, that felt so very good.... "Oh, um...I just stopped by because uh..because..." Okay, now she turned pink. How do you say to a person you have just met that you wanted to learn more about him because he was essentially half a plant? "AH....here to give you a hello present," she bluffed, holding up the black morning glory in her hands. "Just to say....nice to meet you."

Ibari looked down at Naka-chan's hands, saw the pot plant there. Black Morning Glory, a person favourite for him. He smiled kindly, accepting it and placing it in the center of the table. "Thank you!" he beamed, "I love these. I used to grow some a few years ago, but they went out of season and died. It's nice to have one again." He toyed with it gently, watching the petals and leaves flare outwards, growing a little more. He smiled. "Can I get you anything? A drink, something to eat?"

"A friend of mine told me about them, and you kind of remind me of him, so I thought you would like them too." Naka smiled and bowed a little, as what she was used to when meeting someone for the first time. Since Ibari reminded her of 'him' so much... "Do you have cherry tea?" she asked him kindly, with a smile to match her tone. "Or red tea, even? I don't mind if you don't, but if you do..." She blushed and looked at her toes awkwardly. Though the two of them were similar, she found a few differences too. Now Naka was just wondering how many there were.

Laughing, Ibari opened the cupboard to reveal three boxes of cherry tea. "More than enough, I'd say," he grinned before setting to work preparing a large teapot full. Placing two teacups on the table with a pot of sugar and a plate of chocolate biscuits, he waited for the kettle to boil, serving up milk. "So you want to know more about me being a plant mutant, huh?" He turned and winked at her. "And no, I don't read minds, you're very easy to read," he teased, leaning against the counter. As soon as the kettle clicked he poured the hot water into the teapot, stirred it, and tipped some into each cup and set the teapot between them

"EH? Uh...W-well," Naka stammered, now that she had been found out. Drat! How did he know? Could he read mi- When he said he couldn't read her mind just as she thought of it, of course she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Hmm... She would keep an eye on him, just in case. "Well...yesh..." She blushed even harder from this further embarrassment. "I hope you don't mind if I do ask you about it. It really does intrigue me how you are this way.. It's so...amazing," Naka said happily, giving him a big smile. "I've always loved plants, and well, since you're part plant, I was hoping to be able to help me understand them more.."

Ibari sipped from his tea and smiled. "Course I don't mind, I know it's weird and hell, I want to know about weird things when I come across them." He picked up a biscuit and popped it in his mouth, playing with the small orchid between them, watching the petals sway to his hand. He liked to grow plants in the grove in the forest, watching them take form under his influence, feeding them his chakra to speed up and manipulate their growth. It felt good to use his unusual abilities in such a way that actually helped things, rather than to take out bad guys all the time. Swallowing the biscuit, he looked up at the cute chibi girl across from him. "So, what do you wanna know??"

Naka settled into her seat happily and smiled up at him. "Well, my first question is...how did you get these powers?" she asked him, eyeing him in obvious interest. Not the way you eye an animal in a zoo, but the kind a little girl wonders in awe of a unicorn in the wild. "Were you born with them? Or did you experiment with something that made you this way? How long have you had them? Does it ever give you any trouble?" Okay, she had intended to ask the questions in order in a paced way, but...but she was just so excited! She couldn't hold it all in, Naka was practically shaking.

Ibari looked up at Naka-chan and grinned. "I was bitten by a nuclear mutated Venus Flytrap," he said with a wink, then sat back, hands on the table. "Nah, been this was since a newborn, I'd guess. Some eggheads in a lab testing on genetic fusion and what not, fill me with plant DNA which reacts and adjusts to function with my chakra. It's not that I was born with them, but I might as well be. It's completely natural for me." He whipped out a vine and picked up his teacup, lifting it to his lips and finishing off the drink, setting it down again. So maybe he was showing off a little, but with such an interested (not to mention cute) audience, how could he not?
"As for trouble, well I'm kinda shunned, but it doesn't bother me. I wouldn't want to be associated with people that shallow anyway, you know?" He sighed and leant forward on the table again, picking up and biscuit with his teeth. "Next question??"

"Mutated Venus Flytrap...Spiderman?!" she murmured under her breath, frowning. Naka was actually into believing that theory, even though it was highly cliche. But can a Venus Flytrap really survive mutation? And if so, how did he get bit by one? Was he a chemical engineer or something? She was almost going to ask him this when he admitted that was a fluke. She blushed at her own naivety and wiggled in her seat, embarrassed. Naka usually was brash and indifferent to people's opinions - but she shared so much in common with him that she didn't want him thinking bad of her and wanting to stop seeing her. She wanted to be friends with this new person.

Hearing the actual reason he was like this, she frowned. He was a guinea pig for scientists? And as a baby, too? Sure, it was a great ability, but still... He was a baby at that time. The thought of little Ibari in a testing lab, being poked and prodded, made her kind of mad, but she put her feelings aside for now. When he picked up his teacup using nothing but a sturdy tentacle, she couldn't help but grin and resist the urge to clap. Where did these vines come from, anyway? Did they appear on his skin? Her sudden excitement was dampened when he said he had been shunned by society. Just for being himself? That made her really frown now. People and looks...bah. "I won't shun you, so will you have me as a friend? I can be quite shallow though," Naka blurted honestly. She blushed when she said it, but it was out now, and she couldn't take it back.

Ibari smiled. The girl was definitely a cute one. "Thanks, sweet cheeks," He said with a wink. "Although I fail to see how you're shallow. You seem awfully nice to me." He said this last line with a strong and stereotypical British accent, grinning his infamous crooked smile. "It'd be nice to have you around."

Stretching lazily, Ibari yawned, covering his mouth with one hand. The tea hadn't set in yet. He ruffled his bedhair into something resembling neatness, and smiled sheepishly. "So do you have any further questions, Detective Pinkypie?" he asked in a joking tone, flexing his shoulders softly as he withdrew the vines back into his original form. "I'm alright with the science behind it, but nowhere near as mindbogglingly intelligent as Ate-chan. I'll try and answer anything as well as I can."

"Sw...s..." Naka blushed even harder at this, and even more so at the British accent. She did have a thing for...voices. Naka giggled at the Pinkie Pie reference - was he a Brony as well? She hoped so, she had never had the privilege of having a brohoof...or at least, not yet. Naka smiled and nodded, there would be more questions to come. She would find out as much as she could of these abilities of his, these wonderful, out-of-the-world abilities. Naka mumbled something incoherent, blushing hard and suddenly going tense on her seat. She gulped and got up, going over to him, standing in front of him.

"Can I...can I touch them?" she squeaked. Maybe if it was on the internet, that would have sounded dirty and led to some hentai, but she was speaking of another appendage. His vines. How authentic were they? Were they sturdy or snappable? How did he make them? Did they hurt? Would it hurt her? So many questions, so many questions. Naka rocked back and forth on her heels, blushing beet red as she waited for his answer. He could refuse her easily if he wanted to and she would back off, but...she just really wanted to... to touch it.

Grinning, he leant forward without a word and extended his right hand, elbow propped on the table. From his palm sprouted a small cluster of vines, and from the center spiralled out a deep red rose, smaller than most but just as soft and velvety. Watching it grow before his eyes, he glanced at Naka-chan to see her reaction. When the vines stopped spreading, twisting and flicking softly around the rose (yes, again he was showing off), he looked up again. "Go ahead," he smiled. "Of course, if this WAS the thing you wanted to be touching?" he added with a smirk and mischeivous laugh

Naka leaned forward too, now sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the table, directly across him. She wanted to be up close and personal if this was truly going to happen for her. First there were bumps on his skin - then these turned green and grew bigger and longer before they were completely different appendages from him, and soon enough their skin-like texture smoothed and they turned into slick, thornless vines. She giggled at this sight, it reminded her of a tentacle anime. Now that there was a nice bed of vines resting on his palm, another red tip appeared. It grew bigger and bigger until there was a small rose perfectly nestled in the middle of the vines, as small as her own palm. "Uwa.." She looked at it with big, shining, excited eyes before looking up at him with a huge grin. "That was amazing, how you did that!" When he asked about if this was the one she meant to touch, ditzy little Naka just tilted her head and bat her eyelashes at him in confusion. "Of course! Though I wouldn't mind touching a sunflower if you have one." Now that it was time, she gulped and reached forward - her fingers brushed the petals of the flower, so soft and silky, making her smile. She let her touch linger there for a bit before moving her finger elsewhere, touching the vines around and his palm, just the tip of her finger grazing the parts. "Wow, I can really tell the difference between your vines and your skin...amazing!"

"Why thank you very much," Ibari grinned and slowly withdrew the rose back into his hand, the skin unbroken and unblemished. "It takes less matter to create floral cells than it does mammalian cells, so I can make more plant matter with less human matter," he explained, ever the nerd, and whipped out his other hand to produce a sunflower that he'd manifested since she had mentioned it, detached from his body, and hand it to Naka-chan. "For you, sweetcheeks," Ibari winked.

Naka grinned when she saw that there was no trace left - his hand was completely clean and unblemished, no evidence left behind that he had previously sprouted long vines and a cute widdle rose. Naka held that hand in both of hers, her soft fingertips running over his palm where the plants once were. She giggled and looked at his other hand, where another flower, as small as the rose, appeared. She received it gratefully, stroking the petals of the dear thing. "Despite this thing being made from your body cells, this is still really cute. Thank you." Naka smiled warmly up at him and then gave him a peck on his cheek as a sign of thinks.

Grinning, Ibari kissed Naka-chan's cheek in return. So it was a little unexpected, but in no way unwelcome. "Well I'm glad you like it," he answered, leaning back in the chair and pouring another mug of cherry tea, flexing his shoulders and digging his feet into the plush carpet as he stretched. He then stood and lifted the potted orchid, moving to the window sill and placing it centrally upon it, opening the blinds to let the sunlight in. He bathed in it for a moment, soaking the light into his skin (which tinted green breifly) and he savoured it like a good meal before moving back to the table. "So, any other questions?"

Naka watched him walk over to the window with the pot. He had been shaded this whole while - what happened if he had contact with direct sunlight? She tilted her head and watched him closely, and gasped and ooohed when his skin turned green for a moment there. Naka watched, slack-jawed. "Uwaaa.... your skin is green," she said dumbly, not knowing what else to say but that. She just stared, despite being extremely rude. "How... huh...?" Was he the skinnier Hulk, she wondered? How the hell did he do that? Was the plant DNA in him right underneath his epidermis? She got out of her seat and went over to him, reaching out and touching his hand. "Amazing..." she murmured, smiling serenely as she held it in both of hers. "To find beautiful nature in such unusual circumstances..."

Eyes closed at the feeling of skin contact, a smile on his lips, Ibari replied to her. "Plant symbiosis. I can change the ratio of plant to mammalian matter in my body. There's chlorophyll in my skin, just usually a rather little amount. I can bring it out in my skin and increase the amount when I want to photosynthesise more. Not really so much a conscious effort; imagine a flower opening it's petals and leaves to sunlight, it just happens naturally." He looked quite pleased with himself, he liked it when he sounded all scientific and actually managed it accurately.
"You really think it's that awesome?" he questioned in return. He was used to being seen as a freak of nature (literally), and it didn't bother him so much but it was a bit lonely. It was surprising (and comforting) to find someone that was actually interested in it

Naka blinked and looked up at him strangely. Why would he even bother asking that? "Of course I find it awesome," she said happily, giving him one big, sweet smile. She sighed contentedly and stroked the back of his hand with her thumb. "Nature is just so beautiful. Scary and dangerous, yes, but so very beautiful, you know? Nature may die, yet it never truly will. Nature can be loving and cruel at the same time. It is perfect, despite being imperfect." Naka always did love the natural world, and all that came with it, even the bad stuff. In her opinion though, bad things are only bad if you see them as bad. "I love sunflowers because despite not being as beautiful as other flowers like the roses and orchids, they...they always grow facing the sun, and they're always bright and uplifting to me, you know? How do you feel about the morning glory?"

Smiling softly, Ibari sat back in his chair, arms folded. "Quite the little poet aren't you," he complimented Naka-chan. "You're right too, I love Nature for the same reason. Being part of it... you kind of notice things about it a lot more, that these things are actually alive, and that they help me live as well." He glanced to the small black and purple flower on the window-sill, like a shadow in sunlight. "I think it's a beautiful plant, even though it's so dark. The way the center almost glows, it's like light in darkness, it gives the impression that even the darker things in life are good. Plants are like artwork to me, you know?" He got up and moved to a bookshelf off to one side, and pulled down a large book, then passed it over the table to Naka. Inside were page upon page of pressed flowers, of all different species, colours and shapes. "I've slowly built this up over the years. Every time I come across a new plant I'll take a pressing of it if I can."

Naka grinned and leaned over the book so she could see all of the pretty flowers, preserved under these plastic seals. Considering the size of the book, and the thickness, he had probably collected as much as she had in her lifetime. She smiled and she flipped through the pages, ooohing and ahhhing at some familiar ones. She remembered most of how she found some of them. Naka looked up at Ibari with a big smile. "Do you want to go out and find some with me some time?" she asked happily. He liked plants, she liked plants, why not like plants together, right? Great combination! "Mizu is just full of potential, so much water and stuff...I bet there are lots of water plants we haven't found out about yet, don't you think?" She was already getting that glint in her eyes.

Ibari thought about it. "That's very true... I mean, I can technically breathe underwater, but I've never really studied plants down there.... why did I not think of that?!" He slapped his forehead with him palm and laughed, a little excited at the idea. "I'd love to," he grinned at Naka, his lips curling up at the right in his signature crooked smile. "When's good for you?"
Ibari set about clearing away their empty crockery and placed the print book back on the shelf, between all his other books. He loved his books, he kept them in very good condition. None of them had cracked spines or dogeared pages.

Naka shrugged, but kept her grin on at all times. "I'm free any time! Oh, except tomorrow, I'm visiting my master and I'll stay for the whole day.. I'll be free any other time, though." She was happy - happy to find a new friend, happy he loved plants as much as she did, and happy that they would have this nice outing to find aqua-plants. She didn't like going in herself since that time she got stuck in some seaweed... without sushi, that stuff wasn't all that appealing to her. "..you can breathe underwater?" This new fact just registered and she looked up at him with renewed interest. "How!? This is amazing, Ibari was semi-aquatic!