nexus_crossings | the art of the dress

the art of the dress

Of the many stores that cater to the crafting minded, Mantis visited the fabric stores more and more. Winter was almost there and he needed better clothing to keep off the chill and welcome the scant bit of warmth he and his pets would need. There wouldn’t be much to get, only a bit of wool for the little ones. It’s always been his own proportions that have been difficult to manage.

With a few rolls of fabric loaded already in the shopping cart, he leaves Yaga and Francour in the kid seat while he stared hard at his own reflection in a mirror. He’s always been a bit tall, a bit too thin, but he thought at least this could be a point in his unusual life where he’d gain a pound or two. He turned one way, then the other, always checking his figure. At least clothing didn’t require him to be painfully aware of his face.

That said, the measuring tape in his hands made several rounds at different points on his body. It snuck around his chest, his hips, traced along the length of his arms and legs. He sighed loudly and rolled up the measuring tape around his hand before handing it over to Francour for safe keeping. His little espurr took the tape measure reverently and squeaked when Yaga moved closer to lick his head. The catwing pinned the pokemon down more and groomed him with a great deal of care.

“Is it me?” Francour trilled loudly and was allowed up by Yaga. “I thought I was cooking more than I was before.”

Yaga licked his jaws and meowed. “I know I kept feeding Ben. You both got a chance to meet him. You know he can’t cook.”

Mantis walked over to the cart and pulled out a slip of paper from a pants pocket. Yaga rubbed his head against Mantis’s arm while Francour was more content to hold on to the sleeve of his shirt.

“I gained a little bit, but it still needs a lot of work. How am I supposed to safely gain weight if nothing sticks?”

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Ziggy waits for him to finish and frowns. "Right now, no. My mother's still propagating plants from Anthea. Most of them she's sending to the ships so they can be grown for the others. I'm sure she'd teach you but I don't think we have enough to spare for someone to experiment with it to see if they want to eat it or can make something edible with it."

He's being honest about the situation. A dead planet and a people with a specific food need was not the best for sharing but ....

"In that case, I'll be grateful for whatever she can do. She's welcome to my powers to help her gather materials she needs for propogation. That's always something to take seriously."

Mantis has the fabric loaded up in a basket with Yaga and Francour nestled on top of the pile. The basket, animals and all, goes over his back. He gestures for Ziggy to lead the way. "I told a misguided hero years ago I liked helping people with my powers. He'd probably give me a side eye knowing I intend to live up to that."

"It's a matter of time. There weren't many living things left on Anthea." The sadness is there even if it is for a home he's never seen or lived on.

Ziggy waits and walks beside Mantis as they head away from the Plaza. His parents live on the outskirts away from people but not quite in the wilds. "I'm not exactly sure what all your powers are."

Sometimes this was a touchy subject for people but he would respect being brushed off if it happened.

"She's the kind of person who can make things like your plants come back. Her mind is incredibly strong."

Mantis laughs a little at the statement about his powers. "My reputation didn't travel that far yet? I'll tell you all of them." His hands spread out a little and twirl as he launches into descriptions. "Telepathy: reading of minds. Psychokinesis: moving things without touching them. Pyrokinesis: creating fire from nothing. And just a touch of precognition: seeing the future. I've grown into them since I was about eight."

"She was taught by my grandmother when she was a little girl to collect and tend the remaining life on Anthea." Ziggy had never met his grandmother but his mother's love for her was more than enough to tell him of her quality.

"Reputation travels slower here than it does in my world too." Ziggy can laugh at it. Fame hadn't quite followed him to the Nexus thankfully. "My species has some of those and others. I don't know if it is better or worse that yours manifested later. We're born with them."

"Hearing that kind of thing makes me want to grow a food garden. I would have so many vegetables and fruits scattered around."

He smiles in response to that laugh. Amusement is all over his tone as he continues talking. "Strictly speaking, I was born with mine too. They didn't manifest until I was eight, but they were always there, waiting for the right time."

"It's common here. I even have one on my patio in the summer." Ziggy confirms.

They are walking toward a small house but there's no hurry. Ziggy too laughs.

"I meant more ours manifest and are in use in utero... or in pouch before we're born."

"If there's space left over, I can think of a couple of flowers that would look and smell good. Not something typical like lavendar, but fragrant."

Mantis hums in understanding. "Your sister was trying to read my mind back when I first noticed her. I'm not used to unborn children who are able to reach back over that kind of connection."

"There's always more space if you believe my mother." Ziggy said it with loving affection but also as if his mother may have an obsession with plants.

"Born is different for an Anthean." Ziggy tells him as he walks up toward the house and around the back toward the greenhouse. "The baby leaves the body early and develops farther in the pouch. I'm not sure if she was 'born' in the human sense of the word when you met her first."

"She's right. The smallest patch of soil can grow far more than we might think. What you grow in it can give back nutrients the last plant took away." Perhaps an obsession, but not unfounded. Mantis likes that kind of thinking.

The description interests Mantis greatly. He nods quietly and quickly associates it with the mechanics of how kangaroo joeys work. Perhaps not quite the same, but it's the closest comparison he can manage for understanding. "No wonder Aletayria is so focused on her care. I thought humans came into the world fairly undone, but your people surpass in that regard too."

"She's saving our biodiversity. It's more than the usual drive to have something nice or food." Ziggy wasn't involved, though he did have a few house plants. His mother did much more with it than he did.

"It's odd that our reproduction is so different now." Ziggy tells Mantis while they walk up the front toward the front of the house. "Millions of years ago our species had a common ancestor. I'm not sure when. I don't remember reading it."

"You should try gardening. I've had my eye on a house in the Nexus with a back yard fit for a lot of plants to grow in. It wouldn't be much to section off a part of it for you to get your hands a little dirty with." Certainly would be interesting to see the difference between Anthean and human styles of crop rearing.

"All creatures have some ancestor in common going that far back. Ours were likely adapted for a specific environment and then natural mutations took your species and mine into different directions." He waits to be let inside, following with quiet footsteps.

"I would more but I spend most of the year touring. The cats are enough to worry about." It was one down side of fame as a musician, you were always on the move.

"We didn't evolve in the same solar system or planet." Ziggy was getting into territory of concepts better answered by his mother. He walked up to the greenhouse where everything inside was blue to blue-green in color, with hints of yellow or bright green as patterning on some of the plants.

Stepping into the first of a sealed double door system Ziggy stopped and turned to Mantis. "There's a gliding animal in here. They should be fine but if they get upset we'll have to leave. The bite is painful."

The animals, up in the top of the greenhouse on the window frames resemble Colugo of Earth except these are hairless and have some thickening to the skin.

Mantis feels his eyes widen. He keeps forgetting how much of an alien Ziggy and his kin are. It's hard to remember when you have someone so human-shaped in front of you.

"It's strange knowing how differently we developed. You look perfectly human, even up close. Eyes, hair, even body temperature can be explained away by things humans can do to change themselves. You'd blend in perfectly on my version of Earth."

His gaze immediately turns upward and he makes a surprised noise. Those were certainly...interesting. A bit creepy, but not out of the ordinary for animals, even the weird ones. He can feel rustling in the basket on his back as Yaga and Francour shift around in their presence.

"Never a dull moment..."

"I am only half Anthean. The Antheans you've met are also trying to look human." Ziggy clarifies. "A full blooded Anthean without connections to humans looks less like a human. Even I do things to look more human especially my eyes and speaking in a way that doesn't make my teeth as obvious."

"Not with me." Ziggy laughs at the comment about things never being dull. "Most of these are food and medicinal plants."

He mentions about the green house. "There are other animals in the plants too, but they're not dangerous."

"The way your people look reminds me of cats. I know Tommy is a fan of them, but I don't know if the similarities stop there or not. There is a lot about Anthean biology that goes beyond levels of science I actually understand."

Mantis considers focusing his telepathy to see exactly how many of these alleged creatures are scattered about, but he holds back on doing so. He isn't about to find out the hard way what might happen if the animals surrounding them are sensitive to telepathy.

"Food plants are intensely satisfying to grow. One day, you're looking at the first buds and the next thing you know, there's something you can pick and clean and cook for dinner that day."

"I can explain some of it, if you want. I'm not a scientist, either." Ziggy definitely understands some of the explanations being beyond understanding.

Ziggy touched some of the plants, their leaves waxy but not as thick as Earth's succulents. "I don't grow them but I do like going to local markets when I'm traveling and talking to all the farmers about their crops."

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the art of the dress

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