originallutece | ic contact;

You know you're always welcome to ask me questions.

I have other plants with similar...unusual potential. I'd let the ojigi out for you, but then I'd have to concern myself with what to do with it for the duration.

Well, now I have two questions.

1. The Sinning Tree has two parts: it causes its victim to hallucinate, and then it consumes them. Is it possible for you to extract whatever venom causes said hallucinations?

2. What precisely does the ojigi do?

1) ...That's an excellent question. Yes, I suppose that would be possible; it's a secretion of the plant that it distributes into its victim as its roots take hold. In theory I suppose one could milk it, as it were, for that purpose. Why?

2) It hunts. The ojigi is exceptionally sensitive to movement; it's...rather like a Venus flytrap, if a Venus flytrap had mouths with ten-centimeter fangs at the end of every stem, and a tendency to actively chase flies around instead of waiting for them to land.

And if the said Venus flytrap were approximately the size of a small house, of course.

1. There are quite a few purposes one could have for hallucinogenics, but given it originates from a demonic plant, I'd firstly like to simply study it.

2. Could you make it smaller?

1) Is it only that you want to study a demon plant, or is there something to the Sinning Tree in particular that's caught your attention?

2) A miniature ojigi. Yes, I suppose I could.

1. I've never seen something enthrall a creature so completely. Though I wouldn't pass the chance to study any other demon plant, I suspect you can imagine the reason why this one in particular has caught my attention.

2. In that case, I would most certainly like to see it. There might be mild danger to my ankles, but with thick boots it seems safe enough to study.

1) I suspect I can make a reasonable guess at it.

[Briefly, he recalls the sight of her hacking away at the wendigo's throat, and how it didn't even notice it was being murdered from how engulfed it was in its delusions.]

2) You are without a doubt the recipient of some of the strangest bouquets I've ever assembled, you know.

Sometime, please allow me to give you a gift that has nothing to do with your studies, if I may.

[All right. Good, she thinks, and allows herself to relax once more.]

I have an inclination to study everything. But I would not refuse it, if you wanted to try and find such a gift.

My poison garden has moved from the planning stages to the initial plantings, by the by, if you're interested.

Edited 2017-01-15 19:09 (UTC)

I'm very interested, if that's an invitation to come and see it. I'll even promise not to cheat and stimulate their growth, if you'd prefer to go about it entirely on your own efforts.

As for the gift...the last thing I would want is to discourage those inclinations. But I would hope that you don't go without things that have little to no scientific value for the same reason that you went without developing cooking skills.

[Oh, well, that's her called out, isn't it?]

I am unused to them, I admit. But I wouldn't reject it - not from you, in any case.

Exposure is the first step toward building up a tolerance, as the principle goes.

Perhaps I'll even steal it, as an example of my prowess.

Now that I would dearly like to see. Perhaps you can teach me how to be a thief, hm?

[...Uh-oh.]

Would you enjoy that?

A background in lockpicking and safecracking is never a bad skillset to possess.

I would, actually. It's been a long time since I've been anyone's student, but I think I could pick it up fairly quickly.

When can we start?

Give me a chance to accumulate some locks.

[...Hmmm...]

And some gifts to secure behind them.

I don't think there's any greater motivator than curiosity, well done.

Is that what it takes to be a good thief, then? Lockpicking and safe cracking? Or is there more to it?

Those are the skills of a good thief that CAN be taught. There are many more that can't.

Patience. Observation. Cunning. The ability to make split-second decisions still founded in fact and reason.

I had an associate once who wanted very badly to be a good thief. But all the technical skills in the world couldn't have made him one.

Understood.

[Not that she actually wants to be a thief. But it's always interesting to learn new things, and given Kurama describes himself as the thief, well. She'd be a fool to disagree.]

How long was he able to endure before he was caught?

Longer than he should have. For a while, I saved him from his follies.

Eventually, he grew to blindly rely on that safety net, which was another of his many mistakes.

Would you make that decision today?

You mean would I save him from his folly?

The opposite. I assume the implication was that you stopped saving him at some point, and yet - though I admit my viewpoint is biased - it's difficult for me to imagine you doing such a thing.

So: would you make that decision here and now, given your recent forced regret?

...

You're right. I did stop saving him, after a time.

I wouldn't do again what I did. Regardless of the role his choices played in his own consequences.

[Hmm. An interesting answer. What's more surprising is that she somewhat regrets asking.

Well, all right. She can change the topic easily enough. So, after a little pause:]

Tell me what I should do to prepare for the lesson.

You're trying to make me feel better.

[Which they're both aware of, of course, and which doesn't actually bear commenting on. And yet still, he remarks upon it. Maybe it's just a nice observation to make.]

Your hearing isn't nearly as sensitive as mine. I don't suppose you could find some way of addressing that, while I ready the rest of it for you?

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