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Fly Agaric || Amanita Muscaria
A mushroom found typically 2-12 inches in size. It is characterized by its bright red caps, tiny white spots, and its infamously deadly poison. Fly Agaric mushrooms can be found in temperate environments, forming mutual bonds with birch trees.
....
There are three things Katana has learned in his 43 years of living:
Firstly, passionate inphernals will only burn for their passion. More often than not, they cannot be reasoned with.
Secondly, if the wind is right, it takes only one spark to burn the forest and its fauna.
And lastly, akin to morels that attest to a forest fire, his scars attest to what love has done to him; may it never belong to him again.
...Quite a harsh way to put it, but life did not spare him from its harshness. He did not mind. He was better off working alone anyway.
He sat down on a lone zabuton, setting his cup on the low table in front of him. The ronin never bothered to put out more than just one cushion, opting to leave the rest in a spare closet. There was no need for them when he has had fewer visitors to his home than fingers in one hand.
Living in solitude–in silence–for the past few decades...it felt freeing. After his unsavory past, Katana realized that the company of inphernals was not a necessity in his life. They complicate things for themselves, all because of impulses they were never disciplined to control. Such trivial matters are the very catalysts of the worst of the inpherno. He did not want his life to be meddled with as a casualty in the search for meaning. They can have their 'peace'; he has his own.
However, his wish for uninvolvement is not evidence of indifference. The scars that plagued his face and his mind bore too deeply for him to ever be indifferent. He sought for justice he knows only he can bring for himself.
...
He was not one for jokes, but the ronin found it rather 'funny' how the choice to forget is not a choice you can make at all. In the silence of this room, he couldn't bear the memories that flooded him daily. Things left unsaid, things that were better so. All.
It was all but quiet.
Knock!
Oh. The sudden noise disrupted Katana's moment of...quiet. He huffed. Even he knew he could be quite intimidating to the typical inphernal, but some like to be brave and catch him at a not opportune moment.
He thought for a moment before putting on the mask that lay on the low table. He stood up and headed toward the door. It must be the landlord. Ah, the landlord. She always comes by to ask about rent and leaves with her answer.
...
That is the answer. And she lets him off every time.
Albeit, he should not be so rude. He has been evading what is due. But in the meantime, it could wait until he welcomes her with a stare.
His hand reached for the doorknob, slowly opening the door with a loud, awkward creak.
It opened to not a nervous inphernal, but surprisingly, three nervous and strange inphernals.
To the right was a pink-horned inphernal, carrying a brown bag made out of recyclable paper. She wore a casual pink empire dress that complemented her large pair of horns. Her organic right arm clutched the bag, her wooden left clutching herself.
To the very left, a blue-horned inphernal sporting blue attire with an apron loosely hanging down his torso, carried a blueberry cheesecake with two hands. Although the clammy landlord was not here, he'd thought he'd seen her again with how violently the inphernal's hands shook holding the dessert. How it has not dropped eludes him.
And to the middle, likely the one who knocked, had himself a nerve-wracked smile that said the opposite of wanting to be here. His green horns extended upwards, looking as sharp as the ronin's katana. His hands were suspiciously hidden behind his back.
Unfortunately, they were not strangers. They knew him.
"HAPPY SPAWNDAY, KATANA!"
They were his neighbors.
...
"3, 2, 1!" The green-horned inphernal started before breaking into song, the pink one following suit.
"No guys. GUYS. Quit it, we agreed we wouldn't be doing it just 5 minutes ago!" The blue-horned inphernal demanded, the two stopping in their tracks.
"What? But we can't just stop, Sling! We have to finish the song!" "Yeah dude, it's getting awkward now." "What's awkward is singing this song in the middle of the hallway with other tenants!!"
The other two began to defend themselves, albeit in a softer voice, after being called out. The trio's bickering continued as if they had no plans to knock upon Katana's door in the first place.
Katana cleared his throat, catching the attention of the three younger neighbors. They turned their heads uncharacteristically slowly; it almost worried him. A flash of mortified faces turned into wide-eyed smiles, the three immediately bowing toward the elder. Katana believed he should start.
"Slingshot. Vine Staff...Shuriken." The pause upon his name caused the green-horned inphernal to straighten up.
"Katana! Good afternoon!" The pink-horned inphernal greeted. "Apologies for the disturbance. We did not mean to be too loud. Right, Shuriken?" She bumped his shoulder with her own, causing her brother to let out a small 'hey!'.
"Why am I getting shade when you sang along too..." "Haha, uhh," Slingshot cut the two siblings off, "Since this is your third spawn day here at the apartment building, we decided to do something different and greet you! I baked a cake as well."
You see, Katana failed to address the big 'elephant in the room', as inphernals like to call it, since his eyes opened wide in the early morning. In modern tradition, the day that you spawn is considered a special day; a celebration of your life in the inpherno. Though in his eyes, what was it other than a reminder that he can never be young again? He did not think it was worth pondering on.
However, seeing the trouble the three seemed to go through, it would be rude not to acknowledge their efforts. Additionally, they seemed very tense at their previous assessment of singing to the ronin, so he tried to lighten the mood with some humor.
"I see. You plan to greet me with a fire hazard to my apartment."
.
"Uhh...Oh. Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry, we are so sorry," Slingshot scrambled to apologize, blowing the lone candle on the cake thrice before it went out, "The candle, it is customary, haha!..here in crossroads..."
"I know. Apologies, I was only kidding." He paused for a moment before continuing with a sigh. "You may come in."
"Ah, no need, sir! We must be intruding. We only came here to drop it off." "And what you're dropping off seems to be awfully heavy. It would be better to drop it off at the table." "Oh, then...Alright!"
Slingshot went in first, immediately taking off his shoes and setting down the cake on the low table, sighing in relief. He let his arms slightly stretch to each side of his torso. How long they stood behind his door, Katana did not know. Shuriken and Vine Staff followed from behind their sibling, eyes wandering around their mysterious neighbor's apartment. He took note of how Shuriken went back to the doorstep to align Slingshot’s shoes after the former rushed to step inside.
"Please give me a moment." Katana went into one of the rooms, opened the spare closet, and returned with three extra zabutons. He placed them around the low table before taking a seat. He watched the others, the three taking the cue to sit as well.
"Thank you, Katana. We appreciate your hospitality," Vine Staff sheepishly admitted. "If it's not too much trouble, would you like to open our gifts to you?"
"Oh?"
He watched as Shuriken and Vine Staff placed two paper bags right in front of them, each with a gift tag from the respective inphernals. He had not noticed them earlier.
"I shall, then." He obliged, bowing his head slightly before reaching for Vine staff's gift first. He examined the top of the bag, the opening stapled shut. He proceeded to carefully pry the staples open with his claws, loosening them up one by one.
In a matter of moments, the bag was opened. Inside, he retrieved a small transparent box holding different tea bags. The seal seemed to already be open; however, he did not mind. Opening it fully released the aroma of several herbs and spices that he could recall only came from one particular region: Thieves' Den. The tea bags were in pristine condition, each lined up neatly inside. He did notice that some of them were a little smaller compared to others, and varied in content quantity. Despite that, he could say he appreciated the gift.
"Quite nice. Where did you find these?" The pink-horned inphernal seemed to perk up. "It came from Thieves’ Den! We don’t visit often, but I did happen to find this in one of the local shops. Though some of the tea bags didn’t originally come from the package…they came from my own personal blends from the herbs in my small balcony garden.”
Ah. That explains it. He was not surprised, for he was quite aware of her little garden. Yes, her ‘little’ garden whose vines extend out to even his balcony railing.
“I see. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Thank you, Vine Staff.”
He turned toward Shuriken, reaching out for his gift.
“You are going to love my gift, dude!” “Hm. We shall see.”
The paper bag appeared to look the same as his sister’s; however, it felt much lighter than hers. He was quite intrigued at what the contents could be for the younger inphernal to put such effort into hiding it behind his back. As he loosened the staples at the top, he opened his eyes to find…
"A notebook."
"A journaling notebook! Because you're old, you think a lot of thoughts, and you might forget them someday! haha....that was just a joke. I'm so sorry."
Katana huffed amusedly at the green-horned inphernal’s bold statement. Upon a closer look, the notebook was not at all plain; the natural fabric’s navy blue hue complemented the dark reds and cream whites of the embroidery.
The front was embroidered with several red-capped mushrooms, each varying in size. They were dappled with white spots as stars were in the sky from his window at night. The stitching was not flawless, with a few loose threads toward the middle of the embroidery as if the artist forgot to tighten them beforehand. Despite that…
“...Quite neat, Shuriken. Pardon, where did you happen to find this?” “Let its origins be as mysterious as you are, Katana!” “If you say so.” He would not deny the inphernal’s claims.
A few beats of silence pass.
…
It’s only situations like this where the silence gets unbearably awkward.
“I believe this has been a good encounter.”
“Yeah, uh, totally!” Slingshot shoots up from the zabuton, the other two following suit. They received a message that he was not necessarily giving out, which was them overstaying their welcome (even though he did invite them in). Shuriken begins to reach out for the cushions. “Do you mind if I help you tidy up?”
“No need.” “Sure?” “I insist.”
“Ah…gotcha,” he noted, slowly lowering the zabuton back onto the floor.
The three of them gathered at the doorstep, shoes back on their feet.
“On behalf of my siblings, thank you again for letting us in, Katana,” Vine Staff said, the other two nodding in response. “It is no problem. Thank you for your gifts. Have a nice day.” Before the trio could put in a word, he shut the door.
He believes that was enough for that day. And for the first time, he admitted to himself, he wouldn’t mind if those rowdy neighbors appeared on his doorstep again soon. Not tomorrow, though. Too early. Perhaps a later date.
...
From behind the door, Katana did not pick up on the conversation held between the three inphernals.
“Shuri, remind me to never let you introduce your gifts again because what was that.” Vine Staff deadpanned toward Shuriken. "At this point, let me be the one to give him the gift when visit again." “Wh-hey! He said he liked it! And besides, it wouldn’t be considered my gift then, would it?” “It is your gift if you pay for it,” Slingshot added. The three proceeded to head back to their own doorstep, which was not very far from their mysterious neighbor's.
“Speaking of, your next gift should be to me, and it should be paying the rest of your rent this month.” “I will, I will. Jeez, Sling!”