Phoenix Maplewood not giving up

Jethro’s response elicited a grin from the other, which was not something he was treated to very often. It was rare enough that he found someone tolerable for a time, let alone finding himself enjoying their company but to earn a smile after all of it? That shit was almost unheard of. Surprisingly, so far, little guy seemed alright. 

Or, as he termed it, a fucking delight. ”Perhaps you are, buddy, but I sure as hell ain’t. If you wanna talk, though, be my guest. I’m a good listener.” And he was, too - when he wanted to be. Who knew what sort of interesting gossip or tidbits of interesting information the other might have. Additionally, little guy informed that he had neglected to bring any evil poisons along with him this time, so for the moment, Jethro was safe. He feigned a mock sigh of relief at that. ”How fortunate for me. First time for everything.” 

There was another momentary grin at that one. Even if he hadn’t actually been so lucky, surely poisoning couldn’t be the worst way to go. Painful, perhaps, but presumably quick. That was how Jet would prefer it. 

Getting down to business, however, little guy informed him of the task at hand, which was to obtain a maple branch that was up higher than he could reach. Shifting his gaze to the offending tree limb, Jethro sauntered closer to the other guy, an attentive ear turned toward him while he contemplated the task at hand. Seemed like it’d be simple enough to accomplish, he thought. Unfortunately, the maple sap didn’t have any medical use, according to the guy - he only wanted it to make the less tasty, but more useful shit not taste like… well, shit, apparently. 

Jet nodded. “Smart. Cool of you to do that, for them.” He’d have to remember that. Perhaps someday, it’d prove a useful tidbit of knowledge. The little guy asked if the answer was good enough. Jethro shrugged. ”Was hopin’ the sap was something more important. Suppose you point out to me one or two actually useful herbs, after this, and tell me what they do? Think we’d be even, then.”

Fixing his gaze on the other, Jethro noted something he hadn’t seen before. Not only was this one disadvantaged in size, but one of his eyes looked like it was fucked up, as well. Jethro’s attention lingered on it momentarily while he contemplated asking about it but ultimately opted not to. Shit like that had a tendency to be personal. If he’d noticed the look, the other could explain if he wanted to, or not. Jet would leave that up to him.