Bryand New Farmer

[Isaiah Riggs]

@bryanbryanbryan WOOOT! A thread!! XD Look at our cute lil' farmer boys! Mount Weather had been anything but boring lately and even Isaiah, who could often get so bogged up in his work to care too much about whatever exciting thing the leaders planned, was finding himself caught up and excited over the new residents of the Mountain. It wasn't every day that new people arrived, after all. It wasn't any day. The fact that the people from the Ark had joined their community was as shocking as anything Isaiah could imagine. They weren't just new people but they were new people who had lived in space and who had been outside. Nothing would be able to stop the excitement that Isaiah felt over that. The fact that there were now people in Mount Weather who had been outside, not just in hazmat suits like he knew the Ground Unit of the guard did, but without any protection. They had been able to experience the outside completely. There was a small sense of sorrow to that, knowing that Isaiah never would be able to experience it but he didn't let it get to him. He wanted to be excited, not even for the outside part of the new people but just for meeting the new people even. He didn't always tend to like that idea, he was the type to stick to his own people, but today he was all for it and had volunteered to show one of the new residents around agriculture. A student farmer, apparently. Isaiah didn't know much about how the farming had run up on the Ark but he could only assume it wouldn't be too different from how things ran down there in Mount Weather. Hydro farming was pretty typical for growing things in indoor environments. Going by that, the farmers from space would fit well into agriculture in the Mountain. That was of course something to be excited about, knowing how stretched the section could sometimes be on workers.  Isaiah walked out of the meeting more excited than he had been walking into it. Turning a few corners, he made his way over to the lifts where he was told the new farmer would be waiting. He wasn't sure what he excited from the man but he didn't look anything particularly out of the ordinary. He did look younger than Isaiah and that made Isaiah wonder how far he had gotten into his studies in space but that didn't matter too much. All of the new farmers would likely need training, at the very least to learn how the systems and stuff worked in Mount Weather. Everything was organised and while they didn't always follow protocol, it still needed to be known. As he approached the man, Isaiah smiled and offered out his hand. "Hey, I'm Isaiah," he said, "You're Bryan?"

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Bryan hadn't been on Earth long when the people of Mount Weather rescued him along with the rest of Farm Station, but he'd been on the ground long enough to see death, to learn to fight for his life... It had been long enough, and after the initial fear of waking up in a white room alone and not knowing where he was, up until he was released into the general population, this place felt... safe. For the first time in a while, Bryan felt safe. This place wasn't running out of oxygen, and Grounders weren't around every corner.

Since he was an adult, they'd given him his own space rather than putting him in the dorms with the underage kids who didn't have family, and they'd even given him a job, thankfully. This place was nice, but he didn't know what he would do with himself all day if he didn't keep busy. Bryan hadn't finished his training as a farmer on the Ark yet, but he'd been well into it. He assumed the techniques in the Mountain must be similar, mostly hydroponics, though he doubted the Mountain Men bothered with synthetic soils at all. The Ark had maintained using it for some things just so that when they returned to Earth, they'd know how to grow in soil. From what Bryan understood, the Mountain Men could never leave the Mountain, though.

He wasn't really sure what to expect as he waited near the elevators for the person he was supposed to be trained by. Though by the way the young man coming toward the elevator seemed to be walking straight toward him, Bryan assumed this was who he was supposed to meet. When Isaiah introduced himself with an offered handshake, Bryan hesitated only slightly before offering his hand as well. He was just starting to get used to being able to relax and smile again. Almost like his body didn't trust it, even if his brain knew he was safe.

He pushed a smile on his face too. "Yeah, Bryan," he confirmed. "Nice to meet you." The other man was probably a few years older and... well, very tall. Bryan was used to being on the short side among his male companions, but this was... a lot. He seemed friendly enough, though. Everyone he'd met here seemed friendly so far. "I'm hoping you can put me to use," he added, waiting for Isaiah to lead the way to wherever they were going. Bryan still hadn't figured out the twists and turns of this place yet.

Tag: Isaiah Riggs

[Isaiah Riggs]

@bryanbryanbryan Standing in front of Bryan, the height difference between the two men was extremely obvious. Almost comically so. While that didn't bother Isaiah too much as he was used to being taller than most people, he hoped it didn't bother Bryan. Isaiah was also more so hoping that Bryan was excited about his new home and new job as much as Isaiah was excited for him to be there. While Isaiah was sure that the Mountain would be almost boring compared to outside or space, everyone in the Mountain knew of the dangers that the Outsiders posed and at the very least, Isaiah knew that Bryan was safer, no matter how boring the Mountain was. Bryan didn't look too excited when Isaiah first saw him, the smile only coming after Isaiah had introduced himself. Isaiah tried not to read into that too much. "Nice to meet you too," he said as he shook Bryan's hand. He grinned at Bryan's comment, knowing Bryan had no idea just how helpful he would be in putting another pair of hands in the workload of agriculture. Especially with the fact that they needed to now produce more food than ever before. "We will," he promised, beginning to walk back down the hallway he'd came from, looking towards Bryan to make sure he was following. "We just have to cut through warehouse and we'll get to agriculture." Isaiah led Bryan through the corridors, taking the short route to pass warehouse and get to the far end of the level where agriculture was. It was relatively simply to get to agriculture but it was a completely different story once in the section. Even Isaiah, who sometimes found he basically lived in the section, got lost occasionally. Once they were in agriculture, Isaiah walked down one of the main corridors, pointing out what doors were as they passed them, showing Bryan the lay of the place first. Different types of plants were grown in different rooms, the section organised in a way that might not have been completely logical when it came to tending to the plants, but it was great for controlling disease outbreak. "Fruit trees in this room," Isaiah notes as he passed one of the doors. "Looks like the closest thing to the outside, in my opinion," he added. Not that he had ever been outside. One of the reasons for Isaiah's excitement and his almost unusual want to meet Bryan and be the one to show him around agriculture was definitely because they had been outside. So there was no surprise that he had managed to bring up the subject so quickly and it wouldn't likely be dropped anytime soon, unless Bryan was the one to drop it.

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Bryan nodded and followed Isaiah through the mountain, down a corridor and through a warehouse. As Isaiah led him through agriculture, pointing out what was where, Bryan thought things seemed to be arranged in an odd way, but maybe there was a reason for that

When Isaiah pointed out the fruit trees, it caught Bryan's attention. Fruit required a lot of water--water that didn't have to spare on the Ark--and fruit wasn't exactly an easy find in frozen Azgeda territory. The idea of fruit trees were a little exciting, but what Isaiah said next caught Bryan's attention more. "I used to feel the same way on the Ark," he said. "I knew the plan was to come back to Earth in my lifetime, but while I waited, it was nice to work in the Ark garden. Like we were still connected to Earth in a small way." That might sound stupid, but Bryan just shrugged, smiling. He wanted to go see the trees, but wasn't going to overstep by going anywhere Isaiah didn't go first. He still felt like a guest here. "You must have a good water source to be growing fruit," he added, sounding impressed. Bryan had tasted a few new things since arriving here, most notably chocolate, but now he wanted to try the different fruits.

Tag: Isaiah Riggs

[Isaiah Riggs]

@bryanbryanbryan (: A fresh smile came to Isaiah's lips as Bryan spoke, mentioning a similar perspective he held to plants and their connection to the Outside. It was nice to hear that come from the other guy, to hear that he wasn't alone in that feeling. He spent a lot of time around the plants, and particularly around the fruit trees imagining what it might be to live outside of Mount Weather. If Bryan felt similar, it was definitely a good thing. That was a solid reasoning for him to have gotten in farming and Isaiah could take some hope from that that he would be a committed and skilled farmer. "Did you want to go inside? See them?" Isaiah asked, offering that even though Bryan would soon enough get the chance to see them anyway. "Could you grow fruit in space?" he added, realising he didn't have much of an idea what sort of things could be grown in space.  Isaiah had stopped walking, waiting to hear whether Bryan wanted to see the fruit trees or not. There was no particular rush that had been put on Isaiah to show Bryan around agriculture, and part of that would involve actually showing him inside the different rooms. His plan was to show him the general structure of the place first but even Isaiah wanted to be around the plants. "Yeah, we have an underground reserve," Isaiah replied, pausing and biting his tongue to stop from asking another question. He wanted to know how the water situation worked in space, his curiosity on full alert by this stage. "We don't have any issues with water so we can grow fruit and cocoa and other thirsty things."

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"Yeah, do you mind?" Bryan said, when Isaiah asked if he wanted to go in and see the fruit trees. "We couldn't grow anything like that in space, no." He listened as Isaiah explained they has an underground reserve, and smiled when he said they could grow the "thirsty things".

"That's great," he said, following Isaiah as he let them into the room with the fruit trees. He looked up at them, genuinely impressed as he walked down one of the rows of trees. "Not enough water to grow stuff like this on the Ark. Or room, really. Most things we grew a lot of required minimal water and space, and unless they were grown as seasonings, most food items had to have some sort of significant nutritional value. Couldn't waste resources on something just because it was tasty. It had to have value too. So I grew a looooot of soybeans." The Ark hadn't wasted resources on anything they thought wasn't valuable or placed a strain on the Ark's resources. Including people.

He looked at some of the brightly colored fruit, thinking it was beautiful and resisting the urge to pluck some of it and taste it. Some of these things he'd only ever seen in pictures.

Tag: Isaiah Riggs

[Isaiah Riggs]

@bryanbryanbryan Isaiah turned around, taking the couple steps back to the door he had pointed out. It was interesting to hear that they couldn't grow fruit in space and definitely had Isaiah wondering what sort of things they did grow. "You'll love this then," Isaiah said as he let Bryan into the room first, following him in to make sure the door shut behind them. Looking out at the trees, even Isaiah found himself wide eyed at the sight. He had seen it so many times in his life, from a kid sneaking in because he wanted to be a farmer to his earlier days as a farmer where he spent a lot of time picking fruit. He quickly glanced over at Bryan, watching his face, curious to see the reaction of someone who hadn't seen them before. They strolled down one of the rows, apple tree branches hanging over the edges of the aisle. "We could have you grow soybeans here," Isaiah teased, doubting that Bryan would want to work around those after seeing the different stuff they grew in Mount Weather. "You'd make a great beans farmer with all that experience you say you have." Laughing, Isaiah glanced up at the trees a he passed them, noticing some of the fruit that was ready to be picked. It wasn't uncommon for Isaiah to pick a piece of fruit if he was around and hungry. That thought just had him glancing back down at Bryan with the thought that Bryan could have never eaten an apple before. Isaiah had no idea what Bryan would and wouldn't have tried yet since arriving at Mount Weather but Isaiah knew apples were something he had to try. "You eaten an apple before?" he asked, loosely gesturing to the trees they were walking past. He paused to pluck down one of the red fruits.

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Isaiah was right; Bryan did love this. He couldn't help but wonder what it must be like to be on a real farm on Earth, like ones he'd seen in his studies. Rows of trees growing up from the dirt s far as you could see. This was probably the closest he would ever come to seeing that, though, and he found himself smiling as he looked around. His earlier hesitation had slipped away, he realized. he wasn't sure if it was that he and Isaiah shared an interest, or if it was Isaiah's easy nature that put him at ease, but when Isaiah teased him, he laughed easily. "If I never see another soybean, I'll die happy," he joked back. Of course, he would grow whatever he needed to here, but the new possibilities were more exciting.

He watched as Isaiah paused, picking one of the fruits down from the tree they were near, feeling both excitement and a little anxious at the same time. The anxiety, he supposed, was leftover from the Ark. "No, I haven't," he said, smiling faintly. "I'm guessing there's a lot here I haven't tried before. Had chocolate for the first time yesterday," he said, but the underlying anxiety needed an answer. "You can just do that?" he asked, gesturing at the fruit in Isaiah's hand. "You can just pick one and... not get in trouble?" It probably sounded stupid to Isaiah, maybe even childish, worrying about getting in trouble, but on the Ark, getting in trouble often meant your death. Everything on the Ark had to be cataloged and accounted for. Picking something when you weren't actually harvesting food to be processed and sent to the kitchens could be considered theft and get you floated.

Tag: Isaiah Riggs

[Isaiah Riggs]

@bryanbryanbryan (: After the way that Isaiah had noticed the slight hesitation in Bryan when first meeting him, and the way that he hadn't particularly looked excited, he was extremely happy to see the bright smile that was now on his face. If anything could cause a smile like that and calm someone down, it was plants. That's what Isaiah believed, having spent so much of his life in agriculture around the plants. They were calming and beautiful, a way to cheer up on even the worst of days. Like the green of the leaves were a medicine taken just by being near them. The laugh also was a great thing to hear. Isaiah actually found himself enjoying the sound and feeling good about having created the joy. "I'll be sure to skip that room in our tour," Isaiah teased, although he was actually planning on skipping it for now. And recommending to those higher up that Bryan get assigned to something other than soybeans. He wanted to make sure that Bryan felt as comfortable as possible in adjusted to his new job, for some odd reason. Probably because he seemed like such a good, normal guy. At Bryan's answer, confessing that he had never eaten an apple, a grin fell on Isaiah's lips, a small thrill at knowing he could watch the guy's reaction to eating the fruit. Isaiah had never met someone who didn't like apples. "Take this," he said, offering the apple he had just plucked down from a branch. He would grab another one for himself so that they could both eat. "If I were you, I'd be making it my goal to try a new thing every day," Isaiah said, giving the suggestion for Bryan with a smile. Throughout his life, Isaiah was sure there wasn't one food available that he hadn't tried. With his father being a chef, Isaiah grew up being encouraged to try different things and take advantage of all the different foods that they grew and cooked in the Mountain. "Yeah," Isaiah answered at Bryan's question of whether he was allowed to just take an apple. The way Bryan seemed overly worried about the action had Isaiah pull his hand back a bit, almost ready to take back his offer. "We all do it. There's plenty of food to go around and as long as it's only a piece of fruit here and there..." Isaiah shrugged and decided to put a little bit of confidence back into his offer of the fruit. "Take it." He used his other hand to pick another apple, lifting it to his mouth to take a bite from it. Even though it was only a short time period between when fruit was picked off the trees and when it was offered for the residents to eat in the mess hall, Isaiah always thought that it tasted better when it was right off the tree. Part of why he was so eager to have Bryan try one here and now.

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Bryan only laughed faintly when Isaiah said he was going to skip the soybeans on the tour. He was grateful, but he also didn't want to make too much of a big deal of it. He wasn't going to be picky about what they assigned him here, not when he was brand new. "I intended to," he said, when Isaiah suggested he try something new every day. "Your food here is... probably the best I've ever tasted." The cooks on the Ark and on the ground had skills, but there was only so much you could do with limited resources.

He relaxed a little again when Isaiah said they all took food occasionally, that there was plenty to go around. That was a refreshing thought, and almost difficult to believe, but Isaiah picked another apple and took a bite of it himself. Bryan took the apple from Isaiah finally and turned it over in his hand momentarily, giving it a gentle squeeze. It was firm and the flecks of color variations in the red skin were really pretty up close. "I've never lived anywhere where there wasn't either a food shortage or strict rationing," he said, his smile widening again. "Must've been great growing up here," he added, and then finally took a bite of the fruit. It was juicier than he'd expected, and sweet, maybe a little grainy, but not in a bad way. Bryan made a pleased noise as he chewed and looked back at Isaiah. "This's good... really good," he said, his mouth still partially full of apple. He huffed and pressed the back of his hand to his mouth. He didn't normally talk with food in his mouth, but it was too delicious not to comment. "Sorry."

Tag: Isaiah Riggs

[Isaiah Riggs]

@bryanbryanbryan Isaiah was happy to hear that Bryan had been enjoying the food in Mount Weather. It was a compliment both to the farmers and the chefs, and one that Isaiah had never heard from a fresh outsider perspective. He appreciated it. "This apple will be one of the best things you've ever tasted," Isaiah said, giving Bryan more encouragement to take the piece of fruit from him. It wasn't until Isaiah was eating his own piece of fruit that Bryan took it and Isaiah didn't make a big deal out of that, He was curious as to what things had been like in space and outside to have made him so worried about eating one piece of fruit but didn't ask, just kept his eyes on the shorter male as he turned the fruit in his hand. It seemed Bryan was willing to offer some sort of explanation with Isaiah having to ask for it. The comment described a situation that Isaiah had never been through with the fact that Mount Weather was never short on food.  "You'll never have to worry about that again," Isaiah offered, his own smile widening with Bryan's. He nodded, knowing that it was nice growing up in Mount Weather, if they were talking about food. Other things, well, Isaiah tried not to complain much but he sometimes felt like he was trapped because he was. Trapped in Mount Weather with no hope of ever seeing what the outside was like. All he had was agriculture and all the plants they grew for food and medicine. "It was nice growing up with chocolate." As Bryan bit into the fruit, Isaiah watched for his reaction, to see if he liked it. It was such a unique situation to see someone so old trying an apple for the first time, of course Isaiah was going to be curious about his reaction. Even more so that it was a farmer trying it. That was reasoning Isaiah was using for watching him, even though he definitely was beginning to feel a bit shy about that fact. The pleased noise that Bryan made told him all he needed to know and had Isaiah blush slightly, especially when Bryan made the effort to look back over at him. He felt like he'd gotten caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing. "It is," Isaiah agreed, taking another bite out of his own apple so he could look away from Bryan. He at least laughed softly at Bryan's apology. "It's fine," he said with his hand over his mouth. When he finished chewing that bite he let his eyes wander over the trees around them before having them rest on Bryan again. He hoped the colour in his cheeks had faded by then. While he knew they should probably move on to other places in agriculture, Isaiah never particularly wanted to leave this room. "Think you can eat and walk?" Isaiah asked.

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Bryan could feel Isaiah's eyes on him as he ate the apple, and he supposed he couldn't really blame the other man. It was probably interesting, maybe a bit weird, to see someone try something for the first time that seemed so normal to you. There was something about the way Isaiah looked way when Bryan looked back up at him, like he felt like he shouldn't be watching, that caught Bryan's attention. He wondered if he was imagining the slight darkening of the other man's cheeks, and he kept looking at Isaiah until the other man looked back at him, enjoying the other man's soft laugh.

Bryan shook himself slightly when Isaiah asked if he could eat and walk at the same time. He was supposed to be studying Mount Weather's farming set up, not the seemingly kind, easy going man with the nice smile who was showing him around. He laughed a little sheepishly. "Yeah, I think so," he said, a slight tease in his voice as he waited for Isaiah to show him to wherever they were heading next, taking another bite of his apple. As much as he wanted to stand under the trees for a while longer, Isaiah probably didn't get paid to stand around. If he got paid at all. "So... how do things work here, then? You just contribute what you can when and if you're able, and... you just get what you need in return?" he asked. If that was the case, it sounded damn near Utopian compared to the Ark.

Tag: Isaiah Riggs

[Isaiah Riggs]

@bryanbryanbryan I assume MW would have class issues just like every other place. At least when it came to the president and those close to him. XD When Isaiah looked back at Bryan, he did notice that Bryan looked as if he hadn't stopped looking at him. That, well...Isaiah just hoped that the blush in his cheeks hadn't been overly obvious. He didn't even know why he was so worried about that, if he was to be honest. At least Bryan seemed to be okay with continuing the tour and eating as they went. There was no time limits placed on their tour and Isaiah had been told he could talk his time, make sure Bryan became comfortable with the section but staying in that room, even just to finish their apples, probably wouldn't be the best idea. Isaiah felt like he needed to keep moving to make sure he didn't do anything more stupid than his little freak out over watching Bryan.  Again, who knew why he felt that way. He smiled at Bryan as he started to head back up the aisle towards the door they had came in through. He was definitely making sure to smile, to be friendly, but it also wasn't an effort to do that around Bryan. The two got along and Bryan generally seemed friendly and easygoing. He would fit into agriculture really well. "I'll show you where I work," Isaiah said as they walked, taking another bite of his apple. He had been assigned to root vegetables, which were a but away from the fruit trees but Isaiah decided it was the best place to go next. There was a little bit of hope in Isaiah that maybe Bryan might be interested in farming root vegetables. Isaiah wouldn't working with the other guy. Bryan's question caught Isaiah by surprise, seemingly coming out of nowhere and the sort of thing he would have thought Bryan would have been told already. If he was already being pushed in the direction of working, he probably should have been told how those things worked. "The welcoming committee didn't do that good of a job, huh?" he asked, joking around. He turned a corner, glancing down at Bryan as he spoke. "Yeah, pretty much works like that. Everyone works - if they can - and stuff is given by need." He held up his apple. "Food, clothes, given to everyone pretty much equally. I mean," he paused, shrugging a bit, his smile a little less bright. "It's not completely equal, those higher up tend to get better stuff, bigger rooms, nicer clothes...but we don't complain."

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Bryan took another bite of his apple as he walked. He was curious to know where Isaiah worked, and if farmers here stuck to one area or not. On the Ark, what they grew was fairly limited, so there wasn't much need for specialization. He laughed faintly as Isaiah teased about the welcoming committee. "I guess not. They were mostly concerned about making sure we didn't get lost in here, but I've still managed it a couple times." He really needed to study the map they'd all been given, but Byran sort of liked exploring this place without a set destination sometimes.

He nodded as Isaiah described how things worked here, as far as working and getting what you needed, not failing to miss that Isaiah's smile dimmed a little s he finished. "That sounds similar to the Ark," he said. Though things seemed more laid back here. He couldn't be floated for eating an apple that hadn't been processed through the system for starters, and the clothes provided to even newcomers like himself seemed in better condition than the ones anyone had on the Ark, even the officials. The Mountain Men must have some sort of system in place for crime and punishment, he knew, but Bryan hoped it wasn't as severe as the Ark, where even a minor, non-violent crime could get you tossed out of the mountain to die. "People did complain on the Ark, though. Some of them, anyway. But disturbing the status quo could get you killed, so a lot of us, my family included, just kept our heads down." His own smile was dimmer now, almost unhappy, and he wished he hadn't brought the subject up.

Tag: Isaiah Riggs

[Isaiah Riggs]

@bryanbryanbryan Briah! (: Isaiah laughed, knowing just how easy it was to get lost in Mount Weather. For a bunker cut off from the outside, it was a really large and confusing place. Growing up in it, Isaiah didn't get lost now but as a kid, he had and he had also explored, finding a lot of the hidden areas just because he felt he needed to. Cabin fever got most of those in Mount Weather eventually. It was difficult to live with the knowledge you were stuck in one place for your whole life. He had read a lot of stories where people had travelled across the world because they felt trapped and well, they had been able to move around a lot larger area than Mount Weather was. "It's a lot bigger than it seems at first," Isaiah told him, a smile to his voice. "If you ever stop getting lost, I'll show you that."  As much as the offer was said in a teasing way, Isaiah felt completely serious about it. Sneaking around Mount Weather's quieter areas with Bryan didn't sound like a bad idea at all, if he were to be honest. It sounded a lot better than talking about the worser parts of their societies. Isaiah didn't find himself very surprised that things had been similar on the Ark. "Killed?" Isaiah asked, needing to be sure he had heard that word correctly. Of course people didn't like to complain because they could get punished for it but...Isaiah couldn't imagine someone being executed for such a thing. Honestly, Isaiah didn't know too much about how things worked when it came to crime and punishment. He avoided doing things that might get him in trouble and hadn't made friends with those who had done wrong. That sort of information wasn't talked about too loudly. To hear that about the Ark was interesting. Isaiah knew things would have been run completely different but that just seemed totally crazy to him. He shook his head, apple half lifted to his mouth where he had paused at Bryan's words. "What were things like on the Ark?" Isaiah found himself asking, both curiosity and worry pulling the question from him. He hadn't wanted to right out say it in worry that Bryan might not take to kindly to the question but now, he felt like he had reason to. Part of him was in shock of that one statement, his own shyness and fear towards violence coming into play, and also worried for what sort of danger Bryan would have been in. Even though he held no reason to, both because Bryan was hardly more than a stranger and he wasn't living on the Ark anymore, Isaiah felt that way.