In the middle of the night

There was no complaint as Lailah came and settled near him, nails combing through the fur of the pelt under him hard enough to cause a small wrinkle before he smoothed it back out. At least the bastard was useful now, even if it was only to act as a cape or bed. He kept this up, causing wrinkles or pulls and then smoothing over them again to flatten them while he quietly watched Lailah chew off the foot of the rabbit trapped between her dainty paws.

Standing again he took the given flint rock to start the fire, turning it over and over again before smacking the shining surface against one of the duller rocks he had used to circle in a small space for it. The first try produced sparks but nothing else noteworthy, the second try however caused the moss and thin bark strips and lit them up. The blaze quickly ate its way into the smaller branches before Ganymede set about feeding it a few larger ones, making sure to not smother the flames. Once it was sufficient enough he went and flopped back down on his pelt, taking care to not send mint leaves everywhere. Tension still kept his muscles tight, ears flicking or rotating to listen to the almost too-quiet forest. Everything felt too much like it was closing but it would be fine.

It was the book suddenly between them that had his head craning down to look at what Lailah had written, knowing once it was there that she likely had a question. Mint leaves right? scrawled in the book had him nodding, lifting his head to answer the question in full before he suddenly realized there was a looming figure a whole lot closer now. That earthen dark head was almost too close to his as Ultyr looked at him. "Did you never think to ask her name? Ah yes, that's right, god-king’s don't ask do they." Ganymede grumbled, turning slightly to keep more of his side to the pair as he picked through the pile of worse-for-wear leaves left behind. Taking them up and crushing them between his pads to release any oils they had, intent on taking care of his aching feet for the night.

"For all intents and purposes, it should be peppermint. A hybrid between watermint and spearmint. But I don't have that out here and no time to worry about finding and hybridizing them. So for the moment, regular mint will have to do. It’ll soothe and calm the skin, and in Lailah’s case it'll help with the morning sickness I'm sure she’s been dealing with." Plants have always been a fascination with him, he had been so excited about them since he was younger, always underfoot in the gardens. Ganymede did take note, eyes flickering to the pair quietly before going back to his self-care. At least he was taking care of her now, better than what this bastard had done, his nails found the fur of the pelt again, and much better than what the actual demon king had done. "I'm hardly a healer yet, just learning and using what I was taught in my lessons while I had them. What about you, were you ever given any lessons when you were younger? Like how pregnant women shouldn't be marched through the woods for hours at a time?" The first question was genuine, keeping that lilting tone, the second however was a dig. A jab. His tone instead took up that biting, vaguely playful albeit sharp, ring to it.