The petite healer left the pups and her tired mate in the den, with cypher and Kida to keep an eye on things, and burn off the pups energy if needed. She scouted out Wolfpaw lake in search of a decent spot to build a garden, and would start the work. She knew it was a project that would take time, but it was not the first garden she had built. She had learned a little of irrigation long ago when she had lived in Branch’s pack. She would start first with digging the path for the water to reach her plot. As she dug each section, she would lay down the bamboo she had collected and cut prior to this day. Placing it in the earth, and then laying down the next. She had carved one end of each to be smaller, so it would slot into the previous bamboo each time. She would then proceed to tie them in place, and complete it with a cement-like mixture she slathered around the tied ends. She ensured each piece was tight and tied, before moving on to the next. She doubted she would be able to start on the plot today, the irrigation system would take up all of her time. Already, she was tired from the continuous digging. "Speech"

Riva had borrowed the two malinois pups to babysit her and Pyrrhic's kids earlier that day - the fact that they had younger pups to play with had the pair in ecstasy, and, frankly, he was just as glad to have them go use their seemingly boundless endurance wearing out the younger children so that Riva and Pyrrhic could get a break.

The borrowing of the dogs had the added benefit of Eligos knowing where to find Riva without her little ones in tow. He had fallen head over heels, absolutely smitten with his niece and nephew and like his malinois proteges he couldn't get enough of them, but some comversations were best held without the distraction of children.

So, omce he finished up his patrol for the day, he took the time to go to see what Riva was up to. He came up upon her to stand a short distance away, quietly, not wanting to disturb her work until she had finished with the section she was doing. He tilted his head, brow furrowed with curiosity. When she had asked his permission to put a garden in, he hadn't really pictured.... this, and he wondered what it was all for. He'd imagined she would just throw some plants into the ground and that was that, but this looked all very purposeful and scientific. It was intriguing. He almost asked what it was, but restrained himself. He could wait until she acknowledged him, so that she needn't take her concentration off her work if it would cause her a problem with it.

She pressed the next bamboo into the earth, holding it together with firm determination as the mud-concrete set. Once it was dry, and hard, she leaned back with a sigh, examining the work she had competed so far. Well it wasn’t done yet, but it was a start. As she moved back to her bamboo pile, she found Eligos, watching, waiting? For her. She was caught off guard to find the red-eyes gold and black Alpha there. She supposed she shouldn’t be too surprised. She was borrowing a piece of his land, and it was only natural that he would be curious what she was doing with it. She passed the bamboo pile by, leaving the work for a moment to join him. She gave a gentle nod of greeting to the younger wolf, and a friendly smile. “Eligos, hello” she greeted him, wiping (Well, mostly smudging) mud above her brow. “How’s your day going?” "Speech"

Luckily, his presence didn't interrupt the work she'd been in the middle of when he arrived, though she did pause on her way to begin another to greet him. "Riva," he greeted in return with a nod. "I was hoping to discuss a few things with you, if you've the time." He let his gaze travel over the bamboo contraptions she was building, then added, "I could assist you with your work while we talk, if that would help." He didn't particularly know what the bamboo tubes were for, but he was intrigued. He had no place he needed to be in particular and he needed to speak with Riva anyway, so he may as well make himself useful to his brother's mate.

“Oh of course Eligos, I always have time for you” she promised respectfully, offering the (much) taller wolf a smile and all of her attention. When he mentioned helping her with her work, she cast a glance back towards her work and frowned at it. There was still a lot of hard work left to do. She just wasn’t sure it was right to ask it of the Alpha.

“Well… I’m digging an irrigation system, which i’ll be able to control the input of water into - so I can decide how moist or dry I want the land to be. Plants like Meadowsweet i’ll plant closest to the entry point of the water, and plants like lavender will be the furthest away… but… never mind. I’m sorry, I tend to lecture when I get started. I’m laying down this bamboo to collect the water and bring it to my garden. I need it to be placed below water level. If you want to help with the digging that would be great. What… what did you want to speak to me about?”

"Ah," he said simply, observing the tubes - the irrigation system - that she was putting in place. He had no particular interest in plants, but he supposed they were much like any other living creature, and needed water regularly. "I will gladly help with the digging." Manual labor he could manage just fine without needing to know the mechanics of the system, but he regarded the pieces she'd already put in place curiously while he maneuvered himself to where the next one needed to be dug in. He wondered if there was anything else the tubes of water could be useful for other than irrigating plants - maybe bringing water from the lake to fill something in the ravine, so that they didn't need to go all the way to the lake for their immediate water needs. Maybe even keep fish in it for a ready food source...

He shook himself out of the whirlwind of half-formed plans he'd gotten dragged into, glancing up at Riva - his sister-in-law, he supposed, though the Abraxas didn't lean towards monogamous marriage as some did - as he dug. "I wanted to speak with you about your future in the pack," he told her. "About what your plans are. We did not get a chance to speak about what you intend to do when you first came, with Pyrrhic needing help as he did." It wasn't a pleasant memory, how sick Pyrrhic had been and the way it continued to drag at him and his daughter. Pyrrhic had been Malleus' heir, and Eligos had spent his life looking up to him. To see him so low had been a knife to the heart, a stark reminder of his family's inconvenient mortality. The idea of losing one of his brothers frightened him more than he would ever admit to anyone, and only with a great deal of soulsearching would he admit it even to himself. He pushed the thought aside and smiled at Riva, a rare soft half-smile. "I know I am not alone in hoping you plan to stay for good, to build a life here with Aerie. On your own merits, not simply as the mother of my brother's children, of course."

“Thank you Eligos” she said, glancing up at the black-gold face with a smile, before moving back to her makeshift pipes, and grabbing the next from the pile. Once he dug a section, she would begin laying the next one down, and cementing it into place, well he dug the next patch. As they worked, Eligos would get into why he had come here.

It was very true that her entry into the pack had been a bit of a mess. It was more a cry for help then a proper joining, and Eligos has risen to the moment. When he continued on, telling her he wanted her to stay - not because of her attachment to Pyrrhic, like she assumed, but on her own merits.

She paused, and looked up at him again. This time in wonder. He had stunned her. She blinked, trying to find her words. The truth was, there were no sweeter words that he could have offered to her. She had accepted her place as Py’s mate, as a mother, and would do what she could to support the pack. She never thought she would be offered esteem for her own knowledge and expertise. To be wanted for who she was.

“Eli… I don’t know what to say. Of course I planned to stay and build my life here, for as long as you wanted me here. Thank you, for your support. I would want to be a healer in your pack, to work my way up your ranks as best I can, and support your pack. This is my home now, and I want to do whatever I can to support Aerie.”

They worked companionably for a time, and then Riva paused again, looking up at him with such a bewildering expression that Eligos could only blink at her, wondering what he'd said wrong.

Not wrong though, it seemed from her next words, and his expression softened. "No need to thank me. That is what it means to be family, we support one another," he assured her gently. "That is what it means to be part of Aerie."

He cleared his throat after a moment, coming back to business, as it was. "You've shown me that you are a more than capable healer, through your care of Pyrrhic and your children, and your knowledge of herbcraft. Your expertise and my trust in your loyalty to the pack would earn you the rank of Malar, if you are willing to shoulder the responsibility... a master healer." He eyed her, curious if she would accept. He wouldn't force it upon her, but they did have need of knowledgeable healers in a position of authority, to guide the younger wolves who chose that path, and he could think of no better for that position than a brilliant healer who was a mother herself, and experienced in both healing and in raising young wolves.

“Family.” she murmured softly. Of course, Eligos could now know that she had been abandoned by her mother as a child, and raised by a practical, but not entirely kind healer in her absence. That the brother she had not known she had, and then found, had not wanted to be related to her. Had told her how they were litter-siblings, one wanted, the other not.

She blinked, trying to draw in her emotions. This is what family was supposed to be, what she had always wanted. It seemed she had mated-into a family that was everything she had never hoped for. She shouldn’t be getting this emotional, that was the last thing her poor Alpha would want.

“A master healer… I would like that very much Eligos. You honour me, and I will do my best to be worthy of the position.” She promised him.