While Ulric and Aranea healed, it seemed like others had to work harder to to take care of their share of duties, not that they would just lounge around all day and prefer to do nothing. They still did what they could, but it couldn't be expected of them to run around doing patrols all day or Aranea going out in search of more herbs to bring back to The Hallows. Mostly for herself she would keep the stores organized, make sure the grounds stayed cleaned, and just do walk arounds the castle floors that were easily accessible. But Ulric had proposed the idea of Aranea starting her own little herb garden, save so she didn't have to run up and around all creation searching for herbs. It wouldn't be easy preparing the area given the fact that most of Auster had been put in a frozen layer of ice. Still, even just getting the green house ready would be a start, even if she had to wait until next season to start planting. Not that she could do much in the meantime. She had come to find Ulric in his training center after she had done her few duties. Not that they had nails and boards to put together but there was extra wood slabs or maybe some glass panes too around the castle from it's ancient residents laying around in empty rooms they could use to lay against the castle wall and probably cover with some drapes or tarps to keep it isolated and away from the brutal weather. Obviously Aranea would need to get enough sunlight in there as well, but there was time to figure that out when they got to it. She let out a quiet bark as she approached him, a wag of her tail in greeting, though she was starting to get comfortable enough with Ulric where it didn't even seem like she had to offer a hello to him anymore. "Did you have time? We could start the green house today." She quickly moved her gaze around the wall of the castle, "I was thinking of setting it up somewhere around here." Walk "Talk" Think

Not being able to fully complete his usual rigorous list of duties was probably the hardest part about all of these injuries. He could put up with the pain and the periodic wrapping and treatments - but being cooped up and restricted in his movements was driving him crazy. They of course found some things to do - he mostly kept tabs on how their food stores were looking, did a little work on the training area he was trying to complete, and spent time with his children - at least the ones that wanted to spend time with him. Compared to the hours he would spend patrolling and all the time he would spend training or hunting or other various, more strenuous tasks around the pack... it felt like he was doing basically nothing. He knew it had to be part of the process in order to heal though and day by day his wounds were healing up and he was confident that he'd be back to his old ways soon enough. The only thing that was really holding him back now was his ribs and he knew that would take the longest of it all to fully heal.

He was walking back and forth from a pile of rocks he had gathered to the edge of the training area he had sectioned off form the rest of the courtyard when Aranea caught his attention with a bark. He sat down the rock he was carrying in its place in line with the others that created a border around the open rectangle, lifting his head to look at her curiously. It had become a normal part of their days to at least see each other occasionally so he wasn't exactly surprised to see her out here, but he was interested to see what she had on her mind since she seemed to have a sense of purpose to her stride. Once she asked about him having time to help with the greenhouse he had suggested a grin spread across his face. "Of course!" he agreed easily, happy to see that she was interested in bringing the idea to life. He thought that it'd be a helpful thing for all of the healers in the long run, but he selfishly had a hope that this would help prevent any far flung, dangerous missions to collect herbs that she needed.

He nodded and followed her gaze toward the wall of the castle where she had been considering putting the green house. "This spot over here actually gets some really good sunlight most of the time," he replied, walking over to the brick wall and leading her maybe a half dozen feet to the right of where she had pointed till they were just around the corner of this side of the castle. This was the side of the castle that got the majority of the sunlight in the morning and he imagined that was pretty important for growing plants - and keeping them warm in the winter. "Maybe we use some of those bigger wooden beams that got pulled out of that room toward the back of the castle and make some corner posts here and here-" he offered as he walked to where he imagined the front corners of the structure would be, pointing the spots out as his silver gaze shifted back to look at her. "I'd be easy enough to dig a couple holes big enough to sit them down into."

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She followed Ulric around to his suggestion, looking more towards him with a glance at the area, "It’s perfect." it was ideal for the reason he mentioned though to be honest, Aranea was agreeing more to make Ulric happy, or really some kind of way that wouldn’t drive him off or whatever weird feeling she was having. The greenhouse was a good idea that The Hallows had slacked on, but really she was just here to spend time with Ulric. And time away from cuddles or lust or rescues because she did want to get to know him more as much as she also didn’t want to get too close to him. She stepped in front of him, her bruising and most of her cuts mostly healed aside from the one along her back that she kept wrapped. While Aranea saw no issues with the scarring that Ulric had, even may have found it attractive in some way, it was her worst nightmare to have one herself. Nuada taking the chip from her ear a constant reminder of what happened to her daughter though she forgot about it more often unless she happened to come across her reflection. The tear across her back however would only pull strings at her self esteem and lead her to believe that she was even ugly. "I’ll have to clear the snow and ice from the area too, did you want to start on that side and I’ll start here? We can dig the holes and then go get the beams together." she wanted it a joint effort, regardless of Ulric being stronger or bigger than her. Surely he could just make and gift the greenhouse to her or The Hallows but she didn’t come here to ask for it to get built. She came here to spend more time with Ulric out of the bedroom. Walk "Talk" Think

Ulric smiled his signature lopsided smile when Aranea confirmed that the spot was perfect. He couldn’t really tell how genuine she was being or if she was agreeing just to agree, not that he really minded either way. As long as she didn’t have any major complaints or objections then that was good enough for him. He nodded in agreement as she laid out a plan for clearing away the snow and ice first before they each dug one of the holes and went to retrieve the beams together.

"Seems like a good plan to me... Oh! Hold on," he said as he remembered something and turned to walk back over to the shed that stood beside his fighting training area. The aged building was actually a storage shed that grounds keepers would have used once upon a time. Of course he wouldn’t know that, but there were a few random items left abandoned in it that he had ended up keeping as he was cleaning it out. In that stack of things was a couple old shovels, one more scoop like and one wider and flatter. He had already used them a couple of times to clear away some of the snow around the training area so he knew they were at least effective.

The collected the two tools and brought them back over to where Aranea was waiting offering her the smaller, scooped one since it might be a bit easier for her to maneuver. "These should help," he told her, his words muffled around the handle of the shovel.

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Aranea took a few steps forward in Ulric’s direction watching as he went to the shed. With tools in hand, she would smile again, reaching up towards his muzzle only to grab the shovel, though her intentions may have seemed otherwise while she lingered before grabbing it and pulling it away. Placing the pole on her shoulder, she would press down on the head of the shovel to crack some of the ice on the grounds surface, pushing her shoulder forward to start and move both the ice and snow from the ground. Turning back around to go the other way, she glanced at Ulric while he did his share, only admiring his strength and generosity. The wound on her back stung a little as her body went to work, but she would push through it and not linger on the small pain. After clearing her way, she would return to where Ulric stated the hole would need to be dug for a beam, only while she placed the shovel accordingly she had trouble actually getting it in to the frozen ground, only just scratching the surface. She wouldn’t ask for help though, just continue to struggle like what she was doing was working. Walk "Talk" Think

Ulric smiled around the shovel he was holding between his teeth as Aranea came to collect hers, momentarily tempted to sneak a kiss after she took it from him though he resisted. He set to work clearing away the snow and ice, pushing the shovel along the ground and creating piles of the frozen crystals on either side of the designated greenhouse area with her. Even though he could have probably done all of this work himself, he enjoyed her company and the fact that they were building something together. He did his best to stick to just clearing his side of the area so she could have an equal share of the task - though he might have sneaked onto her side just a bit since he was able to finish it more quickly. Occasionally he'd sneak glances in her direction, smiling softly each time. It made working through the aches and pains worth it.

Once the snow was cleared away, he went to where the post would go on his side and attempted to start digging with the shovel he had, but the shape didn't seem very good for digging. It was too wide and flat - better for pushing or moving stuff than digging. Besides, the shovels were already slightly awkward to hold on their own. He dropped the shovel and gave digging normally with his paws a go and that got him some better results, but with how hard and cold the ground was he only made a little progress before his paw pads joints began to ache. Considering how large his paws were and how much he was having trouble with it he couldn't imagine Aranea doing this part on her own. He turned his attention toward her and saw her struggling to get the shovel to pierce the ground. Theoretically hers should have an easier time of it since it was more narrow and had a sharp edge on the end so perhaps it was just a matter of adjusting their tactics.

He abandoned his post spot and walked over to her. "Maybe a little team effort will make it work?" he offered, a warm smile lingering on his face. "You get it into position and hold it up, I'll push it down." He waited for her to line it up with the edge of where the hole would be and then positioned his paws on the wider back edge of the curved shell of the shovel, using his weight to shove the blade into the hard ground with a little grunt. "There we go!" He chuckled softly, flashing her a grin. He shifted his weight toward the handle to leverage the scoop of dirt out of the ground, collecting it into a pile off to the side before handing it back to her so the process could repeat a few more times to get the hole deep enough to make sure the post wouldn't fall over after they buried it.

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Ulric coming over to save her would suffice though she was wishing he didn’t have to. Aranea was far from a spoiled little princess and getting her paws dirty or doing her share of the work was something she was always accustomed to. She wouldn’t hesitate however as they went to put the shovel in together. Aranea staying across from Ulric while placing the shovel accordingly and gently pushing the handle toward him once he found some balanced ground. They moved around the circle a few times before moving to the next hole, Aranea feeling a burn in her shoulders and wound herself. She wouldn’t stop though, at least pushing through to finish the holes for the beams, Ulric was doing the brunt of the work anyway. Aranea herself slid in glances to Ulric almost opposite of his, almost like the two of them wouldn’t notice that they had an admirer. Aranea at least chose to ignore the heavy feeling of Ulric’s eyes in a sort of enjoyment that he was admiring her to begin with. Once the holes were complete she would come back to look at Ulric, "I think I need a break." she smiled with a little chuckle, almost to assure him she wasn’t broken or hurting which wasn’t entirely true. She grabbed the handle of the shovel from his grasp, taking it over to the wall where she would take a seat and quickly slide down to lay. She expected him to join her but there was always a silent fear that he wouldn’t, either because he was busy doing other things or he just simply didn’t want to be with her. Logical? No. But she couldn’t help her anxieties as they always crept up on her. After he would join her and a couple quiet moments passed, she looked down to her paws, uncomfortable to bring up, "I saw..." her tone she tried to keep even to not put dread into their fun moments together, but they hadn’t really had time to talk about it yet, "It fell from the cliff and it scared me. I couldn’t move and I didn’t know if you.... if it was you or not." Walk "Talk" Think

With both of them set on digging the holes together, the task didn’t take as long and wasn’t as challenging as it might have been otherwise. Again it was a case of something he could have done himself, but was made significantly better by Aranea’s presence and assistance. He wasn’t able to really put as much force into the work as he might have normally - not with his still healing injuries holding him back. The wounds on his side protested the most as he stood over the shovel to press down on to it again and again. He wouldn’t stop though. He was too determined to complete the task at hand so he could finally feel that he was being productive with his time.

However, as they finished the second hole, he had absolutely no objections to taking a break. Even though the healing injuries didn't hurt that badly, it still made him tire out more quickly than he would normally. He knew it must be the same for Aranea so he didn't question her on the decision - instead nodding in agreement and grinning a little when she took the shovel from him. He followed her over to where she would eventually settle near the castle's wall and eased down onto his stomach beside her with a sigh. He enjoyed the hard work. It kept his mind from thinking too deeply about the things that bothered him and helped him feel like there was a tangible thing he was able to contribute to those he cared about. It made sitting still and resting so he could heal quite difficult. The only thing that made any of it better was having Aranea around that could help him work on things at this new pace or just keep him company whenever he did need to be forced to rest.

There was a comfortable silence for a few moments as they laid there, his silver gaze drifting from her to the work they had done so far and back again, before she spoke what was on her mind. She brought up the night that had put them in this state to begin with, mentioning the huge wolf that he had sent skidding over the edge of the cliff to its doom. He knew all too well that if luck hadn't been on his side it very well could have been the other way around neither of them would be laying here now. It was something he had thought about as they were getting patched up and fairly often in the days that followed. "And I was afraid that I hadn't gotten to you in time," he replied softly after a moment, leaning over to press his nose to her cheek. The image of her laying still on the ledge still haunted him even though she was here, alive and well. "Please don't go climbing any more icy cliffs for herbs," he requested with a smile, half serious and half joking as he hoped to bring a bit of humor to the otherwise dark moment. "No leaf is worth all that trouble."

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She closed he eyes as Ulric pushed his muzzle into her cheek, but she still had a hard time coming to meet his gaze. It would be a little better though as he brought the humor in to it. Making it sound silly as climbing a treacherous cliff for a leaf. She could smile back to him, but it was still a little off. Not quite as genuine and more so admiring the way he could go about it. The vision that haunted him wasn’t difficult to understand, but Ulric seemed to keep a better side of things through his troubles. Aranea wasn’t quite like him. "I-" she would almost go to explain, but Ulric did understand the purpose of bringing the herbs to The Hallows. Instead her gaze wandered back to her paws. "I’m sorry." her voice wasn’t down or depressed at the matter, the apology could have been almost meaningless. But she knew if Ulric hadn’t come to find her, she would more than likely be dead right now. ”And uh, thank you." She gently rose after the few minutes, ready to get the rest of the greenhouse done so they could relax later. But perfecting it in one day wasn’t on the forefront of her mind. They would still be out for a little while until their wounds healed. Walk "Talk" Think