After her time spent with momma carving pumpkins, she couldn't help but find herself wandering back out to the greenhouse. She hadn't gotten a chance to look around inside yet, and now she was determined to do so. Talyssa approached the glass building, firmly put a paw up on the door, and gave it a push. Instantly she was hit with a warm and humid gust of air full of earthy smells. Very peculiar. Taking her first steps in, she was mesmerized by all the pots and raised beds containing a huge variety of plant life. Yet, of all the plants she saw, there was one in particular that caught her attention. A beautiful yellow bloom.

Gently making her way over to her prize, she was compelled to pick one. Well ... it started as one. Then it turned to several until she had a whole bundle in her grasp.

Mercury was walking past the garden. Keeping a brisk pace as he warmed his muscles and worked to keep in shape. With strange things going on in Auster, it wouldn’t do to let himself take a break. He was about to pass the greenhouse by when he noticed the tiny form of one of the Aegis’s first litter inside. Her paws were full of flowers. He paused, and then stopped. Back tracking towards the door which he opened to glance in. He’d been given the names of all the pups, and it took him a second to recall which of them this was. “Talyssa? What have you got there?” He asked, looking at the bright array she had gathered for herself.

“Are you picking some flowers for your room?” he asked, or perhaps she’d found a teacher who was encouraging her to learn the names of the flowers. It was hard to say if it was business of pleasure. He knew so many in the castle were eager to help the little ones learn.


"Mercury"

After she got her fill of the yellow flowers, some smaller white ones caught her attention. Moving towards those, she decided to pick a few of them as well. But just as she was doing so, the masculine tones of someone's voice caught her attention. Her pale gaze flashed toward the door to notice a dark silhouette of a man as big as her Daddy. While she didn't know his name for sure, she did recognize him. Having seen him around the castle before. And she was pretty sure his name was Merc, having overheard it in conversation from around the castle. Anyways, she was all too happy to respond. Though, she didn't really know the answer. "I'm not sure." Talyssa started. "I thought they were pretty, so I wanted them." She supposed that was as much of an explanation as she could offer. But just as her attention shifted from Mercury, she spotted small stalks of lavender on the other side.

"But the more I look around, the more flowers I want." The girl admitted. Just in time for her to cross the room to grab a few of the purple flowers.

As he asked if she intended on taking them to her room, she tilted her head. That was a good idea. "I guess they would look pretty in our room." She agreed. Looking back at the man at the entrance, she decided that she would get his opinion. "Do you have a favorite?"

He watched as she crossed the greenhouse and attacked a branch of purple flowers. Adding them to her collection. His lips twitched in a smile as he watched. He could only hope Gwyn wouldn’t begrudge the pup plucking as she pleased. But… he couldn’t imagine Gwyn having a stern word with anyone, least of all her new little niece.

“So I see” Mercury agreed as she mentioned wanting so many. Perhaps Gwyn would find this pup to be one interested in herbs and medicines as she grew. “I like the green lacy ones.” He said, pointing at one as he spoke. “These ones are called ferns” he added. He wasn’t a healer, but he could label a couple of the flowers. “If you're not sure what to do with them, perhaps we could pick a few and see if we can turn them into something?” he suggested.


"Mercury"

As the man mentioned the green lacy ones, she immediately set to search for them in the array of flora. It didn't take her long, though. She found the broad leafy plant, however, the leaves weren't actually as big as they seemed. They were made up of a bunch of little thin leaves. They looked plain from afar, but upon closer inspection, she had to agree. They were really pretty. She picked several leaves off of as well. "Ferns." She echoed, testing the plant's name out for herself. Wait. "Do all plants have names?" She asked curiously.

But by the time she had asked the question. She was moving on to Mercury's next idea. "Oh, do you think we can make something out of all these?" She asked, genuinely interested. Coming back out into the middle aisle. She laid down her collection of flowers, stems, and leaves. Seeming them all laid out. She had taken a lot. But it would be really cool if they could be used for something.

He watched as she picked out some ferns for herself. “They do! I know some of the names, but not all of them. The purple one you're holding is called ‘lavender’ ; healers use it, as well.” He explained. It was supposed to be soothing if he remembered rightly. It likely had other uses to a healer, as well.

He followed her to the middle of the greenhouse, and sat across from her. Eyeing up her collection as he considered what she could make. “A friend of mine made wreaths out of flowers and other things. Perhaps we could see if we can tie it together that way?” He suggested. What else could you do with flowers? “Or a corsage, perhaps?”


"Mercury"

As he introduced the purple flowers to her, she once again made an attempt to try the word out on her own tongue. "Lavender." It was a pretty name. The flowers looked like they would be called something like Lavender. Whatever that meant.

When Mercury began discussing what the flowers could be arranged into, she couldn't help but drum her tail in excitement. "Yeah! Those sound pretty! A wreath or a corsage." Hmm ... Talyssa didn't really know how to proceed. But she started placing the flowers in a pattern that appealed to her. The fern leaves made an excellent backing, and she thought that maybe if they braided everything together- like momma did her tail. Maybe they would stay like that? She didn't know. Her attention shifted back up towards Mercury once she was done with a pattern she liked. "What do you think?" She asked, seeking his opinion as well.

She was definitely interested in the flowers, and he thought it a shame he couldn’t name all of them for her. His thoughts drifted to Gwyn again, and he knew he would have a chat with her about this girl. About helping to encourage her budding love for growing things. Perhaps he could take a lesson or two, that way he could be a little more useful the next time a young one had questions.

She started to arrange the plants, and he considered it for a moment. “Let’s clip some vine, we could use it as the base, and wind your flowers around it in the shape you’ve got here?” he suggested, it shouldn’t be too difficult to add some vine to the mix. He got to paws and passed down the greenhouse until he found what he liked. Using his cat-like claws, he clipped off enough, and brought it back to her. Bending it to shape. “I’ll hold it, you twist the flowers onto it. How about that?”



"Mercury"

When Mercury suggested that they get some vine, he had her complete attention. She nodded in agreement, as she watched him rise to his paws and take a few strides down the main aisle. Clearly he found what he was looking for, and was able to harvest some with ease. It didn't take hardly any time at all before he was positioned across from her once again. Talyssa marveled as he stretched the piece of vine out on the ground, and bent it to a halo shape. Once she was given instruction to arrange her flowers around it, she nodded furiously. "Okay!" She said excitedly, and then set to work.

She started with the fern leaves, winding them around the wine this way and that. They made the greenery look a lot fuller. Next was the flower array. She tucked the Lavender flowers in, spacing them out evenly. Then the white ones. Then the yellow ones until she got them the way that she wanted them. "It's so pretty! But now what?" She remarked as she worked. She couldn't wait to show momma, whatever it was.

Mercury held the vine steady. He would have to find a means to tie the vine ends together at the end, but for now he was content to watch the pup as she wound her work of art across it. She seemed pretty confident, and soon a beautiful spread of ferns was around the vine. “You're a natural!” he marvelled as he watched her work.

Soon enough, she’d made her spread of flowers around the whole thing. “Now we need to tie the vine together. Can you see if there's a supply of twine somewhere? I think I see that some of the wolves that tend the gardens have used it to support some of the plants” he explained, pointing carefully without disturbing her creation so she could see what he was talking about.


"Mercury"

Talyssa received his compliment with glee. "Thank you!" She said, looking up at the shadow complected man with a toothy grin.

When she was finished, he explained that they needed something to tie the ends of the vines together. He mentioned twine and gestured to some of the taller plants that had been secured to braces of sorts. "Okay, I'll see what I can find." She vowed. And with that, she spun on her heel and crossed the distance between her and her target. It took her a couple of minutes of searching in the raised beds to find what she was looking for. But eventually, she found a small wad of thin twine- likely scraps to some degree. She grabbed it and came trotting back to the soon-to-be decoration. Handing it over to Mercury, she watched enthusiastically as he went to finish their project.

When he was done, she was very much impressed with the creation, and couldn't wait to show it off to her family members. "It's the prettiest wreathe I've ever seen!" Granted it was the only wreathe she had ever seen. But, it had to count for something.

-exit Talyssa via fade to frantically show off the wreathe to whoever she finds-