Gwynevere watched as a nearly yearling Solaire loped away from the greenhouse after finishing up his usual chores around the enclosed garden. She could hardly believe how fast he had grown. He was already taller than her and would undoubtedly match his father before he was done growing. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen the pups grow before–she watched Artorias' first litter and Rudy's litter grow up around her, after all–but since Solaire was the first of all of them to take an interest in herbs and healing he was the first that she had really spent a significant amount of time with. She smiled a bit once he disappeared from view and she turned back toward the rows of plants. Training so closely with him made her really think about raising her own children for the first time. Maybe this is what "baby fever" felt like.

Now that Solaire was gone, she had a chance to tend to the more "recreational" plants that Artorias had requested she cultivate for him. They only took up a corner of the greenhouse so she didn't mind tending to it herself. Really it probably wouldn't have been an issue for Solaire to at least water the plants, but something about having the young boy around them didn't seem wise, just on the off chance that he get curious while she's not looking. After checking the soil and watering the ones that needed it, she began to trim away some of the excess leaves and prune back some parts that were beginning to over grow their pots. The cannabis in particular was doing very well so she had quite a bit to collect from it today. Once she finished up, she loosely tied together the pointed leaves and tucked the bundle away in her bag before heading out of the greenhouse.

Usually she would just keep the cannabis and its fellow recreational plants in a separate, locked cabinet in the infirmary until Artorias or one of the other adults asked her for it, but on her way into the castle courtyard she spotted her brother leaving the castle and figured this was a good opportunity to at least let him know how bountiful it had been. "I have plenty of your herbs ready for you," she told him as she approached, chuckling softly with amusement. "Moving the plants to the back of the greenhouse where it's more humid has really done them some good."

"Gwynevere Carpathius"

As Artorias was heading out to begin his daily rounds around the Hallows, he spotted his son Solaire coming back into the castle, the boy's paws and legs positively filthy with soil. He'd clearly been out working in the greenhouse with his aunt. "Better go wash up before your mother sees you tracking dirt inside," he warned his son with an amused chuckle before he stepped out into the gardens. It was late autumn now, the weather cooling off and approaching what would undoubtedly be another wet winter for Auster. That was fine; the plants would certainly enjoy it, and so would Gwynevere and Solaire for their botanical babies.

Stepping down the terrace, Artorias saw his sister in question walking into the castle as well, carrying her usual bags of plant supplies with her. "Good morning, Gwyn!" he greeted her as they crossed paths. Gwyn gave him pause when she mentioned having plenty of his herbs ready for him. The dire wolf's eyes lit up with understanding and excitement, an eager grin making itself at home on his muzzle. Oh, he and Briar were going to have a good night tonight! Art chuckled as well while Gwyn relayed how well the cannabis plants had been doing in their new location, replying, "All the more fun for us to have. Thank you, Gwyn. Briar and I are always appreciative of how talented you are with these special plants."

The cannabis was not exclusively for the alpha pair, after all. Any adult was able to partake, although the Aegis and Queen were by far the biggest participants. "You know they're not exclusively my herbs, right?" Art chuckled again and shot Gwyn a teasing smirk. "Don't tell me you've never partaken of our own supply before, Gwynnie."

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

The obvious excitement that Art showed at her news made her chuckle and give a little shake of her head. "No problem at all. They've been a fun new challenge to mix it up from all the motherwort and marigold." Every plant needed a little bit different care to thrive and she did love finding what each one liked best. Of course she enjoyed being a healer and having a skill that she could use to help her family, but if she could just be a gardener and tend to the castle's vast collection of plants for the rest of her days she would probably like that even more. Perhaps one day once Solaire was ready to take her place as the pack's lead healer she could retire to be the groundskeeper instead.

She was about to continue on her way to put away the herbs they had collected today when Art's comment about them not being his herbs and his question about her partaking in them as well made her pause. "Well, of course I know they're not your herbs, but you are most certainly the one that started me growing them in the first place," she countered with a little grin. "But... no, I haven't partaken. Seeing you flopped over on Kane's back and thinking he was a cloud didn't exactly make me go rushing for the herbs myself." She still giggled when she thought back on that moment now. Eilwen was certainly a mischievous thing, especially back then.

"Gwynevere Carpathius"

Gwynevere reiterated with a laugh that she knew the recreational herbs weren't just for him, then went on to remind him of the time he had gotten so tripped out on salvia that he had to be carried back to the Hallows on Kane's back. "That," Artorias interjected with a playful glare and grin at his sister, "was all your companion's fault. How was I supposed to know Eilwen wasn't trustworthy when it came to potent drugs?" The raven had quite a laugh at his expense, and although it hadn't been dangerous in any way to the then yearling Artorias, it had certainly made him more gun-shy around putting strange plants in his mouth at the say-so of someone he didn't explicitly trust. Hmm... maybe Eilwen had taught him a valuable life lesson in that moment after all.

"That was also salvia, and it's far more potent than any cannabis will ever be. This stuff just makes you feel relaxed, gives you a sense of euphoria, makes you feel good." Artorias looked over the bundle of fresh herbs Gwyn was carrying as he explained to her the difference in the two drugs' effects when an idea came to his mind. "Are you done with your gardening for the day? Why don't you and I have some right now? I can sample your latest batch and you can get firsthand experience what your own plants do." Art offered his usually strait-laced sister a cheeky grin and nudged her shoulder with his own. "C'mon, it's a lovely day. Let's go lie out in the gardens and get high." The decision would ultimately be left up to her, but Art reeeeeally wanted to show his sister a good time, and honestly with how focused in her work she always was, Gwynevere could probably use a good trip to unwind.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

Her giggles only got louder at his playful glare and his insistence that it had all been Eilwen's fault for not being trustworthy when it came to potent drugs. "Oh she knew exactly what it was going to do... You just happened to trust a raven that loves to mess with you," she replied between her giggles, grinning as her tail wagged gently behind her. It wasn't all that often that she just got to chat and poke fun at her siblings any more–though if she was being honest she didn't do much of that growing up either. She had been so dedicated to her studies and so focused on nothing else that she hadn't left much time for anything else. Having Ysmir around had helped her take at least a small step back from things more often and she felt herself relaxing for little moments thought the day like this more and more often.

Art made a valid point in the fact that what he had thanks to Eilwen had been salvia which had a very different response than cannabis. She of course knew he was right about that, but it still had never crossed her mind to try it herself. It wasn't necessarily that she wasn't aware of its effects–she knew every herb in her garden inside and out, after all–but she hardly ever drank, much less partook in any recreational drugs. She was sure there was something there she should unpack about feeling as if she always needed to be ready to jump into action and help at a moment's notice due to the fact that she was one of the pack's few remaining healers, but... that wasn't a thought she wanted to follow too deeply right now.

She could already tell Artorias was planning something before he even began to speak and she gave him a quizzical look which quickly changed to an incredulous one as he began to insist that she go test out her latest harvest with him right this very second. She was so taken aback by the suggestion that she didn't know what to say at first and was speechless as he nudged her along and insisted that they go lay in the gardens and get high. Her?! Just... go get high?! She immediately wanted to object and insist that she should at least go make sure there was someone else to tend to the infirmary in her absence, but when she looked at Art's face she could tell there wasn't going to be much that could actually dissuade him from convincing her to do this. After a few moments of hesitation she finally sighed with a roll of her eyes and replied, "Alright, alright... Fine, lets go," chuckling softly with a little, amused smirk.

"Gwynevere Carpathius"

Gwynevere was right: Artorias was not going to take no for an answer! Fortunately after some sputtering and mental floundering, his sister accepted and agreed to go relax in the gardens with him and enjoy some of the freshly harvested cannabis. Grinning at Gwyn, Art motioned with a tip of his head for her to follow him, then led the way back out to the castle gardens. It was a sunny autumn day, perfect for enjoying some sunshine before the wet weather got here. Giant paws carried the dire brute down the terrace steps and over to the rows of wisteria trees, their purple blooms long since gone in favor for the multicolored leaves of fall.

Artorias picked a spot beneath one of the draping canopies and flopped himself down on the grass with a heavy sigh, glancing up to Gwyn and patting the space beside him for her to come join him. "All right, let’s see how good this new batch is!" Art said with a giddy grin, sitting up enough to receive some of the cannabis from his sister. "This is going to be a pretty mild high. You’ll probably feel relaxed, euphoric, maybe a bit tingly all over. It might make your mind super focused or nice and floaty. Everyone’s a little different. But you won’t be petting me thinking I’m a cloud." Artorias chuckled at his own self-deprecating joke. He wanted Gwyn to know what to kind of expect from her first high. There was no way to tell for sure what she would experience until she tried it, but he could at least give her some idea to assuage any nerves.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

Gwyn sighed a bit and shook her head with a smile at Art's pleased grin as she gave in and agreed to his demands. Following him into the castle gardens, they made their way to the cluster of wisterias that made up a featured place on the castle grounds. This was one of her favorite places in the garden–besides her greenhouse of course. Settling in next to her brother, she pulled out the cannabis from her pack and passed it off to him while she smirked at his eagerness to try the new harvest listened intently to his explanation of what she was about to experience. She knew in theory what each of the different herbs did even if she had not personally tried them all so she did know that cannabis was fairly mild and relaxing compared to some other recreational herbs, but his reassurances that she wouldn't be petting him like he was a cloud like he had when they were younger did make her smile and chuckle. "Alright, that sounds good. How do you prefer to use it then?" Did she just eat it? Chew and keep it in her mouth? Something else entirely? For once he was the expert about a plant and she was his pupil instead of the other way around.

"Gwynevere Carpathius"

Gwynevere had no questions to start, so Artorias wasted no time opening up the little parcel of cannabis. Immediately his nose was hit with the smell of freshly harvested weed and he could already tell this was going to be a potent batch! With an eager grin on his muzzle, Artorias began to separate out two portions of the musky plant, knowing his own tolerance levels while giving Gwyn a more conservative amount to start with. His sister asked how they went about using it while he put away the rest of the package. "Theres a few different ways of using cannabis, actually! Most wolves will either smoke it or chew it, but I’ve heard of others putting it in tonics or cooking it into food. I might have Briar try baking up something with it sometime, like adult treats." A chuckle rumbled in the dire wolf’s chest at the thought of adult cookies just for the grown ups of the pack.

Taking his portion in his paw, Art placed the bundle of herbs onto his tongue and began to slowly chew, letting his saliva naturally extract the oils from the cannabis. "I usually just chew it. You don’t wanna swallow it though, just get it mushy enough to let the oils out and then hold it on or under your tongue." After chewing the cannabis down to a paste, Artorias rested the drugs underneath his tongue, already beginning to feel that pleasant tingling numbness spreading through his mouth. "You’ll feel when it starts kicking in. Then you just relax and spit it out when you feel relaxed all over." After demonstrating to his sister, Artorias laid back on the soft grass and gazed up at the wisteria fronds around them again, relaxing while he waited for the drugs to kick in and the euphoric high to begin, waiting for Gwyn to join him as well.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian"