Irilyth had always been a wolf who found herself most comfortable going about her daily routines. For as long as she could remember, she'd lived in servitude to whomever possessed her at the time, doing as she was told and tending to whatever needs her masters had of her. Though she was no longer that servant slave to the Mendaciums, old habits were hard to break, and the little golden blonde fae was most as home in her familiar patterns and habits. As Elysium's sole healer (save for the big purple wolf that had come to stay with them as a mercenary) Irilyth was responsible for maintaining the health of all their members, keeping their pharmacy and medicine stores fully stocked. It was menial yet important work, and a role Iri took great pride in excelling at for Manea. It was the least she could do for the wolf that had given her a life she'd only ever dreamed of.

Today, Irilyth was in her quarters of the ruling Mendacium family's den as normal, working in the small space with her rudimentary chemistry set. She was grinding down herbs to store in bottles of alcohol to form extractions to be used later in tinctures, but there were a couple extracts in particular she was preparing to use as well. Iri had those extracts set aside next to a larger empty vial, waiting to be blended together for Alastor. After the incident that followed the birth of the latest Mendacium child, Alastor had gone through most of his supply in a single day, so Iri had taken the initiative to keep a stock on hand, just in case. Having the Mendacium patriarch flip out and lose control of himself would be good for no one.

"Irilyth"

Manea laid with Fia in their den until her little fireball drifted off to sleep and stayed there with her for awhile just to make sure she was fully and deeply asleep for her nap before she tried to move. As tended to be the norm for her these days, while she was laying in their bed in the quiet of the shadowed den she looked around, contemplating and thinking about things. She glanced up at the shelves that had once been lined with a series of bottles that had been destroyed in Alastor's aftermath following Fiametta's birth. She looked at the empty shelf for a while, wondering to herself why she had never bothered to ask what they were or what was in them for so long. She had simply trusted that Irilyth wouldn't leave anything harmful around and while that hadn't been wrong it had certainly given her a fright watching her husband down several vials of an unknown substance while in a crazed state.

Shaking her head a bit at the thought, she carefully got up from where she was curled around little Fia and tucked the fur in tighter around her sleeping daughter. With Fia successfully napping, she stepped out of their bedroom and back into the common area of the Mendacium dens. She heard a bit of noise coming from Irilyth's chambers and she smiled softly, moving toward the sound where she was certain to find her sweet handmaiden. Sure enough, the golden fae was there working away on various herbs and liquids that she couldn't identify. Healing had never been a skill she had been any good at, but it was an important and useful one none of the less. "What are you working on this time? Anything fun?" she asked teasingly as she stepped into the room, dipping her head to kiss Irilyth's cheek.

"Manea Mendacium"

Irilyth had been so engrossed in her work that she hadn't noticed Manea's presence until the violet alpha fae entered her room and asked what she was up to. Iri gasped in quiet surprise, turning her head to face the Genetrix and getting a sweet kiss to her cheek in turn. A little warmth flushed under the smaller fae's cheeks as she smiled up at Manea and leaned up to place a gentle lick beneath her chin. She had thought the alphess was taking a nap with the newborn Fiametta, but apparently she was just putting her down for one. Getting Manea to slow down and take any sort of break had been like herding cats, and Irilyth worried herself over her wellbeing. "Hello, Mist-" Irilyth caught herself, clearing her throat as she corrected her words. "Manea." She turned a sheepish little smile up to the violet woman, then looked back down to her chemistry set. "Sadly not anything that fascinating. I'm steeping some extracts of herbs for longer storage and more potent effects. Between your husband and brother, I need to keep the pack fully stocked!"

Irilyth gave an airy titter of a laugh, swirling a couple of the extracts she had set aside for making Alastor's calming medicines while waiting on the fresher ones to steep. She held up the four clear bottles for Manea to inspect. "These I'll be using to make Master Alastor's medicine." Ah, maybe that would be interesting for the Genetrix to observe! "You're welcome to stay and observe if you'd like. I know my den is a bit cramped and uncomfortable for more than one wolf, but I'd enjoy your company." Casting another brief smile up to Manea, Irilyth began to uncork each of the bottles with her teeth, carefully measuring out the clear liquids into a larger vessel for blending. Then she reached across her work bench and picked up a small amount of fresh herbs and flowers she'd gathered to go into the tincture as well, placing them in a pestle and mortar and beginning to grind their leaves down into a fine powder with slow, deliberate motions.

"Irilyth"

Manea smiled and chuckled as Irilyth kissed her chin and caught herself from saying mistress again. It was a hard habit to break after using that name for her for so long, but Manea was enjoying getting Irilyth more comfortable and less formal with her. She had developed a soft spot for the blonde fae very quickly and that certainly hadn’t changed. If anything, Irilyth had only gotten more special to her as time went on.

She turned her attention down to the supplies and instruments her healer was working with as Irilyth explained what she was working on, grinning as she mentioned how she needed to keep the pack well stocked with wolves like Alastor and Merrick around. “No doubt about that. They’re both too impulsive for their own good.” She felt like she was often keeping Alastor from killing himself and she was just glad that Keelin was around otherwise she’d be doing the same for Merrick. When Irilyth showed her a few clear bottles and explained what they would be used for, her smile faded a bit, but her brows lifted with interest. “Oh?” The potions were still very much a mystery to her and something she was still mildly concerned over so when Irilyth offered to let her stay and observe despite the cramped space she accepted easily with a nod. “You know I never mind sitting closely with you,” she said with a chuckle.

As Irilyth got to work, Manea watched what she was doing with curiosity. Healing and all of the practices that went along with it felt very out of her depth. She hadn’t the slightest clue what her friend was doing, but she knew Irilyth was skilled at it. “What exactly goes into these things you give Alastor? And what do they do?”

"Manea Mendacium"

Manea's interests visibly piqued when she mentioned manufacturing the medicines for Alastor, not to much great surprise. Manea was always so deeply concerned with the wellbeing of her husband, it made sense to be curious about what he was being given. Irilyth was happy for the company, and after the larger violet fae's subtle flirtatious remark, Iri turned a pleased, knowing smirk up to her alpha—along with a not-so-subtle brush of her feathery tail along the edge of Manea's leg. As fun as it was to seduce and tease her lover and leader, now was the time for focus and work, so the golden blonde femme once more returned to making sure her extracts and tinctures had set and steeped before adding them into her blending vessel. Manea asked what went into Alastor's medicine and what all they did for him. An astute question from her sharp alpha, and one she was happy to elucidate on!

"Alastor's medicine is made from a special and unique blend of fresh and distilled herbs," Irilyth explained as she gathered up the pestle and mortar and held the bowl up for Manea to take a sniff of. "The fresh herbs consist of jewel weed, lavender, and motherwort. These plants all contain anti-anxiety properties as well as relaxers and sedatives. They help keep him calm, level, and in control when he feels himself starting to slip." Irilyth dumped the powdered herbs into the blended extracts and began to stir them to blend them together. The concoction went from clear to a pale lilac color. "The extracts in the base are made from valerian root and periwinkle. They both have multiple uses, but also have some properties as calming aids, and valerian is said to help with issues of the head and mind. Turning them into extracts like this helps bring those out in the plants."

Lastly, Irilyth pulled out a darker bottle marked by a label with a red dot on it. She popped the stopper off and took a whiff, holding it up for Manea to sniff if she wished. "Can you guess what that is?" she asked, letting her alphess take a guess or answer if she knew, then continued, "It's wolfsbane. A highly potent poison, especially the oils produced by the flowers. When made into an extract, however, it has a powerful sedative property with just a few drops." Irilyth very carefully measured only three drops into the entire batch of medicine she'd made, quite literally a drop in a pool. Then she carefully corked the bottle and set it aside. After stirring the mixture until it was homogenous, the petite healer carefully poured the liquid evenly into several small glass vials, the kind Alastor had drunk from and destroyed during his manic fit at Fiametta's birth. "And that is that helps keep your husband from snapping and killing us all, Manea." Irilyth gave a tiny titter of airy laughter, amused at how a dire wolf as unstable and dangerous as Alastor could be brought to his knees with just the right application of plants and alcohol.

"Irilyth"