Flit appeared pleased by Rift's enthusiasm. "Yes! After a venture like that, though, I think I'll be staying here for a while." It had been a long journey, flit had been very far. And, truth be told, he didn't really like it out there. There were few plants and, from what he'd seen, fewer flowers still. There was barely anything edible, and just grey, colourless rock as far as the eye could see. Still, the fluttermouse did wonder if there was anything at the end; Archimedes had to have come from somewhere.

Flit remembered the rat talking about a place that was dark and swampy, and Flit didn't much like the sound of that. Perhaps, next time, the fluttermouse would go the other way. His antennae waved, considering, and he remained silent as Rift and Archimmedes spoke to one another.

As the rat turned back towards Flit, his antennae perked to attention. He didn't know if Archimedes had been talking towards him, but he drew in a deep breath anyway and sniffed, pink nose twitching. "That's probably all the flowers! There's loads here- and all of them have nectar! --You remember, right? It's that stuff I was telling you about!" Wings fluttering with glee, Flit realized something else he wanted to do- he had to introduce Archimedes to nectar! The fluttermouse doubted that the rat would be light enough to perch on the heads of flowers as he did. Flit had an idea of how to do just that, and it required a leaf or perhaps a flower petal; both of which were plentiful around here.

"Speech."

Flit watched proudly, swelling with happiness as he watched the cat call a flower from the earth- it was an art that he was still a long way from mastering, however much he had tried. He giggled as the rat gave the flower a tentative lick, but obviously found it a little strange, bitter even. The little mouse watched as he swiped his whiskers clean, and fluttered his wings open.

"I'll show you how to get to the nectar! Although, your nose might be a little too big. You've got to try it, anyway! Nectar is the best!" The little creature fluttered up from the ground and circled the nearby vicinity, looking for a leaf that was small enough to carry.

But alas, all the leaves in the nearby vicinity were just a little too big for Flit to carry safely. Most of them towered over the teeny fluttermouse, and most were big enough for him to land on- which he did, after a while, standing as high as he could with whiskeres fluttering at the air, antennae waving. As wonderful as Rift was, and as much as he loved his garden, Flit wondered if there was such a thing as taking care of the plants too well.

"Speech."

As Rift drew the fluttermouse's attention to a few small leaves growing on a nearby branch, he paused, surprise evident on his little face. Soon, the fluttermouse took to the air again to flit over to it. "Oh, thank you!" he squeaked as he did so, a hint of embarrassment on his voice. He didn't want to trouble the big cat if he could help it. "You didn't need to!"

Reaching the branch, Flit gnawed free a small leaf, just small enough to hold, curled in on itself with newness, and fluttered back towards the ground. When he had alighted back on the leaf and looked around for Archimedes, the rat was nowhere to be found. No matter; he was sure to be back soon.

It gave Flit the time to work, whilst he was gone. Clinging to the flower stem, Flit pushed his nose deep into its belly. The sweet scent surrounded him,clinging to him- and he felt powdery pollen sticking to his whiskers. Pushing a little further and he reached his sweet reward. The little mouse inhaled, filling in his cheeks with as much nectar as the flower had inside of it. After a moment he removed his face from the flower, and let a few droplets of sweet fluid drip into the centre of the leaf. With its curve, it stayed there; but the fluttermouse knew that a few droplets would be nothing to a hungry rat.

Clutching the leaf to his chest, Flit flew to another flower and emptied that one, too- and then another, and then the next... Until soon, there was enough to allow Archimedes a mouthful or two of sweet nectar.

Finally, he lit on one of Rift's leaves, and looked around to see if the rat had reappeared.


"Speech."

Soon spotting Archimedes reappear, the little fluttermouse pushed free of the leaf he was perched on and glided swiftly back down onto the forest floor.He alighted on the ground before him and in tiny pink paws held out the leaf- curled in on itself so that it could be used like a tiny bowl- it was fulled entirely to the brim with sweet-smelling fluid, and Flit found the scent almost intoxicating. It was hard to resist dipping his nose in it and starting to lick like a house cat in a bowl of milk- but he kept holding it out to Archimedes- it wasn't for him, after all.

With his paws taken up and no time to groom, the Fluttermouse was in a bit of a state- his twitching feelers and whiskers were coated with powdery yellow pollen, everything - from his delicate pink feelers to golden cheeks- was stained the same pale yellow. He smelled even more floral than usual, and sent little puffs into the air whenever he breathed. There were even a couple of flecks clinging to his large and mothlike eyes, though he didn't appear to notice for now.

"Here! I've been collecting it for you!" the fluttermouse offered excitedly. He couldn't wait to see the rat try it.

"Speech."