"I would be happy to," She said in a low voice, looking down at her feet and down at the garden. She still wanted to be gruff and closed off to whoever had Hawthorne's obvious affections, but when she looked up at her friend, the big bear hybrid was all he had an eye for. She watched them talk animatedly and smoothly with only eyes for each other, and she felt extremely out of place.

She edged herself a little bit away from the two of them, glancing among the tenderly cared for flowers and felt the flowers wordless love and adoration for the bear's tireless efforts. He was a good person, who didn't deserve her scorn or her ill meaning.

So with her preserved, glowing blue flower still carefully tucked behind her ear, she stole herself away without a word. She wasn't needed, after all. She could ignore the disaster in her heart if it meant Hawthorne and his friend were happy.

[exit Cayenne]