The elf blinked, keeping himself calm as Titanite brought his face close. It was surreal to be this close- he had looked so much like the Master in his mind's eye, and he'd never been this close to Vargas before. But, he didn't expect Vargas to be so hesitant, perhaps, and eager to experience.

Perhaps he should stop comparing the two. Titanite was so different, after all, and it wasn't fair to either of them.

Attikias watched on as light danced across Titanite, briefly marveling before the stone took his magic. He brightened- of course it'd take, but it still gave him a warmth that settled in his chest, and his fingers curled around the selenite piece.

"Nothing can really hurt it while it grows. The magic protects it." The explanation came as Attikias squatted down in the area he'd cleared, planting the chrysalis much like a seed in the jungle soil. It wasn't much- he hadn't covered the gem as it began to grow, and he wiped his hands on his pants as he straightened back up.

He looked to the chrysalis at the last question. "Yeah," he eventually said. "Ours." His gaze paused on it for a moment before he glanced up to Titanite with another smile. "I'll try to hang around with it, too, keep you company or let you do your own thing if you wanna keep watch over it, y'know?" Might as well put the offer out, especially since he did live close enough.

@Titanite

The magic would protect it.

Titanite suddenly lurched into motion, though this movement was still slow: a gradual folding of limbs as he sat down in the dirt. He could move quickly--violently fast--when he wanted to, but more often his gestures were as slow as his glacial thoughts. One branched hand reached back out to settle on the stone where Attikias had "planted" it; he then pulled back, watching it for a long moment.

"I would... like to speak with you. When you are here," came his gradual, rasping words. Branchlike limbs moved, fingers unfurling as Titanite placed palms now to either side of the chrysalis. After a moment there was another brief flash of green within his branch-ribbed chest, and plants around the stone curled in--not covering it, but slowly shifting to wind around it. They still left a gap, but it looked almost like a nest: a small protective ring of vines around the gemstone.

Then Titanite went silent, seemingly rapt as he stared at it, hands retracting neatly to his lap.

@Attikias

happy to fade out whenever!

The elf barely rocked back on his heels when Titanite moved. He watched, and his hands folded behind his back as Titanite connected with their child, watching the interaction.

He let out a soft breath. Even if the magic would protect it, it felt like Titanite would, too- what else did he have to do other than wait for someone to come along? Talking with him again... "I'd like that," he responded. Rubbing his thumbs together, Attikias drifted to the ground, kneeling and putting his arms in his lap as the plants grew, his head tilted to watch at different angles.

"It's gorgeous," he spoke, even if it was simple- simple could be beautiful, though, couldn't it? With his gem, then, would the child inherent Titanite's (presumed) plant magic? Perhaps Vivilene would like a sibling like that.

Pulling back and swinging his legs out to the side to perch more comfortably, Attikias leaned back up to look to Titanite. Moments of silence passed. He looked to the chrysalis, thoughts forming, before glancing back up, one thumb rubbing over his thigh idly. "It's not like I have anything better to do right now," he eventually huffed out. Sure, he was hungry, but- "What would you want to talk about?"

He'd stay here for a while until he'd need to excuse himself for food, he'd imagine, but until then he'd be content to simply co-exist with Titanite.

;exit to fade out? im never good at fade outs
@Titanite

Titanite pondered.

What would he like to talk about..?

The next minutes--even hours, if Attikias had the patient for it--were full of potential. Of long, rasping ramblings (replete with those gasping pauses) about so many things. Titanite could speak, in surprisingly observant terms, of the forests of Eridanus. Of the light that shafted down through the trees, and the way the leaves shifted and cast their dappled shadows. Of the echo of trickling creeks in the distance, or the way the breeze--or stormy gusts--affected each little plant.

It was not a topic that just anyone might enjoy; perhaps he might grow boring, unaware, or provide strangely enlightening new perspective on his admittedly limited world.

But the chance to talk was appreciated, and his green eyes settled on Attikias; he began with a simple "Thaaank you."

For the company. For the conversation. For the interesting change in his ever-shifting but always-the-same forest home.

exit Titanite