Silvery hooves canted hurriedly over gnarled old roots and moss beds. Not a hair on the hybrid's flank brushed a fern or low-hanging branch --- not even an arching tine. Azizos moved with practiced ease through the maw of mosses, limbs flexing perfectly in tune with the beat of his own heart. Eyes and ears forward and armed with back-of-the-hand knowledge of these plants and trees, he was acting every bit the skilled, finessed predator he was.

Fortunately enough for any prospective prey, he was simply going for a morning run before settling into his comfortable daily routine: practice magic, help Mercurius with the garden, make conversation (and possibly listen to his father's newest story), observe the Eyes and practice skipping stones across its surface, find food. It wasn't entirely stimulating on its own, but the occasional Gembound he encountered along the way --- or visits from his other father or Arsu --- made it worth upholding. At least, there was a bit of a schedule to work around.

Among these visits, at times, were the ex-Bloodberry children Huckleberry and Yew. Even in the several cycles of their presence in his father's garden, Azizos had yet to fully develop an opinion on them beyond 'wary.' Most of his time in their general vicinity was spent in somewhat companionable silence, which they seemed to prefer over interrogation and personal questions. After the trial they had suffered (he knew about this only via an anecdote of Mercurius's) they had had enough of that.

So, as he pushed his way back into the garden and found the larger of the two children, he wasn't entirely surprised. Panting slightly, ambling over to take a drink from the brook between them, Azizos gave only a simple rumble of greeting. A soft, hurried, "Huckleberry." Neither a question nor a statement. Simple acknowledgement. His tail flicked contentedly, though his pricked ears betrayed his wary state of being.

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry was snoozing for the time being, in the middle of Mercurius's garden, Shiny sitting on top of his shoulders, keeping a watchful eye. They were trying something a little new - while Huckleberry sleeps, Shiny guarded, in case someone came in (Jayberry, Blackberry, Rift, etc.) and while Shiny slept, Huckleberry explored, either with her on his back or hidden away, to give him a sense of independence - he could still rely on her, but he did not use her as an emotional crutch. It had been extremely stressful for him at first, but he'd gotten used to it in the last few days.

When Azizos softly crept into the garden, Shiny's tail softly patted Huckleberry, waking him up from his sleep immediately. His eyes blinked open before he even said anything, fear flashing through his face at first, but then he relaxed at the sight. A bit.

He didn't know Azizos. He knew, of course, of him, and Arsu, but they had never spoken at length. After all, Huckleberry had spent a lot of his time around the Kingdom hiding away from everyone, out of fear for how they saw him, how they would treat him.

"Azizos," he replied, voice quivering a bit as he scrambled to his feet. "Um...Mercurius isn't here right now..." He glanced around, as if another stag-lion creature was going to come prancing out. "And neither is Arsu..."

@Azizos

Azizos spared the time and attention to lap at the water's surface much like a cat would. He daintily bowed his head and licked at his chops, teeth flashing in the light of Mercy's many baubles. The fleeting deer-in-headlights look on Huckleberry's face did not go unnoticed, though the lion-stag --- quite graciously --- declined to acknowledge it physically. Silvery eyes simply flitted up and down, surveying the other hybrid. Studying pensively, really. Few scars lined his flank, and those that did were well-hidden by short, coarse feather-fur. A byproduct of being stuck in a chrysalis for cycles and cycles after treacherous combat.

His ears flickered back as Huckleberry came to hooves and talons, nervously intoning in response. Azizos didn't move from his spot, though he tensed visibly. If it came down to it, he feared, the other hybrid would most certainly win out in battle. Let's hope it doesn't... come to such a conclusion. "I know," he began gently, face softening in a placating gesture. The lion-stag paced backwards, slightly, toward the roots holding Mercurius's various treasures and his own --- among them a slightly dilapidated box of shimmering, heart-shaped stones that still held a faintly sweet scent.

A glance spared to the other, searching for something. If Mercurius wasn't here to tend the garden with him, Azizos would have to find something else to busy himself with, and it seemed fairly rude to just leave the ex-Bloodberry (Seems a bit of a... backhanded grouping.) standing there in a panic. Despite his wary opinion, the lion-stag's gaze drifted back to the curious little box. A gesture of kindness, perhaps?

Very delicately, Azizos tilted his head, picking up the gift. Gemstones clattering inside as he moved, the lion-stag paced toward the brook. Hooves barely in the water --- not yet crossing the threshold --- he set it as close to Huckleberry as possible. A few steps back, and Azizos rumbled, "have you seen these, before?" A pause, to allow for any investigation and questions that the other hybrid may have. "They're from Tunnel M --- the one with the sheer cliffs and ice leading into Fornax, yes? --- and once held an ancient magic that made anyone touching them fall madly for the first Gembound they saw." A soft, awkward laugh. "It was embarrassing, but left us with a new magic and these odd gemstones."

It was odd conversation, but he figured it was better than any interrogation or conversation about past traumas.

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry stared blankly at Azizos. If he wasn't here for Mercurius or Pride or Arsu, then what on earth was he doing here? He shifted uncomfortably, very well aware of the tension in the other hybrid's body. Is he scared of me? He had good reason to be, though, at least what Huckleberry thought. He had been part of a family of murderers. He cleared his throat a little awkwardly in the silence, very much hoping that Azizos would just leave so he could go back to napping and not have to worry about this extremely stressful situation.

But he watched, unable to not be curious, as Azizos pulled out the red gems that he, in fact, had not seen before. When he set it down near him, Huckleberry got close to the ground and carefully crawled the rest of the way, carefully pulling it closer to him, the faintly sweet smell touching his nose. Immediately, Huckleberry began sniffing it fervently, momentarily forgetting about Azizos standing there as he enjoyed the sweet smell of the gemstone that he really didn't understand.

He froze when "fall madly for the first Gembound they saw" came up and looked down at the heart. A sudden spike of fear that the same thing would happen to him and he forced himself not to look up at Azizos as he talked. "It doesn't...still do that, does it?" He realized what he was implying right as he said it and stammered. "N-not that you're not...I mean...I don't want....don't want to be caught off guard?" That was a pathetic save.

@Azizos

Azizos, if he were honest with himself, was looking for a bit of stimulation he wasn't entirely certain he'd get out of Huckleberry --- not directly, anyways. The lion-stag could at least speak and entertain himself with actually developing an opinion on the other hybrid. For the record, he had figured out that the sense of wariness was mutual, and Huckleberry continued to fidget and seem unwilling.

The latter observation was quickly contradicted as the hybrid's odd snout disappeared into the box, driven to shuffling curiosity by the scent. Azizos nodded, not particularly inclined towards agreement or encouragement. It was a rather empty gesture, meant only to fill the abrupt silence that fell between them with some sort of action.

Large ears pricked forth at the hybrid's worry, and Azizos couldn't help but bow and shake his head with a smile, "ah, no. I should have been clearer on that note. They simply have a nice scent." He wondered idly about the pillars's wellbeing and the creature that seemed to haunt them with her maternal energy. I should bring father there, to investigate. An internal shake of the head, averting of his gaze toward the root-shelf. When he isn't quite so busy. "If you ever find yourself in that tunnel, keep an eye out for soft-pink pillars arranged in a circle. One is slightly ajar --- my own, unfortunate doing. A Gembound far older than any of us resides there and spoke of a special purpose for the pillars and their magic. For unions of sorts."

Definitely worth further investigation, really.

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry sighed out with relief and continued to smell the gem. It was very nice, like flowers. He didn't know that gemstones could smell like that. For a moment, he was perfectly content to just sit there and smell gemstones and he realized that he should probably say something back. This was very weird and awkward and he wasn't used to it. The only thing he'd ever talked about before....well, he'd never really talked about anything when he was living in Tunnel N and since he'd gotten free, all he'd talked about was the family, the family, and his own mental health. Not exactly great conversation starters.

Maybe let him do the talking? Shiny's voice whispered in his head and Huckleberry, at first, was skeptical. What was the point of having a conversation if only one person was speaking? Ask him about it. The pillars. Maybe he wants to tell you about it. It was worth a shot, at least. "So, um, pillars? An older gembound? That's pretty cool. Tell me about it." He hadn't meant for it to sound like a demand, but he simply did not know how else to word it. This is really hard, he complained, silently.

@Azizos

Azizos, as he spoke, spared momentary glances to the other hybrid, quietly gauging reactions and relaxing minutely as he found them to be fairly neutral, and even curious. A surge of pride blossomed in him as Huckleberry actually engaged in return, even to ask for further details as he continued to sniff at the gemstones.

The lion-stag's ramblings enabled, Azizos simply smiled, nodded, and continued, pacing the garden and the unofficial threshold of the brook's edge as he did: "they aren't too large; I suspect you could come about eye-level with their peaks, if you were to stand and stretch your neck as far out as possible --- they're rather opaque and a rosy-pink color. There's five of them across an enormous platform, and the whole place smells like those gemstones, though much stronger." He fumbled a little with magicka, though failed to properly conjure up any knowledge of light-based spells (I should practice with Mercurius, someday...) to show the other an image. Imagination would just have to suffice. He repeated in a poor segue, "they were used --- long, long ago --- to create unions between Gembound, though I'm yet unsure if they were magical unions or simple..." he tossed his head and flicked his tail, the equivalent of stroking his chin in thought, "simple traditions. Ceremonies."

On to the older Gembound, yes. "These union ceremonies were hosted, at one point, by that older Gembound, named Bolormaa. She is scarcely as large as you and I, covered in long, brown fur with four blue ears, a shaggy mane, and long paws. Her face is..." Azizos's gaze drifted away from an undisclosed point in the grove's wall, and he stopped pacing. If Huckleberry looked close enough, he'd find the lion-stag carefully side-eying him. "It's kind and motherly. Reassuring, almost --- as if you've known her your entire life. She wishes for us to simply live as we are: free and full of youth." Though his face barely betrayed his thoughts, Azizos wondered if a mention of mothers would possibly stir something in the other hybrid --- something negative. He hoped he hadn't just fumbled through this one-sided conversation and info-dump, especially when it had seemed to be going so well.

@Huckleberry