Pollen yelped at the man's flailing. Ah! She didn't mean to surprise him that bad..! Scrambling back, the little muta made room for him to emerge from his tent-thing like a cocoon (was he a bug??). Her mouth opened to blurt the last bit, but- no, no, he was not a bug.

She planted her paws close together and watched innocently as he complained, her ears flicking down for a moment. "I didn't mean to wake you up!" she squeaked in argument- and she really didn't! It's just... She pointed one stubby finger to the tent, immediately changing the conversation. "Did you make that?" It was rather complex. How could one person make it? Nobody made the palace, as far as she was aware- it was just a natural cave feature, to her.

"Oh! And why did you cut some trees?" That one didn't make sense. "You weren't practing magic, right? Miss Aethril always destroys the trees she practices magic on. Unless you aren't as strong as her? I'm not very strong, either, but I'm trying to learn!" Mid-ramble, Pollen raised a paw and showed off her vined arm, coercing a sprout to grow from the more fatty tissue.

"Can you do things like that? Is that how you made that?" She pointed to the tent again, the little sprout wafting with the motion.

"Uh." Attikias blinked, looking back at the tent. "...yes." His eyes glanced between it and Pollen, but he shoved up.

She was talking a lot, and he figured he wouldn't be able to get an early rest tonight. A disappointed sigh escaped his mouth as he wiped off the knees of his pants, unintentionally looming over her. "I uh- was marking trees so I know what's good to build with." He gave a weak, one-handed gesture to the marked out location of the future house, at a loss for a proper explanation. "I-"

He paused. "Wait, did you say Aethril?" In an instant the elf fully woke up, alarmed at her mention. Did she know he was here? What if she went looking for her lost child? Nevermind her question about magic. Even the Valkhand's uttered name sent a shock down his spine, and he nervously ran a hand through his hair. "Is she coming here? This place isn't ready- I don't want to have to rebuild it. There's- Carja and my family, they're moving here too- I really don't need her to destroy our work."

He was pleading. Even his hands clasped together, his mind running through possibilities. "Here- uh- can you keep this a secret? I can make you something in exchange- enchant something or other, if you want? I'm not good with magic, but if you have a spell you want on something..."

His hands were held forward as he attempted to pacify the already calm muta, as if his livelihood depended on her words. It might as well- one slip to Aethril framed in the wrong way could spell doom for more than just his home.

He made all that? Wow. Looking over it, she imagined what he'd use the logs for- some kind of tree house, maybe? If he was going to stick around, maybe she'd see it for herself soon enough.

It was strange, though, how scared he was of Aethril. Pollen guessed she could be scary..? She could ask her about it later, when she told her about this new development. But- "I won't say anything!" she squeaked, like a liar. Instead, her mind was focused on the enchanting. "Can you enchant plants? I can make plants grow- can that be something? Does it hurt to enchant things?" To be fair, she didn't know what enchanting even was, but she was ready to learn that, too.

"Maybe um- maybe wood! You can enchant wood to make things grow and things can grow on it?" It was her best guess, anyways. Her tail wagged at the prospect- imagine how good that would be for her job!

Attikias stared at her. That did not sound convincing. "If I give you something," he began to clarify, "you won't tell her." He stayed there for a moment, watching her, before he was satisfied enough with the deal he'd made in his head.

He turned to his bag for the beads within when she began her questions. There was a careful look back as he extracted a wooden bead and held it close, kneeling down to her level again. "First- not if they're living. Second- we can try that. And third, no, if it cooperates." He held out his hand and u curled his fingers, offering the bead between them.

"Try casting your growth spell on this, and we'll see what happens." The magic had worked, thankfully- he still needed to practice, he supposed.

Well, this was a perfect excuse, anyways.

"I won't!" she groaned, her little hands balling up into fists. Why didn't he just trust her? Even IF she was lying, it was frustrating, and she huffed.

Wait. Calm. Closing her eyes, Pollen breathed in and out before watching him extract the bead, golden eyes latched onto his hands and her mind taking in all his answers. Huh.

Reaching out, Pollen placed a paw over Attikias's hand, reaching her magic out into it. There was something that it latched on to- but no plants sprouted, and it felt... Empty. Tentatively pulling the bead out of the elf's hands, she brought it closer to her chest as the sprout on her arm wobbled, just slowly reaching up higher.

"So, this is mine now?" she wondered, looking up at Attikias with round eyes.

Attikias let her take the bead- a promise, then, that she'd keep her mouth shut on this. "Sure," he supplied as he pulled his arms back to fold them. "If that's everything, then can I go back to bed?"

Would she keep her promise? He didn't have a reason to believe otherwise, but her excitement of Aethril concerned him. She was a kid, it seemed- had Aethril been raising her? The elf's lips grew thin as he watched her, tail flicking with uncertainty.

Would he need to care for her wellbeing..? At least she was nearby, but he doubted he could even touch her without Aethril getting on his case. Maybe, just maybe, even if the kid told her about him, she'd mention the enchantment and he'd be fine.

Or, he'd just be blipped out of existence.

In either case, he was too tired to deal with that. Once Pollen left, he'd crawl back into his tent and sleep, exhausted by the magic cast. It's what he deserved, he imagined. A good night's rest.

And, hopefully, no more bothers.

;exit attikias

Poleln looked between Attikias and the bead. "Cool." Holding up the bead, Pollen twisted her head down as she willed the vines about her shoulders to interlink, weaving through the hole of the bead and knotting on either side. A necklace of plant- and, when she tugged it, it seemed to hold.

She grinned up to the elf as her tail wagged hard, her hands clasped together. "Thank you!"

He seemed grumpy, though. Lowering her enthusiasm, Pollen nodded once, hard- sure, he could sleep. Why couldn't he? She waited there for an awkward moment, the two of them looking to one another.

"Um- well, I should get back." She coughed into her fist. "So uh. Bye!"

Abruptly, she twirled on her paw and trotted back into the woods from whence she came, with no sense to give her name or anything.

What a strange child.

;exit pollen