It'd been busy. very busy.

For the most part it had been alot of cleaning out the house, and getting the area surrounding free of debris like rocks and branches and whatnot in preparation for impending construction, but for the moment, forgraves and the rest of the family were resting.

His immediate family, His brother and the kids, were out playing not too far away with bebby, banshy more or less there for supervision, but lass, genevive, etc, were off in different caves, exploring, though they used the excuse of looking for things to decorate the house with when they were done. Forgraves himself was making lunch, or atleast, in the process, as currently he was outisde gathering plants, a small collection bebby had helped him grow, as he desperately needed some tea and his supply was running criminally short.

He sat on his knees amongst the flowers in front of his house, placing petals into a makeshift basket.

@Eleanora

"Speech." Thoughts.

She didn't have business today - not that she had business most days, but today was especially free, with no plans to collect more food or materials. She had all she needed in the small shelter she'd made in the past few months. So today was just...free. Free to wander, to enjoy the weather (she pretended it was weather) and watch the birds. To be honest, life down here was a lot more calm then it was on the surface. There weren't any children racing through the streets, there weren't arguments over who had left the candles alight, no worries for the coming snowstorms from the mountains, and no reports of Verinen witchhunters creeping closer.

It was...boring.

But today was promising to be different, just from the sight that she laid her eyes on. What looked like a house, or at least part of one, sticking out of the side of a hill. An almost fantastical little home and in front of it was a fox on two legs, picking flowers.

She was thrown back in time at the sight of the basket, and the accessories that adorned the young man. They reminded her so fondly of home, of the glasses some of the poor-sighted wore and the necklaces couples wove for each other or kids wove for their parents. She could not help but approach closer, fearless now, at such a homey sight.

"Hello," she called out as she got closer. "Is this your home?" She smiled, excitement in her heart and alight in her eyes. "It's lovely!"

@Forgraves

one of his ears flicked in the direction of the sudden voice, and he looked behind him at the stranger with curious, kind eyes.

"ah- hello!" he called back, standing up with only minor struggle, brushing grass off his knees. he looked up at her as she got closer with a smile.

" oh, yes! it is!" he chirped with pride, and his smile grew at the compliment, a warm expression. "thank you! me and my family made it! cozy sight, isn't it?"

he tilted his head, a curious sound in his throat. "I don't believe i've seen you in pegasus before. what's your name, my friend?" he said, before holding out a paw to shake in offering. ""Forgraves Eevergreen. a pleasure to meet you!"

his tail wagged lazily behind him in glee. it's not often you meet such friendly strangers in these caves, but it's always nice.

@Eleanora

"Speech." Thoughts.

That word - family - struck something so deep in Eleanora, something so distant from this place, so strong and familiar and deeply trusting, that she felt her feelings towards this stranger grow infinitely warmer. A family, with a home, and in a place that reminded her so fondly of the Vaa. An unspoken emotion rose up through her chest and settled almost uncomfortably in her throat. A heavy swallow chased it down, but not without a moment in which its ghost passed across her eyes. Oh, how she missed her home.

It was swept away, however, before she could lose face and she approached with nothing but a smile and curiosity. She reached out to accept the handshake (and how long it'd been since she'd shaken a hand!) and offer her name. "I'm Eleanora. It's very nice to meet you as well!" She looked back at the house and the surrounding meadows, different enough from her own home to keep her from falling back into memories. "It's lovely," she repeated. "Did you build it yourself? I've never seen anything like it! Was it a natural hole in the hill? Or did you dig it out yourself?" She wanted to ask so many questions - had they cut the trees themselves? By hand or by machine? Where had they gotten the tools, did they make them or had someone more knowledgeable given them? How had they figured out how to do this? She'd only ever seen caves and simple shelters down here, besides, of course, the Palace. Which was a different story altogether.

But she didn't want to overwhelm Forgraves with her crafter's curiosity so quickly. They had just met, after all.

@Forgraves

If forgraves had noticed the sudden change in expression, he didn't mention it.

His handshake, (with paws way too soft for these caves), was obviously a bit underpracticed, a bit unsure of itself, yet he seemed to nod in satisfaction at his own paw before looking back up at her.

"Eleanora.." he hummed, testing out the weight on his tongue, "What a lovely name!" he said, half to her and half to himself, with the same inflection of someone calling a new bug "quite fascinating!".

At the mention of his home, the enthused questions about its construction, something must click behind his eyes, because they widen in a mixture of excitement and pride and his tail wags a bit faster. "As i said, it was a joint effort, but it STARTED as a hole i had dug myself into the hill. it wasn't very big at first, was just me for a while, but of course once my children came along it of course needed a... rather drastic upgrade. not to mention the rest of my family or its inhabitants!"

he spoke a while longer, about the way he constructed the outside, the few lessons he had gathered in old, forgotten projects and the library enough to help craft the painted, cherry-red door that seems to tower over both of them, though he admits due to its size, once more the work was a joint effort, he had only developed hands recently afterall. he seems to forget as he speaks that most people don't just GAIN hands.

"Oh! and of course all the flowers-" he spoke, mentioning with a sweeping motion not only to the garden, but the gorgeous assortment of flowers that surrounded the outside of his homes entrance. "-Those would be the work of Bebby, another one of its occupants! the inside is much the same."


he traced a paw in a careful motion across the smoothed mud walls around the door itself as he spoke. it seems to have a wooden handle aswell, glued onto it with an unknown substance, with plenty of bite marks. it has no hinges, but seems to simply be moved aside when needed. he explains this eventually too.

When he looks back to meet her eyes, he seems to startle and his longwinded explanation seems to stutter to a halt. "Oh stars, forgive me! i seem to have gone on a bit of a ramble, haven't i?" he squeaks suddenly, sighing. "all that and i barely even scratched the surface, barely even mentioned the inside."

that last bit seems to, once again, be half at her and half at himself.

@Eleanora
"Speech." Thoughts.

Eleanora listened to Forgraves' explanation with genuine interest, not at all phased by his long-winded method of teaching her all about the home he'd constructed. She wasn't put off by the ramble but instead impressed, again, by the ingenuity of the Gembound and happy that he found so much pride in his work. Not often did the witches show as much pride in their achievements, as they weren't seen as such but rather just another way of survival. A house constructed was given no praise and the builder expected none, but now that she lived without the common comforts of home, she appreciated every little thing they had. Every extra hand that helped build or weave or gather materials.

She looked inside the house as Forgraves opened the door, but didn't invite herself in. She had enough manners, of course, to wait to be invited to actually step inside, but she could see enough to be equally delighted about the inside as she was the outside. "Wow! I'm really, truly impressed that you managed to achieve all this without any prior experience! It took us many many years to develop such building skills and we still never made anything like this! I'd love to meet your family sometime, they sound delightful! Are there many of you here?"

She waved a hand dismissively at his apologies. "Oh, don't you fret! I enjoy the talk. I haven't had such a conversation since I came to the caves and I'd love to hear more! If you have the time, that is." Although she wasn't sure if Gembound really had anything else to do outside of survival duties. And it wasn't like they had the constant thread of the Empire breathing down their necks.

@Forgraves

he gives her a warm smile but seems to light up in a mix of wonder and curiosity. "you've been... outside? of the caves??" he says, a bit breathless. his paws reached for the silver locket around his neck as he says it, and theres a sparkle in his eyes that indicates he is quite interested in that train of thought.


For the time being, he coughs, and shakes his head with a small smile.


He seems delighted to answer her questions after that, motioning with his hands in the direction of the river in the distance. "a good handful of us at the moment, but some are traveling. however!-" he explains, pausing for a breath, "my brother and kids are off by the river, playing with Bebby!"

If she were to look, off in the distance were a few select figures, all a bit strange. Banshy had their hood down, their beak preening the feathers on their wings for a moment, as a giant fox-bird plays tag with what looks to be a bat (though its hard to tell from this far away), and the strangest, multicolored butterfly cat Eleanora has probably ever seen, colorful rock clusters littering her fur.

Banshy seems to lift his eyes for a moment, waving in Forgraves and Ellie's direction, before turning their sight to the others once again. Forgraves waves back in glee before turning back to Ellie.

"i'm certain they'd love to meet you in turn, they're always a tad starved for new company." he said fondly, "though maybe when they come inside themselves, we've been quite busy, they deserve the break. I myself was fixing to make lunch!" he hums.


as he speaks, his ears flick upward and he looks inside his house. its a bit of a mess, some shelves are empty and theres things in corners that weren't quite moved outside before they took their rest, but the cookware remains and it'll do for now.

"Would you like to come and join me? my cooking isn't quite fancy, but i can make half decent tea!"

he waits for her response, but his eyes are painfully kind. it seems it's been a while since he's been able to offer that to a stranger.

@Eleanora

"Speech." Thoughts.

Eleanora let out a small chuckle at the wonder in Forgraves' question - not at him, in particular, but just at the notion that the outside world was so amazing. She was sure that it was to creatures that had known nothing but these caves, and she was sure in time it would feel as distant and fictional to her, but for now it was still fresh. She had been born and raised on the surface. It was as ordinary to her as these caves were to them. "Yes, I have. I'm from the surface, actually." She didn't mention, though, that she would never return.

She looked over to where Forgraves was looking and spotted the many figures. None of them looked anything like Forgraves, to be honest, and for a moment she wondered how any of them were related, but it wasn't like adoption was a foreign concept to her. And besides, she had met stranger children - the white Valkhound came to mind, who looked nothing like his parent.

She waved as well before turning back to look at Forgraves. "Ah, I'm sorry to have interrupted then. But I would love to join you! If there's anything you need help with, I'll be glad to lend a hand." At the mention of tea, she was swept away by a sudden deep sadness. She swallowed heavily, thinking for a moment that she could distantly taste chamomile, but continued to smile, keep up appearances. "Tea sounds lovely."

She would have to learn to let go of the past. She would never see him again.

@Forgraves

he filed away that note for later, because it'd be rude to pry your guess for answers right out the gate!

At her apology, he waved a dismissive hand. "oh, don't worry, you haven't interrupted a thing! we all needed a break anyhow. come, come. i'll get the water boiling." he said as he walked inside, motioning for her to follow.

The inside of the house up close was almost cozier than the outside. while most of the furniture, like tables and shelves, were sculpted upward with mud, they were covered with a collection of large ferns and leafs, almost like a makeshift tablecloth in absence of actual fabric. on the shelves was an assortment of flowers in homemade pots, though they didnt seem to be for growing in, more for storage.

it can only be assumed the large homemade clay pot being suspended over a decent sized firepit was what he used for cooking, or in this case, boiling water for tea. more pots of flowers and leafs were stored next to it, some likely atleast a little bit familiar, a well loved jar of red rose petals sits nicely amongst the clutter, others totally alien, like one with a purple hue that seems to glow in the slightly dim light.

The den itself was sparsely furnished other than that, as most of the space on the walls near the back of the den, littered with dens, made it clear the variety of creatures that lived in it. the largest was one that seemed to be atleast 11 feet tall, explaining atleast why the ceiling had been dug so high, the smallest little more the size of a rat. each nest was decorated with an assortment of flowers, of which eleanora, if she was intimately familiar with flowers, might recognize, ranging from black roses to red poppies, lavender and nettle, aswell as an assortment of random flowers around one of them.

Forgraves had walked over to a smaller pot that made a sloshing sound as he picked it up, pouring some of the water within into the larger pot with a groan, before kneeling down to try and light the firepit with 2 pieces of flint he grabbed off the counter.

he groaned as it failed to light, hitting one of his fingers with a yelp.

"might take me a sec, this thing is always finicky." he said without turning. "feel free to take a seat! in the meantime, do you have any preferences?"
he gestured to the pots of flowers as he spoke, his hands still clicking the rocks together.

@Eleanora
"Speech." Thoughts.

Elleanora followed Forgraves inside, the musty smell of herbs and flowers hitting her immediately. It was almost like a punch to the gut and the ghost of tea flavors flooded her mouth, memories of sitting in a small, gently lit kitchen, watching the sun rise and set past the mountains in the distance, a smile on her lips, and the sounds of the village seeping through the window. Across from her sat a man, pouring the tea, telling her all about the flavor he'd chosen today and about the garden he'd picked them from. The smell of herbs was pungent in their house as well, but more open, drifting along with the cool air of the Vaa. Here there was little wind, no mountain breezes, but as she slowly drifted out of her memory, finding herself having stood in the middle of Forgraves' house for a moment, she could at least appreciate that not everything was lost to her.

Tea, at least, she would not lose. Nor good company.

She flinched, realizing that she'd just frozen suddenly and smiled again. "It's lovely!" And she was honest. She'd never understood people that kept their houses perfectly clean and tidy. There was no character or love in a house that was so empty. Here there were things everywhere, plants all over the walls. She stepped over to look closer at ones she didn't recognize - alien plants that she'd never seen in the Vaa before.

"Oh, it's quite alright. I don't have a preference but I don't recognize many of these." Her hand drifted over the stranger flowers, especially over the ones that seem to glow. "Which is your favorite?"

@Forgraves