rabbit hearted

Helen was lost, wandering around the woods and unsure in which direction she had come earlier in the afternoon with her trusty bag stuffed with a thin blanket on which she had sat and tried to remember how to draw. Finding herself home alone in this weather wasn't something she found herself enjoying as much as she had last summer when she had been getting used to the idea of being here. So she had gone out with the afternoon sun, taken a bottle of water with her and wandered. She had bought the sketchpad weeks ago but had been keeping it empty on the table. Alexander had approved of her new hobby as in his mind it was one that required solitude. And Helen did like that part of it too. She had wanted to get away from people and had taken the path towards Babbling ranch, hoping to catch some wild flowers to draw with her simple black pencil, hoping also to get around to buying a paint sometime soon.

her dark eyes glittered in the night, the way they completely covered the whites of her sclera engulfed completely before retracting back to something more human looking at sensing the young woman's fear. eilonwy hadn't meant to frighten her, hoping the smile on her face cut through the low light and identified her as friendly. "it is easily done, after a while, the woods do just appear the same," the fae spoke back, stepping towards helen, basket on her hip.

there were a few moments where she was silent, oddly so, eyes trained on the bug before watching it fly away. eilonwy was unsure whether or not to be honest in the moment, knowing that what she was doing could be easily frowned upon. extending the lives of such fragile creatures, using up her own reserves of fae magic, all to keep everything so alive?

Wyatt wasn't one to judge, figuring she must have her reasons for choosing a butterfly above anything else, though it did make him wonder at the reason but not enough to inquire after it. Not that he felt she'd reveal it to him anyway, the two of them being strangers. He also didn't feel the need to ruin her mood her or anything like that by commenting how she would likely need to part with the bug eventually, since it was a bug and would die eventually, because she likely already knew all that. So all he did was nod in response and wish her luck, "Well, sounds like you got your work cut out for you then." Trying to maintain the life of a butterfly must be difficult work. "Thanks for the tour, Miss Eilonwy," he said to her, giving her a nod of appreciation in her direction as he made a step back as a silent indication he was ready to leave. "Maybe I'll see you two around."

"It's that bad?" Elena's first thought was immediately to her son - and then to Roman. Did Roman know what kind of creatures were potentially roaming around? Was their son constantly in danger because of it? She knew she had to make the necessary provisions, and soon, to avoid anything dangerous.

"it is that bad," she confirmed in a rather direct fashion and a nod, as it was quite terrible. or - it was for others. eilonwy enjoyed how busy she had recently become, finding self worth in her usefulness to others once more.

“Yes, really disappointing…” Corey sighed, not nearly as aggravated as Eilonwy was. She was out there, in the nature, as connected and wild as it was, while Corey very often had to deal with the human, urban side of things. If he lost his patience often, he reckoned he wouldn’t be able to do much. Hands could get tied in any circumstances, it was only a matter of how gracefully you deal with it that would enable more good than harm being done in the long run for those both Eilonwy and Corey were fighting for, each in their own way.

once again, that temper flared at her solution being difficult - sirens and sea serpents are natural enemies. eilonwy bit her tongue hard to stop it all from rolling out, that it shouldn't matter as they all shared the endless ocean depths as a home. "open waters are large, surely they can just swim around each other?" the fae did know, deep down, that's not how it worked but was perpetually unable to hide her feelings no matter the circumstances. she was still being polite, that was all that mattered, as usually she wasn't. "i met a siren, the other week. he seemed nice, i'll start there,"

Aside from a reflexive twitch, Hal kept still as the beetle was left in his hands. It wasn't as odd as he expected. He could almost pretend the creature was made of plastic and used as a decoration. "We just needed a mediator like you," Hal mused, smiling. It was beautiful up close, a sight he wouldn't have found in his own time. "What do you call the—" He jerked his chin at the hues of green. "The outside. The exoskeleton?" Hal peered closer. The beetle seemed to peer back at him. "It looks like sea glass."

it didn't really move beyond twitching occasionally and moving around on its limited platform yet, made very few attempts to escape or freak hal out, seemingly making its peace with its captors. "that's correct! it's made out of chitin," eilonwy nodded with a bright smile at the others knowledge, however shallow or small. "people have used them to make jewelry for years. so many shades of eyeshadow and fabric try to imitate their shifting colours, they're very beautiful,"

Uriel shook his head. "Still, you're the one who's doing the work. That's truly impressive. I don't know if I could manage that, even with a miracle."

it was impressive but, it also hinted at something a little sadder - that eilonwy put all her time into these gardens. that she didn't really trust anybody else to keep it all alive and lush, that at a time when eilonwy had nothing, her purpose had been kindly gifted to her in the form of the gardens.

Her response was quick and Wyatt responded to it with a blink and a question, "How so? She your familiar of sorts?" He understood well enough that some fae had familiars and that could extend their lifespan but to choose a butterfly felt odd to him who, if he'd been the one picking, would opt for something more useful.

there were a few moments where she was silent, oddly so, eyes trained on the bug before watching it fly away. eilonwy was unsure whether or not to be honest in the moment, knowing that what she was doing could be easily frowned upon. extending the lives of such fragile creatures, using up her own reserves of fae magic, all to keep everything so alive?

Nate tried not to let the awkwardness he was feeling about this whole conversation show in the expression on his face. To help his case he turned away and led her in the direction of where he'd at least last been aware of the creature. It wasn't that he outright thought the bugs should all be exterminated - but there was sort of limit to it, wasn't there? And besides, were these things going to be crawling around in the forest for the rest of their lives? Nathan often liked taking walks through the forest on nice days...but perhaps not if it was crawling with all the bugs that had taken over the town this last week.

she was completely immune to her own awkwardness and futility in attempting to save or help everything - eilonwy had not yet met a creature she hadn't had a somewhat good relationship with, or couldn't help. without her ability to talk to them, or help, the fae would feel her usefulness would've completely run its course.

"I'm in-tune with the natural world too." He smiled, though, his definition was likely vastly different to her own. Jasper couldn't control anything, he could barely control himself most days. But, he did spend all his time in nature, and so, there was an argument to be made that he was, in fact, nature too.

she would naturally be at a huge disadvantage if she couldn't talk to all creatures great and small - while back home, eilonwy had always commanded some form of communication with larger and more intelligent beasts. the fae knew how lost she'd feel without her ability though, she was already disconnected from her home and had been for so long now, bugs were the only thing she felt reminded her of it.

"Oh, really? I ought to calm down?" Jesse's laugh came off shrill, like he might very well be losing his mind as he claimed. In reality, it'd been intentionally exaggerated, because nobody liked it when they were told they were overreacting in the face of something that was clearly off-the-wall bonkers. "Is that calm enough for you?!"

"you could be calmer," eilonwy shot back without a care, clearly completely oblivious or, simply not affected by how jesse was acting. perhaps the fae had always dropped judgement upon him as being small minded, dramatic and not particularly worth anything. all harsh things for a woman to think about someone who was having a clearly frightful reaction to what was going on.

Jasper watched her with a tense glare as she took the bugs into her hand. He didn't want to see their sorry faces again. He didn't mind most bugs. He ate some and ignored others. But, he couldn't abide earwigs. There was just something about them that made them unpalatable and unignorable. "Thank you." He bowed his head in sincerity once the pit he'd dug was free of their pinchery presence.

she held on tight to the pot, dark eyes watching them all squirm and wriggle over each-other as they tried to escape, unable to scale the pot without another causing them to fall back down. after a while, this behavior seemed to...stop, in a way it probably shouldn't. eilonwy's influence, of course, subtle but there.

Hal hesitated for a second, then nodded. It was a little ridiculous to give in to the kneejerk squeamishness at this point—Eilonwy seemed to have a way with his unwelcome friend. (Unwelcome, but harmless.) He stepped closer and cupped his hands together, waiting for the beetle to walk over or be left in his hands by Eilonwy herself. "He might act like a real dog and stay where he is comfortable," Hal reasoned, only half kidding now. He doubted the beetle would be pleased to be close to him.

"you underestimate yourself," perhaps his words chosen because he didn't truly wish to do this, only humoring eilonwy who didn't care if that was the case or not. hal cupped his hands together and eilonwy slid the bug in quick enough to take away any doubt or choice he still might've had about such a thing. "see? no hard feelings between you two,"