[size12 A tug on the journal pressed against his chest had Helios instinctually drop his hand, gaze flicking towards Maverick—expecting a look similar to the one his sister had when he messed with her mint plant—who’s eyes were on the journal, which felt more like a scolding than any words. His laugh gained an embarrassed lilt as Maverick spoke of caution, empathised by setting the journal down gently.
[b [#E8AE27 "Yeah, sorry, will do."]] With remnants of laughter still falling past his lips, he pushed himself up off of the floor again, and dusted the back of his slacks off on his way towards the door as he said,
[b [#E8AE27 "I'll pick you a nice bouquet while I'm out."]] And with that he grabbed his coffee still safely on its perch, and instinctually reached out with his left hand to give Maverick's shoulder two gentle taps in quick succession on his way out the door.
The way back towards the vestibule was quick, and before long he stepped out in the brisk autumn air, once more wearing his jacket. He took a bigger sip of his coffee, as he wandered around the house with his eyes on the grass looking for flowers. It didn't take long to spot the warm pastel purple of colchicum peaking through a bundle of leaves near the corner of the estate. He crouched down to its level, and brushed the leaves surrounding it away, before tilting his head further out over the garden, where he notices a cluster of herbs he was there to look for.
[b [#E8AE27 "I'll be back for you,"]] he promised the colchicum with a little nod, and bounded over towards the cluster, noting sage easily, though not too far away were yellow bulbs of wormwood, growing closer to the woods. The Bennett's seemed to not care too much for the weeds of the forest making their home on their land, and Helios couldn't help but think that was nice of them. That was when he caught eyes of a greenhouse that was tucked away out of view from the study window and the entrance alike.
If there was anywhere the Bennett's would keep their other herbs and a trowel it would be there, surely. Perhaps they even had a pot, he thought, a tiny one where he could repot one of the colchicums to keep in the kitchen. They could give it a name, watch it grow as their friendship and the Private Practise did, a little lady watching over them and bringing the smell of garlic—The air shifted and he froze mid-step. He had almost walked right into the greenhouse door. Which would have been a terrible idea if the way the air suddenly felt heavy was any indication. Thick in a way he hadn't noticed inside the house, but realised now had been there all along. The pot would have to wait, he realised, Maverick would want to take a look at whatever clung to that door.
He left the greenhouse with a sigh, and turned back to the grass, he was out there to check for herbs and see if the soil was good for planting, which he technically didn't need the trowel for. There were plenty of little molehills that allowed for easy soil sampling, and he made quick work of crouching in front of one of them, putting his coffee down and grabbing the grass close to the ground, before twisting roughly to get a chunk of earth along with the roots. A quick glance was shot towards the estate before he dug his fingers into the newly made hole to grab a small lump of soil, which he promptly crumbled and shoved in his mouth. It was tart enough to make his nose wrinkle, and he resolutely downed the rest of his coffee to get a better acidic flavour on his palette. Cup in hand, he realised he didn't even need a pot to bring the colchicum inside, and thus dug his hand back into the dirt to fill the paper mug two quarters full, before returning the tuft of grass to its hole.
[#fff .]
When he shrugged off his jacket, hours later, he'd poked around in the dirt with magic to find bulbs and roots of spring flowers, most of which were merely decorations. There were some herbs too, but by no means anything outside the usual for most witches. It was safe to assume that whatever herbs and plants really mattered would be in the greenhouse with the cursed door.
He stopped himself from hollering his entrance this time, remembering the note from that morning, and whispered to the colchicum in the cup that Maverick didn't like him yelling. She had gotten mopey when he dug her out of the ground with his hands, but he was hesitant to assist her since they would be moving her to another pot which would just jostle her even more. But he attempted to make up for it by lifting her up to eye level to show the library, and point out the study. Even though that wasn't where they were going. He didn’t bother to look as he shouldered open the door to the kitchen, carefully cupping his hand in front of the plant to hide her from view. It was a surprise.
[b [#E8AE27 "I got you something [i better] than a bouquet"]]
Except Maverick was not in the kitchen.
With a big backwards step, he leaned out the door to look towards the study, before a chuckle bubbled up. Maybe his sister had a problem with Maverick because they were too alike. He shook his head and gave the cup in his hand a little pat before redirecting himself towards the study, just to see if the man was still with his nose buried in a journal. This time, however, he did not hoot to announce his presence. Instead he merely nudged the door open with his shoulder and looked in; to find Maverick, just as he left him, with his journal. A journal which Helios made a point to lean over and snatch out of his hand to get his attention.
[b [#E8AE27 "So the gardens full of grass, some flowers. They've got the usual herbs; rosemary, sage, lavender. Some weeds. I think they're from the woods. If you like vodka there’s wormwood, and hemlock too, I picked one for your bouquet but I forgot it out there. Soil's weird though, nothing a little limestone can't fix though. But the [i real] gold's this baby."]] He held up the cup to show the colchicum; four naked stems opening up to pale purple flowers, one a little bent from the jostle, the others hanging a little lopsided with a torn flower. Then walked backwards towards the door again, continuing to talk to coax Maverick towards the kitchen where they were supposed to be.
[b [#E8AE27 "She's a colchicum, naked ladies, or autumn crocus, but they're not even the same order anymore. I thought we could decide on her name together, find her a spot where we can be reminded of our first day? Do you think there's enough sun in the kitchen, or maybe we should set het up here in the study? Oh, and we need a new pot, she’ll be much prettier when we move her to a better pot where she can grow. Speaking of pretty—they have a shrub I want to look at in a greenhouse, but the doors cursed. I’m sure they have pots there too, don't you think this place would look more cosy with some plants?"]]]