The water was surprisingly refreshing to him in the wee hours on the morning. The sun was just starting to stir, but still wouldn't make an appearance for another few hours. The sky was dark, a beautiful shade of inky blue, and he couldn't help but glance skyward as he licked the last few drops from his maw. His exploration of Amaryllis was nowhere near complete, but he was having trouble moving on from this little slice of paradise.

It smelled so wonderful; any breath of gentle air cause a perfume of floral scents to waft up to his nose. He looked down and gave a clump of flowers a swat with his paw, causing a wave of lovely smells. He snorted a laugh, amused that he would find entertainment in something so simple. Bobbed tail wriggled as he looked around, wondering what different flowers there were to poke.

Sight of another bobbed tail had drawn the blonde flecked frame forward at the exact moment the gray figure swatted a cluster of blooms. Eyebrow line had raised at the curious behavior the stranger exhibited. It wasn't every day a beast of such intimidating stature trounced in a bed of flowers. For a minute she merely observed, pulled toward the stranger with a keen awareness of the bobbed tail but mostly intrigued by the bizarre behavior.

Buttercream paws had carried her within easy speaking range, seemingly unconcerned about the dangers a stranger could pose "What are you doing?" The slow inch of her head as she had leaned closer to the stranger to properly view what, exactly, the motions demonstrated were, had brought her within a foot of the lion's face (unless he had moved).

Before he could even react, a stranger was upon him. She stood out amongst the surroundings, her white coat drinking in any form of light available - but that didn't alert him quick enough. He simply stared at her, dumbfounded that she would come so close to a stranger, foolishly trusting. She asked what he was doing, and his jaws parted to demand the same of her. Instead, he blinked, words escaping his agape maw. Still, she inched closer, almost inspecting him. Again he blinked, jaws finally clicking shut when he gathered enough wits to answer. Dark brows gathered over brown eyes, looking down at her with a mix of emotions.

"Could ask the same of you, lass." He was gruff but not necessarily rude, regarding her with healthy caution. He waited to see if this was just a ploy to get close and attack, naturally leaning backward, away from the woman. After a few moments, he decided to answer, hoping it would keep her from getting any closer. "Flowers," he offered simply. He took another paw and prodded at some colorful blooms, demonstrating the lovely scent. Brows rose expectantly, hoping that was enough for the forward fae. For who else would show up like this with no personal boundaries?

@Lycaonia

From the way the sooty mouth hung open she had gathered that the impromptu interruption of whatever it was the lion had been doing wasn't welcomed, nor necessarily appropriate. This and the immediate pull away from her soft blonde features signaled personal space was important. Sunset eyes portrayed a soft gleam of embarrassment at the inconsiderate approach taken to meet the fellow, but the shared bobbed tail meant she simply must get a closer look. Besides, if the stranger hadn't been doing anything strange then perhaps her attention might not have been stolen at all.

Paws had tread backwards on the long blades of grass while her sunset eyes observed the mixed emotions on the wide ashen face of @Brigg. A nice face. The thought wavered gently as the stranger's lips had moved. 'Could ask the same of you, lass.' Behind the mannerism of his speech came an obvious recurrence that she had been rather indecent upon her arrival, followed shortly by a clipped, 'Flowers' as a response to the initial inquiry.

Singular, a sooty hand had reached out to brush against multicolored petals, which had released a strong floral perfume into the air. Sunset eyes hooded as she had inhaled with a slow mannerism to garner the full affect of whatever the stranger might be doing with the scents of these flowers, and yet nothing yielded unique about them. "And do you go smelling flowers often?"

He watched her carefully; he could appreciate her seeming acknowledgement of the awkwardness of her actions, but it didn't seem to change much. She dipped forward to sample the aroma he had been partaking in, eyes searching his as she asked the most obvious question. Now, it was his turn to feel embarrassed, but he wasn't quite sure why. "N-no," he offered quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly - but the word was already hanging in the air between them. Pointed ears fell flat to either side of his skull, tufted tail flickering as he considered his next words. It wasn't often he felt on the losing side of a conversation, but it also wasn't often he was caught smelling flowers.

He shifted himself, moving his paws so that his weight was once again centered. "Don't usually have time to traipse about in the lilies." It was true, even if not much of an explanation; the months spent captured hadn't exactly afforded him much leisure time. He wasn't even sure if he had the time now, but a few minutes break had turned into a chance meeting. The woman's blase response told him this was nothing special for her. Ears finally came forward, and he felt he had regained most of his lost composure.

"S'pose you do?" Words had an edge to them, but truly held no threat; his bruised ego would take a little time to heal.

@Lycaonia

Someone who walked around smelling flowers looked like the type that would be smelling flowers all the time, given that this stranger seemed interested only in the scents and not any other properties. Dual-tone eyes caught the seeming glint of embarrassment about the lion's face. An unintentional effect of her curiosity surrounding motives. It hadn't taken long for the lion's body language to shift, which made Lycaonia feel less shameful of her awkward mannerisms.

There was, however, the obvious bruise left behind on the lion, as she had witnessed by his words. 'Don't usually have time to traipse about in the lilies.' Sunset eyes maneuvered away from the sooty form to the flowers, pretending to have not heard the underlying message. It had not been to offend the stranger that she had asked about the activities, just a simple and strangely deep fascination towards the simplistic activity of smelling flowers.

Eyes had blinked quickly at the edge within the question posed, so delicate that it was almost a different creature behind the flaxen mask. "Well no I-" she had broken off to duck her head between her shoulders, "I just wondered if it was something you liked to do is all." Soft presence of wandering eyes had lifted to peer from underneath the nutmeg lashes, an innocent facade of her life knowledge, though she did genuinely want an honest answer from the stranger.

Ears flattened, again, now at the woman’s response to his blunt question. She recoiled, features slathered in innocence as she answered his question. Whether it was a ploy or not, he could not tell - so he decided to take it at face value; he had no real reason not too, other than a tinge of personal chagrin. Chest heaved in a sigh as his rear legs buckled, setting his rump firmly among the flowers. Honey eyes watched the other carefully, considering how to answer the question; he had no intentions of yet more damaged ego.

Eyes dropped to the flowers, his frustration slowly melting away. Now and here, his answer would be yes - he in fact did like smelling the flowers. The last six months had hardly afforded him opportunity to do such things, and now that he had tried it - he liked it. Now how to convey that to a stranger without damaging things further? Brown eyes lifted, peering over her features to see if there was any inkling of of a bluff. Finding none, he finally answered. ”Yes.” It was quiet, but surprisingly his tone was not one of shame. ”Do you not?” His turn for unabashed curiosity. His own features lost all previous signs of annoyance, wondering if she enjoyed something that should be mundane to a normal lion.

@Lycaonia

In truth, she hadn't meant any offense to the larger, more grizzled looking lion. Simple curiosity drawn first by his appearance. A commonality amongst them, and while his pelt was not exactly the color of one from her home land, it was still light enough to leave questions of the stranger's origins. Yet now, the discovery of flower smelling, felt oddly new to her. Not once had a lion been caught sniffing plants for leisure, especially not in a desert which rarely yielded anything so colorful.

When finally the man had answered there was a tinge of a smile against the tanned lips. "I've never just smelled flowers, but I've heard that people use them for all sorts of things." So there it was, laid out between them in a soft voice, her flaxen dotted body more relaxed by the minute as the stranger's body also sunk into a more relaxed state. Almost in mimicking of @Brigg, her own alabaster haunches had slid to the flowers. "Which one is your favorite?"

Sure, it was an odd thing to find a lion doing, but she wouldn't be quick to judge the stranger for doing strange things. Some might say she did strange things at times.

Didn't they all?

Eyes had drifted away from Brigg as she had contemplated briefly about the oddities of individuals, letting her dual-tone eyes land on something rather orange not far in the distance. "What, is that?" Flaxen crown tilted before her blonde paws had pushed her back up, moving towards the particularly large orange and rounded shape among the bed of flowers.

His admittance was met with a ghost of a smile, and he returned one in kind. Eyes fell to a clump near a forepaw, and he nodded at her statements. "Yes, lots of things." His crewmate, for one, was definitely able to do lots with different plants. It was all over his head - or maybe over his interests - so he didn't pay much attention to what she did with whatever she found. Her question caused the pirate some pause, eyes drifting over the various buds and petals. Favorite? He hadn't really paid much attention to the flowers individually to decide what qualities one held over another. The smells were so intertwined that he couldn't separate them, so he decided to choose based on looks and color.

"This one." He poked one particular flower with a gray toe. It had bell-like blooms that were deep purple and draped toward the ground gracefully. He didn't really have a favorite color, but this plant was quite nice. Eyes lifted to the woman, lips parting to ask what her favorite might be, but her attention was elsewhere. He followed her gaze, brow quirking when he caught sight of her new fascination. He stood a moment after she did, following her. He came to stand beside her, and he gave a small snort when he recognized the object. "Pumpkins," he said confidently, glancing to see if the word caused any recognition.

"They're quite tasty," he offered, remembering the mild taste during a particularly good feast months ago. "Spices, though, make it shine." He had half a mind to take one back to the crew. He'd probably be able to roll it.

@Lycaonia

double, double toil and trouble;
fire burn, and cauldron bubble...

Nafasi watches from the bushes, never once letting herself be seen by those huddled around her perfectly-placed pumpkins. They really were a curious bunch, weren't they? Well, fortunately for them, the sprite was feeling extra generous today, and had a treat for them that she has been wanting to share. And so, it was with a small smile that the being craned her head, watching the lions for a few more moments, before giving a quick stomp of her paw against the earth.

Hm...

Without warning, the pumpkin suddenly splits down the middle, right in front of your eyes! And...oh? It looks like there is something tucked inside! Weird, but you might as well check it out. Investigating further, you find a collection of trinkets, feathers, gems, fruit, and other curious things hidden within the pumpkin, ripe for the taking! Looks like you got lucky today.

OOC Prize: 30 trade exp

pixel credit to moonlight-pendent13