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The bright sun’s rays trickled past the statues, stacked books, and cases of God knows what that had been pressed up against the windows in the Maevin mansion. With their parents off gathering even more old relics, Lillian had begun to run out of space to place the current ones that resided in the house. For a place said to have enough floor space to fit an entire Olympic sized swimming pool, it was becoming increasingly smaller each and every day.

With much of her focus placed upon Tyson, the newborn Iorek, and rearranging many pieces of the various treasures around the house, Lillian had no time to work on the mansion’s outside appearance. By now the dreadful weeds had won the battle over the grass and flowers. Weeks ago they had laid claim to everything upon the ground. Climbing vines had descended onto the yard during the battle to only side with the fiendish weeds. The prize for their efforts: a residence on one side of the Maevin manor house to call home.

It was easy to see that death had fallen amongst the once fresh and green garden plants to leave a barren wasteland in its wake. The only thing that had stayed alive through the take over was Lillian's favorite rose bush, the one she had planted with her mother.

Even though she adored them for the memories and their beauty, Lillian could not let just the roses live. She hated herself for even thinking it, but she simply could not deal with taking care of everything inside the house and out. She had tried, but now with Iorek it had become very difficult balancing him and Tyson. There was no time to fit in gardening or killing weeds. But the teenager couldn’t live with herself knowing her yard was as dead as week old road-kill. Sure the fountain and various statues placed amongst the yard gave off a vibe that said it was still alive and thriving but Lillian knew the truth.

She had to do something about the destruction and fast!

After calling someone about an ad she saw in the paper, Lillian was having the man come over today and see what he could do about saving her yard. Now all she had to do was wait for him to show. With the boys upstairs and playing in Tyson’s room, the two getting along better than before, Lillian was left alone to wait outside on the porch. At least this wait would be worth it since the man she spoke with sounded like he knew what he was doing. Hopefully his talent with reviving plants would be enough to save her yard before it crumbled to dust.

Lillian had heard the Vespa’s engine before she saw it drive up the driveway. The teenager’s face shifted from a calm stare to a confused frown when her eyes fell onto the little motorbike. She had been expecting a van of some sort with the gardening services name painted on the sides, not this. That was the usual way for a town business to travel. It certainly didn’t look official. Already the painful pinch of anxiety hit her stomach and rocked it into a nervous, unsettled state. Maybe she shouldn’t have looked in the newspaper’s wanted adds after all.

Her expression got even better when a familiar minty raevan darted off the bike and into her yard. That was…Eiry. Eiry was the charge of…

Isi!

Lillian’s mouth literally fell open and her eyes bulged like a bullfrog’s. The blown away look grew worse when Isi hopped off the bike. Good God….Why did she not think this situation through?

Slowly, still in a phase of shock, Lillian rose from her seat at the porch. She couldn’t just sit there looking dumbfounded. She had hired Isi. This was business and Lillian was sure of herself that she would not tolerate a verbal brawl at a time like this.

Yet even though Lillian was trying to put up a brave front when their eyes met the awkward feeling she had successfully pushed away a moment ago returned with vengeance. It rattled her nerves and shook the ache in her belly with no mercy.

“Hello Isi.” Lillian managed after swallowing the heavy lump in her throat. “Um….How are you?” Tongue-tied, Lillian didn’t know what to say after that. The urge to tell him she had no idea it was his business she called for almost came to be, but the lass kept her words neutral. She didn’t want a fight to break out at her home, especially not with Tyson and Iorek able to see them from the upstairs window let alone hear them.

Lillian decided to try and appear indifferent to the lad as he made his way over to where she stood. She certainly would not allow him to see just how anxious she really was. So, in order to keep her nerves in check, Lillian raised her arms, folded them, and drew them across her chest. As gracefully as she could handle Lillian swayed from the right, then to the left, and back to the right. “I’ve been well.” She answered as her eyes drifted over Isi and then to her yard. “So…Eiry can just eat as much as he likes.”

Alright, so maybe this would be harder to come up with things to say than having to keep her emotions in check. What else could they talk about? There was nothing…neither liked one another to really think up any topics they could discuss. Lillian frowned out of frustration as she wracked her brain for some ideas. It’d be lame if she said anything along the topics of weather or work. Anything too abstract would just leave Isi thinking she was struggling to come up with anything. Sure that was true, but she didn’t want him to know that.

Just then, it seemed as if an Angel had heard Lillian’s prayers for help. The door behind Lillian suddenly opened and out floated Iorek. Tyson peeked out from the doorway behind the large stone raevan to shoot a dark glare at Lillian. “He’s all yours now. I need a break.” The lad grumbled before quickly shutting the door and leaving Iorek floating with an uneasy look possessing his features.

As if he expected Tyson to come charging out and forgive him, he turned to look over his shoulder to where Tyson had vanished. When the little lad didn’t come back out to retrieve him, the raevan heaved a great sigh, and turned his bright green-eyed gaze onto Lillian.

The poor guy appeared to be pleading for help as his brows lowered and his lips parted as they formed a frown. By the looks of it, Lillian could guess that Iorek must have upset the boy somehow when they were playing. But, at least Tyson was better with Iorek now then when he first came. He seemed to have gotten over the few incidents that had occurred earlier on and now was willing to help the raevan. That is, he was willing to help teach the raevan so long as he didn’t try to squish, bite, annoy, or break him or anything that belonged to him. Plus…he had to be in a good mood. Which, sad to say, had begun to become a rare occurrence.

As Iorek’s eyes fell to Lillian they quickly caught sight of the raevan floating about his home’s land and the boy standing before Lillian. Slowly, like he was approaching a deer, Iorek made his way over to where Isi stood. The mighty-handed raevan stared down at Isi with his visible eye. There was great curiosity revealed in the jaded orb. It didn’t take long either for a smile to form over his saddened frowned and a large grey hand to be placed in front of Isi in greeting.

"Hello." Iorek spoke to the young teen as Lillian's teachings of how to be polite took action. "Nice to....m-meet you."

“Isi.” Lillian said from the side. “This is Iorek, our raevan.”

"Mmm....I'd say a couple of weeks now." Lillian replied to the question as she walked over to stand beside Iorek. Her hand fell to rest on the raevan's closest large arm. A finger traced over the rocks that were miscellaneously molded into his stone skin. "Alex brought him over not too long ago, and he's learning quick enough. Wouldn't you say so, Reks?" She asked the large raevan when her eyes raised upwards to meet his.

The smile he wore appeared to broaden in length when he was met with Lillian's encouraging glance. A surge of tingles, so far the feeling he recognized the most, raced across his earthy skin and settled deep within his incomplete chest. "Y-Yes. I learn lots. Two plus three equals....four." Yet his brows knitted and a sour frown was placed on his smiles when he realized that was wrong. Iorek scowled and wracked his brain for the right answer. He knew four wasn't it...oh! "No!" The raevan cried as his arms rose upwards and one hand came crashing down on the other with his discovery. "Five! The answer is five."

Lillian cringed at the sound of two rocky objects colliding but at least this time she didn't jump a mile off the ground when hearing it. "V-Very good, Iorek." She smiled up at him once more and patted his arm but quickly released him after. After having Iorek in her home for a few weeks now, she discovered how unpredictable he could be with those oversized arms of his. One could never tell where they would end up, and if he tried to smash them against each other once more, certainly she didn't want to end up with a crushed hand.

With a curious expression, Iorek looked down at the new human, analyzing him from the tip of his greying hair to the dirt on his two "legs" as Lily called them. He certainly looked similar to Lily but there were little bits of detail that separated him from her. Wait...it was a him right?

Unsure of the answer to his question, Iorek leaned forward until his nose was almost touching Isi's. His eyebrows were certainly thicker than Lily's...and his lips were longer but not as plump. His chin was much broader than his guardian's. Who Isi reminded him of was... "Tyson! You are a boy, like Tyson." He decided upon as a finger came up and pushed lightly at Isi's chest. "Yes. Yes you are boy. Boy...Man. You must be a man. Taller and bigger. Must be man."

A scoff came from the side at Iorek's decision. Lillian was standing behind him with her arms crossed and a smile on her face. Although she looked innocent enough not be the one who thought differently, inside her inner thoughts begged to differ. Isi was not at all a man! He was still a boy through and through. That wasn't going to change. Not one bit.