Welcome to Gaia! ::

She gasped in surprise at his unexpected stall and nearly tripped over him in her attempt to stop. There was a brief terrifying moment, in which she teetered on the tips of her toes and gravity threatened to send her face-first into the ground. Fortunately, Diana managed to save herself a smidgen of humiliation by rocking backwards and landing on her rear.

She righted herself, rather ungracefully, and turned to Hank with a sheepish smile on her face and bright pink cheeks. How embarrassing. It might have been crazy, but the female had hoped he wouldn't get to see her make a fool of herself. For awhile, at least.

"Don't worry," she offered softly, eyes dancing with the memory of the laughter they'd shared earlier, "I promised I'd protect you, and I always keep my promises. I'm very good in tense, potentially life-threatening situations."

The atmosphere surrounding them had changed so quickly. It amazed her. One minute, he'd been bursting with joy at a statement she'd made and the next, he wore the most serious expression she'd ever seen.

"I'm glad we're almost there," she said happily, "I'm excited to see some of those experiments you mentioned."

"There's nothing to forgive," Diana grinned, brushed herself off and continued to follow him, "You're right, of course. I hope I do not ever need to save you."

She imagined that on such an occasion, the blood would be pulsing through her veins at such an accelerated rate that she'd explode. And, in that particular case, she definitely would not enjoy the feeling. Fear wasn't always worth the rush.

"What kind of experiments do you do, anyways?"

It had occurred to her, rather suddenly, that she didn't have any clue. Hundreds of possibilities ran rampant in her impressionable head, and she was sure he might like the opportunity to either confirm or deny them.

For reasons she didn't really want to think about, something fuzzy and almost (but, not quite) painful fluttered in the pit of her stomach when Hank beckoned her forwards. She reveled in the fact that he, some one so much smarter than she, appeared honestly interested in teaching her.

"Cross-pollination?" she asked softly, with one eyebrow cocked upwards, "What, exactly, does that involve?"

A number of guesses puttered around at the edge of her brain, but Diana couldn't be one hundred percent certain.

"I'm sure somebody will find your experiments useful. I, for one, think they're fascinating. Not that I know very much about them. I do know that I like what I know already, though."

Poetry, it seemed, was a talent even she hadn't known she possessed.

Diana didn't know why her question might have been considered inappropriate and her naturally inquisitive, honest nature forbid her from feeling any kind of uncertainty at the embarrassed look that flashed across Hank's face. It was only a question, she assured herself, and nothing to worry about.

"Ah," she nodded as she realized what he meant, "babies."

That was something she knew enough about. It wasn't any mystery to her. The cross-pollination was the part that didn't make much sense. Why, if reproduction was common in all plants, wasn't it simply called pollination?

Of all of the ideas that came to mind, there was only one that seemed to fit.

"Cross-pollination," Diana spoke slowly, and tried to piece together the tidbits of information in her head, "Do you mean that the plants aren't the same?"

"I always have," she told him honestly, "you're a very good teacher, though. That helps."

Their little conversation of cross-pollination in plants had her head buzzing with ideas about all of the ways it might work with Numas. She suspected that the process was similar, but didn't have the slightest inclination as to where it began.

The smile on his face made her smile, and Diana was startled by the small ache in her cheeks. All she ever did was smile and laugh around him. It was unsettling- in the most wonderful ways.

"I look forward to the mess," she laughed and eyed the entrance to his home, "The vines make it look mysterious."

"I can see why the thought of sleeping outside doesn't appeal to you," she smirked in amusement. Until meeting him, Diana had never paused to consider the consequences of the elements. They'd always just been there and had seemed, for the most part, impossible to avoid.

His manners never failed to impress her. Diana strolled into Hank's cave, with her head held high and her eyes fluttering this way and that across the room.

"That moss is glowing!" she exclaimed loudly, voice full of amazement and ran over to a particularly bright patch. The fireflies she was familiar with, but this was something entirely new to her.

"That's very smart of you," Diana nodded her approval, "I've never seen any either, and, it'd be incredibly sad if disturbing it too much proved to be a bad thing."

The female Numa turned to watch Hank as he worked, though her attention never completely left the moss, that seemed to glow even brighter now that the vines had returned to blocking the sun. She could understand why he chose to live up here. The glowing moss alone had made this trip up the mountain more than worthwhile.

"I'd love some, thank you," she nodded and padded over to where he stood.

"What other kinds of plants have you found?"

Diana took the mug he offered gratefully, and drank from it whenever she felt the need. The liquid was cool and refreshing, and, before she knew it, she'd downed half her glass.

Her eyes crinkled into amusement as he rubbed the vines together, and she struggled to swallow the bit of juice she still had in her mouth. She set the mug down on the nearest counter, covered her mouth with one of her paws and made sure it was safe to speak before saying;

"I really like that," she took a few steps towards the plant and eyed Hank curiously, "May I try it?"