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Elst simply stood still as the newly emerged Orpheus tested its wings, seemingly delighted with himself. He visited his siblings, first Rhian, then…Aoi, who apparently gained a scarf. Elst was somewhat worried his Proto wouldn’t be able to hold the weight, but…he seemed alright.

Aoi just…sort of froze, watching the wyvern enjoy its first few moments out, making a rather interesting variety of noises. Orpheus visited Rhian first, then… Before Aoi could react, the newborn had wrapped himself around his neck, and my was he heavy. He staggered a bit, strength having never been anywhere near his strong point, but finally stabilized himself after a while. He stood, though somewhat tensed to hold up his sibling, as he heard Verdant’s comment.

"I think Orpheus likes you, Aoi”
…Apparently… Uh, hi, Orpheus… Glad to be out, eh?

Orpheus fluttered his wings and buzzed happily as he licked Aoi's face, leaving a small spot of saliva stuck to his cheek. He then flew over to Verdant and rested on his head, his chirping growing louder with his cheerfulness. "Chirp chirp chirp chirp!"

Verdant grinned and picked Orpheus off of his head, preferring to cradle him in his arms like a newborn. "Yes, Rhian, lots of new friends!"

Verdant looked over to Ellandra and frowned. She was running over to Faolan, who wasn't looking so good. He walked over and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Faolan, are you all right?"

"Um, would you like something to drink? Ice pack, maybe?" Why would Faolan pass out? Was he out of shape or something? You couldn't tell by looking, that much was certain. He jogged back to the storage room, picked up the basket with the food he'd brought, and ran back to Faolan. He fished out a bottle of water and handed it to him after opening it for him. "Here you go."

Orpheus, meanwhile, had been practically dragged back and forth by the nymph before it finally wormed its way out of Verdant's grip. With a cacophony of buzzes, honks, and cheeps, Orpheus flew down to Faolan and cocked its head to the side. "Here you go," it quipped with a flutter of its wings. It was a dead-on copy of the nymph's voice, right down to the slight lilt at the end.

Verdant raised an eyebrow and whistled in awe. "Well, that's an interesting ability."

Ellandra snagged Rhian out of the air as she flew over, pulled her flutterby to her in a secure hug with one arm, and placed a hand on Faolan's shoulder with another. "You're sure you'll be all right, Faolan?" She asked, worried, but also trusting her husband - and Ziazan's - ability to gauge his condition.

After a moment, she nodded to Elst. "Yes, yes, I think going inside now would be. . . a very good idea." She was already rather tired from getting here, and the drama with the plant and Rhian, and the new little proto and now Faolan. . . it was all rather too much, and she wanted very much to just go in and sit down. And perhaps, later, she could get some plants for the vardo. Maybe Elst had some lady's slipper orchids? And maybe more daylilies could be made to look like the ons Faolan had sent to her the day of her kidnapping.

Meanwhile, Rhian wriggled in her owner-mother's hold and flicked her antennae around. "What was wrong with that big pretty plant? It smells so nice, is it dangerous?"

"Mmm... if you say so, Faolan." He followed the rest of the group inside Elst's house, allowing the pleasing scent of the plants growing in his home to wash away his troubles. Then he turned back and brought Orpheus inside; the wyvenr had been trying to eat the very old, very moldy cheeseburger that had fallen out of the lavender plant. He was quite certain he'd never seen a burger pattie with such an interesting shade of blue before.

Verdant was about to ask if Elst needed any help, but he'd already left for the kitchen by the then. Instead, he took a seat across from the Grady family and tried to hold his little wyvern still. He'd assuemd that the wafting aroma would calm the excited Essentic a bit, but it seemed that wouldn't be the case. Orpheus, despite Verdant's strength, squirmed out of his grip and flew over to a bowl of fruit nearby. It stared at a few apples and sang a strange song that sounded like an out-of-tune lyre. Verdant grimaced as he listened, but his jaw dropped when he saw what the song did to the apples. Orpheus chirped happily, clearly pleased with its handiwork. The apples, once a crisp crimson, were now a glittering, metallic gold.

"Okay, I need to keep this little one in check or he's going to be going King Midas or Eris on me," Verdant said with concern as he plucked Orpheus away from the golden apples. He then turned to Ellandra and Faolan with a smile on his face. He dug around in his dirty apron and extracted a heavy pop-up book and handed it to Ellandra. "I found this while I was at the library the other day. I was hoping that maybe it'd help you out a little?"

Orpheus mewed happily from its seat in Verdant’s lap. The pretty butterfly seemed to like the little prank; the apples were completely inedible now, but were worth their weight in gold- not that the wyvern even knew what an apple or gold was.

Verdant, a bit wary of his Proto’s actions, decided to let it have its fun and let it fly about the room before turning his attention back to Ellandra. “At the ball, I noticed your ears were… different than a human’s. It’s not that big a difference, but I’ve read enough to know that you’ve got some faerie blood in you. I ‘borrowed’ that book from the library; it’s really the best way to find out more about yourself. Hell, that’s how I found out what I was. I just thought that it could help you like it helped me. ‘Cos I’ll be honest with you: I am pretty curious as to find out what you are.”