Welcome to Gaia! ::

The coming of the cold season meant the coming of rain, but even then she hadn't been prepared for the suddenness of the current rainstorm. It had been cloudy all day, but hopeful rays of sunlight had been peeking through lighting the path of Mint's aimless wandering. Then the next moment it was as if the sky had been wrenched apart, and from the opening water poured down in sheets. Cold and relentless raindrops crashed into the greenery of the swamp and soaked her through her evergreen coat, and Mint, forever collected and never in a hurry, gathered her white hooves and ran for it. She bounded towards the rocky eaves of the sole nearby hill, searching for some sort of shelter before she fell ill from the cold. To her luck she found an opening in the hillside, and leaping in, discovered it was a cave, small but thankfully dry. Relief in her eyes, if not her stoic expression, she shook as much of the wet from her coat as possible at the entrance and stepped deeper into the cave, settling down on the cave floor and starting to lick her slightly fluffed up coat, smoothing it back down and drying herself further.

Outside, the rain poured on.

The sudden presence of the buck made Mint start, another break from her usual composure as she twitched, her head raising in surprise when he pushed himself in. Her usual apprehension for company budded in her chest, but only a moment later her regard for his health pushed it back down. Her inept ability to socialize was no reason to force a poor buck out into the cold.

So she nodded at her newfound companion, "It's fine," and went back to grooming herself.

Key words being: inept ability to socialize.

She was completely unfazed by the silence between them, taking the time to finish drying herself off, smoothing down the fur at her cheeks and muzzle by brushing against her leg. At the buck's comment she glanced up at him, at the rain, and back at him, recognizing his attempt at humor but not feeling any particular mirth in response. "I am Mint," she said in reply, and at that moment the rain blasted in and her ears flicked back as she saw the buck get hit with it.

"Come to the back of the cave, there's still room," she'd deal with it till the rain let up. It'd be a good opportunity to try to hold a conversation.

The buck was pretty conversational, and didn't seemed bothered by the fact that she wasn't contributing very much. It was a rather nice change from kin who fussed over her lack of response, or regarded it with distaste. Even better that he brought up a topic she rather liked, that of plants and her namesake.

"Yes, it has a nice scent," she agreed, nodding slightly. "It soothes the throat as well, and I quite like that cold feeling when one breathes in." Her words were rather formal, neither eloquent nor colloquial, a subtle hint at her childhood of isolation. Only the bare essentials of language came naturally.

The buck gave a warm reply, then comfortable silence settled between them again as he went to fre a burr from his fur. As for her, she turned her eyes, glowing faintly in the dimness of the cave, to the entrance, watching the rain pour on. It was oddly heavy for this season, usually the cold season rains were as mild as they were persistent. She didn't ponder it long, however, because the buck spoke again, and again on her favorite, perhaps only, conversation topic.

"I have learned quite a bit about them." Mostly through experiments on herself, conducted in desperate need of sustenance. "My knowledge is mainly for common ailments, I have not had opportunity to learn cures for fatal illnesses. Should you have a bad bellyache though, fennel, yellow flowers and feathered leaves, could help." She paused then, a little surprised she'd gone so far as to volunteer that information. Perhaps he'd find it excessive.

This time the buck's managed to strike a joke that was humorous to her, but the amusement in her slightly narrowed eyes was dour and tinged with something not quite recognizable, an unreadable mixture of disdain and perhaps jealousy. He did not quite grasp the luxury of being able to gorge on berries till his belly ached while she had discovered fennel when her belly ached from emptiness. But that was not his fault nor hers, she reminded herself sharply, shoving the thought from her mind, forcing her attention, not quite unwillingly, to In Defiance's next topic of conversation.

"I agree. To both things," she replied with a nod, "It is worst when it is both wet and cold, like today."

((I suddenly decided to rework her personality a little so she's more fun to play and less awkward, so bear with me if anything changes too drastically @_@))

Loneliness... The word made her think of her childhood, her life. It was supposed to be a sad word, yet it stirred no pang of sadness within her, no desire for company. She was used so used to being alone she no longer felt loneliness, no desire for company, and so she dismissed his words ignoring the smaller voice that suggested loneliness was all she knew.

She didn't object to him making himself comfortable, the rain would be here a while and though they were closer together now, it wasn't as if it was stuffy. Her expression took a thoughtful shift at his next comment, considering the idea of the rain freezing as it fell. "You mean, it snows? Or the rain actually freezes as it falls?"