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Jeremiah's shoulders rolled as he headed down the steps of his porch to his garden. A basket had already been laid out for him to put flowers in, Hellbine told very carefully to stay out of the garden because you're a nuisance, and an apron with gardening tools and gloves on him.

His garden was something he had worked on for years - a way to relieve stress and ease his mind - and it thrived because of all the work he had put into it. A notebook was kept on what he grew, how he grew it, and the best time of year for it. He was flipping through it as he walked, trying to determine which things he had would be best for taking to the hospital (to go to Aleksy and Thorne's room so that it would smell less like a hospital).

What he was not expecting, as he raised his head to look towards some of the flowering bushes, was movement in them.

Jeremiah approached the bushes, watching as the leaves rattled and moved. When he was close enough, his eyes had to blink a couple times just to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing.

"Pax?" Said before he could stop himself. What was she doing here? ... more importantly, how did a being so large manage to look so small in the nook that was between the bushes. She looked-

Not good, if the rocking back and forth was anything to go by.

Jeremiah blinked at the two fingered salute - about to snap out a response, an annoyed one - but the words died in his throat the moment Pax spoke.

The tears, when he noticed them after taking a step closer, also defused him. He was still uneasy, that chill and ache first in his mind, but it looked as if Pax was upset.

"I'm not going to fight with you," he said with a sigh, coming closer and (despite his worries) crouched down in front of them. "You can sit with the flowers if you want to. They're here for that."

Then, because it was curling in on itself. "Are you alright?"

"Heliodora is crying?" Something uneasy twists in Jeremiah's stomach. The mention of Autumn and Rosalinde as gone does as well ...

But ...

"Just a moment. I will be right back." He pushes himself up, gardening apron left on the ground. Jeremiah disappears back into the house. Before he can even get a foot out of the door to come back out a white blur zooms through it and out towards the garden and-

Hellbine promptly bumps right into Pax as Jeremiah follows him. He never has gotten out of the awkward juvenile cat stage. "It's not Rosalinde, it's Hellbine, but it may help some," he says as he crouches back down.

Hellbine never resists a hand and, once it is offered, climbs up to curl against. Yes, little flower will be added to his list of titles. Perfect. Flattery works best with him and he presses into the bise with a purr.

"Michael-" he starts and then stops. Jeremiah's heart sinks, the chill worse even with the sun on him, and he ends up sitting down. "How?" There hasn't been time, he hasn't been there to look for him. Him or the others. Michael Mitchell was dead and it-

"You cannot stop tears, Pax, they must fall sometimes," he says after a moment because his mind is going different directions and all of them are not good.

Hellbine's purrs become a constant, the small cat pushing up against Pax. He can tell, he can understand, and he just wants the Peaceful One to not cry.

Jeremiah watches this and listens, his fingers curling in the well kept grass of the garden. The crying bothers him, especially the way that Pax rocks back and forth. It reminds him too much of Aleksy - of others who are crumbling under knowledge and the lack of and -

He sighs and pushes himself forward. This is going to be a little awkward, but he trusts his instincts and there's no warning bells going off, and comes into the little nook. Pax is not as tall as him but there are antlers and he watches out for them as he, of all things, puts an arm around it's shoulders.

"... if she knows this, then you should be there with her once you're not crying anymore." His thoughts are about what Alg saw with Sunny but he pushes them away.

Hellbine preferred all the attention on him and purred. Comforting the Peaceful One was a good goal and he let out a small mew as he pushed against Pax.

"So you came to Ashdown because she said to leave?" Heliodora being upset enough to make Pax leave-

That was something.

"I'm sure she will want you to come back. She is ..." He let out a breath. "She is mourning and grieving." The death of her friend and perhaps her own. Jeremiah was merely grasping, perhaps not even correct, but if anything he had learned that comfort was necessary. He gave it a squeeze of his arm when it's head rested on his shoulder.

This was an easier topic to work with, especially with the way that Pax reached for one of the blooms.

"No, I do not. I grow herbs and other things to use in cooking and for tea." There was gesture towards a part of the garden that was closer to the porch. "I grow others because I enjoy it, because I want to see them flower ..." Jeremiah shook his head, mostly at himself.

"Also because sometimes I have to give flowers to people." His eyes went to the basket that was empty and laying on the ground. "Someone I care about was injured and is in the hospital."