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Deinos stepped quickly down the sun speckled path he was on. He had told his first lie to Venus and he was hoping she wouldn't hold it against him for too long. At least, not once she saw the bouquet he would gather for her. He had specifically not shown this little garden plot his herd kept so she would be surprised by the blooms once she saw them. Nothing outrageous, but some vibrant colors and fancy petal shapes made them stand out over the sweet pea buds and orange blossoms he was used to. Deinos picked up his pace as one of his vines reached out to snap at a squirrel who happened to be in its line of sight. He even reached his head back and snapped his teeth above it's head. "You'll have time later. I want to see what Venus thinks of our hard work." The vine gave a silent hiss, spittle flying from the now grumpy maw, but it stopped trying to pull Deinos in the opposite direction he was going. Deinos gave a swift nod, never breaking pace, and was able to reach the garden before the sun hit the middle of the sky. With luck, he might have time to inspect everything and water them before he started gathering. It wouldn't do to give Venus a bouquet full of wilted flowers.

Now that Deinos was here he slowed himself. He had learned since meeting Venus that no matter how hard you tried, quickness bred disaster. And today was not a day for disasters. He scanned the small garden and tried to think of his next step in the plan. He had done a good job tending to this plot. His herd had forgotten it existed, only being reclaimed when he was a boy and he had found it one day in tears after being told he was no use in a garden. At first he had angrily tore up the pretty flowering weeds that sat mockingly in the plots. In time it had been a source of silent failures and boisterous triumphs when he saw his first lily bloom. Shaking his head to bring him back to the future Deinos went to gather the water pails he kept for watering the plants. He would fill them all and line each one up next to a plot. That way there was less time between being watered and snipping the plump buds.

It was slow going at first. The weather was getting past warm and teetering into scorching. Because of this, even though Deinos and his garden were partially in the shade, he went slow to make sure water didn't splash onto the leaves and give them sunburn. Deinos could handle a little sunburn. He preferred if his flowers didn't have to. He found the process of watering and caring to be peaceful. When he was younger he had found them tedious. Often making a silly mistake in his haste to try and be helpful. Unfortunately ending more in the plants and his ego being damaged than any help he had been trying to offer. It could have also been that now he was grown, he didn't mind a bit of tedium if it meant not ruining something.

With the watering complete Deinos could finally start on collecting the flowering buds, and any other little bits that made up a bouquet. He would find a non sentient vine later when it came to holding them all together. There were only four plots he had planted in, but he went down them slowly, analyzing each bloom so he could paw pick the best. Soon little piles started to form in front of the plots. 3 of the lilies, a few sprigs of lilac, a pile of orange miniature roses, and a few leaves to flesh it out around the edges. Deinos beamed down at the piles, taking a breath or two to congratulate himself on leaving enough stem for the blooms to anchor this time. There had been more than a few previous attempts ruined that way. Turning, he walked into the forest to find something to hold his bouquet together.

Deinos walked back into his little clearing, shaking his head at how long it had taken him to find a suitable strand that met all requirements, only to stop in his tracks, frozen in surprise. If he wasn't mistaken, it seemed like a whole colony of squirrels had some how moved into his haven. Buds had fallen to the ground and the piles he had left on the ground now had broken stems and dislodged petals. Deinos would never admit this to anyone but in that moment he saw red. Deinos charged into the biggest grouping of the squirrels, yelling a war cry as his paw pads came dangerously close to scurrying tails. His vines snapped at fleeing fur balls as they rushed past, one even managing to grab one and turn it into a slobbery goopy mess, tail swinging out of its mouth as it held on. Soon everything was happening too fast to tell what was going on and as quick as it started, it ended.

Deinos with left panting in the middle of his ruined garden. The plants seemed to have minimal damage to them, and there was the odd small bloom and unopened pods still on the bushes. But all of his perfect bouquet flowers were strewn, trampled on the ground. If he was honest, it looked more like there had been an explossion of petals than a fight. Deinos' legs suddenly went weak and he dropped to the ground. Again. AGAIN all his hard work had been in vain. He had tried so hard, and yet the world still seemed to be against him. It wasn't long till all of his adrenaline left him and he was a quivering crying mess on the forest floor. His vines gave him a little time to himself, but then ne felt the tapping of on on his left cheek. Deinos sniffled and opened his eyes as he tried to take in a deep shuddering breath. He lifted his head to see a vine placing a petal into one of the water buckets. Then another placed a few more and Deinos creased his brow. Then it hit him. Even if he couldn't give Venus the perfect bouquet, he could still give her a nice night by giving her a petal path. Deinos lifted himself to all fours and begun his harvest.