"...Where did you get that flower?"
Startled, Tieve gasped in surprise and the flower pot she was holding in her hands slipped. Just before the pot could hit the wooden floor of the Inn and shatter into pieces, a gloved hand expertly caught it. Tieve breathed a sigh of relief before taking the flower pot from the outstretched hand with a warm smile.
"Fiona brought it back from the plains close by the Perilous Ruins a few days ago. I've been giving lots of water and sunlight to the poor thing, but the flower still won't open fully."
Kai didn't smile back, but his eyes were strangely fixated on the flower Tieve held in her hands. The oracle took a closer look at the single bloom: the withering white petals that had crumpled into a protective clump was a tearful sight, but the small plant still held an aura of determined strength as it clung onto life.
Tieve watched curiously as Kai touched one of the crumpled petals with an unusually gentle finger. The oracle had never seen the archer this relaxed in the presence of other people since he had come to Colhen, but it was a change she was happy to see.
After a moment Kai drew back, as if embarrassed by his behavior, and his face quickly shifted back into his customary scowl, but for once there was no trace of repressed anger in his expression.
"It lives off the moonlight. Water it as much as you can."
With that, the archer stalked away from the oracle and out of the front doors of the Inn. He was too engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice Evie, standing next to the mailbox, watching him go with a slightly confused expression on her face.
For a split second, the magician swore she had seen a large black wolf pass her by instead of Kai.