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Liinnae sat on the floor of the greenhouse with her legs crossed, and her chin propped in her hands. She’d been staring at this flower pot for the better part of an hour willing it to tell her what it wants. Usually these asinine things let her know right away what the recipient would want depicted on it, but this one insisted on frustrating her by remaining silent.
“I don’t suppose you have any ideas, do you?” She asked the magically shrunken tiny lilac bush sitting next to the flower pot. There was no answer from the lilac bush.
“I bet you two are conspiring to drive me daffy, aren’t you?” She glared at both the flower pot and the magically shrunken tiny lilac bush. “But you can’t hold out forever.” She warned.
“Dare I ask?” Solas asked from behind her.
“They’re doing this on purpose!” she accused, her brow furrowed, without looking away from the stubborn objects.
She felt Solas’ raised eyebrow at the back of her head.
“Don’t look at me like that. They are!”
Solas chuckled, walked over and stood beside her.
Liinnae looked up at him and smiled brightly. “Hello!” She said, resting her head against his knee.
“Hello.” He returned her smile, and scritched the back of her head earning him a hum of pleasure. “Who is this one for?” He nodded toward the stubborn flower pot and magically shrunken tiny lilac bush.
She sighed, “Soufehla. But it’s not as easy as the others were. They,” she made a vague gesture toward the two frustratingly stubborn objects, “are not cooperating!”
“No. I don’t imagine it is easy.” He knelt next to her and brushed the back of his hand across her cheek.
Oh no. She recognized that expression on his face. “No! Don’t give me the ‘you can’t help everyone, ma vhenan’ speech because you’re wrong!” She pulled away from his touch. “And-and even if I can’t, I have to at least try. I can’t not try.”
She peered at him out of the corner of her eye to catch his reaction. He didn’t react, but she knew he was thinking by the adorable dimple that appeared above his nose when he was thinking.
“Is that how I sound?” He asked after a moment’s silence, throwing her into a fit of giggles.
When her giggle fit was under control, he kissed her lightly on the lips and rested his forehead against hers. “You are right, of course. You always are in matters such as this.”
She smiled and left a lingering kiss on his cheek.
“A wolf. Flanked by two eagles.”
“A wolf…” she started to repeat, not understanding what he was talking about. And a moment later when the realization came to her, she glowered at the flower pot. “Oh sure! Talk to him!” She stood and with a huff grabbed the insufferable flower pot and dropped it on the table with a harsh thud--the magically shrunken tiny lilac bush was thunked beside it.
Liinnae scowled and grabbed the paint brush. “Maybe I should have gotten Solas to talk to you in the first place.” She grumbled at the stubborn objects. She grabbed the pots of black, orange, and white paint. “Or maybe you just like him better than me.” She growled. “Well, I suppose I understand. He is prettier than me.” She giggled and uncorked the paint pots.
A wolf and two eagles. This should be easy enough. Okay … birds were easy for her to paint--wolves, not so much. She looked back at Solas who was pinching the bridge of his nose, trying not to laugh. “Here!” She thrust the paint brush at him. “You’re better with wolves, you do it. And besides,” she glared at the flower pot, “it likes you more than me.”
She leaned up on her toes and thanked him with a quick kiss (it didn’t matter that he hadn’t actually agreed to do it). “Oh! I have an idea. I’ll be right back.” She placed the brush in his hand and bounced out of the greenhouse.
Now, when Liinnae said she would be right back, of course that didn’t mean right right back. She had to go see Blackwall about some wolf carvings.
It was several hours later when Liinnae came bounding back through the greenhouse, a small pouch in her hands. Solas was just putting the last of the soil in the pot around the magically shrunken tiny lilac bush.
She gasped when she saw the enthralling black wolf with violet eyes painted in the middle of the pot. “Solas, it’s gorgeous!” She ran to the table to inspect it closer. Somehow, despite the three animals being the same color, he was able to make their colorings distinguishable from one another. And the details of the wolf’s fur, and the eagles’ feathers were amazing. She wished she was talented enough to paint as well as he did.
“Look what Blackwall made!” She opened the pouch and pulled out five small, wooden wolves which she arranged in a little pack under the magically shrunken tiny lilac bush.
Solas picked up the larger of the wooden wolves and turned it over in his hand, “I am impressed he was able to get this depth of detail in such a short amount of time.” He picked up the small brush, dipped the tip into the violet paint, and dotted the color over its eyes.
“Well…” she grinned and bit her lip, “He might have had a little magical help.”
When everything was in place she picked up the flower pot and hugged it to her chest.
“Are you going to leave it outside her door as a surprise?”
Liinnae laughed. “No. I’m going to hand deliver it and make her have afternoon tea with me whether she likes it or not!”