"Rain..." Jack said.
"I'm going to get Aspen back," I explained.
"Rain, Rain, Rain!"
I pushed out a sigh, then pulled on a clean bra and shirt. "Yes, I'm grumpy. I know, but let me have it, ok?"
He shook his head. "Rain!" Then the bird flew down to my bed and hopped. "Rain-Court!"
"That's what I'm going to do, Jack. No one else seems willing to tell Torian - "
The clunking sound came again.
"Court!" Jack insisted, but this time he flew - straight into the bathroom.
Fuck, was one of Aspen's plants causing a mess? Shifting my shirt into place, I followed, but Jack wasn't aiming for the bathtub or the shower. Instead, he'd landed on the ground and was hopping towards the door to Aspen's room, staring at it intently.
"Jack, is the gate open?" I asked, because it was in the same doorframe as Aspen's door. Supposedly, that meant she could close her door and prevent them from crossing into her room.
When I reached him, I heard something else. It wasn't quite a thump or clunk. This was more like scraping and clattering, and soft enough I wouldn't have heard it in my room. For a moment, I paused, trying to figure out what was going on, and then I heard it.
"Need another. One more. One more should do it, or one after that. I just need another." The voice was Aspen's.
"Asp?" I asked, rapping on the door.
"Need another," she continued to mumble, but there'd been a pause.
Clearly, she'd heard me. She must've! Deciding I didn't care, and with my drive to chew Torian's ass still brimming in the back of my mind, I opened the door a little and tried to call through the gap.
"Aspen?"
"I'm making plants!" she replied. "I gotta do another. Just one more. This one will do it. I'm sure of it. Just one more!"
That did not sound sane atall. Below me, Jack was leaning into the opening, peering into Aspen's room. And while I couldn't see her, Aspen's muttering continued on without pause. It took me two whole seconds before I yanked the door open fully and rounded the corner.
She was sitting in the open area of her floor, surrounded by buckets of dirt and boxes of seeds. At least twenty small pots had been set aside, and most of them had a small piece of color - a plant - sprouting in them.
I saw green, blue, magenta, and a purple thing. Ok, so those were fae plants, right? Had to be, so why was she frantically planting them? Hadsomething happened? Was this to prepare for an upcoming problem? A million thoughts spun through my mind in milliseconds, yet none of them made it to my mouth.
"Aspen?" I asked as I stepped around the mess on the ground. "Hey, beautiful. Are you ok?"
She looked up, those amazing eyes of hers piercing right through me. "No. I can't hold it, Rain. I need another plant."
"Can't hold what?" I begged.
"Jack!"
I flapped a hand his way to silence him. "Hey, hey, hey. Aspen, I'm here to help. Any time you need it, I will always help, ok?"
"Morrigan!" Jack insisted. "Rain-Morrigan. Rain. Rain.Rain!Rain-Morrigan!" He was screaming that right at Aspen.
It was enough to make her hands pause when she looked at him. "Shit. She is!" Her attention snapped back to me. "Help me?"
"Anything!" I swore, still unsure what was even happening, but one part I was sure of. I wouldalwayshelp her.
So she grabbed my hand, pushed aside the plant she was working on, and then leaned in. Her free hand landed in a pile of dirt on the floor. At the same time, Jack flew up to land on her shoulder, pushing in against her neck.
"Court..." he said soothingly.
