[PRP] The edge of winter

[Pukio]

It wasn't so much that he felt the cold - and anyway, the ice and snow of the haven was something different, not entirely ice and not entirely snow but nothing between either -, just found it... dull. There was no enjoyment in the endless winter and little for someone such as himself to find particularly interesting. Still, one does their part and for Maisha'otesha, the particular part was the low sway of the mountain where the rock protected the ground from much the the weather. There he took his time cultivating the arctic moss and the labrador tea, taking some idle pleasure in watching the scraggly plants with their fuzzy feelers and their tiny white flowers root and bloom until he had something comfortable to lie on.

And comfort, if nothing else, was something Maisha valued. Comfortable ground under him when he lay down, comfortable company, comfortable weather. The last he could fudge, but the rest were nearly requirements and it was why he wasn't often seen in the haven. All of those tended to be pretty scarce, what with most of the really interesting things happening far below in the savannas and the swamps and the murk of the mortal plane.

But occasionally, and heavens did he ever mean occasionally, it was nice to take a break and scuff around in the old craggy mountain face where he could do his part to bastardize a little piece of nature. There was nothing quite like the rush of forcing things to grow in the heart of darkness.  

[Pukio]

Laying down in the bed of arctic moss had done nothing toward keeping his alert, and in all honestly Maisha was half dozing when his respite was suddenly interrupted by the presence of another creature on the mountain. The sound of a rock sliding and tumbling to a destination far below made him blink and sway up onto his belly with a faint crunch and crackle of the branches growing from his back. He yawned, blinking around to look directly at where the goddess stood.

A long pause followed as he licked the front of his nose, wrinkled it, blinked at her a few more times and then he cleared his throat. He didn't actually rise - too much effort and he'd just gotten comfortable and even if there was no sun shining here directly, at least it wasn't snowy underfoot.

"Good morning, little charm," he rumbled, lazily licking the inside of his paw and then smoothing his beard. Who knew if it was actually morning - hard to tell here. The god's body looked a little old and weary from the mortal plane, something tired and glinting low in his dark green eyes. Or maybe that was the acacia leaf - hells, it was sometimes hard to tell, particularly so high up on the mountain.

Apparently, Maisha had no real aptitude toward conversation beyond that. Or at least, he took a long minute to figure out what he was saying next. He smoothed the fur on the upturned side of his left paw, wrinkled his nose again as if offended by it, and then looked at her straight in the eye again. "What brings you here?"  

[Pukio]

"No disturbance," he assured her, leaning forward slightly, shifting his center of gravity up onto his chest and over his front paws. He gave her a sidelong look, roguish charm if it wasn't for the half asleep expression still on his face. "Just don't tell anyone you found me here. It's my secret place."

Maisha chuckled, settling back. After a beat he deigned to shift over on the arctic grass, tail and all it's floral abundance flicking lazily across the spare growth. "Have a sit?" He wasn't exactly one to turn down company, particularly charming little startled-bird kind of company, even if it came attached to a literal bird. Little creatures flitting around, snapping off tree branches for their nests and their bird business. Circle of life, he supposed, though that didn't stop him from being maybe a little bit condescending to the nasty little animals.

But no matter. He could swallow a bird - or, er, maybe that wasn't the best way of putting it. He could deal with a bird.  

[Pukio]

"Ah, a clever little flower. Good," he said eyeballing the white bird as it flit away and quickly disappeared, white feathers on white snow. "It's an important thing, knowing the importance of a secret. Not everyone does, you know." He snorted, though like anything with the god, his indignance was wrapped in a fine veneer of nonchalance, of being perhaps not entirely aware of what he was saying (or maybe too aware, or some confusing in-between).

He liked her already - all quiet and clever and sensible in that nice soft way that didn't really grate because it seemed like he could talk over her if he needed to. Not that Maisha did that kind of thing often, not that he was aware of anyway. It wasn't exactly rare for him to be blissfully unaware of others, but he tried to at least pay half attention even if the ground insisted on being comfortable against his belly and he could feel something like a hum in his ear from the feel of the plants. Here though it was easier - so little growth, not much to be distracted by.

"Now, I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a dodgy old man and that I don't know as much as I should, or as many as I should, so you might as well spare me the wait and introduce yourself."  

[Pukio]

Maisha paused a second, processing the piece of information, and then he chuckled: a low humming rumble deep in the barrel of his chest. Well, that explained the appreciation of the value of secrets, didn't it? Talk about serendipity.

"Well, isn't that a coincidence." He chuckled, pawing idly at the sparse vegetation under his foot, scratching quietly at the hard earth at the very edge of the growth. Careful not to tear up any of the plants, but also just faintly absentmindedly fidgety enough to go picking at the ground without really paying attention to what he was doing.

"God of plants," he hummed. "Maisha'otesha, though again that's a hellsdamned mouthful, isn't it? Maisha's fine."