Apple had been hard at work. With the change of the season came the time to plant the garden! She wished she could've found some seeds from the last year, but she'd been... indisposed. Not as prepared as she'd have liked to be. Next year would be easier; the roots already dug in deep, the plot settled, on a careful routine of weeding and watering. For now, she had to do it the hard way -- find plants that were already growing, carefully dig them up, and put them where she wanted them to grow. Make sure they settled correctly, that she watered them enough, that she didn't wet the leaves and scorch them beneath the hot desert sun.

She and Dante were tireless in their pursuit, but the herbal garden wasn't all she was persistent with.

She and Apricot thought up a grand idea as well, together! In wanting to do something nice for Marcia, both to help her feel more at home here and perhaps help her brother in winning her affections. Maybe a little bit, even, to say thank you for all she was helping Apple too, though she hoped for most of the gift to be from the King himself. She would thank the princess herself, somehow. Another way!

She'd left her not-so-small pups sleeping and went off to gather her littermate quietly, and off they'd gone into the misty morning, looking for fresh new flowers to add to the garden.

Look, she whispered, excited, prancing ahead with her slight little limp, A lily! I haven't seen any of these yet around here! She looked at the tall plant with its fine, snowy petals, grinning from ear to ear-stump. Think she'll like this one?

Apple resisted the urge to rub alongside her brother as he agreed that Marcia would enjoy the lilies, and just a hint of sadness gripped her. She'd... ruined things. Not terribly, perhaps not even permanently, but things had gone so awry. She'd enjoyed her intimate nights with Apricot as much as she enjoyed their general wrestling and the platonic affection that had always passed between them. She understood when Apricot said he needed that layer of space to himself, and she'd smiled and said that was fine, but it tore away at her inside.
She had failed him. She had, even in a way they'd known would never lead them together themselves, chosen someone over him. She didn't blame Apricot for needing time to get over those feelings! She knew she should just be thankful he didn't need time away from her altogether.
It tore her up inside nonetheless.

Apple stepped closer to the pale blooms instead, grinning away and sniffing about the base of the plant. An idle paw scraped at the sandy earth, inspecting, pausing as he mentioned hibiscus flowers. The Dusk matriarch quailed internally. It was tropical enough here, she thought, though she hadn't spotted any. She could probably make a place for them to grow better here, it was warm enough, lush enough, but she thought she'd find them growing more wildly nearer to Verdants Grace.
And she didn't even want to wander the foothills let alone look at that mountain, but the pack there left for a good excuse not to go far.

I'll see if I can't find some, I bet I could get them to grow here, she nodded, willing to try for all she had put her brother through. She was glad Marcia had come to them when she did; was glad she was there to comfort Apricot in all the ways his sister no longer could, that her brother had someone other than her.

As engrossed as she was in beginning to dig up the lilies, its sweet, flowery scent thick in her senses, she didn't notice the company. But that was part of why her brother was here doing this with her, wasn't it? Why Dante came with her other times. Why Apple rarely left herself in a state of vulnerability without someone to watch over her. Why she couldn't be enclosed by too many walls.

'You smell that?' No, not one bit. Apple's head shot up, ear pinning, but didn't dare lift her voice. He urged them onwards and she turned to lope after him readily in that faint limp of hers, trotting close to his side and all but shoulder-to-shoulder. Her hackles prickled with uncertainty, but when she did part her jaws to test the breeze, was only one scent.
Apricot could protect her, she thought. Two of them were safe.

The slender grey and tawny beast hardly looked like he was going to be a threat, though. He wasn't nearly as short as Apple, but not nearly as tall as Apricot; trotting along, looking pleased as a peach to exist here in this beautiful place.
Subconsciously, she went to whisk her tail against Apricot in a plea for softness, forgetting. Instead, she only shot him a brief glance, questioning, wondering if he would approach this stranger like Oma... or like Vati. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen him deal with someone lingering upon the borders!