Lavender Ethos couple billion in the whole wide world

AW! Dusk, Light Snow, 28F/-2C

Note for me: at this stage in Finley's pregnancy she is very affectionate, happy go lucky, has nausea and vomiting, cramping, weird food cravings, sides are noticeably swollen

Up until the last few days the Lennox woman had had such an easy pregnancy, sure she had no appetite but other than that it had been smooth sailing. Unfortunately for her, nausea and vomiting had seemed to come on overnight, just as her sides had become swollen enough that she was now visibly pregnant. Finley had been trying to spend some time out of the territory, not wanting the others to hear her gagging and retching, and hoping exercise might help to ease the slight cramping she felt in her empty stomach.

It had been after another round of dry heaving when a craving for lavender came on so strong she couldn’t help but look for it. Finley knew there was a patch somewhere in the Kingsfall because she had been smelling the fresh blooms on the breeze and set out on a mission to find them. It didn’t take long for her to find the Ethos and get a mouthful in her jaws, chomping away happily.

Now, here is the problem. Lavender is toxic to wolves, not that she knew that. Thankfully for her, before she could swallow she felt the sickening pooling of saliva in her mouth.

Spitting it out quickly, she took a few deep breaths, trying to stop the next round of nausea from winning.

Most of the time, Cole tried to give the two soon-to-be mothers some space. Along with their partners, as well, aside from what was necessary. As per usual, the ghost kept mostly to herself, completing whatever was assigned to her as needed and scouting or patrolling otherwise.

She didn’t want to be intrusive, stalk, or pry. But when someone wandered as far from their home as Finley seemed to be going - with no sign of her partner in pursuit - Colette’s conscience kicked in. The other woman had helped her out of a bind only a few months ago - so, like it or not, here she was.

Wandering through the forest, away from her home, with night coming.  

The trail did lead to a bit of a clearing, though, where the surprisingly pleasant scent of fresh lavender was quite strong. A quick glance revealed that patches of it grew in the areas where trees didn’t obscure much of the light, and situated amongst it was Finley.

The one-eyed ghost wasn't quite sure if her eye was deceiving her, but what she thought she saw concerned her a little. Enough to get her walking forth with more urgency, and to forgo any kind of polite greeting. ”Finley? You didn’t.. eat any of that, did you?” Cole called out, unable to disguise the worry echoing in her inquiry.

-since this's sat for a bit, I hope you don’t mind.. Again! I needed a Cole post for this AC round

Finley’s eyes had squeezed closed as she breathed slowly and deeply in and out, fighting a battle against her stomach. This was the worst part of pregnancy. Her hormones demanded she eat the flowers, and then her stomach rejected them the second they had touched her tongue. One, two, three in. One, two, three out. Her jaws were wet with saliva and she spit it all out, clearing any of the petals that had remained in her teeth.

When she was finally sure she was not going to be sick, the expectant mother let out a slow sigh from her nose and opened her eyes. Only to be met with the sound of approaching pawsteps and a worried tone. Turning sheepishly towards Colette she shook her head, ”Not successfully anyways.” It was only after she had spoken that she realized how concerned the other woman had sounded.

Brows furrowed over green eyes, ”Why?” Oh god, why was Colette looking her like that? It would appear the women would continue trading illness and injury favours until they maybe ended up friends one way or another.

Finley turned, and appeared to be alright. Except for perhaps the obvious. The worry churning in Colette’s stomach faded mostly as the other admitted she’d not done so successfully. Almost unconsciously, she let out a soft breath and halted her approach a couple of lengths away from the other, giving her space, in case that was why Finley was here.

How bad would it have been… no. The ghost wasn’t even going to let her thoughts venture down that path this time.

Why? Again, her breath hitched a little. There wasn’t any way to avoid the question, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to lie about something like that.

”Cause it can be bad. Maybe kill ya.” She had no reason to doubt the wolf who’d told her that, even if she’d never seen the deed done with lavender, specifically. But when it came to herbs, better safe than sorry. However, she didn't want to worry the mother too much, so she added, "Or… so I’ve heard, anyway."

(This post was last modified: May 11, 2023, 02:28 PM by Colette.)

Green eyes widened until the whites were clearly visible, flickering between the purple flowers in the field and the white wolf before her. How could something so small and fragrant be deadly? She really should have paid more attention to herbs and healing, especially now that she had kids to care for, but it all meant nothing to her. And why would her hormones essentially demand she chow down on something so dangerous? Pregnancy continued to baffle her.

Closing her eyes as a panic wave of nausea came over her she murmured, ”You wouldn’t know anything that would help settle my stomach would you?” Suddenly the smell of the lavender felt overpowering and she could not imagine why she had thought it would be appetizing to begin with. Eyelids opened then, expression hopeful as she stared at her packmate, eyes practically pleading for some kind of relief.

A few seconds went by and slowly Finley felt herself getting a little less queasy which was when she thought to add, ”How do you know this stuff? About the lavender?” Surely this wasn’t common knowledge, or maybe it was and the mother was just dense in this area.

The subtle signs of worry and shock did not elude her, for unlike herbs, the ghost had far more practice at reading and interpreting the expressions of others. Notably the widening of eyes, the momentary aversion of Finley’s gaze. She tried to shift her own expression into something sympathetic and understanding, to soften her gaze and not judge. Cole was beyond grateful the expecting mother hadn’t ingested any of it. As badly as she was sure pregnancy symptoms sucked, it could’ve been far worse.

Anything to help settle her stomach? The question had her taking in a contemplative breath, thinking back about times and wolves she preferred not to remember. But if there were still useful tidbits of knowledge to be had.. ”Um.. yarrow, maybe. I think that could help with nausea and stomach issues. Know for sure it isn’t toxic, anyway.”

At the very least, it wouldn’t hurt Finley to try it. The follow up question was a bit less anticipated, but reasonable nonetheless. It required far less thought, and at first Cole offered only a bit of a smile. ”Ah, an old friend of mine was super into learnin’ everything he could about plants and herbs. He'd try to teach me when we had time, so I remember a few things, but that was not very often," she spoke with a loose shrug. It was close enough to the truth.

It seemed that Finley’s hopes would be answered when Colette told her that yarrow may help her or at the very least not hurt. She nodded hopefully and the follow up question was obvious, ”Do you know where I could find yarrow? Or what it looks like?” She really wanted to avoid another lavender situation, it seemed easy to make a mistake and it was not like she had room for much error now that she was growing new lives within her. The world seemed much more frightening when you were pregnant, like everything you did was wrong.

The story was interesting, a friend had been interested and taught her. Finley did not know Colette to be a woman of many friends, and she could only assume this wasn’t a wolf she had met or the ghost would have said his name. Living with the Paradise wolves felt a lot like slowly trying to put together a puzzle, piece by piece. Everyone was friendly, but a little secretive, mysterious in some cases. The woman only nodded her understanding, but stored the information away in her brain carefully.

Maybe she was the reason everyone was guarding their life stories so close to their chest? No, this was her home and her pack, she shouldn’t give into the compulsive thoughts she had let consume her childhood, they didn’t hate her, they weren’t keeping things from her.

This was probably something that Chan would be better equipped to deal with. He had a better understanding and knowledge base of herbs than her, but she didn’t want to seem like she was passing her packmate off on someone else, either. It was rare for her, but a tiny part of the ghost was actually starting to like Finley a little, too.

”It’s like.. yellow and white flowers. Narrow stalks and grows in bunches..” the ghost spoke, recalling the description nearly as it’d been described. It was one of the few things she was sure she could positively identify when they found it at least. She’d been sure to guard her memories of that one carefully, considering how many different uses it had. Especially the parts about treating wounds..

”I’d think we oughtta be able to find some around here. Far as I remember it grows just about anywhere. Might take a minute though, if it's buried under this snow..” With a rare smile, albeit a small one, Cole motioned a little with her head. Walk with me?

Feel free to fade out on your next post <3

The Lennox wolf nodded her understanding, yellow flowers, growing in bunches, that should be easy enough to identify. Still, she was happy that Colette was here to help her because she clearly knew nothing about plants and what was dangerous and what wasn’t. Smiling thankfully at the other woman, she fell in step beside her and joked, ”Good thing I’ve got nothing better to do today.” Things felt light and easy in this moment, like all the pieces of her life were coming together.

It wouldn’t stay this way for long, but for now she felt good about everything. She wanted to ask more questions about Colette’s friend but knew that the woman would not like it if she were to pry. Smiling a bit wistfully she added, ”Thanks for saving me, again.” her tone was teasing, but her words were genuine, they always seemed to find each other just as they needed it.

Nothing better to do today… Cole was not certain of that. There almost always seemed to be things to do, especially as of lately. The ghost would not give a voice to that opinion though, choosing instead to maintain her small smile and provide a nod. Sometimes, a rest day was needed - even earned. That was probably even more true of anyone carrying children.

Starting forth, Colette kept her one-eyed gazed fixed mostly on the ground, and paused occasionally to nose through the snow at anything that stood out.

Finley’s second comment was a mixture of jest and sincerity, which this time was enough to prompt an even rarer soft chuckle from Cole. ”Ah. That’s what we do, for those we care about. No need for thanks.” This would not be the first time she’d used the line, but each time it felt all the more true.

Colette did often keep to herself, but it was not for lack of caring. And it was nice to know someone returned that feeling.

-fade

(This post was last modified: Jul 17, 2023, 03:16 PM by Colette.)