Herbalists' Cache I guess I want you more than I thought I did

her mother's reverential breath of 'look' drew phaedra's ears, but her eyes were momentarily occupied by the treetop. is this where you've gone, friend? a quiet, long-suffered yearning for caintigern threaded her through, but she set it free with a sigh. 

the girl turned her eyes belatedly, then, to whatever she was supposed to be looking at, and rolled them once she realized the foofaraw. 

mushrooms. of course mushrooms; and not just some cutesy cottagecore toadstool, but in fact an entire civilization of fungi. this was probably some fair folk freehold, and her mother was about to frigging conquer it. seemed like a bad idea.

"mmm, you bet," she responded, seating herself as wylla went to town (quite literally, in her opinion) on the mushrooms. she glanced around, seeking distraction, for the truffle mania gene had not been bequeathed to her as surely as wylla's smart mouth, and she wanted no part. 

far be it from she to make soot of her dear mother's fun, though -- particularly when she had so little of it of late. 

or even worse: insult the woman by blaspheming against the singular thing she had apropos of communion. 

after her gaze had traveled the farthest it could and with nothing of interest to engage it, she turned her head forward to find the entire fay civilization pompeii'd by none other than dame cyclops. phaedra smiled a strained smile, teeth tamped. 

this will make a good tale for skaigona, she thought. with some whimsical embellishments, of course.

"probably even better if they actually made it into your mouth, though," the girl quipped, casting her a bewildered look. wasn't eating them the point?