From not so far away, in her own little copse of trees, Kahlua watched Res work with a smile. She had chosen the location for two reasons. One, because it was close to Res and two, because it was close to the cliffs. It was a rare moment in her life when she was content to stand to the side, to watch and not be watched, to take everything in and have nothing to say about it to anyone. But watching the fallen angel work was like watching Picasso paint. She was a master at her trade, a queen of plants and herbs, and she had a green hoof that Kahlua could never aspire to match. Not that she really wanted to. So instead the painted woman watched the mare and monkey work in harmony, planting and covering and pulling and setting them at the top of each row. Perhaps the overo was content to watch because it reminded her of her own work, the glass molding that might seem tedious to some but gave the girl joy beyond anything else imaginable.

And with time, others came, each new arrival drawing a new sort of smile or memory into the woman's mind. Dragomir, her twin brother in disguise, and apparently her new pupil. She was supposed to be setting up a meeting for the crafters, to arrange for production of a commission. Little did she know that she would be directing Dragomir to help her build a gift for the same Shadow woman he had attacked alongside Ricochet. Funny, how life is connected in such intricate little circles sometimes. Ricochet had attached Kahlua, Kahlua and Dragomir were friends, Dragomir attacked Shadow, Shadow spied on Ricochet, Kahlua and Shadow doing business, Ricochet and Dragomir friends.... it was lucky the painted woman knew not of the strange little melting pot the quartet made. Her brain would hurt trying to draw the lines.

Next Alysanne and Brisa. Along with Kahlua, they made quite the three musketeers. Happy brilliant women, all of them in their own way. Every day Kahlua thanked her lucky stars to have them. They had saved her from her sorrow, her deepest pains about losing Antheia and she could hardly repay them, but she smiled now to look upon them, to see them integrating with the herd so well. And then another face, one she had not expected to see here but was pleased enough. Africa- one of the Throat members that had accepted her glass figurine.

In the end, the girl could no longer stand it. All of her very best friends (Dragomir included) were gathered together, and a mare that she wished she had been able to talk to more... like following a carrot on a string, Kahlua roused herself from her little copse of trees and meandered towards them all. She kept silent because Res was speaking, despite Kahlua's great desire to shout a grand welcome and run about and touch them all. Good words from Kahlua's mouth. What else would she say? The painted woman shook her head and laughed, announcing her presence, as her eyes glanced to the headband Alysanne wore and the leg band that Res wore. In the back of her mind, she reminded herself to make something for Brisa. How was it that she hadn't yet?

Once Res had finished speaking, giving her suggestions for what to do, Kahlua was decidedly still. She didn't actually want to work so much as she wanted to socialize. But, while she was here... Briefly she remembered Res mentioning something about a Greenhouse, and so she decided to go with that, after bursting out with a vivacious round of 'hello's' and 'how are you's' and other such greetings, with a special acknowledgment to Africa and asking of the Throat and making sure all was well there. And then, once she had finally managed to get through all of her chattering about nothing, she turned to Res. “Where would you like the Greenhouse? Over the garden, or somewhere nearby?” She didn't fully understand the woman's plans, not to mention she didn't really understand how Greenhouses worked, and she would need to if she was going to make everything the way it was supposed to be.

Of course, whatever she did, she wore a smile. She couldn't be happier to be around all of her friends.

Kahlua