"Ach, y' ask me, every girl's a lady in 'er own way," Cypher says, placing the truffle in her palms before scampering back to his boss and climbing up the back of his coat to perch on the man's neck, draping himself around it like a fur collar.

"Cypher, for one so small, you are a gallant and a gentleman," Adrian replies, indulgently, and takes a sniff at the mushroom before dropping it into his basket.

"I worked there as in the laboratory, analyzing the samples which the survey teams brought in from the woods or from whatever strange creatures or plants turned up. It was somewhat of a trade: my life depended on a potion which they helped me to blend, and I lent them my service. They were always looking for new people with different perspectives, though I suppose that's moot now that we're past Sodder's Dream into this brave new world. I take it... you're a botanist?"