"Thank you," Adam said, quiet and subdued as Alec filled the silence, and as he filtered through his own thoughts. He'd kept the flower, and wanted it now. It was his, and wondrous, and there were so few things in the world that were Adam's and wondrous. It was pressed in a book now, preserved forever but always fragile. "I liked it."

He chose a low plant and set her on one of the lower leaves, near enough to a couple other kinds of plants that she could roam from there easily enough. It occurred to him that his little caterpillar might be lonely here, and he hoped that the temple would help see to that. Otherwise he'd have to try to bring more of them, and to be sure he matched the type.

Then he stepped back, leaving the caterpillar in her new environment. Awkward without the purpose of holding a creature, Adam remembered the periodicals under his arm and offered them to Alec.