He smiled, and let the lens fall into a waiting hand before it lay safely atop the bench. "Yes, well- I realize some older projects of mine were gathering dust and felt a burst of inspiration: Why start new projects without having the satisfaction of completing those bef-... before."

It was like a skip on a record, brief confusion as to what Alastor was doing before his eyes fell to the clip.

"Oh..." He went to touch it. Felt a little knot twist in his stomach, but couldn't even be bothered to question it this time. He wasn't so naive to be unaware of something he'd felt once before, so long ago, sailed down its river for tens of thousands of years.

He felt something similar when he touched down in the Garden, parted the shrubs, and saw something so breathtaking that he had- for once- been at a loss for words, but desperately wished to speak.

"Tha-that's right, you've got a deft hand with a needle, don't you? It's real pretty."

The smile was a bit lopsided when he canted his head to get a look at him overhead.

"A carnation, huh...?"