Kennedy was very concentrated on his work, he wasn't even payign attention to how many flowers he had left or his surrondings. Suddenly when Mercy jumped down with a thud and grabbed his shoulders he jumped a bit before quickly turning around and grabbing her wrist to pull her closer, he also raised a hand in a fist as if ready to strike. This wasn't because he was angry she scared him but with his fight or flight, he was a fighter even if he didn't mean to be sometimes. After a moment of processing what he did and how close she was, he instantly let go of her and rubbed the back of his neck as his face beamed red from embarrassment "Sorry..." He said quietly while keeping his gaze away from her face

She placed her hand flat on his chest as she got pulled closer, simply blinking at his fist when he raised it. "No, you're fine. I'm the one who should be sorry. I didn't mean to startle you so badly."

He brought his gaze down and looked at her hand as she spoke "No no your fine, you were just messing around... I shouldn't have reacted like that" He said quietly as he took a step back away from her hand

"Hey, instinct is instinct, you can't fight it. Don't blame yourself for that." She rested her hand on nothing for a moment, staring at her hand as she pulled it back to rest at her side.

He nodded slightly at her words "True..." Was all he said quietly, he gave her a quick glance with his face still beaming a bright red before turning around and going back to work to get the job done

"Can I help?" She asked softly as he turned away. "I like helping. I want to help you." She ended up spitting out, stumbling over her words a bit.

He stopped his work and glanced over at the girl as she stumbled over her words. He could help but chuckle lightly "Sure, do you know how to do it?" He asked before gesturing her over to kneel next to him

"I think so." She scurried over and did her best to replicate his process. It came out decent looking, but not nearly as great as his had.

He nodded then watched as Mercy did her best to replicate what he had done which was a decent first attempt but it needed some work. "Here try to dig the hole a little deeper and then pack the dirt around it more firmly... and if the flower is tilted to one side, pack more dirt on that side to balance it out" He instructed her with a gentle tone before going back to work more slowly this time so she could take in what he was doing a bit better

She nodded and fixed her first flower. It still looked a bit wonky, but it was good enough. "Like that?" She asked proudly, looking a bit too excited about her work for him to crush her.