He paused, eyeing her. He didn't particularly expect her to accept his offer. After all, she had little to gain, bar perhaps a half-Chaos beast at her side, though he doubted she could ever control such a one. But it would be a reason, once she refused him, to gloat.
And if she did accept-? Well, he'd be able to test her bloodline firsthand, and-... wasn't there the slightest chance, perhaps, of seeing what she meant? Lord Dhracia, of all people, had asked if there were none he loved in this cave. And, speaking honestly-? There were not. He cared, but he did not know the meaning of the word 'love.'
The fates of those children he had failed, despite all his attempts--perhaps one of the Earth-beasts could show him what was missing.
Not, of course, in a sentimental sense, but... surely he could emulate it?
She glared up at him. Her first instinct was a protective, maternal fury: give her child, to him!? His torturing ways, his cruelty?
A split-second later her mind saw possibility--a kindness, one that would far outstrip any suffering a single child might endure. Her eyes narrowed up at him. Giggle considered, for a moment.
A child--it would suffer, with the Forge, she was sure of that. Be neglected, treated poorly, and that wrenched her heart in two. But what of all the ones that had come before--and all of those who'd follow? What if she could make a difference, here--really change the way this idiot Master ran things? Fix it for the rest?
She had, however, no hands.
She stepped forward, shoving her paw at his hand, her teeth bared in a snarling grin and her tail fluffed and arched stubbornly behind her.
Vargas considered only briefly.
He had no intention of handing his own design out to random earth-beasts as a hybrid--that would be too powerful. Too strong an enemy to have. No; but if he was going to do this right, he would need to give the hyena a true Chaotic challenge.
Chaos--the very element of the Creator--would, he knew, be best. But if she refused to give her stone, he would make do with
And Nidhogg, such an extreme irritant that Vargas had actually foisted him off to Dragon.
Giggle huffed, and flopped down on her haunches.
The moment he'd gone, she found herself fidgeting. Found uncertainty warring with a mother's moral choice, her instinct that she was right--that she'd succeed, and make things objectively better--fighting the guilt of the here-and-now.
Peace, Mother-Sister.
Omen had, until now, remained half-asleep and silent, somewhere distant in Canis--somewhere the Order didn't reach. Now, her touch was a balm, a relief that let the hyena first take a breath and then let it slowly out.
She pushed up and turned away, her attention going to the mold that lay at the edges of her home. At the very least, she could clear a space for a child to grow, here. Assuming, that was, no caves-damned Praetors turned up.
By the time the Leviathan returned, Giggle had managed to clear out a good chunk of Order. That didn't mean that it wasn't still dangerous to raise a child here, however, and he glanced around, debating.
A scratching sound behind him alerted him to Nidhogg's arrival; the serpent had been trailing him, but was--in the manner of a large, clumsy, stupid dog--bounding around and occasionally getting a little lost.
Nidhogg scampered up, leering, his tongue briefly spilling past a razor set of fangs. Then he hissed, scrabbling closer, sniffing and peering at the hyena.
...It also meant the children wouldn't really be competition. Okay, he was convinced.
Nidhogg looked back at her.
Giggle was busily ripping white (asshole) mold from the ground when Vargas's voice boomed out behind her. To say she jumped was an understatement; she sprang into the air, landed half-sideways and scrambled back upright, spinning around with her heart set back to 'racing.'
Then she was looking at Nidhogg, and wondering what the heck she'd gotten herself into.
Well.
She'd raised kids before. As for giving stone-? She glared at Vargas.
Giggle was--though she couldn't know it--using the same exact tone that Dragon had. And Nidhogg--reluctant as he'd been, at first--had come to at least vaguely respect the alligator. He'd been useful, and helped the serpent, so almost automatically Nidhogg sat down. But her voice couldn't help his magic, and after a moment he just shook his head.