Diem was singing to himself as he reached the braziers at the tunnel's end.
A squeak answered.
The alligator squeaked.
@Wilder
Wilder was returning back from Pegasus when she heard some voice arguing at the other end of the entrance. She didn't recognize it, nor the distant figure she could see, so curiosity and a faint thought of
At first she mistook the figure for the Collector, with the long cloak, but sight of wings and lack of a fluffy collar gave away that it was someone else. Similar in figure, at least. Vaati chittered something softly that sounded like "caution" but she was well-aware. A flick of her magic confirmed that it wasn't order or chaos standing before her, so this was, at the very least, safe from those.
She slowed her approach as she got close, lifting her tail and calling out,
The vulture-headed creature twisted to look down in surprise, blinking at Wilder. Then, it screamed. It wasn't terror, but instead wildly excited. But it might've been hard to tell.
Diem hopped up and down for a moment, hands pressed to vulture sort-of-cheeks.
Diem stared for a beat, hands poised, as if awaiting permission to pet the cat. But he became aware of a vague magic he'd accidentally been exuding. It had been almost automatic, like he was SO excited that he wanted the cat to be, too. Or at least to let him pet it.
@Wilder
Wilder leaped back, startled at the sudden screech that came from the creature. She glanced wildly around, in case something else had attracted its terror, but when she saw nothing and looked back, she realized she'd been mistaken. Was he...excited? She wasn't exactly sure why - she was a cat, sure, but there were a lot of cats and she wasn't a particularly special one, nor did she know him from anywhere.
Although the magical influence escaped her notice, it slowly began to unwind her caution and suspicion. He was just really friendly and excited! And that was okay with her because he seemed pretty well intentioned. Still, she was mildly taken aback by the request to pet her. She had never...really been asked that before. The only person that had ever properly "pet" her was Tamulus and he had done so in a moment of stress to calm her down. It had been nice, she remembered.
She opened an eye and glanced past him, seeing the bowl behind.
It would be ridiculous to say that Diem Dark squealed, but he did. Pale palm pressed to Wilder's head, the claws carefully upturned to avoid any unwanted scratches. Diem had clear experience petting cats; fingers rubbed the spots before her ears, and behind them, and offered (gentler) scratches to chin and jaws.
A hum of thought greeted her question, though Diem would keep petting, if Wilder allowed it.
Beside him, the tiny conjured alligator offered a single, helpful chirp, staring at Wilder too.
@Wilder
Whoever the hell this was, he was giving her possibly one of the greatest pets of her life. Which wasn't a huge margin, as she had only experienced once before, but she thought that, if she had experienced more, then this one would still take the cake. Falling into extremely affectionate cat behaviors as the best places were rubbed and lightly scratched (she particularly liked the chin scratch, she raised her head for that one, tail softly wiggling behind her) by someone who had definitely pet a cat before. Which she probably would have thought odd but she was enjoying it too much to be confused.
She most definitely allowed him to continue, although her eyes, which had been gently closed, fluttered open to look at him as he spoke. She looked at him a little oddly as he began to ramble, trying to follow his train of thought.
When he stopped petting her to turn back to the bowl, she was almost disappointed, but quickly shook herself out of the daze it had left her in, instead trotting forward to sniff the bowl as well.
When Wilder stepped for the bowl, Diem stepped back and straightened up, thinking.
After a moment's thought he opened up the flat, rectangular wooden box he'd had tucked under one arm.
gm tagging the bowl for later!
The bowl was full. Flower petals drifted--white, lavender, pink--all around her, settling in a soft carpet across the ground. A fresh bouquet had been laid in the bowl, beside a little piece of topaz and a folded piece of paper; and a creature hooded in light brown knelt before it.
'I will miss you. We will all miss you.'
A hand reached out, furred in soft gray, and brushed over the stone. The head bowed.
This was not a 'quest.'
It was a memorial; it was offerings to those who had passed.
The vision passed, and a breeze swept gently by, as if paying its respects to what Wilder had seen.
@Wilder
Wilder pulled out of the vision feeling all the energy in her drop at the realization. She quietly stepped back, ears twisting back.
She looked around and quickly snatched up a small pebble, letting some of her magic flow into it and giving it a soft, powdery blue glow, not unlike the color of that chalcedony chrysalis that had hatched a long, long time ago. She set it inside the bowl, wordlessly, and stepped back.
There was a beat of silence before Wilder looked back up to the creature, eyes wide.
He blinked again, several times, as he tried to figure out what Wilder was doing. The magic made him feel like he should do the same. It was only right; to pay a little respect to what he'd basically been accidentally insulting moments before. Or not insulting, but... not taking seriously.
For a moment he looked confused. Then he pulled out his wooden box, setting it down, popping it open; a notebook was pulled out and from that, a character sheet with pencilled scribbles. He held this up (Bitey settling at his side) and ran a clawed finger down a list, muttering too quietly to hear. Then he grimaced and tucked it all back away.
She sounded like someone who'd really been around.
@Wilder