May 16 2018, 03:58 AM
the child's chattering was momentarily ignored by prata as the snake raised herself purposefully above his height, and prata looked up at her with a subtle, suspicious glare at the obvious threat, but he did not move to escalate the situation. instead, he shifted his gaze quickly back to the child, a far more friendly smile on his face.
"why, thank you, but i'm afrai--" prata began in a gentle, friendly tone, but was quickly cut off by the child's fearful correction to their own words. worry washed over him once more, but he did his best to hide it; he knew how easy it'd been for him to misunderstand the concern of an older gembound as pity, an insult, when he was a kitten, so it'd be best to speak to this strange child the way he would an adult, more or less.
... especially if it was already being coerced by those with less pure intentions than he. even if this snake had helped the child with something, it was not grounds to demand any kind of repayment from an infant. someone had taught this child that there were dire consequences to the littlest of mistakes, more than likely, and prata could not just do nothing about that.
"hey, don't worry, i'm not going to hurt you. i have no reason to hurt a kid who made a little mistake! but, you know, there are gems like the one in my eye that aren't attached to another gembound's life source, and are okay to take. some people collect them, it's pretty cool." prata did his best to speak as casually as possible, despite his growing concern. the last bit was easy; prata loved gems, he loved his sapphire and his father's glittering blue opal, he loved the ones scattered across polaris, the "stars" on the roof of orion. they inspired his imagination of what it might be like beyond the caves, reflective and expansive and mysterious. hopefully, he thought, his positive tone would help the hybrid child relax.
he'd meant to ask their names, and to offer his, but the present situation, keeping the child calm, took precedence over that currently.
@χάος"why, thank you, but i'm afrai--" prata began in a gentle, friendly tone, but was quickly cut off by the child's fearful correction to their own words. worry washed over him once more, but he did his best to hide it; he knew how easy it'd been for him to misunderstand the concern of an older gembound as pity, an insult, when he was a kitten, so it'd be best to speak to this strange child the way he would an adult, more or less.
... especially if it was already being coerced by those with less pure intentions than he. even if this snake had helped the child with something, it was not grounds to demand any kind of repayment from an infant. someone had taught this child that there were dire consequences to the littlest of mistakes, more than likely, and prata could not just do nothing about that.
"hey, don't worry, i'm not going to hurt you. i have no reason to hurt a kid who made a little mistake! but, you know, there are gems like the one in my eye that aren't attached to another gembound's life source, and are okay to take. some people collect them, it's pretty cool." prata did his best to speak as casually as possible, despite his growing concern. the last bit was easy; prata loved gems, he loved his sapphire and his father's glittering blue opal, he loved the ones scattered across polaris, the "stars" on the roof of orion. they inspired his imagination of what it might be like beyond the caves, reflective and expansive and mysterious. hopefully, he thought, his positive tone would help the hybrid child relax.
he'd meant to ask their names, and to offer his, but the present situation, keeping the child calm, took precedence over that currently.
"meow."
others' speech.