Politely sized rat: check. The wily thing was still some two feet long and gross, but Eythan took the liberty to give the damn thing a bath. Y'know, to make it more desirable and accommodating. He even waited for it to dry. There was likely never a cleaner rat in these Caves.
The rodent was held in one talon, swinging by its limp head.
A bundle of particularly soft grass was clutched in the other. He'd sampled a few blades of it, and it tasted (predictably) like grass. That was good enough for him. Luxury wasn't to be expected in this particular cave. You learned to deal with what you have - but there was no harm in establishing good standing, right? That was what the bones said. The bones weren't wrong... usually, anyways.
With a huff, the gryphon glided towards where he thought he might've seen snotfa -
But in that day, things had... changed. He lay atop a stone outcrop, stiff, his legs folded beneath him and his gaze, somehow glazed, sweeping to and fro over the bones. He seemed to be contemplative, in turn staring with a haunted expression or glaring at this bone, or that. The voice startled him, and had Eythan known Rezik, he might have spotted the telltale signs of stress. His fur wasn't immaculately groomed; his nostrils were flared, his body tense.
He almost looked like a regular ol' Gembound; but for Rezik, to stoop so far as to seem average was near-unforgivable.
He relaxed at the sight of Eythan, at least a little, and sighed haughtily through his nose, head raising a little. "Yes? What do you want?" There was bored arrogance in it, though whether it was forced was anybody's guess.
@Eythan
Eythan wasn't a very observant fellow (see: the entire incident with his father's downward spiral and his own) but even he could see when he'd spooked someone. Ears flickering back, the gryphon chirped, lowering his head in a placating gesture,
The gryphon stepped aside, propping himself up a little against the dinner-rock.
"It isn't very much, is it?" he sniffed after a moment, again quite haughtily. He gave no thanks, no acknowledgement of Eythan's apology.
After a moment he pushed up, reaching for the grass, and took a nibble. He immediately made a face. "Terribly dry," he complained.
@Eythan
It was not very much, Eythan could agree with, but the guy could've at least shown some gratitude. The gryphon simply sighed, giving a half-hearted shrug to keep himself from dwelling too much on the fact.
Rezik went for the grass anyways (and Eythan was taking notes) and his flat face went less flat. It was more of a grimace. This conclusion was matched with the complaint that it was dry. Again, the gryphon sighed and shrugged. But, this time, he swished his tail to the side and waved a talon.
He quickly added,
A quiet invitation to get off the proverbial high horse.
Rezik took another slow bite, as if disdainfully forcing himself to eat such low-quality trash; and then he looked around, slowly, as he chewed. His gaze drifted over the bones of Canis, and he spoke further. "I have never been here." There was extreme snootiness in his voice, here, completely incongruous with the words themselves. His emphasis wasn't anywhere in particular, bar perhaps a little on the word "been," and somehow there was the faintest waver in it, despite the brash rudeness of his tone. He even added a little sniff of distaste, afterward, before looking around again.
"I would have thought that the-..." Rezik faltered, trailing off, and then raised his head sharply, as if gathering himself. "-the bones would have offered rich fertilizer." He then stared at Eythan, taking another bite, as if challenging him to disagree.
@Eythan
Eythan grumbled, parroting Rezik parroting himself,
The odd deer hadn't visited this room, if that much hadn't been immediately obvious. Eythan pressed anyways with a furrowed brow,
But when Eythan spoke of paying the bones a little mind, Rezik fell quiet. He studied the creature before him for a long moment before replying--still haughty, but more quietly, more seriously. "Pay them mind-? Child, do you know whose bones these are..? That is dangerous thinking. Very dangerous."
Eyes narrowed, and studied Eythan closely, Rezik falling silent for now.
@Eythan
It looked a bit like the fellow was hiding. Eythan remained still in the face of the huffing and puffing, only tilting his head,
Was it really that dangerous to not disrespect the dead? Bearing in mind -
Eythan didn't have hopes that he'd change someone's thinking in a day, but he may as well take the bait and keep running along with it.
"Are you a fool?" he asked, at last, very quietly. It was as though he were so shocked by Eythan's words that he could barely manage voice past a whisper. "Do you wish the masters to flay you alive-?" He rose up, tensing, as if he might actually flee the conversation out of fear of what might happen, as if he felt Astraea might simply, suddenly appear. He looked around, wide-eyed, and then leaned a little toward Eythan. His voice became a low snarl. "I will tell you this for your own good. The Masters have slept, but their rule is not-... this," he said, looking around with a grimace. "They will demand respect! They will demand obedience! 'Rebel scum' indeed--these were the worst of us. The fools. The traitors. Do you understand?"
He took a step closer, and then another, feverish intensity flaring in his maddened eyes. Desperate for Eythan to grasp this, for some reason. "The traitors. Traitors. Do you understand?"
@Eythan