She stared blankly at the paw, and snorted laughter. "Did you roll for that-? It's more like-..." and when they'd removed a hand, she demonstrated: slapping her own palms lightly, one to the other. "Like that. But good job anyway." She didn't explain the 'roll' thing, instead eyeing her die. Diem knelt, setting the little glowing gator down; it chirped and wandered a few feet off, then laid there lazily.

She opened up the wooden box, sliding the die in amongst the others, and amongst the pen, pencil, notebook and so forth. "There we go." The case was snapped shut, her familiar picked back up, and she fired another weird skull-grin at Yanyue.

"I'm down! I mean--yeah, let's do it! If you don't mind? And since it's a favor, is there anything I can give you in turn?" she asked, smiling at Yanyue. Fair play was her watchword; she didn't want to be asking for things and giving nothing in return! But... Forge? Was it the one she was thinking of? They were close to there... right? The caves had always been a bit of a maze to her; without a map in front of her face, she wasn't sure where to go. Not to mention all the fractured memories that had not, by design, made it here. But when she thought of 'Forge,' her mind conjured up fear, purple skin and lots of teeth.

Fuck it, she thought. This is an adventure!

Diem was just as enthusiastic about the collar, in turn. "Oh, cool. Wait, is Freedom its name-? It's, like, enchanted, right?" She bent down, leaning in to peer at it. "Magic's frigging amazing, isn't it?! Congratulations!"

Yanyue's question, though, gave her pause. She turned, flaring out one black wing and eyeing it. "Feathers. ...Huh. Uhhhhhhhhhhh. I'm gonna say... no, for now? I've never tried 'em out before and I don't want to smash face-first into the rock. Unless you're okay with, like... going really slow and probably landing any time there's rocks anywhere nearby. As in--I could try when we're in a more open space?" She sounded unsure, but also like she hated to disappoint the little dragon.

In the meantime, she cradled her familiar in her arms. "I gotta carry this little guy, too, though. So..."

Diem paused, staring off into the middle distance as she desperately tried to think of some way to make this work. "Maybe if you sort of hang on around my neck..? But you'd have to steer clear of my wings. Or you could carry this one, and I can carry you in turn. But--I mean, is there open space on the way there?"

She could see it now, in her mind's eye. Flaring out her wings, leaping into the air, arcing gracefully into a harsh belly-flop directly on the stone below. Or careening wildly out of control into a tree.

...She'd rather play it safe than make that her first experience with flying.

'Yeah, there's plenty of open space in the next cave over...' Diem waited until Yanyue had finished speaking, and offered a short, enthusiastic "Hell, yeah," in response. Then she knelt. It took a moment to reshuffle everything: to offer her glowing, ethereal alligator hatchling out to Yanyue (as if, somehow, one could carry light... and yet, Yanyue would find that they could); to settle her Dungeon Master box onto the floor; to then lift Yanyue like a scarf around the back of her neck and carefully balance herself as she stood straight with the box returned to her arms.

"You good?" she asked.

The back of her neck was a strange place to be. It was a relatively long neck, for a humanoid; one that arched up and forward, a hunch that might be difficult to cling to. It was well-muscled, almost horse-like or draconic on its own, but covered in that thick, somewhat greasy black mane hanging tangled like mythical Kelpie hair.

Diem didn't move yet, though. The front of her wings--the part that rose up from her shoulders--might bump Yanyue as she walked; or they might slip and fall. She wanted to make sure they were comfortable before she started off!

Diem set off. It wasn't fast, and it was a little awkward, what with a glowing alligator hatchling (occasionally chirping) along with a wooden box in her arms, but it was cheerful. She hummed to herself now and then, and the vulture's skull-like head turned this way and that, often gazing up and around her in absolute awe.

Now and again she asked Yanyue if they were 'good,' but other than that, she was committed to a journey.