Dragon lifted his head, turning to peer at the newcomer. He was busy with the nest, nudging bits this way and that, his overprotective "dad instincts" already getting the better of him. "Greetings," he rumbled, taking a moment nevertheless to acknowledge the stranger. "I am Dragon. This is the home of the Children of Rot." It... seemed that Sniffles, though speaking simply, was addressing everything else with remarkable... directness? He hesitated; it seemed awkward phrasing but he'd leave it to them, for now. No point in talking over them, or trying to further explain things when they'd already so bluntly stated it.

But he made it clear, through his sidelong body language and periodic glances, that he was open to further conversation if the stranger wanted to address him personally--or if Sniffles had questions.

His snout dipped into the mud, bringing more up from muck to slope the sides of the nest.

"Purpose?" Dragon asked, absently, from his tending of the nest. He glanced up, a little quizzically, and gave Yanyue a little more attention than he had previously.

It was unusual to run into one so... formal. He found his eyes narrowing a little, in suspicion. The speech patterns and color made him wonder, and so he tested the waters with a brief flicker of magic-... But no. He sensed no odd spells emanating from them, no attempt to cast... whatever weird effects the Hive used. Not actively, anyway.

With a mental shrug he went back to his business, speaking absently. "Survival. Your presence here is not well-timed, stranger. A parent does not like unknown creatures prowling around a fresh nest. Are you here for something-?" His tone wasn't rude, exactly. It was direct, though; if Yanyue were there to search for someone, he could point them in the right direction, but a wholly unknown Gembound wandering past one of the Children of Rot's nesting grounds, just as they reproduced? It was indeed ill-timed. If anything, Dragon was already wondering if he should dig it all up, and move it somewhere else entirely--for secrecy's sake, if nothing else.

So far as he was concerned, their other questions were nobody's business--and thus far he had no real reason to trust it with an answer. Any other day... perhaps. But then, maybe they would forget that they had asked.

Or maybe "survival" was enough of an answer, altogether.

Dragon glanced over, bemused. The stranger's demeanor had changed, and was less... suspicious, now. Apologetic, even. He grunted and shook his head, his tone humorous. "I did introduce myself--I am Dragon," he repeated, his perpetual grin behind the words. "That is my name--not what I am, but who." He assumed Yanyue had mistaken his name for his species. "I am not one for tea; I apologize but we don't have that here." Maybe they should.

Maybe Aquarian drank tea.

Dragon had no idea, honestly.

He went back to nest-building, while listening in, and only briefly glanced up to speak further.

"Parenting is a responsibility," he warned mildly; "a time investment. Be ready to raise a child--unless you are leaving the stone?" he added, glancing Sniffles' way. He wasn't sure who Yanyue was offering it to, but he'd not refuse a new Child of Rot, of course. That was up to Sniffles to accept--or not.