If he seemed to watch a bit more intently while Boar tried out his name, it didn't seem to bother the little goblin - he simply watched, eyes wide and pale, ears perked up and forward. At the successful nickname, his purr seemed to crack and rumble like a strange, pleased laugh, before rolling right back to its usual thrum.

A sound that cut off completely at the child's question.

Slowly, so slowly it almost looked like it should hurt, the cat's hairless head pivoted to stare at Kerberos, one eye twitching so quickly it almost might be mistaken for a trick of the light. The only sound from the creature was the swat of his tail against the floor and the snick, snick of needlepoint teeth grinding together.

Strafe? Strafe verlangt Gerechtigkeit. Es gab keine Gerechtigkeit für Sie! Oh, how he wished he could speak, just this once - or love the dog less so he could physically express his complete and total disagreeal. Mistake! Hah! Ihre Schuld, ihre Wut, ihre Schläge. Ich werde sie rechtzeitig zurückkehren. Nichts davon war deine Schuld.

But what caught him out was simply how pleased Kerberos sounded, like the giant dog had enjoyed being tortured, warm blood spilling from his face, splattering onto the cat's bare back as he'd hid, terrified of becoming the next victim of the gigantic, monstrous jaguar.

And for the first time in his life, μικρό γυμνό παιδί did the impossible - went against every instinct coursing through his veins to always remain on good terms with his host, for safety if not comfort - and slowly, permanently wide eyes slipped into a vicious glare. The expression deepened his wrinkles, turned the odd mask-like face into something disgusting and deformed.

And then he turned away, facing one of the tunnel walls, ears pinned back and skin twitching, trying to block out more of his friend's words. It... didn't work. But he could, at least, agree with the three-headed dog's last words. The bear, the lion, the jaguar. The teeth will come for them. He would rip their minds apart from the inside out if he had to, crush their memories into dust until they wandered as children, useless shells, burdens to their clan.

Punishment.

The cold of the tunnel was starting to get to him, creep into his bones and set gooseflesh across his skin... but he still sat, glaring at the wall instead of his friend. The silence went unbroken for a long moment, before hooves - Boar, then - approached, the gentle newborn coming to rest by his side, nudging at his creased back. Reluctantly, "Mick" began to purr again; but it was strained and quiet, more for the little one's sake than his own.

He could feel Kerberos' many eyes pinned to him, whines following, heavy paws and the gentle touch of a massive tongue. The gesture, at least, made him relax by inches, ears slowly rotating back, tail moving to lay across one of the dog's paws. An almost silent stutter in the purr replaced a true chuckle of defeat at his host's misunderstanding. The utter helplessness that swirled in the cat's stomach built, and he finally let out a hissing sigh, turning his head to peer sadly at the cerberus, slowly moving to gently bump his head into Boar's snout, stepping to curl around Kerberos' front leg, purr strengthening.

It didn't matter, in the end, if his friend couldn't understand. What mattered was finding the lion, the bear, and the jaguar - and destroying them.

It seemed the little Boar was already prepared to leave - and for a moment, his mouth opened to tell her to stay. The utterly futile movement, the shame of even trying, made his jaw snap shut, and he settled for raising a paw in a solemn wave goodbye. Gone. After all, the only other Gem he'd met that had left had left for good, never to be seen again. He had no basis for any fate different - which was probably a good portion of the reason he clung so tightly to Kerberos.

Speaking of which, he only curled tighter around his paw at the thought, absently marking him with a brush of hairless cheek to white fur. The cat backed up a hair - enough for the pup to turn over his front paws - and climbed to curl up on them both, purring so hard he almost shook with it, heat soothing the tremor in his veins that came from magical strain. The nuzzle he traded for a tiny grooming session, flattening down the fur around the middle head's nose, gentle and trying to avoid the open wounds.

Sleep. Good. That, at least, he was good at, and didn't cause the sticky emotional backlash of actually trying to communicate. Eyeing his host, the cat slowly reached both front paws to gently pat at his snout, leaving them there to knead at unharmed fluff while he drifted into a doze, a teeter in his purr that spoke of at least an attempted chuckle at the dog's own growl.

Slowly but surely, wide eyes slipped shut, and Goblin's tail snaked between huge paws, a curlicue of satisfaction.

[ exit Gob ]