Diem was singing to himself as he reached the braziers at the tunnel's end. "I can be brown, I can be blue, I can be violet sky..." His singing voice was not great, but today it was inexplicably male, and if anything higher-pitched than it'd been when feminine. There was good reason to sing, at least. This tunnel was gorgeous. He hadn't known about this one: there were places he didn't know, or couldn't remember, from the... what had it been? An overview? Instruction? Or just... memories? Dreams, maybe. Dreams layered upon dreams; that's what made the world go 'round. Or something. In any case, the constant rush of wild water, the steep cliffs and their mossy forests, the wisteria grove and the fresh air-... It was definitely his sort of place.

"I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like..." The singing then turned to humming, and some muttered, half-sung admission that Diem did not, in fact, know any other lyrics to this song. He paused, glancing down into the water. "...Bitey? You down there, bro?"

A squeak answered. "Dunno why I asked. It's not like we're magically telepathically linked or anything. Cool. Just be careful, okay? That water's fast." The translucent blue alligator hatchling squeaked again--a sound like lasers firing--and kept cutting happily through the river below. Diem Dark shrugged, and made his way to the braziers burning at the end. A moment was spent studying the overgrowth of crystals and glowing plants, and then the empty bowl and pillar, and the ever-burning purple-blue flames in the braziers to either side. "Oh, that's cool. Why didn't I think to ask for some eternal fire? I want that," he said aloud, reaching over to see if the flames would warm his hands. His own glowing violet eyes fell to the empty bowl. "That's a fucking quest if I ever saw one. That. Right there." He pointed to the bowl. The little alligator caught up, eyed the bowl, eyed Diem, eyed the bowl again, and chirped.

"No, it's a quest. Something's gotta go in there. It's empty. Look at it." His voice was intense, but not unkind.

The alligator squeaked.

"I'm TELLING you! -What do you know about quests?! Grand adventures? Missions given from forces on high!? It's a giant, empty, stone bowl! It's BEGGING for... something." But he couldn't think of what, so he just sort of stood there, looking around and going back to humming.

The vulture-headed creature twisted to look down in surprise, blinking at Wilder. Then, it screamed. It wasn't terror, but instead wildly excited. But it might've been hard to tell.

Diem hopped up and down for a moment, hands pressed to vulture sort-of-cheeks. "A CAT! AHHHHHHH! I'm so excited--HELLO! I'm Diem Dark, uh, didn't mean to scream--not a good first impression--can I pet you?" Already he was kneeling, sounding absolutely thrilled. "I was arguing, yeah." A thumb jabbed out to indicate the glowing, ethereal baby alligator. It looked at the thumb, looked at Wilder, and chirped its laser sound. "...This guy, am I right? Bitey thinks this bowl doesn't look like a quest."

Diem stared for a beat, hands poised, as if awaiting permission to pet the cat. But he became aware of a vague magic he'd accidentally been exuding. It had been almost automatic, like he was SO excited that he wanted the cat to be, too. Or at least to let him pet it. "Uh, I did magic all over. Sorry," he said, though he still sounded more enthusiastic than anything.

It would be ridiculous to say that Diem Dark squealed, but he did. Pale palm pressed to Wilder's head, the claws carefully upturned to avoid any unwanted scratches. Diem had clear experience petting cats; fingers rubbed the spots before her ears, and behind them, and offered (gentler) scratches to chin and jaws. "I missed cats," he said dreamily.

A hum of thought greeted her question, though Diem would keep petting, if Wilder allowed it. "Well--you know when something's kinda out of place, or it's missing something? And then the second you figure out a sort of puzzle, something happens?! Like..." He thought, for a moment, struggling to come up with an example.

"...Like you find a keyhole with no key. So you go and ask around, and find the key, and it lets you open a door! ...And then there's treasure behind the door? But, I don't know... there's a monster guarding it, or it leads to more dangerous rooms, or... something! This thing," he added, leaning down to gently rap the bowl with the knuckle of his spare hand, "it looks like it's meant to have something in it. I just don't know what. ...Do you know anything about this place?" he asked hopefully, blinking at Wilder.

Beside him, the tiny conjured alligator offered a single, helpful chirp, staring at Wilder too.

When Wilder stepped for the bowl, Diem stepped back and straightened up, thinking. "I haven't tried! I only just got here, actually. About-... uhh," and he looked behind him down the tunnel, as if running mental calculations. "...Two minutes before you? Maybe?"

After a moment's thought he opened up the flat, rectangular wooden box he'd had tucked under one arm. "I don't have much with me, but there's rocks and plants here we could try. Um. I've got..." Black cloth ruffled as he knelt. The box's little latches were popped open, and he picked through what lay inside: a pencil, a pen, a notebook and some papers with writing scribbled on them... a few dice that clacked satisfyingly as he shuffled them away with his claws. "I could try some of this stuff, maybe?"

"...Oh." Well, that was sobering. Diem blinked, staring at the bowl and feeling stupid. Not because he'd been excited, but because this should've been a solemn, sacred sort of place and he'd been happily hoping for adventure to stem from it. This wasn't adventure, it was... sad.

He blinked again, several times, as he tried to figure out what Wilder was doing. The magic made him feel like he should do the same. It was only right; to pay a little respect to what he'd basically been accidentally insulting moments before. Or not insulting, but... not taking seriously.

For a moment he looked confused. Then he pulled out his wooden box, setting it down, popping it open; a notebook was pulled out and from that, a character sheet with pencilled scribbles. He held this up (Bitey settling at his side) and ran a clawed finger down a list, muttering too quietly to hear. Then he grimaced and tucked it all back away. "Nothing useful," he said, "not for this." He eyed the bowl sadly. "Thanks for putting something in there, then. I'll have to come back once I've got something I can put in. I'd pick flowers, but... I hate doing that." A pause, then a glance at Wilder: "Andromeda sounds pretty cool. I guess I'll visit there next. It's not dangerous, is it?"

Wait, my name? He thought back, then offered an apologetic laugh. "I think I gave it but then I didn't ask for yours, and I'm pretty sure I talked way too much." It didn't surprise him that it'd slipped by in his clusterfuck of excited words. "Sorry. Diem Dark--that is my name. Diem or Dark is fine, or just... whatever. Nice to meet you, Wilder." Still kneeling, he peered at Wilder a moment longer. "How do you know all this stuff?" he asked, curiously.

She sounded like someone who'd really been around.