Crouched in the corner of the room, staring blankly ahead, Lyra shivered. She couldn't get the memory out of her head of what had just happened. She couldn't get the taste of blood out of her mouth. The agate chrysalis was sitting next to her, almost traitorous in its innocence. She couldn't just leave it alone but...she knew she would have to leave soon.

Her nose twitched, more out of nerves then anything else, and she faintly caught a scent. Someone nearby? Someone approaching? Curiosity was one of her weaknesses. It was probably the reason she had collected a fair few scars over the cycles, but she couldn't help herself. And, besides, she couldn't just sit her and mope. She'd done what was necessary - if she stayed here, she'd go crazy.

Giving the gemstone one last touch with her muzzle, she stepped out, following the scent until she caught sight of a small creature digging through the ground. Eating? She tilted her head as she approached. "What are you doing?"

Termites? Lyra shivered. That was kinda gross. She didn't really like bugs at all - spiders and all that grossed her out a little bit. They were too small and they had too many legs. And she'd spent enough time in Eridanus to know that it wasn't pleasant when they started crawling all over you. But she wasn't rude, so instead of voicing this opinion, she instead offered, "Oh, that's pretty cool!"

Her tail swished behind her. "That's a nice name. I'm Lyra. Did someone name you too or did you just come up with it yourself?" She wasn't naive enough to know that everyone had parents - she was lucky to have such a loving family behind her, but most gembound just...emerged. Like that. It was kinda weird, honestly, and Lyra couldn't help but be curious about how that was possible, but, whatever.

Her eyes widened a bit. Dang, was this kid observant! "Oh, how did you know that?" She looked back at herself and realized...well, it wasn't exactly a secret. Her face was wolfish, she had scales, and her tail was literally just a peacock tail. But the cobra bit..."How did you know about the cobra part?"

Lyra nodded, interested. Well, at least, she made herself interested. It was a good distraction, listening to someone else talk about themselves. A streak of self-consciousness pressed against her mind and she licked her lips, a lingering metallic taste still clutching to her taste buds. Her stomach turned at the thought, but she pushed it down. "It's a good name! My mother named me." She said it without thinking and even just saying the word made her insides seize up. And she only grew colder when Erzu said something about...smelling emotions?! That was...incredible was her first reaction. She had some of that ability as well, but only when it was really strong emotions - fear, for example. But that also meant that Erzu might be able to smell the lingering sense of horror and disgust that she just couldn't push away.

Quick! Steer the conversation away!

Desperately, her eyes moved with Erzu to stare at the mound she was eating from. "Can I try?" she blurted out suddenly. To be honest, she didn't really want to, but it was, well, a new experience. And no matter what, it would certainly be a good distraction.

Lyra stepped forward, legs feeling a little stiff. Aw shit, was she really doing this? Well, no turning back now. Plus, she was interested.

She leaned over the mound, sniffing curiously before sticking her tongue right into the ground. She felt something touch her tongue - a lot of somethings - and she yelped, quickly retracting it into her mouth, despite all of her instincts screaming at her to do otherwise. She swallowed, but it wasn't before she felt stinging sensations all over her tongue as the termites bit her. She flinched back, letting out a disgusted bark. "Ow!" She licked her lips to try and get rid of that sensation, swallowing over and over to wash down the disgusting taste.

She shook her head frantically. "Oh, oh man I'm not doing that again. You can have all the termites if you want." She coughed, spitting and constantly scratching at her tongue with her teeth. Yeah...she wasn't doing that again.

Lyra nodded, still licking her teeth with her tongue to try and scratch at those painful bites. "Yeah, I know. I usually just eat whatever - not bugs, though." Eventually, she gave up and just swallowed again, cringing. "Yeah, mice taste better then this. And leaves. I like raspberries," she added as an afterthought, as if chasing conversation.

She looked up and blinked with surprise when Erzu all of a sudden just turned around and left. "Uh, yeah. See you." She watched the aardvark leave, a little concerned. Why would she leave in the middle of a conversation like that?

She turned in the opposite direction, quickly pushing the kid to the back of her mind. She needed something to eat. Quickly, before that taste drove her crazy. She could taste mouse on the air and strode forward, slowing down as she approached where the scent was coming from. She crouched and eyed the place until she saw a little brown body.

With a quick leap, she landed on top of it and dispatched it quickly, eating it down before the taste of blood brought back that memory again. But it worked - she couldn't taste the termites anymore, only the mouse.