Even with his preparations, Attikias still needed to eat. He didn't eat meat all of the time, even with his jerky utterly demolished- sometimes, he just wanted a bit of dried fruit. There was definitely some provisions needed if he was heading out from the camp for an extended period of time. What if he couldn't find the familiar fruits and animals so far away? No, security would be good.

And so, he kept his bag by his side, walking along pathways and through the jungle to retrieve fruits. His search had been overall awful so far. Everything low-hanging had been consumed, and a lot of things higher up had been consumed too. Things on the jungle floor, so far, were just a bit too rotten, and Attikias was going to be picky if he needed this to last for a cycle.

It'd take some time, time that could be used on hunting, but he couldn't survive well on just the one source of food.

If the elf was but a blur, then Titanite was nearly a tree itself to Attikias's mind- he'd seen the hybrid, too, in passing, and only wrote him off as an odd plant growth. He didn't think Titanite capable of motion, much less speech, so when a voice like the surrounding woods came to him he startled.

His hands flexed out as he dropped a rotten fruit he was inspecting, jumping and turning on his heel to stare up at Titanite. There was disbelief in the gaze, and Titanite was looking to him. Titanite. Isn't that a gem? It looked kind of like-

Ah. A Vargas kid. Attikias relaxed visibly and dropped his shoulders, folding his hands behind his back as he peered up warmly. "I do live here. I've seen you around before. I'm Attikias- we've never had the chance to talk, I guess." Was the titanite always busy photosynthesizing or something? He did look like a plant.

In any case, Attikias approached gently, like he was meeting an old acquaintance for the first time in years. "I'm guessing your gem's a titanite, then? ... Why don't you have ah, alpha part or something, to your name? Actually- no, that's rude," the elf interrupted himself, holding out his hands and shaking his head. "I certainly don't have an alpha part to my name. Or- well, maybe Alpha's a family name?" He cut himself short again, shaking his head a bit more this time. He was still a bit flustered from realizing that a) Titanite was probably Alpha's sibling, and b) he was alive. Right, reset. "Sorry. It's good to meet you, finally. Nevermind about the Alpha, family thing."

That would do. He dipped, slightly, with a nod of a bow and an awkward smile. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot.

The elf had waited patiently as Titanite thought- it wasn't unfamiliar to Attikias for other parties to take their time with it, and he found himself comforted by the familiar lull of conversation akin to Vivilene's. He perked when his name was spoken and gave a soft, encouraging nod to the pronunciation.

Part of his being nearly started to interrupt, finally accustomed to other beings rather than his family again, but he waited. There would have to be a lot of it- conversation didn't always need to move fast, after all. With his hands still over the small of his back, Attikias watched gently as Titanite creaked, revelling in the thoughtful silence. It was nice. Something about him brought out the noises of the plantlife to the forefront of Attikias's mind, the way he moved and caressed the canopy above him.

How many children does Vargas have? Wait- doesn't that mean he's technically a part of the family, too, with Alpha's kid? He halted thought briefly as his face tightened, his gaze glancing down to the jungle floor. Huh. There were a lot of families he could be connected to, he figured- he didn't even know if someone had just made him with another and left him or if he came into being like others, after all.

His tail swayed a bit more as Titanite's words returned him to the present. There was patience as he waited for the thought to finish, but he smiled once more, hands coming back around to clasp in front of him. "I haven't met many other people, other than my family, recently, too." His head cocked for a moment. He'd been getting out a little more, yes- less carving and more interacting. "There's... Comfort, in the silence, sometimes. A peace, though, you know?"

Attikias's eyes lifted to the trees. Being bad at conversation was fine with him- it wasn't anything he was unused to, with Vivilene at peace with being quiet around him. But the previous thought came to him- he hated to bring up poor memories, if they did give them to Titanite.

Still. For the sake of conversation, he continued. "I, uh. I have a kid, related to you, I think. You'd be their-" Did plants have gender? He paused for a moment, thinking. "Uncle?" That might work. "I don't know where they are- but I guess that makes us family too, huh?" He laughed gently. "I've always found... Gentler family, to be better than some people."

He didn't blame Titanite for not existing with Vargas and Alpha. They seemed to be very driven, while the Titanite was at peace here- and he was happy for the tree-beast. Adding in another thought, though, he half-blurted, "How long have you been here?" He'd come to the elf's awareness a while back, but who knew if there was an older party in this situation. Another half of him also wondered- did 'live here' mean that spot, specifically, or Eridanus as a whole?

Would he invite yet another Gembound to his camp? That place was getting a bit full...

Attikias liked this conversation, he'd decided. It was calm, like a slow breeze, rather than the rapid-fire worrying his mind had grown accustomed to in the past few days. He didn't know if Titanite's pure lack of involvement in his father's side of the family- instead, he kind of started to like him even more just from the assumption that he managed to remain wispy while talking with them.

The elf could see Titanite thinking at the length of time, and he in turned thought of his own length, contemplating. He'd been here for some time, as well, settling in with his camp and family and general everything. Very young would be his own guess for himself, and he nodded at Titanite's similar answer.

He perked at the question. "Uncle-" he halted. Was that wrong? Why did he know the word, even? "It's... Like aunt, it means you're the sibling of the person who had a kid. So, ah, they'd be your niece or nephew, in turn, since they're the child of your sibling. I don't think it matters which one you use, aunt or uncle or niece-nephew."

Family semantics were weird. "It's complicated, I guess. Fancy words for family."

He watched as Titanite pushed his magic to the ground. It looked painful as plants began to spur up, wrapping around his limbs and digging into him. What was the point..? Attikias glanced up when TItanite spoke again, blinking. Ah.

It was funny. Titanite was much like an older Vivilene- had she known about this son-of-Vargas as she knew about Alpha? Had she been rolling watermelons to him, too? He huffed out a laugh with a slight smile, conjuring the mental image. Perhaps he could ask her about him some time.

But, new life. Attikias drew his head up, blinking gently. "Ah-" he brought his hands up, tapping them together. "For... Life, like you and I? One usually gives their stone, and the other gives their magic. Like, if I took some of my stone," and here he brought his right hand up to thumb over his selenite, trying to look at it. He could feel the few scores in its surface from his other children, solid reminders of their existences. "and you take some of your magic and place it into the shard. It'll solidify itself to the ground and grow in about a cycle or two, and eventually make life."

Leave it to Attikias to teach a plant about the birds and the bees. But, Titanite seemed to have a reason to ask, and a thought formulated in the back of his head. An eyebrow perked as he peered back up to Titanite.

"Did you want to try?"

Titanite would be given all the time in the world as far as Attikias was concerned- it's not like he had anywhere else to be in the moment. Even as he had to crane to look up to the tree beast, he hadn't found his neck aching or anything, yet, so things were going pretty good.

He straightened up as Titanite took the opportunity at hand. "Ah! Okay, uh-" He bent down, holding his hand out over his gem and focusing. "Wait-" He glanced around beforehand. There was a lot of debris in the area, and the elf removed his hand to clear a small space. There, that'd be good to plant a chrysalis.

Could he remember his way here? He looked up and gauged the direction he came from, squinting into the distance. He'd be fine.

Right. Life. Taking in a breath, now that he was ready, Attikias brought his hand up to catch a piece of his stone that popped off of his shoulder. It was small- as was many of his other chips and nocks into it- but it would be enough. Presented between his index and thumb, he held it up for Titanite to inspect.

"Here. Now, put your magic into the stone, and it'll hatch in about a cycle."

He didn't mean to have this smile on his face, but it was genuine, and it was warm. Pride's words came to him- being a good person seemed to pass down, after all, and, well.

It felt good to bring more good beings into the world.