Alek's eyes paused blinking momentarily as Erasmus had come to a conclusion that he had not yet. "...Yeah. He probably at least suffered less. Maybe not all," His voice was gentle as he spoke.

He observed Erasmus's trembling. They had been so stressed about scratching Alek. "Sit by me, under my wing." Alek decided on a course of action.

"I'm going to tell you about my siblings, Gaheris and Kaizer. And why siblings are important for children not to grow up alone," He began.

@Erasmus

That was better than dying in pain, and they were glad for their venom. Erasmus didn't want to hurt any more gembounds though, even if their harm didn't hurt the same way. Prey they were okay hunting if need be. But... greater gembounds they never wanted to harm again.

More than willing to oblige, Erasmus cuddled up against Alek's side, under his wing. It was comforting, being close like this.

Not being alone was very important, they knew now. So the change of topic caught their interest. "What are 'siblings?'" They interrupted, since knowing about a way for a child not to be alone was important and the word was not even in their once-forgotten vocabulary.

@Alek

The question was a good sign that Erasmus was taking the change in topic well. Alek was happy to answer.

"Siblings are a type of family member. Typically, they share at least one parent. My parent Cadenza has a lot of siblings with only one shared parent," Alek began.

"I have two siblings that hatched at the same time as me, and we all have different stones taken from prey, but our shared parents are Cadenza and Sprig. Siblings that hatch at the same time as you are clutchmates," Alek explained.

He then paused to allow for more questions, or perhaps even the conclusion that he was trying to lead Erasmus to.

@Erasmus

"...Child not grow up alone, have siblings?" Erasmus asked as soon as they had processed the words, looking at the gemstone in their arms.

They were puzzled for a moment. Taking stones from a lesser didn't sit right to them. But then they remembered Alek's explanation of stone-giving. "...Alek... give stone? Erasmus magic?"

And that was something they had forgotten as well. They wondered if they could make other things move like they had toppled the prey they had caught for Alek. But it was clear they had magic.

They had never seen Alek use magic, so the other would prefer to give stone, they imagined. "Stone-giving safe?" They double-checked.

@Alek

"Yeah, I can give stones," Alek agreed, pleased Erasmus had followed his hints. "Two, so that it has two siblings like I did."

"We'll both be parents to all three," Alek added. "That way they all have two parents."

"Stone-giving isn't dangerous, I promise," He answered.

Then he tilted his head, wondering if Erasmus had any more questions for now.

@Erasmus

Erasmus purred contently at the idea of parenting alongside Alek. If Alek said stone-giving wasn't dangerous, they trusted him.

And maybe being parents together was almost like Alek considering them family as well. That was unlikely, but... It was a nice idea.

"Tell about Gaheris and Kaizer," Erasmus announced, with no more questions. Happy to listen to Alek's stories of family.

[Exit Erasmus and Alek]