The continued contact had Seshat's eyes fluttering closed. It felt...nice. To be touched. Not by the gem that contsantly weighed down on her, not by the stale, motionless air of Polaris, or the occasional spark of heavily consentrated magic that danced across her body...no, because that was all lifeless. Emotionless. There was no intention behind it, no warmth. But the elf's hand brushing against her fur, gentle, calming...it was something else and Seshat internally hoped that he'd never leave. She wished that he could just keep petting her like that. It felt so nice just to have someone.

But cold rationality came a moment later and blew away whatever traces of that hope she had. He couldn't stay here forever. He couldn't even stay by her for very long - he'd get bored. He had other things to do, another cave that he called home. He probably had other people that he cared about more, that entertained him more, that he could do things with, instead of sitting next to the poor leopard cub that couldn't move out of her gemstone.

He wasn't doing this because he wanted to, she'd already convinced herself. It was because he pitied her, probably. Because she couldn't do things for herself he felt morally obligated to do them. After all, what monster would just walk past her without doing something to help.

So she didn't really believe him at first when he contradicted her thoughts. She thought she already had him figured out. Still, she didn't say as much, forcing a smile onto her face as if she accepted hi answer. "Th-thank you," she rasped, voice cracking from the dryness in her throat. She expected him to fall silent, or maybe to talk more. Offer to help more. But she didn't really expect that gentle nose boop that he gave her - a silly little response that had her blinking with surprise.

Warmth crept back in. A more genuine smile softened her features as she sighed into the scratching he was giving her jaw. Her mind was still whirling, trying to drag her back down, and she remembered that one coping mechanism she'd figured out right away that always seemed to help her stay focused. To think about something else. "Hey, Attikias? Can you...maybe...tell me a story? It can be anything, it doesn't have to be exciting. I just...I wanna hear about your life. In the other caves and stuff."

@Attikias

Maybe his sweetness felt artificial- it certainly felt like he might be coming off that way- but he did genuinely mean it. After all, more friends were always welcome, weren’t they? It wasn’t like he was busy with a job or a task or anything, not anymore.

Her smile lifted his heart. ”You’re welcome,” he hummed out first, still kneeling down. He hesitated at the request, though, mind blanking out of his worries. ”A story?” He pulled back his hand and rested it under his chin, moving back from his kneeling position to cross his legs and prop his elbows on them. ”A story…” He repeated himself as he tapped his fingers together, searching idly into the distance.

”Hmm- maybe I could tell you about… There’s the time I met a huge dragon, bigger than you and I, with huge wings and and even bigger love for gold.” The fanfare came immediately and his arms raised above him to accent just how big this so-called dragon was. ”His name’s Dread, and he lives past a tunnel of tools and weapons that have the gold he wants. But, he’s grown too big to look through them, so now he’s stuck in a really windy room and he trades the stuff he’s found for the gold he wants. Or- I guess he just trades stuff to get things to trade for gold.”

He chuckled a little, resting his head back on his hands. ”I made a deal with him to make a little statue of him in exchange for stuff. He has a lot of charcoal, but I really only wanted some, but I think he wants to give me this giant pile he’s got sort of gathered together. Next time I see him I’m gonna get some stuff- maybe I can get you anything? He’s got a lot of gems, and some weapons that he’s gotten from the part of the tunnel he can get to, and a bunch of neat things like that.”

He paused, tail thumping on the dusty ground of Polaris. ”There’s also this bird he works with- I think his name is Glory? Something like that- who makes his gold for him. I think he lives in that windy cave too- Monoceros, I mean. I don’t really know a lit about him, but his gem was really neat, it was like- like fire on his forehead, kinda.” His finger trailed up his own in comparison. ”Meanwhile, Dread was talking to him like a friend, so I’m guessing they’ve done deals before. And- Dread’s got this really cool marking that kinda glows like lava down his sides.” The finger that was at his head turned to his own side, other arm raising as he made a trail down the side. ”I dunno if he was made with it or if it’s some kinda dye, but it’s really pretty.”

@Seshat

Seshat listened with wide eyes, her gaze following Attikias's arms as he gestured about the size of the dragon. She didn't know what a "dragon" was, she'd never met one before, but obviously it had wings and that was already a reason to envy it. No. You stop that now. Listen to the story. A big dragon, which was some kind of winged creature, in a windy cave. She wondered what that windy cave was like. She chuckled just a little bit. "Gold must be very important to him." For some reason.

She stared at Attikias with awe. "You can make little statues? That's so cool! You must be very talented." The cheeriness in her tone sounded a little forced, still dry from her tears before, but she seemed to be raising her own spirits by pretending her best that she was happy. She was invested, at least, and that was helping. She smiled a little bitterly, though, at his offer. "No, that's okay. I don't really need things. I can't really do anything with them." But then an idea popped into her head and she blinked. "But, uh, maybe...if there's any, like, different kinds of food I could try...I don't know that would be nice." She requested quite sheepishly, but really the thought of being able to experience even a sliver of the world, through taste, was very very exciting to her.

She tried to imagine what a gem that looked like fire would even look like. Or what Glory even looked like. If he made gold...maybe he looked like Attikias? With arms and stuff. "So Dread and Glory live in a windy cave called Monoceros. Glory makes gold and Dread hoards it. Dread trades things and has really cool markings like lava." She smiled brightly, far more genuine this time. "I'd love to meet them someday. Thank you for the story." It wasn't really much of a story, but any kind of knowledge Seshat gathered jealously. It was really the only thing she could have, after all.

@Attikias

Attikias chuckled at Seshat's interjection. "I guess so. I'unno why he likes it so much." He had to keep his spirits high for her- keep her distracted from her situation. He nodded to her pointing out his statues while he was continueing his story, hand in his bag already to give an example. "Pretty much!" He affirmed her take-away from it all, smiling to her. "I hope you will. I think Dread would like to come here- heck, he might be big enough to carry you."

He was big, after all. "But- yeah! Little statues- I carry some around, usually," he idly spoke as he blindly fumbled for one in particular. Ah- there. A blocky deer was retrieved from the bag and brought up level between them. "It's not done," he explained, turning it over slowly for her to see. "But I got the basics down. This is a deer." The last part was added quickly as an afterthought- if she'd never seen one before, maybe this was her chance? "Oh! Maybe- Well, I know you say you don't want things, but maybe I could um... Make things, to show you what things look like. Like-" No, making a whole scale model of Eridanus was a bit too out of reach. "Maybe some other animals you wouldn't be able to see here." Did the foliage here even support the same ecosystem in Eridanus?

He glanced around and shook his head. "But- I understand, if you don't want things." One hand idly rubbed at the back of his neck as the other returned to the bag. He rummaged for a second- then turned his attention down, both hands now looking about in there. "Speaking of things-" He pulled out a beast of a carving- an old, knocked one, that wasn't really up to snuff to his current style, but it worked. "I have a story about this one."

It was a little Overseer. "I don't think I've really told anyone else it, if you wanna hear?"

@Seshat

Seshat blinked - the best shrug she could do - and purred happily. "That'd be very nice of him to do that! He must be pretty big if he can carry me." And that wasn't putting herself down - that was simple awe. She understood how heavy she must be. She could feel the weight of the gemstone covering her skin and couldn't imagine trying to pick her up AND fly. That'd be quite a feat.

She watched with wide, interested eyes as Attikias pulled statues out of his bag, showing the unfinished deer to her and she paused. "Oh, hey! That looks a bit like my friend Xevir." The mention of the name had a bitter taste rising in the back of her mouth - a reminder that he had left her, bored of her, leaving her behind here, but she didn't let it show. A sudden fear that Attikias would leave her forever as well came to the forefront of her mind and she suddenly wanted to beg him to stay - to ask him more and more question to keep him here forever with her so that she wouldn't have to be alone, but she forced herself to stop there. She pulled her attention to Attikias's suggestion and let out a small chirp to confirm. "That would be really nice. I'd love to see them."

She blinked again. "Having you show them to me is enough. I don't need things." A lie - she would love to have things, but she knew it was pointless, and would only make things more painful. She drew her eyes to the strange creature he was showing her, unlike anything she'd seen (although that wasn't too impressive, as she hadn't seen many people before now). "I would love to hear it!" And that, at least, was not a lie - she was eager to know the story behind this one.

@Attikias