Azure watched, relaxing just a little--the kid seemed to be calming down, at least, which was something. She'd start sparkling any second, now, too, which should also distract-

Thank you.

Azure blinked, briefly pulling her head a fraction back--and then her expression warmed.

"Oh! You're welcome. Magic! That's really good," she encouraged, and there was nothing fake in it. She didn't know how to fake that kinda shit, how to fake raising a kid. It was genuine and it was warm.

Azure had no way of knowing--aside, maybe, from Vivilene knowing some manners--that the kid had a family, had people who cared for her. She assumed, based on the fact that she'd first met Vivilene some two minutes ago fleeing down a tunnel, that Vivilene was in fact some sort of lone-hatch like so many were, a frightened kid with nowhere to go to.

"Listen, I've got, uh... safe places, if you need some place to stay?" she offered gently, unsure. She then looked up at her. "You can just--like this--nod like this for yes, or shake your head--this way--for no?"

Dumb, to want to use rocks, when a simple head gesture would do, she realized--and watched Vivilene for any sign of understanding.

@Vivilene

VIVILENE
i make a mess
and you'll be there
to help me undress

Vivilene looked up once she finished her banana and heard Azure speaking-- as her pelt startled to sparkle, white speckles illuminating like a starlit sky. She liked Azure's tone more than she really comprehended her words; the warmth was nice, comforting, melting away the icy fear in Vivilene's chest.

She smiled, quietly, and she looks down to rake her sparkling fingers through the soft babyfurs on her arm. It was nice. This was nice. The bleeding was starting to stop and her hand was throbbing a little but it was alright. She felt like she was at home again, if home were a junk-laden tunnel containing someone she just met.

At least Azure was nice, though.

The cervitaur looked up again when she heard Azure speaking further, eyes glittering with comprehension. This much, at least, kept her separated from the lessers. She mulled over the other hybrid's words for a moment, considering.

She was tired, but she knew she had to try and find her way home. Gently, Vivilene shook her head. Her magic was getting gradually a little easier to reach out to-- with practice, she might be good at it, maybe --and her gemstone flickered as she 'spoke' again.

"I have a safe place," she said, voice barely a whisper. It could have been lost entirely if there were a crowd, even if it were just in Azure's head. "But I don't know where it is. I'm lost. Can't find it." This much made her a little sad, she'd realised-- what if she never saw her dad and siblings again?

Vivilene looked down the tunnel where she'd come, and then back. "I think I can find it but everything is scary," she continued, a little more morosely. "Dad kept us safe but I wanted to wander. It was a dumb idea." She ruffled herself out, almost bird-like, and then fell silent as she nestled herself back into Azure's plumage.

@Azure

Azure let the kid snuggle close--warm, lonely, something nice about contact and all that--but she was puzzling over her mental words.

Lost, but not lost... well, it would be best to get the poor child home, in any case. "Okay. That's impressive magic, by the way--but will you let me help you find your way home?" Carefully-phrased. Permission, that was the thing. "If that magic's tiring I can uhh... I assume that's magic? I can describe caves for you-? It was a shame, really, that she wasn't shaped like Dip, but smaller; Azure coulda carried her, then. As it was she'd have to walk--and it might be pretty far.

"I'm older, so I know my way around most? Uhh. Through here--that way, at the end--it's bright, hot, dry and orange, Monoceros? The other way's Orion, with all the lights in the roof and the ruined buildings, then you can go to uhh... Pisces? Cold, wet, big waterfall? Polaris--big giant glowy crystal? Eridanus--lots of plants, jungle? Any of these sound right?"

She pulled her head back slightly, just enough to eye Vivilene, to watch her face worriedly; would she even be able to communicate, in any way?

@Vivilene

VIVILENE
i make a mess
and you'll be there
to help me undress

Vivilene nodded a bit in response, but what specifically she wad nodding to was unclear-- or perhaps it was replying to both the confirmation that telepathy was, indeed, magic, and that she would let Azure help her find her way back home. Azure would like her family, at least, she was certain. It would be nice to have more friends and hear her talk to her brothers and things.

The magic wasn't exhausting but it did make her feel a little absent-minded, disassociated in a way. As long as she held the ability to move her head she shouldn't have to use it unless it needed further explanation anyway-- this would be for the best.

Her eyes were half-open, pale slits as she watched Azure describe the caves. The names went right through one ear and out the other, unrecognized, mostly evident by her increasingly blank expression, but she knew what she meant by describing them.

Monoceros-- she shook her head. It must have been the place with bones, that had been dry and orange, too. Orion she knew, too, the pretty star-room that was much too big for her to find her way around, but still, she shook her head. She didn't know Pisces and she'd never seen a big glowing crystal. She shook her head to these, too.

Eridanus, though. That sounded most familiar. She knew home had a lot of greenery and plants and trees and things. The hybrid's head lifted and she nodded a little in response to it, damn near hopefully. If Azure knew the way then surely they'd be home before they knew it.

Here's hoping Azure actually knew the way, she decided.

@Azure

Azure pushed up, gently extricating herself from Vivilene, though she remained in touching distance.

"Jungly-foresty place?" she asked, confirming before trekking miles in the wrong direction. That checked, she then turned, lowering one wing. "You can lean on me, if it helps. Just tap me if you get tired; I'll keep to cover so we can rest whenever," and that was decided on the fly but it seemed wise. Having to rest caught out in the open with dragons about would not be wise.

"Come on--we have to go back through Orion. We'll go slow, 'cause it's a long walk, okay? Uhh--can you tell me your name, d'you think?" Azure added, peering to Vivilene. "You don't have to tell me, if you're tired. With magic, I mean."

She then turned, picking her way out carefully--no wire for her today, it seemed; just a kid with a rat-bite and a shiny new baubled necklace.

exit Azure
@Vivilene

VIVILENE
i make a mess
and you'll be there
to help me undress

Vivilene stretched herself out a bit as Azure moved away, and then she used one hand to push herself back upright. Her legs felt stiff already, somehow, and she spent a moment flexing them quietly as he nodded in confirmation to Azure. She was fairly certain it was Eridanus, at least.

A long walk was fine, maybe. She didn't feel too tired yet and she had already walked the while. She nodded again as she turned to follow Azure down the tunnel. She lifted the rat-bitten hand to lick it quietly, absent-mindedly, as she focused.

... but nothing came. Maybe magic was a lot harder than she was starting to think.

Vivilene shook her head a little in response to Azure-- no way of speaking without magic or a working throat --and started to clip down the tunnel she sprinted through some time prior, back towards Orion.

exit vivilene