- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas grunted. "You tried," he said bluntly, then looked to Giggle.

His meaning was clear enough; it wouldn't work this way. The serpent was too stupid, or something else was interfering; he seemed genuinely unable to figure out how to give a piece of stone away.

In so speaking, Vargas--rather accidentally--revealed something of his own 'parenting technique,' if one could call it parenting at all. Really, it was Master or Overseer sort of speech. Acknowledgment of effort, without punishment for failure.

It didn't occur to him that this might surprise Giggle--he himself had told her, after all.

Vargas's calm acceptance of the creature's failure did take her by surprise, enough that she blinked at him and wondered for the first time if it was possible she would lose this. Could it be that his kids were just... jerks? If they were all like Nidhogg, no wonder they weren't happy. Though this one seems content enough. Just... stupid, that's all. And he's got way too much energy.

She sighed, and stepped forward, dipping down her head.

A moment's concentration, and a sliver slipped away, deforming the little thumbnail-sized oval at her skull and tumbling to the rock below. "There. Put your magic into that," she instructed, glancing up from Nidhogg to Vargas.

And trying, desperately, not to second-guess what she was doing.

This, at least, he felt pretty confident with. Like a grinning cat, he pounced for the tiny sliver as it hit the ground. Taloned forelimbs pinned it there, as though the serpent feared it might try and run away; then he stared down, excited. Vargas had promised him a reward, if the child proved itself. He didn't even know what more he wanted; he had a name, after all, and freedom to wreak absolute havoc wherever he wanted in the caves, now. But it'd tempted him nonetheless, so he gathered himself, pushing his magic into the little agate.

"LIKE THIS?" he demanded, loudly. Nothing happened.

He looked at Vargas, then back to the rock, and tried again. "Like this?!"

Again, nothing, and again, before the Leviathan could answer he was trying again--this time shoving his claws harder down around the rock as if pinning it there would somehow help. "WAIT--LIKE THIS!"

After a moment, he pulled away. It looked for a beat like he'd completely failed--the stone looked almost faded--but then it flickered dimly with life. "I DID IT. Next," he blurted, grinning triumphantly at his chaotic mess of magic.

Giggle stared at this fiasco, and tried to quell the sinking feeling in her chest. Bones, please, if I've ever done anything for you, and the thought was sardonic, let the child be better than its father. She fired Vargas a wry stare. "You're making sure my work's cut out for me," she said, her humor dry and flat. She could see what he was doing. He was hoping she would fail--by giving her a kid that'd only respond to authority, to violence--right?

But Nidhogg wasn't exactly a success story. I mean, look at him, she thought. And the next thought--Could I have done better? stayed with her as she bent her head again.

Another slender sliver of bubbling orange-red toppled out, clinking gently to the floor.

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas looked down at her, and grinned. -As best he could, anyway. It was hard without moving lips--but he manage, a parting of his jaws and downward tilt of his head indicating his amusement.

"And you thought I had no sense of humor," he half-growled, half-purred. It was funny as hell, to him, that she'd be stuck trying to instill such concepts as empathy and selflessness into a creature half-Nidhogg, but... let her try. It wasn't like he'd been particularly hiding this gambit.

He turned his attention back to the stones, watching as Nidhogg went for the second one. At least he'd figured this out... if barely.

He cared little for the conversation going on around him: he was focused on this task, now, with an almost rabid intensity. Too-many-eyes tracked the agate, and the moment a piece fell away Nidhogg was there, lunging in again.

He was silent as he arched over it, claws again pinning it to rock. A spark of magicka--stronger, this time, now that he knew what he was doing--shot through it, and when he leapt back, it was with a savage and triumphant grin. "Done!" he said, and scrambled to snap this one up--to snag it in his claws and carry it close to his chest. "THIS ONE comes back with us," he declared--then flattened down, quills a fearful mat, as he glanced up at Vargas.

Afraid he'd overstepped.

And... possessive, somehow, too. No: protective.

I have a child! he realized--and tried not to bare his teeth at the Leviathan.

Giggle looked from one monster to the other--and then snorted into barking laughter.

Humor struck her harder; amusement, even warmth. Suddenly she was less afraid of Vargas, even as Nidhogg cowered (and she did note that, with a faint pang of sympathy). "Looks like you've cut your work out for you, too. You sure you want to go through with this?" she rasped at him, but it was a joke--she wouldn't let him off the hook that easily. She nudged the stone Nidhogg had not taken, gently maneuvering it into a better position. Dark eyes again shot around to take in all the threads of mold that still clung to distant stones. "If you want this thing to stay safe, you might really want to think about sending some of your... 'soldiers' here. To clear up this mess."

She looked back to Nidhogg, then. "These will be your children, and mine. You take care of that one, and I take care of this one--okay? We keep them safe," she urged, stare fixed on him.

She could only hope he understood, and agreed, regardless of what Vargas might tell him to do. Or not do.

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas grunted. "I will see about sending some." Not because of the child, no, but because having Order so well-established in a nest of the Creator was a travesty... and it looked bad. It was a really bad look, actually.

He eyed her briefly, humor fading, because... he hadn't really considered that. Ahh, well. He was still fairly confident (fairly confident) that his method would work better here. He looked to Nidhogg. "Come. Bring it with you, and do not set it down--it will try and root the moment it touches stone, and begin to grow. We must make haste back to the tunnel to Draco." They would, he'd already decided, plant this one in the tunnel before the Door of Life--before corruption would take the chrysalis.

He pushed up, turning, and glanced back over his shoulder at the hyena. "I will come to ensure that this one has hatched, too, when ours does--and check in periodically. I will see you in one cycle," he added, and then paced off, his lanky strides carrying him swiftly away.

exit Vargas

Nidhogg stared at Giggle as she spoke. He cradled the agate shard to his chest--and started to hiss at her, to bare his teeth possessively and tell her that this one was purely HIS. But then his gaze fell to hers, and--he wanted that one to be his, too. But to claim his completely meant giving up hers, so... he had to admit that they'd both be both of theirs.

Boy, he hated that.

He did hiss, then hobbled away on three legs, clutching the stone protectively to his chest with his right forelimb. Then he wheeled back toward her, a guttural threat in his voice, a growl that hadn't ever been there before: deep and threatening. "Keep it alive," he warned, sparking a surprised glance back from the Leviathan--who he then scurried hastily after, half-crawling, half-scampering behind.

exit Nidhogg

Giggle blinked at the sudden savagery--but it was, in some sense, reassuring. She felt, very distinctly--and, though she could not know it, correctly--that she was seeing some new and unexpected trait bloom in the strange serpent.

...Maybe he would not be such a terrible parent after all. Then again, with the Forge-?

She gritted her teeth, eyes tracking Nidhogg's clutched-upward forelimb. Stay safe, little one, she thought after the stone, a strong sense of guilt and sorrow following after it. If she ever met them--had to confess, even, to giving them away like this--she imagined that 'it's for a greater good' would hardly be a consolation.

"I hope you aren't as shitty a parent--or whatever--as I think you are," she muttered after Vargas, once he was nearly gone--and then turned her attention back to the bone pit. She wasn't sure where Aza'zel--reborn Aza'zel--was, at this point. But she had work to do, here--a lot of work, were she to ensure this child would be safe.

She nudged the agate gently to hide beneath a pile of bones--where a dozen other stones were clinging--and then closed her eyes, wishing it the best. Then she turned to make that a reality, magic tearing into the nearest carpet of white mold, ripping it away with a satisfying tear and sending it scattering to the wind.

exit Giggle