Today, Opal woke up from a deep sleep, from dreams he could not recall. Curled against its sibling(s), it had come into consciousness slowly, remembering all of her hopes for the "day" to come (She was still young enough to not be burdened with too many regrets; Good for her!). She had one: She was going to be a little mischevious today. A little whimsical. A little morally dubious.

He weaved his way through Tunnel F, the thrill of straying just a little bit too far than it was supposed to humming through its chitin. It wouldn't travel back to Pegasus yet - maybe that was too ambitious. Nay, it was a tiny rebellion - one of snickering through the dimly lit halls like a baby ghost. A really really fucked up looking one.

@Mossie

Mossie was rather aware she looked goofy.

Her eyes were wide, straining to see in the gloom, as she searched for a Good Rock. Just a stupid fucking rock shouldn’t be this hard to find. Not as hard as—
No. She can’t think about that now.

(Another part of her insists that she must, had to feel the gore stuck beneath her claws, the slick blood bubbling in her mouth, the horrible scream-bleats, the mutilated body hazy in twos. She tells that part of her to shut the fuck up.)

But she needed to find an altar. This tunnel connected to Draco, so it must have a suitable dark stone, surely?

So intent she is on her search that she fails to realize she’s not alone in the tunnel…

But of course, the rocks in this stupid tunnel are all USELESS.

“Son of a BITCH,” she howls, head in her paws. “I HATE THESE BITCHASS ROCKS.”

I spy with my little eye...
Opal was familiar with plenty of cat-affiliated gembound - but most of them were dark and spiky, and none seemed terribly fond of him. Their loss, of course, not her fault that some people are born allergic to fun. This kitty is different; It recognised this immediately.

This was further confirmed by the noises she made - harsh, biting, like a slap to the face - she was angry, that much was evident. Angry at... Rocks? What had they done? Opal wanted to be angry at them too, to punish them for their sins; Or whatever wrong a rock could commit other than just... Being there. Anger was not an emotion he experienced often, it fascinated him.

But there was another that drew his attention more, if only by a little. She drew shadows to her, instinct more than strategy. It crept forward, still deciding on how stealthy it wanted to be in its approach - she'd let the magic decide for her.

And oh boy, decide it did! Light was cast away, banished from her hide. She became a living shadow, and extension of the void, she felt the power within the magic that surrounded him now - he would use it responsibly, he swore. Creeping toward this fascinating creature, it got uncomfortably close before speaking, regardless of Mossie's reaction to it, head lowering so her upper face got a look. "What does Bitch-Ass mean?"

@Mossie

Mossie jumps with a rather undignified shriek, attempting to summon defensive frills, as this motherfucker just materialized right in front of her.

Of course, because the caves themselves are out to get her, it just makes her neck itch like a bitch instead.

"What the SHIT," she yowls, half horrified and half intrigued. "How did you DO THAT."

She blinks as she realizes she's being addressed. "It's a very harsh insult," she said after a moment. "The combination of two lesser insults to create a greater, more harmonious, more lyrical, more 'fuck you' one. It's my favorite," she confided.

@V-Opal-One

The panicked shriek was both expected and enjoyed, horrifyingly enough. "Shit! More new sounds! You are full of them." Her arms flailed and her feet pranced, delighted yet again. New friends were always so much fun - though the feeling might not always be reciprocated.

harmonious, lyrical, these words were not as new to it, but as they and the cat described the phrases and the context they were best used, the adjectives enthralled her all the same. Bitch-ass is harmonious. Bitch-ass is greater. Bitch-ass... is simply superior.

There was an urge to sit cross-legged like an eager and young student, but his anatomy wasn't exactly conducive to such things. So, it settled for the best it could manage! Lowering his body, he rolled over onto his spine so that the upper torso was the right way around. Curling his head inwards, he propped up the sapien face with his hands curled around his cheeks and temple, elbows on the tiled ground for additional support. A forelimb kicked rythmically. "What does it mean when something is 'fuck-you?"

@Mossie

"Yes, I'm quite...full of sounds," Mossie said wryly, remembering Spinnaker and Manticore's complaints of her being too much. The nerve, really. "I can teach you some, if you'd like?"

She wasn't. The best. When it came to children, really. She can feel the stone burning in her chest fluff, almost mocking. The sooner she got rid of the damn thing, the better.

But this child seemed to be on her wavelength.

"Fuck-you is an aggressive term that one uses to insult," Mossie explained. "Like... 'hey, you ate my baby, fuck you.' One of my favorite words, really."

@V-Opal-One

"Yesyesyes!" His legs kicked eagerly, tail scraping side to side. If you couldn't tell, she very much liked the idea of expanding her vocabulary - even better if these were forbidden words, ones relegated only to the most heated of disputes. What would happen, it wondered, if it told the Master Vargas himself to... 'fuck off.'

It nodded along, expression stern and attentive. "I see... Why is it insulting? What does it mean in relation to Bitch-Ass?" And, in a lower tone - "Did someone really eat your baby?"

@Mossie

Mossie thinks she is actually a fan of children, on second thought.

Maybe one day, cycles in the future, she could...

No.

She could be like, a cool aunt who teaches the kids bad words or something, maybe. But if she was the only creature in charge of a child there was no way in hell that'd end well.

"Truth to be told, I do not know why Fuck-you is insulting," she said. "It was written in stone by forces far greater than I before I was born. The power of Fuck-you is beyond mortal understanding. Fuck-you is related to Bitch-Ass in the sense that they are both words that can be used to insult. 'Bad words', so to speak."

Mossie freezes at the creature's last question.

Yes. I ate my baby.

"A rock ate my baby," she said flatly.

@V-Opal-One

"Bad words... Is there anyone out there who knows what they mean? There must be, if they are words and they are spoken." Rock means rock, Plants means plant, etcetera etcetera. "They are insults - but how do you know? How would anybody know? Like, I could tell Lab that it is smelly, and it would understand. (It is not, by the way - do not tell it I said that.) But if I told it 'Fuck you' or 'Bitch ass', What would it think?" It was undeserving of the slander.

She nodded with understanding at the explanation. "A rock ate Lab too. People said it will come back soon, but I want it to come back sooner."

@Mossie