Nidhogg sat in Draco, staring intently at his feet.

It wasn't that there was anything interesting about his feet, no. It was just-... well, he'd gotten a little frustrated, back there in Canis. Vargas and Giggle both had tried to explain how giving stone worked, but he just... hadn't been able to. He couldn't.

It was stupid.

He grunted and strained, resisting the urge to just claw at the rock at his chin. A hiss escaped him and he narrowed all his eyes. They'd told him to just think really hard about his gemstone, to push at it with magic. Maybe if I imagine it snowing, he decided, as strange as the thought was; if he imagined pieces pulling away, snowing down onto the ground..?

"...No, that's not working. That's stupid; it -WORKED!" he interrupted himself, with a startled shriek, leaping backward and up like a scared cat. His quills stood on end and he stared down at the chunk of Oilstone now laying on the ground. Now what!? he thought, frantically, realizing that he hadn't actually thought this far ahead.

"UHH. HELP?" he called, glancing around the cave. Maybe--someone else knew what to do!?

@Relic

Relic was not a gembound who knew what she was doing - most of the time, at least. Carried by unknowable whims, she found herself in a familiar place. Draco was still humid, still uncomfortably alive. No foul tasting oily serpents came to greet her this time, though she kept an eye on the walls. Just in case they started writhing.

She'd find no unpleasant surprises [yet]: No rumbling, no hissing, no massive purple monster barking orders. Nidhogg's shouting and neon green glow gave his presence away, long before he'd have a chance to catch her off guard even on accident. She didn't mind the predictability for once - Draco was a place she'd rather stay monotonous.

Though she dimly recalled his face, she was certain he wouldn't know hers, not after the... incident. She decided to proceed accordingly, not that it'd make much difference. She trotted forward, bright eyes glancing at the valkhound, then down to the oilstone fragment, then to the chip it'd left in his chin. Something ominous pulsed within the tiny gem on the ground, some kind of strange, twisted potential. She did not like it.

"Hi, I guess I'm help. Did you mean to do that?" Her investment was a thread that threatened to break at any moment. But that oilstone... It kept her there, like she was stuck watching a car accident that had yet to occur.

A nervous kind of energy bubbled beneath her skin, and she remembered that she did, in fact, have magick. When it decided to work, she could hear and sense things she couldn't before. It could bring her some much needed context to the strange object, so she let it flow outward. It was incredibly easy, actually - a string of energy that drifted gracefully to the stone, not too little, not too much. She understood that this had been a job well done - but no new information returned to her. It appeared the magick had simply been absorbed, and she felt a sudden weight on her shoulders. It'd taken quite a lot of energy - more than any of her regular spells had ever required.

The gem glimmered innocently as she glared at it in her suspicion. What had it done? What had Relic done?

@Nidhogg

Nidhogg looked up, wary and suspicious and hopeful and aggressive (but that one was a given, a default, a switch always flicked to 'on') as Relic approached. He skittered backward, looking to the sliver of oilstone and-

"...IS THAT A BABY NOW!?" he panicked. "Panicked" wasn't a speech pattern; but it was the only way to truly describe the high, whistling terror in the screech of his voice. OH NO. He looked up to Relic, and stared, frozen, for a beat. "Thank you-" (manners?! from Nidhogg?) "-IhavetofindidiotVargas-"

He turned and bounded away like a gigantic ferret, looking genuinely frightened of... something.

He would, assuming Relic did not--in the meantime--move the growing child, fetch Vargas--who would hastily relocate the chrysalis. And probably reassure Relic, should she still be there.

It was a bit of an oopsie. A mistake. And Nidhogg, who knew as much, would frantically try and tell Vargas this, no doubt. The Forge weren't supposed to make new babies without permission; but Nidhogg had had permission for the first two and ANYWAY he'd been trying to learn the thing VARGAS wanted him to learn and (he'd, at this point in his explanation, stop for gasping breath)...

exit Nidhogg

@Relic

Baby? What ba- oh.

Oh no.

That had not been the right spell at all. Her eyes darted frantically to the valkhound, who seemed just as panicked [this was not a comfort]. No easy answers there. Oh god oh god oh god

And then he left, scampered away like a frightened puppy, leaving Relic to let the gravity grind her down into the stone. The reality was sinking in, and she was not ready to even think about the responsibilities of parenthood. She had barely a few fuzzy memories to model on, her adopted dad disappeared before she could safely call herself sentient, she had met one [1] child since adulthood, she wasn't sure if she knew any actual parents, mothers, fathers, whatevers-

Wait. The lizard... left. Abandoned her without any answers. What? Just upped and went? What the fuck? "HEY!? COME BACK HERE!" She shouted, charging forward into the pulsing dark of Draco. "DON'T JUST LEAVE, ASSHOLE!"

Relic did not where she was headed, but she'd find her way out again at least. Eventually.

exit relic

@Nidhogg [vis]