Now that, was a lot of information. Worm's eyes glazed over as he tried to process everything Imp was saying to him; focusing purely on listening and sorting the information as it came in. Water was good, he'd need water. Don't go to sandy place. Swamp was nice. Imp's dad was a dragon, whatever a dragon was. People have to drink. Cepheus was a palace, or had a palace. There was music, food and a tail-or. There's a theatre and a library, he didn't know what those were, but they sounded important because it was Imp's favourite. Wasn't it?

He started losing information when numerous names came up, Fornax? Monoceros? Pegasus? He spent so long trying to commit the names to memory, he missed a few vital facts, like that Monoceros was nice-- Or did Imp say it was warm? Now Imp was patting the thing around his neck. What did he say that was? A sweater? Drat. He was starting to panic, he could feel his heart beating in his chest as he tried to remember. Was the soft snake around Imp's neck called a clothes? And I should also have a clothes?
Oh!

It was important to have fun. He remembered Imp saying that. And something about being safe. Rats. The longer he tried to focus on the words the more it felt as if he was losing his grip on them. Why was this so difficult?

Two major thoughts stood out. Worm was cold, clothes would fix the cold. And that Cepheus was Imp's favourite, probably. Wasn't that the question he asked? "Okay." Worm breathes sounding a touch overwhelmed. Then, he adds, "can you take me to the clothes place, please?"

Then, seemingly the next important question to his juvenile brain was, "was your dad nice? I've never met a dragon."

Worm couldn't explain why that seemed important, but it did. And, he thought, he wanted to know more about Imp. He was funny. He had favourite places and knew how to fix the cold. Which, for someone whose most complex thoughts had been, being cold and not knowing what to do, that was a pretty big deal.

So, he got to his wobbly paws. They hurt, but if Imp could take him to a better place, then, it would be worth it. And if Imp tried to gobble him up on the way, he could just run away. It was a perfectly sound logic!

@Imp

Imp brightened as Worm agreed to his grand plan. He was impish, sure. He could be an asshole, a prankster and he was really over the top with his graffiti, but he meant the best when it came to helping out little kids.

He unwound his scarf, laying it out carefully and pointing to it with one sharply taloned foot. "Hop in, I'll bundle you up and carry you. I don't wanna scratch you and I don't want you to get cold on the way. I won't drop you," he added. "But, uh, I fly, so we'll be moving fast. Don't panic, okay?"

As he waited for Worm to hopefully situate himself, he went on. "Dad? Yeah, he's nice. Still alive, lives in Cetus. -If you don't like water, you wouldn't like it there. All swamp," he repeated, still cheerful, and unaware he'd already covered most of that bit. "We've got a big family, though. Anyone ever gives you trouble, you tell 'em you know Imp!"

It'd be a tossup as to whether his name would open doors, slam them shut, or most likely, result in blank stares. But obviously, Imp had a grand opinion of himself.

@Worm

'Hop in' and 'we'll be moving fast, don't panic' had the opposite of the intended effect.

Worm stared up at Imp as if he'd asked the cat to jump into the nearest lake; all wide-eyed and mouth agape, the furthest he could possibly feel from Imp's cheerful tone. Not to mention, he'd just eyed Imp's talons which looked as if they could easily... well, Worm wasn't quite sure, but nothing good! His stomach sank so quickly, he'd half-expected it to fall out of him.

"What?!" He yowled, skittering back a few, hopped, steps with his back arched into a perfect hill-shape. If he had fur, it'd be stood on end.

The longer Worm thought about it, though, the more he realized he didn't have much of a choice. It was go, or be left here; and 'here' was cold, soggy and miserable. 'Here' didn't have delicious banana-things or tail-ors or clothes.

"Well--" Worm started, his face pulling into a nasty hiss, "if you eat me! I'll kick your tummy until it's really sore!" The bald, 1lb, pathetic-looking, bundle of loose skin, threatened Imp. "So, don't even think about it! And! I'll tell your dad you weren't nice!"

With the highest of threats put into place, Worm inched closer to Imp and the proffered scarf. The closer Worm got, the more and more his trembling became apparent, the thing was shaking like a leaf. Apparently, Worm hadn't considered that Imp's dad may not care if he ate some scraggily gembound, as he clambered into the scarf; if it was still being offered out after such scathing threats.

@Imp

Imp blinked. He looked, for a moment... hurt. Actually hurt.

He went quiet for a long while, brow scrunched up a little, and at last spoke when Worm's trembling became truly apparent.

"...Hey, kid," he said softly. "It's... good you're careful. But most of us--if we've got to eat meat, it should always be the animals. The ones that can't speak--okay? I won't hurt you. Promise." He took a breath, and grimaced, and it looked pained. "If I made friends with you and then hurt you, I'd be a betrayer. And betrayers are the worst. And I'm not a betrayer. Not like that shitheel Nemean," he added, "or stupid rabbit-ears."

He didn't elaborate on any of that, instead moving to gently secure the scarf with the kitten in it. "...You good? You ready?"

He'd give Worm the full airline pilot tour narration once they were in flight, of course. Not that Imp knew what a pilot, or an airplane, was. But the whole "that's the Spire on the left; it's super magic, don't eat it" and "this is Ursa, it's really cold and full of asshole bugs" were definitely on the list of things to mention. Cepheus was just beyond; on the scale of cave distances, not that far.

@Worm

Worm made a face as he had settled into the scarf. He hadn't expected Imp to look so.. upset. Was it upset? He wasn't sure. Anger he'd expected, rejection he was almost certain would follow, but not upset. Something about that really threw Worm off. His insides felt strange, but it wasn't fear or excitement, it was too slow for those feelings. Nor did it feel good like excitement. It was a sour feeling that he couldn't put a claw on.

He wasn't certain who, first name, Shitheel, surname, Nemean was. Or first name, Rabbit, last name, Ears was either. But, Worm decided there and then, he didn't like them. Imp had said they were the worst. So, it had to be true.

When they'd taken off, Worm took one peep out of the scarf before screwing his eyes shut as tightly as he could, pushing himself as far into Imp's chest fluff as possible. Only daring to take glimpsing peeps when Imp pointed out the spire, that the cold-er place was Ursa. Yet, the entire time, while the panic had returned; that nasty feeling didn't leave. And Worm was only mildly certain it had nothing to do with the stomach dropping sensation that flying had given him.

Maybe, just possibly, he was dying. Imp had cursed him and killed him with his sad-look and then the shock of flying. That had to be it. Even if he wasn't a betrayer, even if this was an accident. Perhaps he was just dying. Imp had made him feel so bad, he was going to perish while flying through the caves.

Worm wasn't dying; he was feeling guilt (and panic). But, it felt like dying. He never wanted to feel it ever again.

He'd have to ask someone how to make the feeling go away when they reached the palace-place.

@Imp

,,exit

Imp's feelings, meanwhile, were quickly forgotten. Or rather, the upset was. Sure, he lingered a little on past betrayals (BY him, never OF him, he wasn't an asshole like that) but Worm was a kid. A kitten. Tiny and new. Obviously, said kid didn't know any of that.

And anyway, he was excited to take him someplace safe, and warm.

Someplace with sweaters.

exit Imp to Cepheus!