Obieth glanced to Aethril at the suggestion, or permission, or whatever it might be. She then looked to Worm. Her demeanor was that of detached, almost maternal amusement; she felt little love or empathy for this stranger, but no malice either, and his apparent nerves were... quaint.

She stood and stretched a little as she spoke, neck arching, black velvet coat rippling. Her voice was deep, husky, even though cigarettes most certainly weren't a thing in the caves. "Obieth. My name is Obieth." She then looked Worm over again, more carefully. "Worm is an interesting name. An interesting choice. Are you all right?" she asked, and pressed her head downward, toward the kitten, delicately taking in his scent as if to introduce herself in a more primal manner. "There's no need to be afraid, here." And in deference to pride so common in children, "Not that I imply you are afraid."

It didn't seem to occur to her that a freshly hatched kitten might not know all the words she was using; she seemed unconcerned, overly relaxed, even languid in her mannerisms.

@Aethril

"As long as you like it," Aethril agreed. "Should anyone tell you otherwise, you're welcome to tell us about it."

Her hand lifted off Obieth's back as the valkcat slid forward to nose at Worm. She always did enjoy watching cats interact, though she'd never quite seen cats do so with so much of a size difference. "The palace is safe," Aethril agreed. "It's well-kept by Isra. She is... also very cat-like."

In an abstract sort of way, perhaps. "I assume Imp has told you not to get in her or Eggbert's way already."

@Worm

Worm nodded. Then very obviously repeated Imp's words, especially given how he paused with his eyes looking upwards, as if recalling something he'd memorised earlier. "Be nice to Eggbert and to Aethril, and Aethril wears a hat and is cool!" Not exactly Imp's exact words, but Worm announced the last few with an unshakable confidence. Well, an extremely shaky confidence, actually. But the closest the kitten had ever come to confidence in his short time of consciousness.

His wobbly gaze turned to Obieth and he nodded; or perhaps he was just shaking, it was hard to tell. "Yes! I like Worm." He repeated, perhaps a little too caught up on the name questions. It was to Imp he looked first, before continuing to talk to Obieth. "I don't think I'm afraid," clearly a lie, "sometimes it's just like the air doesn't want to stay inside." Worm explained.

Then, gulped for air, as if demonstrating his point. All while continuing to tremble like a leaf and glance towards the door. Yet, by some sheer feat of willpower, her remained rooted to the spot and talking.

It was either that or run and probably get eaten by someone he didn't know.

@Imp / @Obieth

Imp was nodding along proudly when Worm got to the part about Aethril wearing a hat. Now, Imp had of course mentioned Eggbert wearing a hat. And of course, a kid this age was doing his best to remember all of this and just got a little bit mixed up. But Imp didn't put those two things together; hell, he hardly remembered the mention of Eggbert's little hat.

So his expression shifted from bright approval to utter, baffled confusion, one he fired at Aethril as if to say "what? no, what??"

It cleared fast, with a little shake of his head, so that by the time Worm looked back at him he'd schooled it back to "approval." Mostly. Confused approval, maybe.

As for the air thing? He had no clue on that, either. Was that fear? Was it something else? Imp shrugged and decided to be blithely supportive. "Yeah, that happens. I wouldn't worry about it," he advised. Then he glanced to Aethril. "What do you think, though? Mimosa? A sweater? Or something else?" Or maybe they could all go and ask Mimosa--Imp sure as hell wasn't an expert on clothes for naked cats.

He blinked. "Oh, I didn't mention Isra, actually! Yeah she's like a cat, with a kinda skull for a face. She's cool but be nice to her too." This he aimed back at Worm, with again a tone of friendly advice instead of parental command.

Obieth slid backward, taking her place back at Aethril's side. She was, conveniently (for her), again well-placed to be petted, or "hand rested on neck"ed at least.

She mostly settled into the scenery again, observing and listening and watching for trouble rather than doing much conversing. But it did occur to her to add something to Imp's direction. "Try not to take offense at her tails. They are serpents and tend to say... odd things."

She then set her attention to the nearby area. She wanted to keep an eye out for spies, assassins. It wasn't paranoia. It was her self-assigned job, and she took it fairly seriously; it was, after all, the price she imagined that she paid for a cushy life at the side of a Hand.

But her magic was chaotic, and in this case the chaos pushed in, just a little. She went from sedately scanning her surroundings to standing bolt upright, eyes wide, scanning far more alertly--and her expression peeled back in a hiss. "Did you feel that!?" she asked, with an alarmed tone.

There was, of course, nothing to feel. But to Obieth, her senses were screaming, feedback from every element and every spell seeming to ping her mind at once, like magic fireworks going off all around her.

@Aethril

Imp hesitated, grinning. "Didn't feel sh-... spit," he replied, easily and brightly, and did his best to fire finger-guns at Obieth despite not having fingers. It was mostly the claws atop his wings being pointed at her.

He looked at Worm, then Aethril. "I'll go see if Mimosa's around. If they're available we could get a sweater made now-? If not it'll be delayed, I guess, but you probably have somethin' cool meanwhile? Hey Worm, I'll be a bit, but I can teach you how to paint 'n stuff when I get back, if you want!" Felt weird calling the kid that, still, but whatever; they'd made their decision and he'd respect it. Even if it seemed like an insult and hurt his heart, just a little, to say. "I won't be long, I promise."

And he wouldn't. A few minutes' check, and he'd be back, to see what would come next.

(exiting both chars due to inactivity) @Worm just for visibility, and in case you want to exit & claim too.

'Did you feel that?' was the straw that finally broke the proverbial camel's back. Worm shot out of the room with a whimper. He did not want to know what the much larger gembound in the room had seen that he hadn't. Whatever it was, it'd probably eat him even wholler than them.

It's with claws gently tapping against the marble floors that Worm fled across the smooth floor, sliding himself back outside and gone.

He was not getting eaten today, no sir-y.

;;exit