"For anyone else it would!" Envy affirmed, somewhat bitterly, but with a fierce pride otherwise. "I never need to eat! Ever!"

Envy looked down at the rock, which was probably too large for them to carry. They huffed. "Maybe one that's..." they winced slightly, painfully aware of the size difference between them. At only a few inches long, Envy had certainly grown a lot... just not enough to ease their insecurity. "...a better size?" they lifted their lip, as though daring the stranger to comment.

Now that they'd firmly established that the hybrid wasn't a threat, a sliver of their usual nature was returning, and in their heart they blamed them for the pain they were feeling now. They'd managed to glimpse a fragment of what they were missing out on, and never before had they felt such a desperate desire to feel something again, yet at the same time a regret at having ever felt it.

At least the tears had finally stopped.

Envy sniffled, one last time.

"N-nope! N-nothing at all! C-can't you tell? I'm fine!" they sounded annoyed. "Who are you, anyway?"

---

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Oliver
notes: here

Oliver hesitated, gently, opening his jaws then closing them, recoiling with a slight wince from the weasel's intensity. Maybe... it was different? He didn't know all the magics; maybe not everyone needed to eat, then? He filed this information away for future use, bowing his head a little and nodding.

When asked if he couldn't tell that Envy was all right, he recoiled again, confused and alarmed. He spoke quickly, voice still soft and gentle.

"No? How would I know?! Am I supposed to--know?!" Worried he drew back, glancing around as if the answer might be hiding somewhere in the darkness. "I--I'm Oliver, and--I'll find you a smaller stone," he agreed quickly.

He turned, sniffing around, long-taloned claws raking over the little pebbles of Orion. He chose one quickly, glancing at the weasel--yes, this seemed small enough?--and held it in his bird-like foot for a moment, focusing. He remembered his mother, the crow, gently teaching him the task--and squawking proudly when he managed; he remembered to focus, to breathe and to think.

Then he was holding out, in his unfurling black talons (each nearly as long as the weasel's entire body), a tiny, brightly-glowing, golden-white pebble.

"Is--this okay..?" he asked it quietly.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Envy

Envy felt themselves rising just that little bit higher, tilting their head to one side as the hybrid recoiled. They were unsure what had scared them so, but it made Envy feel bigger, and satisfied with their performance. They grinned.

They were taken aback by their question however, and slowly lowered themselves back down onto all fours, unsure of how to respond. "Uh... No...? I don't know," they admitted haughtily, their performance lapsing for a moment and causing them to withdraw. They decided that they liked Oliver, but mainly because they felt better than them. Serves them right, Envy thought privately. For... making me feel good...? No, for showing me what I'm missing out on.

As Oliver introduced themselves, Envy nodded slowly, watching them scurry off to find a better pebble. "Oliver, huh?" They paused for a moment as though committing the name to memory before continuing. "I'm Envy."

They watched the strange creature with grin fading to a more puzzled look as they went about their business. It took a while, and... a strange noise that caused Envy to shy away slightly, confused and concerned that perhaps there was someone else there. A jolt of fear rushed through their chest. Were they still being hunted? They readied themselves to run, but it seemed the sound was only due to their success.

Envy blinked a couple of times as the pebble was held out to them. They rose up on their hind paws, and gathered it into their forepaws. Their grin returned full-force. "It's perfect!" they trilled enthusiastically, with cool composure diminishing into childish enthusiasm. They felt a lot safer having been given this. Hastily, though, as though realizing they'd broken their act again, they cleared their throat and tried to look calm. "...I mean... It'll be very useful. In my duties."

Is that what makes a king a king? Duties? Khloros mentioned something about duty... So it can only make me look better.

They nodded matter-of-factly, half at their own musings.

---

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Oliver
notes: here

Oliver peered, even more bewildered by the tiny stranger's constant flitting between attitudes. Being a simple, honest sort, he addressed it outright, after a moment's hesitation on his phrasing.

"Why are you--angry and then--happy and angry again?" he asked, voice soft and plaintive. He vaguely wondered if he were doing something wrong--upsetting the little one somehow--but surely asking would help...? If he knew what he was doing wrong, eh could change it, or maybe it was a magic thing?

...Could magic make people angry?

He listened closely to everything else that Envy said, and one thing in particular stuck with him, prickling his curiosity once more.

"Duties?" he asked softly.
"What duties? What, uh--are you in charge of?" he asked quietly, again lying down to peer at the little one. He reached out his talon-claws, pulling the larger glow-stone back toward him, leaving Envy the smaller, easier-to-carry one, and waited politely for his answers.

Hopefully, he would not simply end up more confused.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Envy

Envy was a little taken aback by their question, and scrambled for a way to answer it, seeming slightly hurt. It seemed they weren't as good at pretending as they'd initially thought, and that caused them to drop their head in a sulk. There wasn't much else for it, they were gonna have to tell the truth. they couldn't think of a lie that might improve their standing. They slowly placed their glowing pebble on the ground beside the larger one so that they could hold onto both.

"I'm trying to look big and strong, because I'm practicing for when I'm gonna be great one day," Envy blurted after a great deal of hesitation, before snorting quietly. "Khloros said that pretending can make me look greater, and that if people follow me I might be a King or a God one day."

Once again, the youngster was put on the spot by a question which stumped them. It had to be something good! It had to make them look great! There was a long and awkward pause as Envy tried to figure out what their duties were. "Training duties!" the little one said finally. "I'm training to be the best at everything! ...a-and that's because, I gotta look after my mamma!"

Stupid! Envy's inner voice yelled as soon as they said that. That'll only make you look weak!

---

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Oliver
notes: here

Oliver stared, and indeed his bewilderment only grew.

Big and strong? But--it's... It's tiny and thin?! Worried, he looked Envy over, wondering a little frantically if there was something horribly obvious that he had missed. At length, he gave up trying to figure this one out, unsure how seeming angry could make one appear larger, and chose to address the next topic, instead.

...With equal confusion.

"I don't--a god? ...King? --Okay?" he said, tone questioning. He had no idea what any of this was all about, at this point--the tiny weasel appearing from the dark, its misery and now its--training?!

But! Then it said something he could relate to. A word that he knew, and his face grew kinder, less confused and more content.

"Oh! A mom? You have a mom too? What--how does she need help? I have a mom," he added, and then--hesitating for a moment--"Err--do you need help with--looking after her..?"

Oh, he hoped the weasel's mother was all right. He wasn't sure how to help if she wasn't!

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Envy

The silence that dragged after their explanation caused a little nugget of frustration to form in Envy's chest, and they frowned at the hybrid, eyes narrowing as they tried to piece together their thoughts bit by bit. They tried to catch their gaze, but kept on missing it until Envy finally stamped a paw in confusion.

What was so confusing? Envy understood their plan of action perfectly.

"Yes! God or king! Maybe I won't be either of those things, but one day I'm still gonna be the greatest being in all the caves!" their voice rose and finally the frustration at trying to get Oliver to understand resulted in the little one shaking their head, voice dropping back to a mutter. "It's not hard, stupid..."

Finally, they asked about their Mamma. It had been so long since they'd seen Li... and the thought brought an ache to their heart. Their anger faded, whiskers starting to droop, eyes prickling again with tears. "I can't find her anywhere," they explained hesitantly, and though they tried, they found it too hard to force a careless smile, so they didn't. "So I wanna find her, and if I do, then I'm gonna be strong enough that she doesn't go missing again."

But, as they spoke, Envy felt like there was one detail they'd overlooked. They raised their head again. Do... Do I even need Mamma any more? I don't need to eat, or drink. she doesn't need to hunt for me, since eating is so hard anyway. Do I need her? If I never saw her again, it wouldn't even matter...

Somehow, the thought made it worse. They didn't want to never see her again.

---

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Oliver
notes: here

Oliver blinked. Envy had called him stupid! ...Was he stupid? He wasn't sure, but that was a mean thing to say.

"That's a mean thing to say," he said, voice still soft and gentle as before. "You shouldn't call people names like that." But he was not angry, or upset, really--his feelings a little hurt, perhaps. He listened, and the bit about the weasel's mother going missing-...

How would he feel if his mother went missing?

Fear flickered through him, and grief. No! That was terrible!

"I can--help you look, if you want? It's hard to find anything in the dark but I can make light and if you know-... What she looks like--? Can you--describe or or... Do you know where you lost her?"

He was concerned, again, brow furrowed, peering down at Envy with worry. "It must be scary," he said sympathetically, "and that's sad so--I'll help if I can."

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Envy

Envy let out a short snort as Oliver reprimanded them for their words, the fur prickling along their spine in annoyance rather than shame. "Why not?" they asked flatly. They didn't see anything wrong with it, especially since it made them feel better. "It's not hurting anyone."

They offered to help them find Li, and Envy jumped at the opportunity before they could stop themselves. They hopped up and down, almost flinging away the glowing pebbles they stood over before they hastily stood over them again. "Yes! Yes! I want you to help!" they trilled excitedly, before settling down with tail flicking wildly from side to side the only sign of their excitement. "My mamma is a big cat, really really big. She's got black ears and a really, really long tail, and spots. Oh yeah, and she has a spiky, shiny orange gem in front of one ear."

they blinked for a while, shaking their head in an effort to calm themselves down, and blowing out a deep breath. "I lost her by a stream which is thataway-" the little one gestured with a paw towards the outskirts of the city lying beneath the towering form of the cliffs. "-I just woke up one day and she was gone! And she never came back."

Then they paused for a while, looking at them, their look fading into one of doubt.

"But... how will you find her?" they asked quietly, as though they didn't think the hybrid could. They didn't know what tricks this creature could have up their sleeves that might make it easier, and they'd never seen anything fly before.

---

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Oliver
notes: here

Oliver listened, quietly attentive, and then he gently shook his head. "Being mean does hurt. It hurts feelings. Like-... If someone called you little or weak wouldn't it hurt? It isn't nice," he said quietly. He listened, though, closely, to the description of Envy's mother, thinking.

And how would he find her? How could he?

"Well, I have a good nose and--I have lights, we can bring them and... look for her that way? You can--sit on me if you want. I'd fly but it's dark and I might hit a wall," he added, matter-of-factly.

"But you can ride on me anyway, if you want? If you show me the way I can--probably walk pretty fast and then we can search together? I don't think there's any streams in this cave but maybe--in one of the others and what color is her fur?"

He lifted his glow-stone into one hand, and waited, gentle, to see what Envy would want to do.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Envy