(set like a day after the bonebound spy vs spy thread [it only took me like a full three weeks to remember this ok shh])

Politely sized rat: check. The wily thing was still some two feet long and gross, but Eythan took the liberty to give the damn thing a bath. Y'know, to make it more desirable and accommodating. He even waited for it to dry. There was likely never a cleaner rat in these Caves.

The rodent was held in one talon, swinging by its limp head.

A bundle of particularly soft grass was clutched in the other. He'd sampled a few blades of it, and it tasted (predictably) like grass. That was good enough for him. Luxury wasn't to be expected in this particular cave. You learned to deal with what you have - but there was no harm in establishing good standing, right? That was what the bones said. The bones weren't wrong... usually, anyways.

With a huff, the gryphon glided towards where he thought he might've seen snotfa - polite words, bucko - their guest last prancing about. Calling quickly and sharply ("Rezik?") he settled down in the open, clearly visible, placing the rat and the grass bundle atop a flat bit of rock a few feet apart. "Y'out there, bud?"

Rezik had had very little time to himself. A day, perhaps, and that was it.

But in that day, things had... changed. He lay atop a stone outcrop, stiff, his legs folded beneath him and his gaze, somehow glazed, sweeping to and fro over the bones. He seemed to be contemplative, in turn staring with a haunted expression or glaring at this bone, or that. The voice startled him, and had Eythan known Rezik, he might have spotted the telltale signs of stress. His fur wasn't immaculately groomed; his nostrils were flared, his body tense.

He almost looked like a regular ol' Gembound; but for Rezik, to stoop so far as to seem average was near-unforgivable.

He relaxed at the sight of Eythan, at least a little, and sighed haughtily through his nose, head raising a little. "Yes? What do you want?" There was bored arrogance in it, though whether it was forced was anybody's guess.

@Eythan

Eythan wasn't a very observant fellow (see: the entire incident with his father's downward spiral and his own) but even he could see when he'd spooked someone. Ears flickering back, the gryphon chirped, lowering his head in a placating gesture, "sorry. Didn't mean to spook ya. Could've been louder on the landing, eh?" It was a rhetorical question, since he just pushed on.

The gryphon stepped aside, propping himself up a little against the dinner-rock. "Brought you some food. None of us can tell if you're a rats or grass kinda Gembound, so I brought ya' both."

Rezik looked over the pair of offerings, and then away.

"It isn't very much, is it?" he sniffed after a moment, again quite haughtily. He gave no thanks, no acknowledgement of Eythan's apology.

After a moment he pushed up, reaching for the grass, and took a nibble. He immediately made a face. "Terribly dry," he complained.

@Eythan

It was not very much, Eythan could agree with, but the guy could've at least shown some gratitude. The gryphon simply sighed, giving a half-hearted shrug to keep himself from dwelling too much on the fact.

Rezik went for the grass anyways (and Eythan was taking notes) and his flat face went less flat. It was more of a grimace. This conclusion was matched with the complaint that it was dry. Again, the gryphon sighed and shrugged. But, this time, he swished his tail to the side and waved a talon. "This is the best Canis has to offer for ya. It's not the most ideal place for plants to grow 'n stuff," Eythan demurred.

He quickly added, "that's all I can really offer you 'round here, bud. I'm sure it ain't that bad."

A quiet invitation to get off the proverbial high horse.

"'Ain't that bad?'" Rezik parroted, in a disbelieving tone. His words mocked Eythan's voice, and he went on to say, more arrogantly, "I can assure you that it is. I will need a great deal of this-... this roughage to survive. Be sure to bring plenty, and better quality if you can find it." Hint most definitely not taken.

Rezik took another slow bite, as if disdainfully forcing himself to eat such low-quality trash; and then he looked around, slowly, as he chewed. His gaze drifted over the bones of Canis, and he spoke further. "I have never been here." There was extreme snootiness in his voice, here, completely incongruous with the words themselves. His emphasis wasn't anywhere in particular, bar perhaps a little on the word "been," and somehow there was the faintest waver in it, despite the brash rudeness of his tone. He even added a little sniff of distaste, afterward, before looking around again.

"I would have thought that the-..." Rezik faltered, trailing off, and then raised his head sharply, as if gathering himself. "-the bones would have offered rich fertilizer." He then stared at Eythan, taking another bite, as if challenging him to disagree.

@Eythan

Eythan grumbled, parroting Rezik parroting himself, "ain't that bad…" Gesturing with a wing, the gryphon offered. "Well, help yourself to all that roughage over there," he grinned briefly, brows raised, "I'd be happy to show you the way."

The odd deer hadn't visited this room, if that much hadn't been immediately obvious. Eythan pressed anyways with a furrowed brow, "it wasn't your idea to hide here?" Rezik definitely acted like he'd be anywhere but here, and was probably upset by even entertaining the idea that he was actually among rebel bones.

"Well, all of those Gembound died a real long time ago," Eythan shrugged, regarding the poor things with a rather soft gaze. "You sure don't see a lot of green, do you? They're too dry to do anything." The point he thought Rezik was making didn't go missed. "I didn't know any of 'em, but you could pay them a little mind."

"Hide?!" Rezik replied, as if somehow outraged by the idea that he was hiding away. "I am not hiding. And no, it was most certainly not my idea." He huffed. And as to whatever roughage Eythan referred to, Rezik didn't ask.

But when Eythan spoke of paying the bones a little mind, Rezik fell quiet. He studied the creature before him for a long moment before replying--still haughty, but more quietly, more seriously. "Pay them mind-? Child, do you know whose bones these are..? That is dangerous thinking. Very dangerous."

Eyes narrowed, and studied Eythan closely, Rezik falling silent for now.

@Eythan

It looked a bit like the fellow was hiding. Eythan remained still in the face of the huffing and puffing, only tilting his head, "who's was it then?" Eridanus would've been a better place to be, honestly. More plants and places for a bright blue creature to not hide.

Was it really that dangerous to not disrespect the dead? Bearing in mind - "that they're the bones that y'all probably called rebel scum or something? I'm pretty damn aware." Eythan weaved carefully around this internally, lest he give away his informant and whatever consequences might arise.

"It's pretty different right now - to me, at least," the gryphon shrugged lightly, "even if they were the worst of the worst, they were probably just survivin', like the rest of us. Everybody's got different ways of livin'."

Eythan didn't have hopes that he'd change someone's thinking in a day, but he may as well take the bait and keep running along with it.

Rezik's expression darkened, filled with intensity. There was surprise in it, shock; if a noble creature found someone crapping in its soup it might have made such a face. It was if Eythan had said something terribly rude, ignorant, and deliberately provocative. His mouth parted, his eyes flaring, his brow drawn. His neck even pulled back, as if to draw away from the hybrid.

"Are you a fool?" he asked, at last, very quietly. It was as though he were so shocked by Eythan's words that he could barely manage voice past a whisper. "Do you wish the masters to flay you alive-?" He rose up, tensing, as if he might actually flee the conversation out of fear of what might happen, as if he felt Astraea might simply, suddenly appear. He looked around, wide-eyed, and then leaned a little toward Eythan. His voice became a low snarl. "I will tell you this for your own good. The Masters have slept, but their rule is not-... this," he said, looking around with a grimace. "They will demand respect! They will demand obedience! 'Rebel scum' indeed--these were the worst of us. The fools. The traitors. Do you understand?"

He took a step closer, and then another, feverish intensity flaring in his maddened eyes. Desperate for Eythan to grasp this, for some reason. "The traitors. Traitors. Do you understand?"

@Eythan