It recoiled a little more properly as its Overseer demanded, voice shifting enough to see the whole - thing - as quite out of the ordinary. Algol's voice booming through the bones didn't particularly help matters; the orthoclase would've pinned its ears back, if it had them.

Instead, it rounded the perimeter of the link and Collector, gravitating closer to Vargas - not exactly pressing against his flank or seeking comfort like any other child might from their father, but more of... a concern for one's own well-being at opposite end of an apparently frightening. That was it. Not repressed -

Alpha peered up at Vargas for a moment, and then stared back at the thing like it was going to jump up and attack.

@Vargas

Vargas grunted, impatience finally bleeding through.

"What is it, Collector?" he demanded, gruffly. He glanced, briefly and sharply, at Alpha slinking alongside him.

"What do YOU want to do with it?" he, again, demanded. This thing had been found by the Orthoclase, after all; its desires should at least factor in.

The Collector backed away, a brief snarl of white teeth visible, as if he'd grimaced beneath his hood. "It is a link in a chain, and it is heavy with a magic it should not hold," he said, very quietly.

There seemed to be implications there, hanging uneasily in the air. "I am leaving, in a minute, with or without it; keep it if you like. But I do not like its... implications."

@Orthoclase-Alpha

Algol wasn't explaining what exactly it was, and it wasn't that Alpha particularly cared about that - only that... again, it wasn't going to explode or do some other nasty thing.

"What do YOU want to do with it?" Vargas barked.

The orthoclase didn't consider for long: the link was clearly not something to hang on to. All pretenses'd been dropped, and to Alpha, the wisest course of action was to, apparently, plainly dispose of it. "I wouldn't keep it," it stated.

If the Collector didn't take it to who-knows-where, it'd probably just throw it back down on the floor in the tunnel leading to Polaris, or find some deep hole to banish it to. It wasn't one for material possessions anyways, gold or not.

@Vargas

Vargas grunted, eyes narrowing, and paced forward. He placed his own forelimb on the golden link, hand clasping it. He lifted it, tentatively, testing; and then he grunted again.

"It's heavier than it should be. I do not know what you sense in this, Algol, but if the Orthoclase wants it back you will deliver it to it later."

Not really a demand, just a statement; but Vargas had no real way, bar starting a fight, to enforce it. That being said he doubted the Collector would argue. Either he was faking it, and really wanted this link, or it genuinely scared the hell out of him.

Vargas wasn't sure which one was worse.

The Collector strode forward, taking the link with distaste as Vargas set it down. It vanished into his cloak, but even then he moved quickly--either wanting to spirit it away before the pair could change their mind or genuinely not wishing to touch it any longer than he had to.

He eyed Orthoclase-Alpha, and then delved back into his cloak. He pulled out a piece of old cloth: navy blue, marked with white sigils, a stiff dome with a curved piece like the bill of a duck coming out one end. It was a hat, of sorts, and he stepped forward to attempt to place this atop Orthoclase's head.

"Keep this, and if you want the ring back bring it back to me," he stated simply.

@Orthoclase-Alpha

The link went in, and some strange thing came out - and the orthoclase just stared as he drew nearer with it, plopping it and its strange sigil atop its head.

Alpha didn't move, expecting to feel the piece to latch down or something automatically. For a moment, it thought it'd flown off in the breeze, it was so light.

A beat.

The kaiju nodded to Algol, and upon feeling its new adornment shift a little on its head, it prodded, "is it armor?"

Because... what else would it be? Cosmetic?

@Vargas

"It had better not be cursed, Algol," Vargas grumbled, turning and pacing away. But it was more a grumpy complaint; there was something... unsettling, about all this, and the Collector's sudden drop of his whole theatrical act had him worried.

He'd felt what the Collector had meant by... strange magics. He wasn't sure what it meant, or what Algol might know that he didn't, but it certainly didn't seem good.

Vargas strode off, in any case; things to do, places to see, or something. Anyway, there was little left to do here.

exit Vargas

There was no mockery, and that might have been warning enough of the severity of the situation.

The Collector, however, did at least answer Orthoclase-Alpha's question: he looked at it, and in a flat, empty tone, said simply "It is a hat," before entirely disappearing.

______

The Collector exits. Any attempts to find him will discern that he has actually gone.

@Orthoclase-Alpha

"It is a hat," and just like that, it was alone.

Alpha peered around once, then rocked down onto its haunches with a wince. A long forearm reached up and up, fishing around for the so-called hat and removing it to inspect it more closely.

Certainly not armor, with how soft it was.

The kaiju fiddled with the strap on the back, undid it, and continued to examine it.

exit alpha