The child’s warped mind did not process the weight of her inquiry. To Daria, asking the boy to belong to her was as simple as gathering things for her collection of trinkets. Only, she didn’t have to ask a pebble that caught her fancy if it wanted to join the bits of shell and bone in her den. Gazing up at him, red tipped tail swishing back and forth behind her, the girl idly doubted that he’d even fit in her little hole in the ground. It was no problem, she reasoned, she’d just find a bigger place to keep him and her things.

The girl’s expression turned infinitely pleased as he mimicked her move: her trinkets couldn’t respond, but her stranger could! A swell of pride for the man overtook her concious in a violet haze for a moment - she’d chosen so well! He was better than anything else that was her, and she lifted her white tipped paw to pat at his muzzle in praise. Crimson tipped ears twitched as he began speaking, humming in response to his questions. ”Lifegiver, Other,” she answered honestly for both questions. ”Lifegiver gone, Other…” she trailed off with a shrug of her narrow shoulders. Other was painted melancholic blue in the girl’s mind, where Lifegiver was a shadow, quickly fading. She did not have the sense of mind to probe deeper into this contrast, content with her pieced together thoughts.

He loomed over her then and she simply grinned in response, head tipping back and back until opalescent eyes could land on his face once more. If she took a step or two back, she couldn’t tell. His rumbling voice came again and she listened intently, even as glee burst sunshine yellow through her. She met his blood-orange gaze again as she mulled over his words. Did he want something, the same as she wanted Other? But she was here, so what could she give him? She hummed again, pondering what she would want - other than her missing counterpart - and then beamed wide at him. ”Stay,” she chirped brightly, turning sharply towards the trees at her back and taking off. The golden-backed girl paused at the treeline to make sure he was still there before plowing ahead.

It didn’t take her much longer to reach her den and she paused. One of her things was definitely a suitable gift for her stranger, but which one? Daria stared at her collection for a long few minutes, reaching once for a mostly whole oyster but retracting her head before she picked it up. None of her stones would work, she quickly eliminated, and neither would her shells, leaving the small bones scattered throughout as her choices. Not finding anything suitable, she huffed and whipped around - only to have her eye catch on exactly what she was looking for. A small bird’s skull, scavenged from a rotting corpse she’d stumbled upon. There were a few chips in the smooth surface, but it was her favorite - and would certainly be impressive to her stranger. She gathered it gently between her teeth and set off as quickly as she dared for the beach.

Daria slowed as she hit sand, trotting gleefully back to the dark male, tail wagging full force behind her. She gingerly set the skull at his paws before taking two smalls steps back, looking earnestly up at him. The girl allowed herself a moment to collect her scattered thoughts before saying, ”Favorite thing. Share with you.”