He dissected her through her silence, watching as she moved and swayed to some hidden rhythm that only she could hear. Her oddities were displayed brazenly, not hidden like his, and it was a distinction that only served to further his interest. Onias watched as she began to speak, drawing forward as if speaking a grave secret, admitting things under the cover of darkness only the ritualist could provide. In the openness of the riverside, they had both found a hiding place. He grinned, eyes narrowing as a harsh bark of laughter escaped his lips. It was not as her expense, but at the expense of the world around them-- what a shame, that most could not see behind the veil they had both pierced. He twisted his neck, craning his head to peer fully at the woman before him. "Ah, and what do they tell you, Listener?"

There was a strangeness in the air, hanging around them like a dense fog. His hungry eyes rested upon her, still grinning, and he shook out his fur before stepping forward as she moved back-- entranced, he supposed. "Or perhaps our spirits are different-- perhaps mine are of the more demanding sort." He chuckled, swinging his head back and forth like some dastardly metronome, matching the erratic rise and fall of his chest. His breath hitched, becoming more excited and animated in his movements, before he suddenly paused. Onias drew himself up, raising his head, swiping his tongue across his lips as if to catch some fetid water that dripped from his whiskers.

For the entirety of his existence, he had believed his birth to be a sin. His mother and father had somehow created a scourge, driven forward by some hidden devils that barked at him from his shadow, peering at him with perilous and expectant eyes. There had always been a sort of crookedness about him-- he occupied spaces that others could not, somehow contorted to fit in between narrow passageways and slither underneath broad rocks. What, then, could he take from somehow who had nothing hidden except for what was unable to be explained anyhow? He snorted at the absurdity of the thought, shaking it out of his head.