"It's a what?!" she said and he laughed again, a sound of wildness and mirth. The egg's rounded curvature glowed in the light as the crow's shadow fled it, and his gaze dropped to the hidden life. Nyx had thought it a crystal. What on earth would she have done with it, if no one had told her otherwise? Stashed it away in some dark nook, and got herself a royal surprise one day? Accidentally broken the smooth shell with some careless treatment? His large head tilted slightly to the side, still fixed on the egg. It lay unprotected on the strange glass floor, abandoned by its finder—for now, at least. She seemed a tad too curious to just let it go, gazing at it just as he did. It was, he decided, for the better. He had no idea what was in there, and given the logic of Helovia's eggs, it could be anything from a bear to a spider. The relative silence of the crystal walls wrapped itself around him, and he was content to let it be. It was soothing on his frayed mind. The stiller and calmer, the less his head throbbed.

As her gaze came up, his ears flickered forward again. Now she could look at him—fine. His lips curled into a half-smile, blue eyes peering at her from behind white lashes. As long as she didn't ask him to take a walk with her or something he'd be fine. Just a moment of rest, to catch his breath and head and heart... "Mmh," he hummed, peering down at the egg again, away from her face. "Or something else, entirely. Who knows, maybe you'll get a spider?" And his grin returned, lopsided and tinged with his own brand of darkness. It would be one big spider, if it came out of such an egg. He chuckled under his breath, looked up again. Was she afraid of spiders? He'd met some who were, and knew that some of the arachnids were incredibly dangerous... But that Darwinism had never reached Mauja's homeland, for very few things of venomous nature lived in the harsh ice-lands.

But of course, such criss-cross patterns of healing wounds did not go unnoticed, and required their own private investigation. That was not surprising—what was surprising, was the concern in her eyes as she peered at him. What had he done to deserve it? What had he done but half-threaten her and whisper of the dark in her ears? "The shadow-creatures on the surface," he replied, voice steady. The memory of the wolf-child's alien grin, splitting wider than anything he had ever seen, still made him shiver if he thought about it for too long.. the cold starlight tracing the slavering, sharp tips of his too-many fangs... "I was, unfortunately, unaware of this place being safe." He gave a small shrug. He'd been down here before, but a cave seemed to be the most stupid thing to go into when you were hunted. A dead end, and then you were done for.