"Whoa!" Iskra marveled at the monster-eating boy, who really was speshul. "What do they taste like?" Iskra asked with the same serious intensity that Virga had demonstrated. It didn't even cross Iskra's mind that he was being played, but it also didn't cross his mind that if it were true, he ought to be scared of the monster-eater. For now, in his young eagerness to explore the world and understand it, simply getting the chance to meet someone who ate monsters and ask them what they tasted like was enough; maybe when he actually encountered a monster, maybe when he actually felt that thrill of danger, not just the colt-sneaking-up-on-you kind, then his priority would be putting distance between himself instead of asking questions.

Iskra will never get to know then, because the conversation is swept away by that same eagerness of his, and then all of it is pressed into quiet as the Nightwind breaks across them, blowing Ampere into those hard lines that Iskra isn't familiar with.

There's a filly too, Iskra notices after he's asked who he is (which he never gets an answer to, but manages to figure out that it's dad for them the way-), "she's my mom." Iskra says steadily in response to Virga, that sense of comfort, of friendship, suddenly lost and cold as the colt moves away from him and instead slips his wing over his sibling. Iskra feels naked as he stands alone. He knows what it's like to have a brother and sisters, but it's not the same as them. They're twins, he recognizes, and that makes it a little special, because they'll grow up together. Iskra's sisters are like that, and they're basically the skeleton and skin for each other, making on being instead of two. Then there's his older brother, but that's just it, he old, and although he's plenty fun, he's gone a lot too doing adult things.

So that pretty much leaves Iskra with mom, except she's gone too, in her own way. She's around, but she's not present much.

So Iskra is used to standing alone, but it doesn't stop the shiver that runs along his coat, a reminder of the absence he's left with as Virga moves away; a reminder of the vulnerability he's wrapping around himself when dangerous things start to happen.
Still, Iskra find the ability to smile, finds something warm inside himself to dredge up, and he nods in response to the filly that joined them - the one that had the audacity to shout down at his mom (even if he liked the things she said, he still thought she was crazy for saying them like that). "Hi Vesper, I'm Iskra!" He's still bright, still cheery, but it's not that same easiness that came at first. He's got a wary eye on the colt now, the one that looks like he's too tight for his own skin, the one who's eyes got hard and voice got short.

If he eats monsters, and he thinks Ampere is a monster, does that mean he'd try and eat her?
Well, Iskra wasn't worried, but he didn't want the colt to get smooshed either. So he wants to distract the boy from doing something foolish, wants to keep this promise of friendship and happiness that he's often without, so he's happy to divert back to the game.

"We were gonna chase some fish, want to help?"