I wish I had a job to quit

The accusatory tone of the youngster in response to his question rolled right off the yearling's back, slipping past his nearly vacant expression with little more response than a flick of a tall ear and a subtle twitch of his dark lips into a little smirk. Narrow, bony shoulders lifted and dropped in a heavy, careless shrug. The muffled thudding of cloven hooves across the moss coated stone allowed him to track Luxe as the ram wandered away from the conversation to search for grazing fodder. The boy added that he wanted some space, which was understandable. A light, affirmative bobbing of that dainty skull as he hummed understandingly.

"I'm doin' the same," he told the boy, wispy banner waving lightly behind him. "Never worried about moving around in the caves, can't see anyways so the dark ain't a problem." he chuckled, and then simply wandered off to continue following the little stream. "You can come with me if ya want, I bet there's something neat down here." he drawled, keeping his pace slow. The boy moved with very gentle steps, each paw lifted rather high from the ground with each stride and placed on the ground with a soft sweeping motion as he felt for any obstructions in his path. The air was growing cooler as he moved along, so he must be getting deeper underground. Was that strange smell growing stronger? It was a peaty, rich smell that he knew from somewhere, but he couldn't place it. It would come to him eventually.

"What's your name, kid?" he asked, raising his voice just a little to ensure he could be heard if the kid was still catching up (or straight up ignoring him).

""