Vanoss grins, his eyes glowing in the firelight. The smoke covering his wings ripples and sways, moved by a non-existent wind, and the constellations that cover his body wink in and out of sight. “Well, I should start by telling you it was aaaaall Del’s fault that we even wound up in that situation.”

“Was not!”

A glowing orb bursts out from under Vanoss’ mantle, bouncing up and down in anger. Vanoss just pokes at it with a claw, and it bursts like a soap bubble, leaving nothing but glowing dist behind. “Shoulda never taught him how to do that.”

“What, spy on you so I know when you’re spreading lies?”

Another orb has appeared, and this one manages to dodge Vanoss’ annoyed swipe. “Shush, I’m trying to tell the story.”

“Nuh uh. You’re trying to tell liiiies!!” The orb drops low to the ground suddenly before spiraling skyward. “Liiiiiieeesss!!!”

Vanoss flicks his tail, the vine wrapped around it extending with a rustle of leaves. It manages to graze the orb, and it pops again, leaving behind glowing dust. Glowing dust that blows into Vanoss’ eyes. He sneezes. “You did that on purpose you tree trunk.”

This time, no orb re-appears. “Delirious?”

Silence.

“I’ll bring you another teddy bear if you stop sulking.”

“Am not!”

This time, the voice comes from the shadows at the edge of the firepit. A grinning nocturne emerges a moment later, holding a net filled with fish. “Brought you a snack. Figured all that adventuring would work up an appetite.”

“Delirious! What – how –” Vanoss’ mantle flutters frantically before settling into stillness again. “You moron! What about Circe?”

“Eh, she’s dealing with some drama right now. Betrayed the royal family or somethin. Figured now was a good time to take a break from playing hide-and-seek with her minions.”

Vanoss huffs, obviously still worried. “You better be careful.”

“The most-est.”

“That’s not a word.”

“Anyway!” Delirious turns to the hatchling, booping them on the snout with his feathered tail. “Hello there little one. Wanna hear a story?”

"We were exploring some caves at night and Del wanted to go swimming in this underground pool and yelled too loud and it caved in and," Vanoss takes a deep breath, "a huge rock beat spawned out of a boulder and chased us out and we barely managed to escape."

"Hey!! I wanted to tell them! Also, that was boring!!"

Vanoss laughs loudly, scampering away into the night with Delirious hot on his heels.