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He didn't hear the professor's response before Riley's voice filled his head again, and he automatically looked over his shoulder, seeing her exit the maze. For a second, he almost bolted, remembering the reason she was chasing him in the first place... but the way she said it, quiet and ... was it worry in her voice? made him pause, the game dropping almost immediately. Taking a few steps forward, he bridged the gap between them quickly, and almost asked her what was wrong when she continued, feeling his body go a little rigid with her next statement.

Oh. She'd heard him. He hadn't... thought she'd actually heard him.

It was Nuk's turn to be embarrassed, reaching up to flip his pelt off the top of his head to run his hand through his hair, not sure how to get out of this with his dignity. She didn't have anything to be embarrassed about, they had been playing a game, and she had just been teasing him.

"Yeah... sorry. About... that."

His words were a little disjointed and awkward, as if he didn't want to reveal any weakness around the mindflayer whom he respected so much. In fact, she was probably the person he respected most... and he had just broken down like a child, literally, in a fake maze of fake bushes with a real predator who was only faking to tease him. Wow... he was... never going to have her respect again. He found that the thought hurt worse than he thought it would, hurting like the sight of Shehk as she'd retreated, the glow of his eyes dulling a bit.

Without really thinking about it, the skinwalker reached up to take the hand that was on her elbow, turning it over to place the cupcake on her palm, offering a rather mirthless grin.

"Here. Have some sugar, sugar," He half-murmured, offering the nyancat box in his other hand, "Just don't eat the cat. Furballs, you know."

He was a little surprised, and possibly a little hurt at how she pushed away his second gift, although he tried to hide it, for the most part succeeding due to the fact that she had taken his first one. But it was only hidden, not completely gone - he was surprised at how completely heartbroken he felt. The distress he had felt before felt compounded upon, crushing under the weight of his own self destruction. Wouldn't they be proud. Look what you did. You broke it. Good boy. You're a monster.

There was a visible pause between the time it took for him to glance down at the crushed box she placed in his hand next to his own, looking at it for a second to try to decipher it's meaning. At first, he felt a little better, wondering if perhaps it was a gift, to match his own, but the thought was quickly discarded. It wasn't a gift, she thought it was a trade. Almost immediately his expression steeled a little more, and he laughed a little, although it was hollow like his grin.

"It wasn't a trade, I wanted you to have it -- you wanted the cupcake thing, right?" he replied, trying to make his voice sound lighter than he felt, although the sound still remained rough and low despite his best efforts, "'s not like I want it, I--"

The words were cut off as he suddenly found her arm around his shoulders, wrapping tightly around him as if she were trying to keep him still. At first, he jerked a bit, wondering if she were trying to pin him, or throw him, or even just hold him so she could punch him -- he wouldn't have doubted it. It was what his brothers had done, just to make sure he was down. Except... she didn't seem like she was trying. There wasn't any jerking movements, nor did she use her other hand, which gave him a distinct advantage in a fight. She was even... letting go. No. Not yet, he wasn't done yet, this wasn't going to end where he thought it was going to end, because it would never get better after this. They'd never be friends again, and maybe he could live without his ghoulfriend and maybe he could deal with her hating him and looking at him hurt and being happy with some other boil but he could not deal with both of them despising him. Not both, not yet, maybe later but not now.

Despite the fact that he now had two boxes in his hand, Nuk wrapped both his arms around Riley's waist, holding her tighter than was probably necessary, not letting her wiggle out of his grip just yet.

"I promise I'll regain your trust. I'm still useful. Please."

"Might want to look for a bathroom for that," The professor stroked his chin as he looked at the dragon boil who had a visitor's pass on before gesturing to a building a short distance away, "Unless you want to walk back in there and find a pond." It almost sounded like a dare.

"Maybe you should learn to read before jumping into things next time," He raised an eyebrow at Nuk before nodding, breaking into a small smile, "But yes, of course you may. You earned it, after all."

...

Right. Were Riley and Nuk having some sort of a moment in front of his booth? He wasn't quite sure what to make of it, since he was an advocate for friendship and bonds and all that, but... Really now? Although he did look the other way to give them some... Privacy, he was twitching a little. Some things are just... You know...

Get a room.

Geeze, kids nowadays.

Sheridan paused as he passed the next booth, his head turned curiously. Minipet training? That sounded rather interesting, not to mention useful. He had unfortunately missed the minipet training class, realizing they were open too late to sign up, a class he would have most certainly found incredibly useful considering the cat of EVIL, his hel-lion named Tanaka.

His interest caught, the dragon approached the booth, tail twitching with his steps. If the professor was there perhaps he could ask a few questions, or find some help in dealing with said cat of evil who was probably shredding something in his room at this very moment.

Whatever question he may have thought to ask first was immediately silenced as his gaze fell on the maze. He was not sure he liked the sound he had just heard coming from there, cue ominous feeling!

And yet he was walking toward the maze, nothing could be as bad as the cat of evil, right? Of course he could have been wrong about that!

HOLY JACK! It seemed no sooner had he entered the maze and rounded the first corner than a creature suddenly jumped out at him, and it looked angry! WHAT WAS THAT?!

Sheridan wasn't sticking around to find out!

His curiosity getting the better of him, Sheridan approached the nest, scooting along with his back against the maze wall. Closer, closer, he leaned over the nest to peek inside, ignoring his better judgement that was screaming at him this was a bad idea!

There was something in the nest. Against against his better judgement, he reached into the nest to see what it was. He only hoped he wasn't being watched!

(( Profile: Amon ))

Ugg, he'd had enough of this place. Between carnivorous beasts and whatever the jack he had just stuck his hand in, Sheridan had decided it was time to get out of this maze.

Ignoring whatever else may have otherwise caught his attention, Sheridan quickly retreated. It was fortunate the exit was not far, now he just needed to find the bathroom and wash his hands! Gross!

(( minipet profile: Amon ))

Syb took a long moment to read the sign, not so good at reading, then started digging through all of her pockets. First she pulled out a folded up cloth bag and placed it on the ground. Into the bag went two cupcakes, a few candies that she had brought with her, a squeaky toy, a handful of strange devices that looked vaguely sinister in nature, a rock, a shiny rock, a small jar of candy scented wax--

It seemed like she was going to take forever, but finally she zipped the bag closed and stood, looking quite satisfied with herself. She was ready! She gave Muka a smile and whispered, "Do you want to go first?"

"Thank you!" she whispered with a brilliant smile before walking into the maze bravely. She rather liked this place, she decided as she started out.

She blinked as she came upon what looked to be a nest. Her heart started beating a bit faster as she headed for the next, trying to see what she could grab!