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The question surprised her, and a bubble of laughter escaped from her proto-muzzle.

"Oh no. These suckers are pretty firmly lodged in there. The only way they come out is if someone yanks on 'em really hard- and then I bleed. Porcupines can release their quills, but not hedgehogs. ...If you want to touch one, you can. They're not actually that sharp."

She couldn't help but see how young he was- and that his arm was bandaged. It was that strip of white material that set her ill-at-ease once more. But her mind held the possibilty out- securing it as an impossibility- she couldn't let herself believe that Moreau could stoop to this level of monstrosity.

Emelyn's brows furrowed in concern- his words hadn't made much sense, and a strange look had come across his face.

"Cody, are you alright?"

Emelyn was silent, water dripping off her onto the rock on which they sat. Finally- here was an answer to why this child was here. Again... Emelyn thought of the picture of Moreau that had subsisted in her mind for so long- of a man with one foot in heaven and another in hell.

"...Is it just the neuropathy, or do you have vision and balance problems, as well? Would you like to stay here with me for a while, until it calms down?"

Emelyn, during one of her many stays in a foreign country, had lived only a few blocks away from the home of the legendary Jacqueline du Pre, the British cellist who had lost her life to the awful condition. It was not unfamiliar to her.

With the sound of his master's voice, Reuben stirred. Before he had a chance to even stretch properly, his floppy brown and white ears perked up and he made a beeline for the little boy, wagging his tail ferociously. Luckily, Em caught him in time to prevent him from knocking Cody over- but Reuben still strained against his collar, wiggling to try to reach the exceedingly green-eyed boy.

"Neuropathy," Em said again, pronouncing it delicately and without sounding condescending, "it means the numbness that you get on your fingers. Some people get it on their toes, too. ...My sister used to have it. Neuropathy- not MS," she explained simply. She didn't elaborate that it had been an effect of her sister's chemo.

"His name is Reuben. He keeps me company out here. ...Do you like dogs? Because I think he likes you." The mutt was indeed spasming gleefully beneath the boy's touch, ecstatic to feel the attention of someone new.

While Em reigned the enthusiastic dog back from his warpath of glee, her mind was also rife with thought. ...So he had been brought to the island- likely alone. It nearly broke her heart. A faint glimmer sparked when he said he'd like her to stay with him until his episode passed- but there wasn't nearly enough light in that glimmer to illuminate what was an essentially bleak situation.

Emelyn understood this change in his mood. It was too coincidental that he mentioned his mother and suddenly became teary eyed. Emelyn put an arm around his shoulder, feeling innately and fiercly protective of the boy already.

"Well, any time you want to play with Reuben, you can. In fact, you can even take him back to your duplex with you some nights, if you don't want to be alone. ...Not that you'll ever be alone. You know that there are a lot of us here who will look out for you, right? I bet you've met some already who care about you."

"See? They're all great people. You can go to any of them whenever you need something. We'll all be here for you, no matter where you are on the island." She held him close, tipping her head down to rest gently on his, musing on his list of 'have mets'. She didn't recognize the name Thom- and sadly thought that there must be more than just this poor child to grace Hell Island's shores.

"And don't worry about Reuben. He loves company. He'd miss me if he was away for too long- but if you ever needed him, it would be just like a sleepover." She resisted the urge to brush some of the blonde hair away from his forehead tenderly- she was already feeling so protective of him.

"There are some people that you can go to at any time, and they'll not think you're bothering them. Ambrose and Amaya, most definitely. And I'm not easy to find- because I don't live in the village anymore... but I'm... here for you, too." Emelyn had almost said that she would 'always be there'- but truly, how could she make that promise when Cody would have no way to reach her? For the first time since the moment she said goodbye to the village after the lockout, Em had doubts about her choices, and whether she could serve a greater purpose in the village.

"...Are you in a duplex by yourself, Cody?"

"Well, I live out here. Up in the mountains, in a cave- and out in the open, here. It's easier now that I have more animal in me. ...Do you like being in the duplex?"