Grark and stupid snobby flying lizards.

Alyvyn arrived within two hours, cat and all and was greeted by Excavator 42, who seemed much more animated in person than via the network. (Probably the fact he finally got to dig up something more interesting than yet more sun stones and a whole mess of muck may have been a large contribution to that, he was positively glowing with enthusiasm.)

Alyvyn greeted Excavator 42 as best she could, but as always, her focus was not on the socialisation aspect of things.

“Soooooo, can I see it now? Please, please, please?” She begged, looking very much like a kid who just spotted the presents under the tree. Excavator 42 gave a nod, and a passable grin, before leading her down to the worksite (they had deliberately dug her a human safe route where the temperatures were a mere 32 degrees Celsius, with all the mod cons, even a fancy air vent, because unlike humans constructs knew how to treat a workforce.)

On seeing what she had to work with, Alyvyn’s face lit up; she reached into her baggage (mercifully a bag of holding or her broom never would have managed to get off the ground,) Pulling out the Kraken tape for the bits that weren’t supposed to move, the oil for the bits that were, hinges for the bits that needed to do both (including multidimensional variants for the bits that needed to do both at the same time, she really had to pull a few strings to get her hands on those ones,) and for some reason a jar of peanut butter and a manawelder. (Hey, a gal has to eat something, and you could make really, really, really good toasties in a hurry with a mana welder if you were careful enough.) Then she looked round, starting to layout the magicode of a lifetime (or not quite as the case may be, but you know what I mean.) This was going to be a lot of work, but soooo worth it.

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Grark woke up with their usual grumpy growl after a very, very, VERY long nap. They found, much to their surprise, that they didn’t feel hungry in the least. (This was a novel feeling for Grark, the feeling of perpetual hunger was something of a background constant for them for their entire life, there was a reason their kind were so grumpy, apart from an itchy back they could never quite reach to scratch.) It was weird; things were a lot less fuzzy around the edges for them than usual. On top of that, the nagging hunger was replaced by new feelings, including curiosity about something beyond what everything in the world tasted like. They liked it.

Looking down (and it was a long way down), they saw some kind of glowing crystal things milling about, alongside a strange looking hairless monkey, and some kind of tiny thing on 4 legs, which despite being smaller than Grarks itty bittiest claw, kept glaring at them, and gave the feeling of a much bigger predator (it definitely had the ego and self-satisfaction bits down pat.)

The hairless monkey thing seemed to be talking into Grarks head. But despite Grark somehow knowing that that being could issue orders if they wished, they seemed to have locked that ability off. Replacing it with please, thank you, and if you don’t mind, and an offer to let Grark nap if so they wished, (unsurprisingly they didn’t, especially not when given the impression of how long their last nap had lasted, Grark was amazed they didn’t have at least a stiff neck, but looking at themselves they seemed a lot less squishy nowadays,) and an apologetic tone for disturbing them.

Inside Grarks head, none of the crystal things were silent; so far, every single one had offered greetings. This was a new feeling for Grark, who hadn’t really had much opportunity to socialise with other creatures, partially because any meet and greet would rapidly result in Grark or the neighbours eating meat without any socialisation.

Grark tried asking what had happened to the rest of their kind and was given a flash of a different species and an explanation. It seemed his family had gotten more than a little uppity since learning magic, speech, and getting those flappy things added to their backs; maybe they’d pay their ancestors a visit later in a kind of family reunion.

But for now, what Grark wanted most in the world was focused elsewhere; several of the shiny things had picked up a stick, it looked crunchy and munchy and Grark wanted it from the moment it started waving about. It took 4 of the glowy rock things, gradually leading Grark to a much bigger cavern (using the big stick as bait,) then they threw it. Something in the cavity that once housed Grark’s tiny lizard brain couldn’t quite figure out what happened, but that stick was theirs, and before they knew it, they were running after it. Then, as if an unspoken idea entered their head, they dropped the stick on the ground (where it left a crater) after one more crunchy munch in front of the rock things.

Grark’s tail swayed from side to side (decimating a few centuries worth of stalagmite formation in the process), waiting for the stick to be thrown again. This was fun, and it seemed the rock things, which head voice told them were called constructs, had cleared this place out just for Grark. It belonged to them whether they helped or not. But to do what they needed to do, they needed something far bigger than they were, and they had been nice to Grark. (Usually, Grark considered not trying to eat them to be being nice, so this whole thing was a new experience for them.) If shiny rock things really needed Grarks help, then Grark would be happy to give it. It was the least they could do for them after waking them up from the long nap; besides this “fetch” thing was fun.