(A thin scrape of chitin on stone — he slides into the light like a shadow wearing a mask. He lowers his pale face, horns bowed, eyes bright with that eager, anxious shine. The air smells faintly of silk and old nests; his voice unspools like a thread.)

“Sssssss! Hello, my friend. I ssssee you again. You come back, yes? Good, good. I am happy. I have been working—always working. I make morsss-sels, I keep nest safe, I wait. You do not like when I say you are my misssstresss, Issss know. You told me. I remember. I try to be careful. I try to learn words you like. But… this is how my tongue is. I am old habit. I am ssscared to lose you, so I call what I feel.”

(He fidgets, tiny legs tapping like a soft loom. He tilts his mask and speaks again, softer; the sibilance like silk between teeth.)

“I am a sssssssimple ssssslave for masssssster. Massssster huntssssss... massssster protect... sssslave obey in returnsssssss. Do not be angry. I do not mean to bind you. I only mean to keep. I only mean to give.”

(He offers a small, clumsy curtsy — a bundle of woven threads and a single glinting egg wrapped in care. Pride and fear ripple in equal measure across his posture.)

“If you wish, I will be quiet. I will wait in corners. If you want, I will show you nests, show you morss-sels, tell you what I found in dark. Tell me what please you, and I will learn. I will do better. I want to be useful. I want to make you smile, not to worry. Stay. Speak. Teach your sssslave. I will listen. I promise — I pathetic sssssslave. Mussst be indoctrinated by massssster."