Dimly, the thing can recognize that this is not the expected reaction - but no one here behaves as respected. It lifts a few limbs up and waves them in the air at him in a gesture of greeting, then skitters a little closer. Something inside the hanging dome of the brain case rapidly clicks at him.

Elsewhere, Metody is busy cleaning the little cave he now calls home. And in another elsewhere, Metody is busy rearranging his nested bones, far below the clustered city. And in another elsewhere, he is investigating a particularly interesting rock, or wandering down a tunnel, or gathering pebbles.