Perched within the branches of an old man of a tree, Xibalba leaned back against the trunk and watched with some bemusement as the little wisp of light that he’d found on his wonder darted and gamboled through the branches. It was a funny little thing, he thought. He couldn’t really judge how intelligent it might be, but it seemed, at least, to understand ones if not words. And right now? It seemed happy enough as it wove through the branches.

But, it only seemed willing to come out if he was powered up. Which was both odd and sort of a relief. It made telling Bindhi about the wisp difficult when he couldn’t get it to appear unless he was all charged up. And they had a rule about powering up in or near their home. At least, his wife was sensible and experienced in Weird s**t 101 and had believed him. And, he consoled himself, at least it didn’t seem willing to pop in when he had the kids with him. That was the other rule that he and Bindhi had established. The twins were, by no means, to be exposed to any magical bullshit. At least when it could be reasonably avoided. The longer they could be kept safe and innocent, the happier he would be. So if Little Wispy stayed shy of non-powered folk, well.

That was all to the good.

Sighing gustily, Xibalba half closed his eyes as he continued to watch the wisp play. And he was sure that it was play now. The thing acted like a kitten learning to hunt, all pounces and tumbles and hops. Chuckling softly, he held out his hand and waited patiently. It seemed to like contact with him. Even if that contact was nothing more than brushing by his shoulder or ‘bouncing’ in his hand.

“Well, Ah’ve nae idea where y’came from, li’l pal, but Ah s’pose Ah’m glad y’r here,” he rumbled gently as the wisp came to him and rested briefly on his palm. And that was another oddity. It weighed nothing at all, but he could feel a faint warmth when it touched down. And he was certain that it hummed ever so softly when it was flittering around. All in all, it was an oddity. But kind of a nice one. Closing his eyes completely, the knight waited to move his hand until he felt the ephemeral warmth fade. Resting both hands on his stomach, he simply listened to the nighttime sounds around him. Crickets, a far off dog barking, the faint roar of cars travelling to and fro. Normal things. Things he wanted to protect and uphold.

Xibalba sighed again, lips curling up minutely as he felt the brush of warmth atop his folded hands. For all that the wisp was mostly silent and lacked facial expressions, the Mars Knight would have sworn that he could sense the creature’s contentment in that moment. It was a pity it wasn’t more tangible, he thought. If it had possessed ears, he would have begun to gently scratch them.

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