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Filorn walked into the infirmary, saw the mouse's head poking out of her son's mouth, and almost had a heart attack before Nimbalo waved a paw from behind Deyna's lips and grinned at her.

"'Ello, miz Deyna's mum!"

"Good grief, lads, what are you doing?" Filorn spluttered, clasping her paws to her heart. "I thought those terrible vermin had had far too much influence over you for a moment there!"

Deyna put down the stack of books in his paws and pulled Nimbalo out of his mouth with a wet plopping sound. "Mmf. Sorry, Mum. I was helping with some tidying, my paws were full and, well..." He pointed to the heavy bandage on Nimbalo's leg. "I don't trust his balance right now so I didn't want to let him ride on my shoulder, and he came up with a different idea." He nudged Nimbalo and said "Your fault for falling."

"Yore fault fer droppin' me!"

"I could just hold onto your scruff, why do you need to actually sit in my mouth?"

"'Tis fun! Like bein' in a crow's nest on board ship."

"Just as wet as being on board ship too, I'd think."

Nimbalo laughed. Filorn sighed and shook her head. "Just make sure to bathe before dinner, Nimbalo, the only food which needs Deyna's spit on it is the stuff in his mouth." She picked up the laundry basket and left.

Deyna sighed. "Well done, Nimbalo, now my mother thinks we're both insane."

Nimbalo snickered, and Deyna frowned. Long, long ago, as the stories went, in the days before speech and reason, otters and badgers had eaten mice. The first Lords of Salamandastron had stepped away from cannibalism, sworn to protect the land from those that would ravage it and to honour the lives of all their potential allies within it, and other badgers had followed suit in a trickle, then a flood. Otters had always preferred fish, and abandoning other meats had come more easily for them. While many stoats, weasels, ferrets, and rats did the same, many did not, and Tagg was still lurking deep in Deyna's mind. How much had the Juska influenced him?

As Deyna thought, Nimbalo wriggled free of his paw and back into his mouth. "C'mon, mate, it's fine. You dunno wot you big beasts are missin', I could sleep 'ere."

Deyna pulled him out again and said "Don't. I need you to stab me in the gums if I try to bite down or swallow."

"Ah, I'm not worried!" Nimbalo said airily and patted Deyna's nose. "You like me bein' around more'n you like my taste."

Deyna looked at Nimbalo's grin, and relaxed. Trust was still a novelty to him, and it was sweet. He smiled back, and tucked Nimbalo into his cheek, closing his teeth carefully to avoid catching his friend's tail. Nimbalo folded his paws on Deyna's lower lip and rested his head on them, and Deyna scritched his ears with a claw.