Leni-Aura lowers her ears and watches as Beist starts to wipe at his eyes with a handkerchief; she adjusts her posture slightly when he looks to her, her expression having softened with the situation at hand.

Nimbus, meanwhile, snuggles up to Beist in hopes of cheering him up; the scales of his throat rumble, vibrating with a purr not unlike that which a feline like Sorbet might make. He squawks when Beist picks him up to hug and rests his neck against one of the beast man’s arms, his tail drumming rhythmically against his stomach in a content wag.

When Beist opens an arm to Leni-Aura, however, her expression shifts slightly; uncertainty washes across her face; and she shuffles her paws. She purses her lips, looking sheepishly over Dora’s head; she’s not a very touchy person, or at least, she was not necessarily raised to be one… it feels awkward to offer a hug, even to someone she’s trying to comfort, like Beist.

The closest she’s come to showing that kind of touchy affection to anyone is to Nimbus, Cirrus, and Lil’ Frijole— and that was only after some months into her stay in Charon. Love, affection, and comfort simply look different where she comes from; and she can’t imagine why anyone would want any of those things from her when she’s so poor at expressing any of them.

… Albeit, she’s the only other one here right now, aside from the animals; so maybe that makes sense as a last resort.

Ears tilting slightly, Leni-Aura takes a breath before turning back to Beist and stepping into his hug. She can’t actually reach around him, so for the most part, she simply leans into him; Nimbus squeaks at her as she joins in on the hug. “It is scary, but you are not alone.” she remarks quietly; she offers him a bit of an awkward pat on the arm as she pulls herself back. “You have many who would help you; so no talk of moving to the Arid Mesa, you will stay in Charon, and you will be fine.”

Beist put his arm around Leni, careful not to squeeze her tightly. He could see she wasn't a big hugger, so he appreciated that she even leaned into him at all. It meant more to him that she was doing something she wasn't very comfortable doing just to try and make him feel better. He kept the hug with her brief, releasing her after just a short moment. He gave the big bee on his head and the raccoon-dog in the window both a pat to reassure them he was alright.

"Thank you. You're right. I'll be fine. We'll both be fine. I'm sorry to have dragged you into such a mess." He sighed and looked at Nimbus who was practically vibrating in his arms, the little drake's tail smacking Beist repeatedly in the stomach, and chuckled. "You don't seem too bothered though." He joked as he gave Nimbus some scritches on his neck and then looked back to Leni again.

"I don't know who owned that pet shop, but I don't regret saving these animals. I'll just have to be more careful. I don't think many of them saw me. Hopefully, those guards were too preoccupied with Pretzels to get a good look at me or thought I was just another one of the escaped animals. The wagon was also obscured by all the clouds and snow. I'm more worried that they'll recognize you and Nimbus. We'll both have to be careful next time either of us visits Darkveil again." Beist explained rationally now that he'd calmed down and regained his composure. Leni had spent more time fighting those guards than Beist had, so they probably had more of an impression of her. Beist stood out a lot thanks to his appearance, but Leni's appearance wasn't exactly the most common either as a Rabbitaur with a baby drake on her shoulder.

Beist looked back through the window at the crowd of stolen critters. "Hmm. What to do with them all... I'm not sure there's enough room in my wagon for them all, and I can't feed this many. There's a limit to how much food I can conjure in a day. But I don't know how many of them would be able to survive if they were just released back into the wild." Beist sighed. He wished he'd thought this through a bit more. Oh well, he'd think of something to do with them all once they were at a safer distance from Darkveil. There was also something else on his mind.

"So, who's "we"?" Beist asked with a big smile, leaning down toward Leni.

She shakes her head, a weak smile quirking the edges of her lips upwards as she watches Nimbus rumble in Beist’s arms. “You did not drag me into it— I decided to help.” she admits; Nimbus cranes his neck to allow Beist to scratch beneath his chin; and his feet wiggle happily as he does so. Her eyes lift to the big, fluffy bee and the raccoon-dog; these ones she hasn’t seen, just like Sorbet and Moe. “Whatever happens next, we can handle it.”

She nods in affirmation, leaning forwards just enough to scratch beneath Nimbus’ chin while he’s snuggled up in Beist’s arms. “I would rather they recognize me than you,” Leni-Aura admits; and it does go without saying that the rabbitaur is a bit more proficient in the art of ass-kicking. “Caution does not hurt, though… we will be careful next time we visit... I still have Nimbus' costume from the Gala; he makes a decent phoenix.”

As if agreeing with her, Nimbus makes a little trilling noise.

Leni-Aura also looks back into the wagon after a moment, ears lowering slightly as she watches the stolen animals; they seem to be mellowing down after the chase. “Mm… Maybe we can find them a home?” She wonders; but the train of thought doesn’t last long when Beist leans down to her.

She looks up at him with a blink; and a look of disbelief crosses her face as she quickly shrinks away from him; she scoffs, her cheeks darkening with a subtle embarrassment.

”You are really still on about that???”