"Seems everyone loses someone, eventually," he said beneath his breath. He only hoped that the optimistic approach was the right one, that the people went home, instead of something much worse happening to them.

"I recognize it from another floor," he told her, frowning at the tree formation. "But why is it down here? It's not even something from the floor above..."

At her suggestion, his tail twitched as his whole body seemed to perk and he beamed. He liked the idea of investigating. "Alice? I think you and I will be good friends. I like the way you think."