It was dark, the improbable sort of darkness that settled over spaces that the light had long since forgotten and had so been labelled it's enemy. While darkness was, by definition, an absence of light it had still managed to cling to the place like stick cobwebs, heavy and not so very easy to shake off. Somewhere further down in the cavern there must have been a body of water, as there was a steady drip dropping of water like a broken metronome, keeping pace with the unsteady heartbeat of the cave system itself.
All of this was all well and good, but unfortunately in that moment there were significantly more pressing matters at hand that preoccupied F. F Jackaby, and so he was not granted the opportunity to consider how a potential underground stream might contribute to an ecosystem there that was likely very unfamiliar with human presence.
While the water droplets were having a blast with their playing metronome, there was a significantly more important sound taking priority. The slow, precise tapping of claws just by his head, making it difficult to focus long enough to trail any one specific thought for as long as he would like.
The Seer let out an involuntary groan as one of the knees of the large creature that was, at present, pinning him to the cavern floor, shifted in such a way that made it seem as though his attacker was only really finding the ordeal to be slightly more agreeable than the attackee was. But it was only the man himself whose vision sparkled with pain, his breath getting lodged in his lungs. Which was rather obvious, as there was no way something would continue to attack in such a way when the detriments far outweighed the benefits, not if it wanted to ensure its own survival and the like.
"You wouldn't consider moving your knee off my spleen would you? I do rather need that, you know?" asked Jackaby, as if he was not being literally attacked by a creeping hopper in that moment. He'd been unceremoniously acquainted with the business end of the creature's claws enough to be able to consider it a pool of his own blood that he was laying in (a very little pool, granted, like one of those little rubber kiddie pools with duck patterns or those little ones shaped like a shell) but that did not mean he was not capable of, at least, trying to talk his way out. He was not really given any other option at that moment and he was not entirely prepared to just lay there and have a terrible time.
The Ghast, more colloquially known as creeping hoppers and crypt lurkers, had evolved in the darkness and so had no need for eyes and yet for just a moment this seemed to be an oversight, as the comment left it with the distinct desire to blink eyes at its bafflement. Instead, the greyish cave creature had to settle on a grimace, flashing long, sharp pointed teeth to show its confusion, which was not quite as effective in its own opinion. It had not actually been intentional, but in its confusion, the Ghast did actually shuffle in such a way that some of the undesirable pressure was alleviated.
"What's a spleed?" asked the creature, it's voice an unpleasant, grating guttural cough of a sound. Fortunately, like a surprising amount of vault-dwelling creatures, they had at least something of an understanding of linguistic mimicry, as it was not likely that Jackaby was going to have any luck finding an efficient English-to-Ghast translator while the Ghast in question was actively considering disemboweling him to find the answer to its question firsthand.
"Spleen, actually," Jackaby corrected, "They're one of those funny little organs tossed in there to filter blood. Everyone has them, it's one of those rare things that evolution seems to have decided it was very fond of. More so than lungs, certainly. You have a spleen."
"I don't want a spleen." The Ghast returned in a way that was either a perfectly executed deadpan or a flatness that suggested it was not quite accustomed to human speech patterns and so did not want to risk a social faux-pas.
"It's doing a good job, you don't have to like it but it is in there," came the reply, "If you didn't have one it would make things a lot harder for your immune system. I'd imagine yours is already working a great deal harder than, say, my own would be as you aren't able to get the benefits of the sunlight without immediately dyi-"
