Ursalo's smile finally shifted into something that wasnt flirtatious. His mouth curled into a confused frown at Jera's outburst. He did not understand the words used. What did blood have to do with it?<br/><br/>Ranuk at least knew to expect such a reaction, having centuries of exposure to glean a few things about the Dark Elf culture, no matter that most of the interactions had been hostile.<br/><br/>"<b>Dark elves mate and raise offspring in exclusive pairs</b>," Ranuk murmured, his voice like the rumbling of distant thunder, "<b>they prefer the ones they sire over all else, 'of their blood' as they call it.  Adoption is uncommon. They do not know our way</b>."<br/><br/>Ursalo's confusion dissipated as Ranuk explained but the frown did not leave quite yet.<br/><br/>"<b>Truly? Well that seems.... horribly lonely</b>," Ursalo hissed back, barely able to wrap his head around the concept. A single pair of adults for a child, and only the ones they birthed? Ursalo knew enough of dark elves to know that they did not come from eggs but came directly from a mother's womb, alive and squalling like an animal. He also knew their females were far more plentiful so perhaps that would make babies a little harder to swap, but still...<br/><br/>"<b>Should I.... should I explain or...</b>" Ursalo asked, unsure but intensely curious about the differences in their cultures. It just seemed so alien a concept that he was compelled to discuss it.<br/><br/>"<b>You may try, though I doubt that they'd understand,</b>" Ranuk said with a slight shrug. The Dark Elves knew extremely little of the demons, their language and physiology so varied and complex the Dark Elves could hardly establish a baseline just through observation alone.<br/><br/>Ursalo took that as permission and gently shook his head in answer to Jera's tactless question.<br/><br/>"No, Ranuk has never sired but he raised me from a hatchling, so I call him father," Ursalo explained, his frown still present, "your language only has one word for it, 'father' it does not quite encompass what Ranuk means to me. We demons have many words for the ones who care for us."