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When the little rodent leapt up onto him, Alex let out a small squeal, unbefitting of a man his size. Then his sense came back to him as it began to crawl around him, and he reached around to try and grab it by the ears. To no avail. The little bastard had gotten into a spot that he wasn't able to reach. He was a big man, and because of that, being limber wasn't his strong point. The runt began to claw and bite into his back, causing him to leap up and dance around, hopping and stomping and swearing, in hopes of dislodging the animal. He was getting ready to slam his back into the tree and bash its brains out when someone else finally pulled it off of him, taking a a bit of the skin off his back with it.

With that over, Alex looked to find the box the animal had been guarding, only to see it missing and in the hands of someone else. Not fair. That was his prize. He'd been attacked by a vicious wild animal for it! But rather than complain, he kept his mouth shut. It didn't matter. His pride was hurt more than anything else. He sighed once more, then turned to face the rest of them, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes kept flitting over to look at the lantern, but for the most part, his attention stayed on the children. He didn't really see them as children; he'd been working and making his keep by the time he was their age. But others would, and if parents knew they were out here with him, then he'd be blamed if they didn't make it back. And angry people made for bad business.

In response to the boy, Hato Shirudo, who had asked for names, he said, "Alexander Valerian." There was no "thank you" added to that, no gratitude in his voice. In fact, it seemed to be oddly neutral about the whole rodent incident. His eyes fell down to the silver box, then rocketed back up to stare down at Hato. "Anyone know just where we are?" he asked. Out of four people, surely one knew at least something about the area. Though, he'd seen people remember less. Maybe they all had hangovers and couldn't remember a thing. Even at their age, alcohol wasn't exactly restricted. But, it didn't matter right now. No booze in sight. He ran a hand through his hair, something he often did when he either had no words to say or felt he was in an awkward situation, and remained quiet while he waited for the others to answer him.