"Oh my gosh, you know about [i]crabs.[/i]"

She's tugging at the tentacles, but not--Look, it's not an escape attempt, right? It's just hard to properly talk about something like crabs without the proper wild gesticulations.

"[i]I[/i] know about crabs! 

"Did you know they're on literally every planet we've ever conquered?! Every single one!  Planets that are barren, lifeless, just rocks and bacteria, have crabs!

"Oh I'm silly, you know that. There are some planets where we--it's like, we've never even [i]seen[/i] them, but we know they're there because--well, admittedly, [i]some[/i] survivors have seen them, but that's just anecdotal, and I hear most of them were gibbering--we know they're there because of the evidence it leaves on the crabs' natural prey! If there weren't crabs there, the submarines would see far more animals down there!"

She beams at the Pix.

"Oh, you have to tell me your favorite. Please? I've read books, but [i]my[/i] favorite is--get this--a crab the size of a [i]planet.[/i] One of the sailors told me about it, can you [i]imagine[/i] it? A crab so big, it has sub-crabs inside it, so big it can eat starships! It hasn't been seen in centuries, but the sailors say it's still out there!

"…Hmm. Now that I think about it, she might have been pulling my leg? She seemed serious, didn't have that little tell around her eyes that said she was joking. Or maybe trying to scare me? 

"But come [i]on![/i] A crab the size of a planet? How do you get scared of that? I wanna see it! I wanna fly inside it, crawl on its back!"

Dyssia is grinning and wiggling against the Pix. There are benefits to tentacles, you know? Yeah, you can't escape them, but you have an excuse for getting nice and close to them, and pressing your face against them, and really getting familiar.

 "Have you been working with crabs long? Have you made any improvements on crabs? I mean, they're [i]crabs,[/i] I'm surprised you've taken the time out of your busy schedule for Azura matters, you know? Is Tidal Specialization your name or your job? C'mon, I gotta know the name of my partner in crime slash new best bud slash kidnapper!

"And the answer is yes! Although you can't really know whether that's the truth or not, because I'd say yes even if I were secretly thinking no, you know? If I wanted to escape, the easiest way to do that would be to trick you into letting me out, right? 

"So, how about this: I will promise on whomever you choose not to attempt to escape until [i]after[/i] you betray me. Does that work?"