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"Yo, look man, stop tweakin," Noisemaster said, holding up his hands and stepping forward as the mouse-like guy stepped back. "You, eh, you were talkin’ ‘bout coffee, right’? Like I toldja, 004 is jacked up at night, but there’s gotta be some joints in 001 we can hit up.”

Pierce's round mouse ears twitched faintly and he gave two quick nods, mumbling that he would do his best to be calm and cool and collected which obviously would be a reach for the Dormouse but hey, he'd give it a shot and try and not freak out. He was very grateful for the help, he almost expected not to get any from anyone here, really.

Pierce was mostly used to being bullied rather than being helped.

Pierce prepared to turn tail and run but he hesitated for whatever reason and there was a bite to his leg -- not his leg exactly, but the fabric? His heart was pounding, was he being toyed with like with Boris all the time? He began to shake like a little leaf and just waited for this to be over. Maybe because the puppy was small, he could get away after it tried taking its first real bite. It was a small sliver of hope and he just waited and waited but nothing ever came.

". . .? What?"

Pierce was indeed the Dormouse and while he couldn't get the exact of what the puppy was saying, there was a gist of understanding. Something about rice? He exhaled a long breath, his heart's rhythm slowing down by ticks and tocks to a moderate pace. He gave a small nod, still shaking as he reached out and gave a gentle pat to the small pup's muzzle. 

"You're not eating me? Thank you. . .I don't know what I should call you, though?"

"Whoa, YO!!”

It was a good thing that Noisemaster was so light, otherwise that fall might’ve hurt. He pushed himself back to his feet and started brushing off his sleeves, looking around to see if anyone had seen that pretty lame display of failure, when he heard the voice from behind him asking for coffee. Turning around, it was plain to see that this shifty-eyed, mouse-eared guy was from ‘out of town’, as Noisemaster liked calling it.

Blinking in utter confusion, the Dormouse could only try and piece together what he was told. He lightly slapped his own cheeks in an effort to stay awake, rapidly growing more and more frantic the longer he was without at least one cup of coffee. He was prone to just knocking out and taking a nap at any given moment! No, he absolutely couldn't do that -- he tried to calm down, processing the information again. Oh, but it was rather hopeless! He couldn't understand it and he looked to the stranger full of color, hoping he could be led instead of directed.

"W-Wait that doesn't make any sense? "

"Can you show me, please? I just got here so I don't know where. . .or how I should get around. . ."

He wanted to hurry and get moving, the darker that it got the more dangerous it became. He wondered if he could find a mouse hole somewhere too but ah -- no, he couldn't do that, could he? He could only shrink down to mouse size at a limited time so this was even worse than he realized! He was going to have a heart attack at this rate, shaking his head as little mouse ears lowered along with his demeanor.

If Pierce was a more assertive type of person, he would have taken a hold of this stranger's hand and urged for this but unfortunately, he was just the opposite of that. He ended up reeling back a step or two and seemed to curl within himself, if the way his tail curled around his leg was any indication. He hoped, he really and sincerely hoped that things would turn out alright.

"That's really good. I feel like I can breathe and maybe even sleep here then. . .there's still things to be wary of but you seem r-really nice!"

The very animal in question that he had feared would eat him was right here before him! His entire body froze into place out of fear when little paws pressed to his legs -- if he moved and ran, then it would give chase, wouldn't it? It barked next and Pierce jumped, his heart ticking loudly in his chest.

It's okay, it's okay -- He repeated this mantra and slowly knelt before the pup, speaking in his quiet as a mouse tone as always.