Iris just about jumped out of her skin when Adis screamed, and she let out an unholy shriek of her own and latched onto the other woman tightly. Her heart pounded in her chest, her breath caught in her throat, and her mind raced in a panic as for a moment she was too terrified to speak because what was going on?! Just when she thought she had the sense again to form words, Adis spoke up before she could ask what happened, and she let out her held breath in a loud whoosh.
"O-oh...jus' a mouse..." She laughed shakily and relaxed her death-grip on Adis, but she still kept a tight grip on the other woman's arm just in case. She flashed Adis a grin that was meant to be confident but looked more nervous than anything. "How terrifyin'. But oh, my dear, brave protector! Ya surely scared it off with tha' mighty roar of yers, eh?" The girl would have frightened the dead with that scream, much less a harmless mouse!
Dear gods, that was one way to get the blood flowing and the senses alert! She gave Adis another smile, and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze, and had been about to steer the topic back to the carving and what it could mean when Adis spoke first.
Her words made Iris grimace.
Oh dear...
"Ah...well," she said, biting her bottom lip. "One of us has gotta touch it, I s'ppose. Unless it's a thing we ain't s'pposed ta touch, then we might be in trouble if we do. Course, there's only one way ta know!"
And then, after a deep breath, she added, "I could touch it if ya don't wanna. I, uh, I read bones 'n' things anyway. Maybe it won't be so bad, if I jus', y'know...think of it like tha'. Right?"