Older humans raised you? [scandalous. how were these humans not dead? were they actually tender in heart and spirit, as well as flesh?] Did you not have a lusus? [since "parents" were strange to her, it's only fair to clarify what a "lusus" is for cashmere.] It's an animal guardian that raises you and teaches you how to survive. [then, with a bit of pride:] My lusus was a most magnificent dragon.

[again, she's absolutely nonplussed. dead kids? dead anythings? were these people afraid of murder? perhaps they had not evolved far enough...]

I'm going to guess a child is a small human. Similar to a grub for my kind. [she pauses, trying to figure out how to word this next part without sounding like an ass.] Do your... children not fight to assert themselves as genetically dominant? Are they like lapbarkbeasts?