ORIGIN

Still loitering by the food, Relic chewed absentmindedly at a cookie - one of the meat flavoured ones, of course. She hadn't made many meaningful connections in the cave, she had no friends to cling to or subtly hide behind. And even if she had, there was no way to recognise any familiar faces. But considering the gembound she'd met, did she even want to know? If any of those fungus ridden bugs had infiltrated with new faces, or that godforsaken jackal was lurking around the corner...

A blessing in disguise, maybe. She still missed her teeth though, and her new lips had a habit of getting in the way of things. Relic was starting to admire the brutal practicality of a skinless face - though she liked having ears again. She pondered her earrings for a beat, reaching for them with a gentle hand. If she took them home with her, they'd resize to her body - but what if her body could resize to them? It was worth a try.

Once Mossie had shaken her childlike excitement (though it never really goes away entirely, because !! CEPHEUS?? HANDS??? EARRINGS?? BALL?? Hello??) she recognizes that this event's really a fantastic networking opportunity.

She knows she needs to get folks on board with the Shadow if she wants to go anywhere with the group. Some people who were lost, and scared because of the ongoing war (one that the ever-present hum of wrongness in the back of her mind keeps suggesting she join), folks looking for direction like her.

By the food, Mossie spots someone nibbling at a cookie, isolated.

Bingo.

She approaches slowly, taking care not to startle, and swipes a cookie of her own. "Hello, hello! What's up, stranger?" she calls.

Is that too enthusiastic?

@Relic

Relic had been consumed by her scheming - God, she really missed her ears - when she was approached by another gembound. At least, she assumed so, seeing as most attendees had been affected by the transformation. She had never seen a human before, but that wasn't reason enough to assume there weren't any running around somewhere.

She was interrupted mid-bite, but didn't pause her eating. Her reply was muffled by the mouthful of cookie in her mouth, and some crumbs escaped her lips. "A ceiling." As there tended to be in the caves.

Mossie's newly expressive face lights up with delight at the deadpan joke.
...At least, she thinks it's a joke.
The stranger doesn't seem to think eating when talking is impolite, so Mossie takes the opportunity to munch on her own. The flavor's rich and buttery, and she's instantly addicted.
"Nice one, stranger." She pauses, humming to herself. "I can't keep calling you stranger, that's rude. What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?" @Relic

Upon closer observation, Relic found herself in awe of how many muscles seemed to be dedicated just for these new naked faces - well, naked for Mossie at least. The flesh around the eyes moved to make all kinds of fascinating shapes and wrinkles, pushed and sculpted like clay. A pity she had no clue what any of it meant, having lived most of her life as a hyena.

She swallowed her mouthful before speaking this time. "Relic. Yours?"

Mossie brightens with a grin. She is very proud of her name, and she picked it herself, even though she's not one hundred percent sure what it actually means.

"Relic's a nice name," She says. "I'm Mossie! Pleased to meet ya. I'm not sure what's going on with this whole ball thing, but after all that drama with the fungal fuckers causing trouble and taking over my favorite caves, I could sure use the levity."

@Relic

Relic tried out a slight smile in response. Names were strange, and she wasn't sure if hers was entirely her choice (more something assigned to her in some mysterious, silent way), but sometimes being complimented on your more incidental features is nice - makes you feel lucky. "Yours is pretty good too."

(Both names implied an old soul that neither of them seemed to own, funnily enough.)

'Fungal fuckers' was definitely one way to describe them; She felt her brow raise in way it couldn't previously. "And I could sure use the food. Saw firsthand what they did to Canis - now it smells like all those bones came back to life just to die again. Do y'know how many others they've gotten to?"

Mossie decides she likes Relic's vibes. "Thanks!"

Mossie's mood plummets immediately at the mention of Canis. "I saw it too," she grumbled. "You can't even meet with mysterious allknowing entities in peace anymore without them showing up! They've got Eridanus and Gemini, too."

She scowled, grabbing another cookie. "I met up with a few others to try clearing Eridanus," she said. "Turns out regular fungal magic is great at clearing out fucked up fungi, who knew?"

@Relic

"All-knowing entities?" A memory of Giggle stirred, but even as a child, she never got the sense that the older hyena was omniscient. Strange and powerful, sure, but more of a messenger if anything. And hey, she was freshly spawned back then, she could've easily misread the shaman.

She made a thoughtful noise. "Sounds interesting, fungus magic. Mine has always been- uh, fickle. I'm much more comfortable biting things, at least with my usual face." Relic sent another silent prayer that the transformation would end once the celebration was over.

"I've thought about helping out, but I've been advised against ingesting any of the stuff, so..."