Staring at the wrong head as he was, Buckley didn't quite notice the eyes flickering anywhere else. No, he was focused on the false face that did not emote at all, but that didn't both him. Ishani didn't really emote either - that was probably just a common thing. More common, at least, then having mulltiple creatures attached to one. That was probably a little odd.
The other two were quiet, right now. Weirdly. They were on alert as Buckley continued to chatter, oblivious.
But the offer clicked something in his head. He looked back, eyes wide.
The Bauxite salivated further, a fat droplet of it dripping down from the far corner of his mouth.
His pride made him forget his ever-present hunger some. "YES. She is in charge of a WHOLE CAVE. This one. She created me. She protects me. I am HEIR." And when she weakened, he would consume all she was into himself, and take her place - this was his nature.
Not that he'd told Tectus of his plans. He wasn't that deluded.
He tilted his mask to the side, as if to get a better look at the Triage in their entirety. He thought of the texture of meat, the taste - unlike anything he'd ever been fed before. Maybe even better. More saliva met the floor in long strings.
"Yes." He did know.
@Triage
Buckley nodded, agreement and enthusiasm mirrored in his gaze. He could tell this one was very proud of their very important parent. Buckley wondered if they had a parent - the three of them. And wondered why they had made them like this. Not that he hated his body-mates, but it was an odd choice, to create such an amalgam of creatures in this way.
Eyes widened and he beamed.
It was around this time that Ishani noticed the drool. Ever-watching from her place behind and above them, she noted the strange liquid dripping down what seemed to be the creature's chest. Suspicion began to arise in her mind and she dug into her well - their well - and cast another spell. She attuned her mind - and the other two by proxy - to the emotions of the other creature, and she was struck by a restless hunger and greed. It was all-consuming and terrifying and she realized, in that moment, that Buckley was being led right into a predator's trap.
The other two felt it too and Gore threw his head back, snarling.
Distantly, something flared, and the Triage began a retreat.
It was so close.
Another angle was what he needed - a flock held many, yes? Though this appeared to be a 3-in-1 deal. Unfortunately, still out of his price range. His bottom eyes glared daggers at Ishani. Just because he was backing off didn't mean he wouldn't be petty about it.
"Are you hungry too?" A slithering tongue wiped away the excess around his mouth, keeping it from dripping further (sloppily. A few more droplets hit the floor). "We can... Feed together..."
considering its real plans, together was an overstatement.
@Triage
Ishani's meddling had done its work. Gore was looking suspicious and growing angrier by the second while Buckley faltered, confused and worried. He glanced from the snake head to Bauxite and called on their magic again to do the same thing. And for, perhaps the first time, all three heads were in sync, leaning into the magic, strengthening it, and they all felt the creature's greed. It's hunger. A sinister something that made them all realize, Buckley included, that this was a trap.
But that was about where their synchronicity ended. Buckley wanted to step back and run. Gore wanted to stand up and fight. Ishani was ready for the defensive. Limbs moved in odd ways as Buckley tried to turn and leave while Gore tried to advance forward, loudly barking,
Realizing he wasn't going anywhere, Buckley instead looked to the Bauxite, sadness gleaming in his eyes.
"YOU'RE NOT BEING NICE. YOU ARE RUDE! RUDELINGS! ALL!" Louder, louder still, as if it was winding itself up. A perpetual machine of anger and frustration and not-so-nice-thoughts. "Rudelings get ABSORBED. I will ABSORB you."
And so T-Bauxite-One finally snapped. His jaws stretched wide and his stingers flexed outward, ready to grip, tear and swallow whole.
Forward he went - and then down.
He had tripped on a rock.
@Triage
The sudden shift, even though Buckley had been coming to realize that this was not a friend, was still incredibly startling. He yelped and stumbled back at the same time that Gore screeched loudly -
Magic came to it as well, and from the body of the Triage, a force expelled outwards, a violent ripping magic intending on throwing back the stumbled, fallen body of the Bauxite, and maybe hurt it a little in the process.
Battered and bruised, it rose to charge again. "NOT! FAIR! You are SO mean to me."
Again, it rushed forward, a little slower than previously. It was either due to the fall, or new sense of caution. It did NOT want to get thrown again. Despite this fact, he did not change his strategy at all.
@Triage
Gore's hoof pawed at the ground again as it wrestled control back from Ishani - Buckley had given it over at this point and just had his head down and eyes closed at the goat controlled the body for the time being.
Meanwhile, it felt a sharp stab as the hand-stinger's connected where it had not tried to defend itself at all. Buckley cried out.
How dare they make him bleed.
His jaws snapped downward - not to close, but to bring the arms that protruded from his skull's sockets closer. He shrieked, an awful noise, angry and shrill, as he hammered his stingers as hard as he could into the triage's shared shoulder blades. Like a gorilla beating its chest, or a toddler having a tantrum.
@Triage