ORIGIN

The word 'dogs' conjured up an image of a four-legged thing, kind of like Worm, but with fur and a long pink tongue that flopped out when it panted and probably a bit bigger too. Larkspur followed Worm to the not dog stand and took a look at the merchandise: yep, those were definitely Not Dogs.

They were wide, too, and soft. It should be the perfect fit for him, Larkspur thought. Worm dropped it between them--to share? Aww, that was nice of him! The bun looked a bit more manageable than the meat stick sandwiched between, plus Worm liked the meat stick and not the bun, so Larkspur pecked at the condiment-covered bread that he avoided. Flavors exploded on their tongue: something sharp yet so addictive, something sweet and crunchy, something--augh, what was that?

Larkspur's bill hit something and their head snapped back. They fell over backwards. The bun, on the other end, spat out something that bounced onto the ground with a comical boing! "What is that?" they gasped. Upon scrambling to their feet and hopping closer for a better look, it turned out to be... actually, Larkspur didn't know what this was. It just looked like some kind of bouncy ball with a bunch of colors swirled through it. Why would the carnies have hidden that in the food?

Gives another meaning to Happy Meal, I guess.

Being a decidedly less fearful child than Worm was, it did not occur to Larkspur that his accusation toward the bouncy ball had been anything other than joking. "I know, right!?" she laughed. "Can you believe it? Why would they put that in the food?" Maybe because they just thought it'd be funny, she guessed.

She hopped forward and poked the bouncy ball a few times with her foot, then rolled it around a bit. "I think it's safe," she said to Worm. At least, she didn't think he needed to hide behind a table leg. Maybe he didn't like balls? She tried to think of things to distract him. "Uh- maybe we can go look at the rides instead? Or I can guard it! While you finish your not dog." It would be a shame to leave much of the delicious treat uneaten.

"I'm very trustworthy," she added with a sparkle in her eye. "I won't let it try to kill you as well."

Larkspur watched as Worm began fiddling with the ball--see, it wasn't that scary after all! It had just surprised her to suddenly hit it while trying to eat the not dog bun. "I don't think they're that dangerous," she began, and was about to offer to go first to prove it--if they tried to eat her, she was pretty confident in her plan to just fly away--when Worm started fully playing with the ball, batting it and chasing it as it rolled.

A giggle escaped from Larkspur's bill. See, this Carnival was fun! Even the gags could be gifts in disguise. Since Worm seemed to like playing with balls, what if she made more for him? Larkspur concentrated and could feel her saliva thickening. She could blow a few bubbles for him to chase too!

Her saliva got thicker... and thicker... Larkspur felt a sudden jolt of alarm. Had she gone too far? "Mmmph!" she exclaimed, fluttering after Worm and his bouncy ball. It seemed she'd somehow managed to glue her bill shut.

Thankfully, Worm figured out what was going on right away and seemed to know just what to do. Larkspur was so grateful she only looked at the water dribbling out his mouth a little suspiciously. It didn't seem sticky and gross like spit, so she let him rinse away the gluey saliva sticking to her bill little by little.

"Wow, thanks," she sighed with relief when it was all cleaned off. "That wasn't so fun. But you made it better!" But she felt bad that he'd had to interrupt his ball playtime to help her. She hadn't wanted to distract from his fun.

She should do something to make up for it. A quick look around brought some plants to her attention: young seedlings that she'd seen older versions of elsewhere in the Carnival. The older ones had colorful flowers. Concentrating hard, Larkspur pushed her magic into the sprouts until they too grew big and flowered before their eyes.

"This is for you," she chirped softly, plucking a flower nearly the size of her own body and hopping forward to present it to Worm. It was blue, and semi-matched the color of his eyes.

A very, very long moment passed. Larkspur began to worry that she'd done something wrong. Did the big bald gembound not like flowers? Did he think they were nasty, like the churros? She had just begun to pull back, crestfallen, when he finally took it between his paws. It's pretty, he said.

Larkspur's expression became positively luminous with happiness. "I'm glad you like it!" she trilled. "Hm... I'm not sure how exactly I did it. I just wished really hard for it to happen, kind of like I tried to with the bubbles, only it worked better than that, I guess—ha. Can you show me more of your water? It's cool."

The thought that someone might dislike their magic, especially if it was water magic like the cat's, was inconceivable to her. Water was cool and refreshing and it helped people, just like he had used it to help her. Larkspur liked that—liked cool and pretty things, and liked the thought of helping. I should learn it, she thought.