ORIGIN

He had walked away from meeting with the demonic cub and the angel feeling bittersweet and conflicted. He was both enamored by the wisdom and cold attitude from the angel, who, for every good reason, hated his spellbound self. He agreed fullheartedly. When he fell under the familiar curse, all logic left him and he became a completely different animal, a mindless idiotic version of himself. It was disgusting to half-hear himself and be unable to control his poetic nonsense, asinine driveling sap and insane lyrics clogging his throat like he was running out of air and choking.

He was unable to apologize for hurting the demon cub's feelings, but after he was physically hurt and driven away by the angel for hurting her ward with his words, he mentally shrugged. They were even, he felt. An eye for an eye, and all that.

He didn't even get her name. Did she say that she didn't have one? How odd.

He had no idea where he was now, in some sort of arena or theatre. It....kind of fitted him, somehow. His way with words should be meant to entertain and impress, but instead he made a mockery of himself, the object of laughter and loathing. The ceiling was a sight, too.

Wait.

Was he...was he back in Orion? Where he hatched?
Where the howling monster lived?

Basil felt the familiar need to run and hide in this wide open space, the need to hide. He didn't want to turn into a blithering nitwit again, lest a female come across him, and the irrational fear of the monster gripped him. He could still hear the howl in his mind, even after all this time, even though he was an adult. He needed to hide.

Henry knew that although he loved being in Tunnel K and Canis with his brother and his friends, his brother was less enthusiastic about it. He felt bad. He could tell Mordecai wanted the isolation he could never had. Although this was dawning on him now, the other head had realised this the second he saw his second neck.

But Mordecai was content now. The twins moved oddly, pushing themselves forward one head at a time. They were slow, but they were moving and they did so in a relative silence. The head on the right seemingly disapproved, and he was the one to break the silence. "Morty?"
"Mordecai," the left head corrected.
"Morty-"
"Hush," Mordecai interrupted, stopping and staring ahead. "There is a stranger ahead."

What Heinrich assumed would be another brother was instead a single-headed canine wandering in the room they had slithered into. For a moment he was disappointed, confused as to why not everyone he met didn't have multiple friends. Regardless, the wheedling voice called out to the stranger, "Friend?!"

Mordecai hissed out a sigh, waiting for the events that would unfold next.

@Basil

He frantically moved back and forth in the arena, his agitated footsteps echoing in the arena. The only way out was the way he had come, and he instantly felt trapped because of this one fact. There was no place to hide on the steps, no crevices, no shadows.

He heard hissing. The fur on the back of his neck and shoulders instantly bristled. It wasn't howling, but it sounded quietly predatory all the same. Words came from the hissing, and he turned to face whatever was slowly coming his way.

"Friend?!" It said.

He froze. It was coming from behind him.

Slowly. Gradually. So as not to startle the monster behind him into attacking, he turned deliberately patiently, and cast his eyes downwards. His heart was uncomfortably making its home in his stomach, burning with the acid, it felt like.

The sound came from this incredibly tiny snake. With two heads.

He weakly smiled, showing teeth, his grin incredibly awkward and fear-filled, his pose shock still and artless. He had no idea what this little snake could do, and he had no intention of finding out.

"H-....h-ello." He stuttered.

Could he run past it? Would it strike? What should he do?

The head on the left, Mordecai, was visibly alarmed upon seeing the toothy grin. Henry on the other hand, didn't even waver. In his mind, anything and everything could (and will be) a friend. Happily, he hisses again, voice weak, "Hi! Hi! I'm Henry! Morty is my brother! Hi!"

Mordecai was less enthusiastic. "Your name is Heinrich. I am Mordecai. Do not irritate the giant dog." Henry was surprised by his twin brother's words and the head began to practically vomit words.

"I'm sorry, friend! Who are you? You are friend, yes? Friends are great! I love friends!" Mordecai shook his head slightly and lowered his neck onto the dusty ground while Henry kept his own raised to look all the way up at Basil with huge eyes.

Mordecai was mostly silent for now, seemingly allowing his brother to attempt making friends with the potentially dangerous canine. He listened in silence, peering at the dog's legs quietly. He was vaguely concerned for the other head, how willing he was to just randomly strike up a conversation without any consideration as to how the situation might not be for the best.

But in a way, he envied his brother's ability to not think before acting. It may lead to him having people to talk to, and him having absolutely no one but the head conjoined to his body.

@Basil

"I..." Basil hesitated, his mouth twitching. One of the heads, the one named Henry was...incredibly childish. It was almost foolish in its trust of complete strangers, completely the opposite of what he had expected in a possible monster.

But then, so too was he mistaken about the demon cub, who splattered guts and blood over him and smiled so sweetly at him. He washed for a full two hours after that, trying to get the scent and the memory off and out of him.

The other head scolded its...brother. Huh. It seemed perfectly sane and cautionary, which was more appealing to his vigilant self. Mordecai. He kind of liked him.

"I am not a dog. And I am not very big, to be honest." He said, calmed down somewhat. If the little snake was calling him a friend, he could perhaps put down some of his guard. "I have met creatures that completely tower over me."

"Nice to meet you, Henry, Mordecai." He said slowly. "I'm Basil. An aardwolf."

"It's not a problem," Basil said oddly. He was still somewhat thrown for a loop about the brothers with one body deal the two had, and his twisted sense of self-preservation appealed much more to Mordecai's sensible speech.

"The tallest creature? I haven't seen quite that many, I'm afraid. I've met two deer that must've been three times my height, but I've avoided many more. I don't....I don't like meeting new gems, as you might've guessed." He addressed Mordecai with a wry grin. He kind've....ignored the now vibrating joyful brother. "I have a curse, you see-"

A sound ticked his ear, a sound he knew instinctively to avoid by now.

The sound of a woman. It was calling out his name, and the voice was getting familiar as it got closer. No, No! Not now! His ear flattened against his head, his eyes wide. Not again!

He instantly tensed up, and cried out, "Leave me alone! Go away!" But he knew it was coming from the entrance of the arena, the only way out. Of course it was! Why not leave him no avenue of escape! This curse that followed him around constantly constantly loved to rear its ugly head at ever circumstance, and already he could feel his rational mind slipping away as she got closer. The angel. The deer. The one who hated him for a very good reason. What the hell could she....she want? Ugh....she...she wanted...what she wanted was his concern, his deepest wish to soothe, to fulfill-

NO! Stop with the nonsense! He shook his head, clutching at it with his paws as he sat roughly on the ground, wrestling with his own mind. But as she continued forward, he couldn't hold on, like his mind was slipping off a cliff and he was too weak to pull it up again the more and more it fell. He hated this feeling, he hated the vulnerability, the sheer stupidity. But it was too late now.

He felt the simpering sappy frame of mind slip over him, his familiar curse, and slowly everything turned rose-colored and wonderful now that she was here. Did she follow him? Did she actually miss him? Oh, if only if only! He smiled, and he knew better than that. Perhaps she wanted to mix clever words together again, insulting each other with their witty repertoire. He would enjoy anything she would give him!

"Ah, you've come back to me, I see," His voice sultry smooth, lowering his paws from his face to the dusty floor. "Followed me so far! I gather I was just such incredibly company that you simply needed more. Nothing pleases me more, my dear, my angel, my enlightening dove."

"But such a look on your face! Has something upset you?" She was practically scowling at him, and his heart hurt at the sight of it! "Is there anything I could do to soothe you? A back massage? A lovely poem? Ah, but no mere words could compare to your ethereal beauty. What could I give you that would be more than your mere presence gives me?"