ORIGIN - Parasite Appreciation Day

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Wilder's face broke into a grin. She was happy she'd gotten it to say something and it had a cool name too! Although she wasn't really sure what a 'mandrake' was, she reminded herself that there was no such thing as a 'wilder' either. People didn't have to be named after things. "Hi, Mandrake!" Another banana appeared at their feet and Wilder pushed it forward so it could scoop it up - again, too big for her paws to lift.

As she watched it continued eating, her eyes traveled across its body. Strange, muted fur with odd colors and a very strange, probably unique body shape. "If...if you don't mind me asking, Mandrake...what are you?" Although she doubted that it knew itself. It didn't really seem to be the talkative type.

@Mandrake

Mandrake picked up the banana delicately with fleshy lips before chewing, and swallowing slowly. Although its belly was not yet full, its appetite virtually insatiable, it was beginning to feel pleasantly full, the sense of urgency it had formerly felt squashed by the sweet taste lingering in its mouth and the seemingly infinite supply from this small cat.

At her question, though, it hesitated, swallowing, ears twitching. What was it? It was Mandrake. It had just answered this question. It never occurred to it that Wilder was asking for its species, or, really, that there was any difference between the two of them at all. After a long pause, it shifted its frontmost legs uncertainly. "I am... Mandrake," it said, after a momentary pause. And then, thinking back, it remembered something else. Someone had called it something before!

It blew out a warm huff, then spoke with more certainty.

"I am a mouldy fruit."

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Wilder

Wilder stared a bit blankly at Mandrake. A moldy fruit? That didn't make any sense. It didn't look at all like a moldy fruit, nor did she think that moldy fruit could even talk at all. Or even eat other fruit. Wouldn't that be cannibalism? Curiously, she stretched out a paw and brushed it against Mandrake's snout, trying to look back and see its origins. Because, surely, this couldn't just be a natural gembound. Of course.

Looking back as far as she could, the image that popped up before her was no something she expected. It was a pearl, a very large pearl, the size of Mandrake, but, perhaps, a little smaller. It was just the one image before the magic faded and she stepped back. For a moment she paused. That pearl was familiar. Had she seen that pearl before? Maybe she'd walked past the growing Mandrake at one point while walking through Canis.

Either way, it didn't really give her a lot of insight. "I didn't know moldy fruit could talk," she pointed out, helpfully.

@Mandrake

Mandrake's nostrils flared at the curious touch of the cat's small, soft paw. It withdrew, blinking, watching, waiting for her to do something-- perhaps conjure another banana or speak some more. It had never spoken much, and even now it was saying little, but it was beginning to grow used to the rythmn, and it thought that perhaps it could get used to it.

Oblivious to the magic that she used to press back into the alien's history, Mandrake's ears flicked as she spoke once again. It seemed momentarily dumbfounded by these next words, slowly blinking. Could mouldy fruit not talk? It had, admittedly, never met a mouldy fruit. But that was what the small fluffy thing had called it. So she must be right.

"Some must?" it said slowly, and after a long pause.

"When I speak."

When I think.

@wilder

Wilder looked at Mandrake a little strangely. It was like her words were completely flipping the creature's world upside down. "Well, uh, no I don't think so." Before her popped a very large banana, possible the best she'd created so far. She patted it with her paw. "This banana is a fruit. It can't talk. Moldy fruit is just fruit that has gone bad and looks yucky. So I don't think moldy fruit can talk." She pushed the banana forward. "Which means you must be something else."

She rose to her feet and peered over, looking at Mandrake's side and around its body. She had absolutely no idea what it could even be, but counting its legs, maybe it was some kind of worm. But worms didn't have bushy fur. And worms were very big. She tried to come up with something, but her imagination was quite stale when it came to Mandrake. "You are....um...." She narrowed her eyes at its squashed face with many eyes. "I don't know. You can just be Mandrake, I guess! Maybe you are a mandrake but that would be like my name being Cat."

@Mandrake

Mandrake stared. It blinked, staring long and hard, listening, and trying to put together everything that it had learned of life so far. So this was a fruit. It went almost without saying, but that was news to Mandrake. Something told it also, that there were many other kinds of fruit in the world, not just bananas.

"It's... Not the only fruit, though? Is it?" it asked, after a long pause. "Maybe some can talk?" Wilder's words made sense, and it found itself believing her, yet it also found itself letting out a small whine. Why was this so important all of a sudden? Just as soon as Mandrake thought it knew the truth, it was confused again. If it wasn't a mouldy fruit, what was it?

It glanced around fervently, expression quite unchanged, yet expression noticeably upset. It looked down at Wilder again as she seemed to perk up. "Then I am just Mandrake," it said, a little bit miserably, as it reached out and dejectedly chewed the end of the newly-offered banana.

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Wilder

Wilder couldn't get it out of her head, even thought Mandrake didn't really seem to care. Apparently, it was fine with being a moldy fruit, but it looked so familiar, that she couldn't stop thinking about it. Well, parts of it at least. And the pearl was sparking something in her memory. Had she dealt with a pearl before? She hadn't given it life, had she? No, this thing didn't look catlike at all and the only thing she'd given life to had been Aether's stone.

Once again, she raised a paw and touched Mandrake, wherever she could, and tried to get another glimpse of its past. As far back as she could. It was a little pearl again...farther back. It was hard to see anything but a pearl among bones but...

Her heart jolted when she saw the black fur. Her black fur, walking away. The memory snapped back into place immediately. "Oh!" She hopped with a sudden burst of excitement and a wide grin spread across her face. Eyes bulging and her tail waving gleefully behind her. "I know! I remember now! You came from the pearl my friend revived! Oh, wow, wow! Yeah, I see it now!" And see it she did - the squashed face had the same fleshy appearance as Squick, the many legs were the same number, and it general squishy appearance reminded her of the worm that still hung out in her belly. "Wow! Oh...oh! You need to meet them!"

@Mandrake

Mandrake seemed taken aback by the cat's sudden realisations, although confusion echoed over its features. Whatever the fruit-bringer was so excited about, Mandrake didn't seem to particularly care. It rumbled, seeming concerned, as the cat hopped up and down, and the creature withdrew, almost as though it was afraid of being driven away. That being said, hunger kept it in place, and the possibility of more bananas coming from this little thing.

"A... Pearl...?" it ventured slowly, cautiously, ears flicking back. "What friend?"

And then, a moment later... "Why?"

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Wilder

Wilder didn't notice Mandrake's withdrawal but stilled anyways, patting at her stomach curiously, as if Squick would be able to feel it down there. "Squick! Hey Squick! You need to see this!" She tried to send the message into the parasite's mind, but her excitement caused it to falter, leaving whatever mental link between them quite empty.

Still, she continued patting at her stomach, trying to actively throw up the little worm, but she wasn't exactly very good at that and if Squick felt anything, all it would be was the vibration of her vocal cords and her paw thwacking against her own stomach.

@Squick (if you'd like to post with it)

Squick had spent the last few cycles in a state of blissful contentment. After the disappointment had worn off when the pearl had failed to come to life, it had slowly but surely forgot, returning quickly to its mundane existence of being a worm. It ate what Wilder provided, slept curled up in a tight little ball, and when it awoke, listened to the steady booming of her heart until it was lulled to sleep again.

It rarely spoke, nowadays, but it was perfectly peaceful. Lonely, at times, it was true, but peaceful.

Today, though, it was awoken by the feeling of its home being lightly tapped, vibrations running through the fleshy walls of Wilder's stomach. Startled, it uncurled, and ambled in a slow circle as it tried to work out what was going on. And then the walls of her stomach convulsed- just a little. Not enough to eject it, but enough to make the worm worry. Its wrinkled brow crinkled with concern. What was going on? Was she sick? The worm could help with that.

Letting out a tiny squelch, it focused in on its magic. A soothing rush of warmth spread throughout the body of the worm's host.

When I think.

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