Disobeyed. The word echoed, bouncing about in the grub's little, still forming mind. It seemed like Hellfire-- Bloodstone didn't know themself why it would make Vargas mad... maybe they hadn't thought to ask? Would it make the master mad if they asked?

The zoisite didn't have much time to consider it. Their pincers clasped shut at the mention of a m-m-monster; a word they had not heard before but their mind immediately filled in the blanks with a massive, dark, all consuming shadow that would terrorize their dreams. Suddenly, they were aware that they knew what a monster was, and thankfully for now it remained an unknowable evil.

Their mind was pulled away from that before they could become too scared, at least, distracted by the promise of fruit once more. Clacking softly, the grub pushed themself up on to their feet, and began to scramble with the click-click-click of tiny little talons. They had to hold their head level, only able to see the ground just in front of their pincers.

They almost stumbled into Bloodstone, but stopped, swinging their head up to peer at the hydra with their six glowing golden eyes.

"Yes," Zoisite agreed, "they'll want some too... Nidhogg is always hungry. We can share." They didn't actually know if the Chaos Twins or the others really ate fruit, but they couldn't imagine V-Chaos-One turning down a meal, even if it would chew it up and spit almost all of it up again.

@Bloodstone

Koi nodded and they lead the way down the tunnel, their thick tail dragging on the ground as they walked, ears perked up and heads looking in all directions, bobbing and weaving in each other, attentive. Luci coiled their head around to peer at Zoisite, eyes squinting.

"You're weird looking," they said flatly, "But so are we, so it isn't bad. I like your eyes, I suppose. They're like mine, yellow and glowing."

Koi huffed and turned around to face Zoisite, "That's the closest you'll ever get to a compliment."

The hydra came to where all the kills and food were laid out for the children and guards to eat, eyeing the pile for a moment, claws tapping on the ground. They picked up a papaya and set it down in front of Zoisite, as well as an apple and a peach.

"Try the peach first, this soft pink and white fruit," Hellfire said, pointing at it with a clawed paw, "It's super sweet and I really like it. I don't eat fruit often but these are my favorites."

@V-Zoisite-One

"What do you mean," the Zoisite grub asked with innocent confusion, "weird looking?" Among monsters, what made Zoisite or Bloodstone look different from any of the others? As far as Zoisite knew, they were all unique and special, and no one was... weird. The word felt bad.

But Koi insisted it was a compliment-- a good thing-- and that only made it more confused.

Thankfully, they didn't have to dwell on it long. If Koi said Luci's words were meant in a nice way, then they must have been. After all, they also said that Luci was the... horrible one, of the trio. (that wasn't very nice either.)

A number of fruit were nudged under Zoisite's pincers, and its nostrils flared. 'Peach', the pink one. It hadn't had a peach before, the papaya was familiar though. It lowered down until its fur was brushing the stone under foot, and opened its pincers delicately to pick up the peach. It raised its head, already feeling how soft the skin and flesh was just from the juice that had already started to dribble down on to its tongue.

Fruit was safe. It didn't move, feel pain. It wasn't warm with life.

The pincers snapped shut, cutting through flesh to the pit at the core that gave it resistance. A moment later, the jaws crushed the pit, too, breaking in two. They leaned their head back further, and gulped down the flesh of the fruit, continuing to crunch up the remainder of the pit.

@Bloodstone

Bloodstone didn't eat fruit, so they didn't know that you weren't supposed to eat the pit. They just watched as Zoisite managed to cut through it and eat it, which definitely upped their level of respect for the creature.

"Is it good?", Koi asked, "We've never had fruit before, it never tasted very appealing."

She crossed their paws and watched Zoisite curiously, ears perked up and eyes trained on them. Hellfire and Luci were bickering again, this time trying to wrestle a stick from the other. It was clear the two were bored, but Koi seemed content to watch over Zoisite.

"I'm sorry if we're overwhelming," Koi said softly, "Sometimes I wish I could turn those two off just for some quiet."

She huffed and lay her head on her paws, "You're lucky your siblings aren't attached."

@V-Zoisite-One

Tongue wriggled up from the lower jaw to lick the juices off of the babe's pincers, tilting their head to catch every last drop. They had to raise a set of talons to get the bits that were stuck, but they cleaned their face relatively well with some effort. "... yes!" They answered belatedly, shuffling sideways and tilting their golden eyes down toward the other two fruits.

Their pincers clacked, their tail snapping loudly, but they forced themself still. After all, they were supposed to share. Their stomach ached, wanting more sustenance that they had been denying themself, but they reminded themself not to be greedy. After all, everyone had to eat.

... the gooey twins probably won't even touch these, anyway, they noted, immediately filled with guilt at the way they felt so hopeful that no one else would want the fruit.

Patience. Share. Be kind. These were not values that anyone had taught the young grub, but something that they sought out for their own sense of self. "The rest is for the others, right?" After all, if their stomach ached, then so would the others... And they needed all the food they could get, too. The zoisite couldn't gobble up all the food for themself.

@Bloodstone