"Ohh. I've never tried homemade stew before... We'd have to make a fire, find some kind of pot- well, it wouldn't be too hard. Would be less expensive than eating out, too." She put a paw to her chin, more and more keen on the idea.

Rena shrunk away and to be perfectly honest, it did make Luna feel a little guilty for raising their hackles so soon. Perhaps they should try to be honest with them, rather than prance around and assume it'd work out. Not the whole truth, though.

"Well. If they're not family, and they're interested in pursuing something different, I'd call them lovers. I admit, it's a bit of a niche ideal to pursue. Many are uninterested, and even more don't bother. That's fine of course, but it makes for a... an awfully lonely world."

They turned away from Rena, staring at the bones, coaxing emotion into their deep, dark eyes. "Cycles, I've yearned for an equal, a real partner... I fear my search is doomed, but still I hold onto hope, naive creature that I am." Pulling out the big guns now.

@Rena

There were a lot of new concepts being introduced to Rena here. Cooking, the idea of something being 'expensive' (what did that mean?), and the niche ideal called 'lovers'. Surprisingly enough (or maybe not), no one in the Hive had ever explained romance to the fractal knife-worm before. Rena, however, did her best to understand. Since Luna was taking the time to explain this to her, she should not squander their effort.

If Luna wasn't family, did she still want to pursue that connection with her? Rena's duty was to defend the Hive. But as long as Luna didn't attack the Hive (and Rena didn't think she would, given that they'd managed to go this long without sussing it out as a Host and starting a fight yet), those two things weren't in conflict with each other. Thus far all members of the Hive, even if they didn't start out family, became family in the end. But maybe it would benefit them all to have someone who understood them on a deeper level outside the family, too. Wasn't that the exact problem Luna was talking about? Few were interested in pursuing or even taking the time to understand their ideals. Instead they rejected them, pushed them away, vilified them, and even attacked them. "I understand," Rena replied quietly. A lonely world indeed. Had Luna suspected it was Hive earlier, or was it simply a beast covered in knives's sudden enthusiasm that had thrown her? Rena wanted to know. She was afraid to. When Luna said it was 'captivating', did that include its connection to the Hive? Or would she turn away in fear, never to cure any lack of understanding?

Rena's solution to dealing with hostile misunderstandings was to end the hostility with extreme violence. Some of its brethren sought to prevent or untangle those misunderstandings in the first place. She didn't think it would ever come to her to find understanding outside the Hive. She had never even thought about wanting it.

Luna's expression of doomed hope pulled Rena a step forward involuntarily. She didn't want Luna's search to be doomed. Naive or not, their hope deserved something in return. It didn't know if it was capable of being a truly equal partner. This wasn't its job. There were siblings who were better at this job, but still— "Maybe—I can help with that." Rena hated to disappoint.

@Luna

'I understand. A shiver shot down Luna's spine. They were close to success, ultimate success. Despite their lack of experience, they were actually, legitimately, getting somewhere with this worm! How amazing! The Collector's faith well-placed yet again.

"Oh dear," They turned, moving to grasp the ends of Rena's front limbs, choosing at random one of the many claws, with their own soft paws. "I think you could."

They suppressed the natural urge to peel their lips back and exposing their emerging teeth, despite their lust for power reaching a peak. They smiled sweetly instead, their dark eyes crinkling with sincerity.

"Do you want to try? With me? We can start by making stew, if you want." ROMANTIC stew.

@Rena

Luna's fur brushed against Rena's hard chitin as they took one of its many left claws in their paws. Automatically, the matching claw on Rena's right side rose up to mirror the left and take one of Luna's paws as well. Rena was careful to rein in the sharp knifelike edges of her limbs, holding the pincers firmly closed so as not to accidentally snag Luna's fur or flesh.

What a sweet smile, Rena thought. It was too bad her face was not flexible enough to match the expression. Also, she thought it would probably be difficult to offset the intimidating effect of her rows of dinosaur teeth.

"Yes. Okay. Stew." Stew was good (Rena assumed). What did they need to make it? Fire (she didn't know how to make that), a pot (she didn't know what that was), food (she could do that. But she didn't know what Luna liked). Rena straightened, snapping to razor-sharp attention once more. "What do we need to do to make it?" Please tell her what to do. Rena can do anything if you tell her what to do.

@Luna

It was a beautiful moment, standing paw-in-claw, gazing dreamily into the eyes of the other...

Luna broke away only to fiddle with their paws in thought, planning out their next couple of hours together. Together! "Hrmm. We'll need a pot first - something to hold the ingredients. We'll need water, too. Then we have to gather ingredients, whatever edible greenery we can find... And then the fun part, protein. I'm sure you'd have no trouble hunting something down."
The last sentence was lathered thick with admiration.

"As for location... There's an area I haven't been before, that I've heard contains all of the things we're looking for. I have the directions, we can forage there. Sounds suitable?"

And, assuming it does, they'd trot off to Centaurus shortly after.

exit

@Rena

Rena listened unblinkingly as Luna listed out the tasks, though she began to feel a rising sense of anxiety her face could not show. She didn't know how to get most of these things--she didn't know how to get a pot and she'd never had to transport water anywhere, she just drank it--but Luna's last flattery-laden sentence did wonders to soothe her nerves. Yes, she could do that--let her prove that Luna was right to believe in her ability. That she could be a real, useful, and... what had it been? equal? sure, partner.

"Yes," Rena answered decisively. I have the directions: music to the knife-worm's ears. She was born to follow, and she did, marching after Luna in a mass of perfectly-synchronized legs.

exit @Luna