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.

@Worm note that I am not actually familiar with the restaurant referenced in this post and have no idea if they have hot dogs that come with toys; however if I am wrong then it is just another great reason why the Carnival is legally distinct from said restaurant and should not be sued :)

The ungodly noise that Worm let out in his shock would've been embarrassing if he hadn't already been fleeing to cower away from the ball. It had tried to kill the newly emerged gembound! Kill it! Kill an infant! Who knew what it would do to a slightly older child!

"It tried to kill you!" Worm hissed at a stage whisper as he peeked out from behind a table leg. The gembound was going back towards it? His head swam, he felt faint. Did they not make gembound with survival instincts?

Though, the more he looked at it, it was a pretty orb-thing. Very colourful. But maybe those colours meant it was dangerous; he thought back to the other dangers he'd met. Ruse. That one had also been colourful and dangerous. That valkhound, it was also colourful and dangerous. Yes.. The colours were to signify it was dangerous. Clearly.

"Careful!" Was the last thing Worm whimpered before ducking behind the table leg. If the avian gembound was going to get eaten... he couldn't watch.

@Larkspur I love legally distinct Not Dogs :)

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."

@Worm

It was in the food? Worm cast a doubtful eye at the hotdog remains. "I think I'm full," he lied. Why would they put dangerous items in the food? This place was dreadful, it was conjuring new fears Worm hadn't even known existed before now.

Slowly, so slowly, Worm crept out from behind the table legs. With one paw, he reached for the bouncy ball, only to flinch back as the unassuming shadow of a passer-by startled him. He held his breath. The little bird had said it was safe and that she wouldn't let it kill him.

Then, he touched the ball with one paw, which presumably did regular ball things and didn't explode. "The rides?" Worm questioned distractedly, rolling the ball under his paw in tiny circles. "Don't they look really dangerous? What if they eat us?" He continued, but his focus was quickly fading.

Especially as the ball slipped out from under his paws and rolled a little. Worm's pupils widened as he hopped after it, pouncing at it with two paws, apparently unable to help himself.

@Larkspur

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.

@Worm

It was so much fun, in fact, Worm forgot to check in on his new friend. At least until he batted it softly in her direction and noticed she was no longer speaking. Oh no. Had the ball done this too?

Cautiously, Worm approached to peer at the small gembound with a squint. Wait, he knew this one. He'd tried this spell before himself and gotten the same stickiness stuck on his mouth. "Oh. I know." Was the only warning he gave...

...Then he opened his own mouth and a pitiful amount of water dribbled out. Clean and clear water, but it was still leaving his mouth, which was a little gross. If allowed to, he'd attempt to drool over Larkspur's bill and rub off the offending gluey saliva.

@Larkspur

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.

@Worm

As the avian gembound toddled off, Worm put his paw back on the ball, lest it roll away from them forever.

He distantly wondered if this stranger had the same magic he did; and if she liked it, unlike he did. Water still made his skin crawl with the need to get away from it. One of his first spells had been the same one he'd just aided the stranger with. He remembered the way he'd finally gotten to shape a bubble and then it'd popped on him, showing him with a sticky dampness, that at the time, he'd tried to run away from.

It was difficult to outrun something that was stuck to you. He'd learned that.

When he was offered the flower, his face pulled into a look of confusion. What was he supposed to do with it? Did he tell her that he couldn't eat flowers? That he'd already tried and they upset his delicate stomach? Or was he supposed to keep it? What if it was poisonous?

No, no, it would've killed the small bird by now.

It could still be dangerous in other ways-- Take the damn flower! The thought rang loud and started him into action. He gingerly picked up the flower between two paws, awkwardly balancing on his haunches.

"You made this? It's pretty. How did you do that? I can only do water..."

@Larkspur

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.

@Worm

Show off? Well, he wasn't opposed to that... But, simply wishing spells to be? Was that how it was supposed to work? Opposed to meticulously practising and advancing those skills in slightly different ways? This creature could just… do what it wanted by wishing hard enough? How powerful was this little bird?

To him, that seemed impossible, yet this little bird was conjuring magic with mere imagination.

Perhaps he could do that too. Just, imagine something simple, like a light. He looked at the bouncy ball and all its colours. Just imagine it glowing, yes...

He reached over to the ball, gently bumping his forehead --his gemstone-- to it and...

Nothing happened.

Nothing at all.

"Er--" Worm abruptedly started, embarrassment flushed through his body. "Well-- Er. There's lots of different spells." If he could play it off as if he hadn't tried to do anything yet... "What did you want to see?"

@Larkspur