Cling, cling, cling.

Here came the Researcher.

Cling, cling, cling.

She looked so young. She was. Locks of golden fur brushed over her babyish form and ringed around her masked face. Said cage glimmered brightly, like little teardrops pressed into solid form. Her feet pattered against the smooth stone in measured paces, each perfectly timed to her own heartbeat. In her left hand: a long, smooth rod, some poor remains of a stalactite long-fallen, which she prodded the wall with in tune to her footsteps, in tune to her heart.

Cling, cling, cling.

This was the same tunnel the gibbon was born in just a week or two prior. Where she lived, to an extent, huddling with the Black Cat. And like every other place in this who-knows-how-big cave, it had secrets. She wanted to discover those secrets. She was an explorer, after all. But she wasn't sure where to start. So she dragged her prodder along the walls, and whenever it hit something paused to investigate.

Cling, cling, cling.

A clump of lichen, similar to the variety found in Polaris. Cortex likes those. Researcher held it to the slit of her gem, sniffed it, then let it fall to the ground.

Cling, cling, cling.

One of those little scrawny grasses that grow in the cracks of rocks. She ate some before, maybe she should pick it as a snack. Her fingers hesitated over the leaves, then pulled away. She didn't feel hungry.

Cling, cling, cling.

Here and there, whenever a crack in the wide walls came up, she'd jam the stone spear inside, wriggle it around, and see if there was anything interesting. Nothing so far, unless damp soil is your thing. But up came another niche, one deeply set in shadow and bordered by trickles of water, and-- in tune with her steps, in tune with her heart, in tune with the spear-- she raised the pole up once again and thrust it inside.

Cri--jang!

It hit something. Researcher's eyebrows raised. Just a jammed stone, or something more? Suddenly curious, the young gembound realigned her grip on the pike, and stuck it in just a little further. Curious.

Clang went the fragile bit of stone; shink went the rock that tumbled down in the little crevice.

Making no sound at all was the little bright black and yellow head that popped up within, peering out at Researcher. A tongue flicked up, licking over one eye. It did not seem afraid. Perhaps this one lived in the gap? Or perhaps it was merely resting, and passing through.

@Researcher

The golden child's ghostly eyes widened a bit in fascination as a strange, black-and-yellow face poked out of the crevice. Interesting. Fascinating. It's slime was like nothing she ever saw on a living being before, more akin to the moist glistening of wet cave walls than anything. "Hello," she said curiously, her voice muffled by stone. "Are you aware?" So far, she realized most living beings weren't, and simply milled about with nothing behind their eyes. But it was still nice to check.

Her eyes brightened with an idea. "I am going to study you." she said matter-of-factly, letting go of the pike and leaving it lodged in the crack. "Do not resist. I am going to call you.... Object." And then one of her delicate, long-fingered hands reached forward, hoping to gently scoop it up like a pebble. If it didn't scurry away, that is.

The slime belly blinked large eyes as it was lifted, it quickly took a few steps on the warm fingers that had picked it up (before then settling down) but otherwise did not resist. Its body was only about six inches long, but the slime that coated it was noticeable: a little wet, a little sticky.

A little-... dizzying. The effect would strike some ten or twenty seconds after it was picked up.

It seemed so tame. Perhaps that was because its defense mechanism was not in fight or flight, but in... whatever had left its mark on Researcher's soft-skinned hands.

@Researcher

Researcher's eyebrows ticked up in faint intrigue as the slimebelly left sticky residue over her fingers. "Good Object," she asserted, and caressed the lizard until it sat neatly in her cupped palms. Perhaps she could stick it in another crevice and feed it from time to time, see what happened. That satisfied her.

Oh, and it was around this time she realized her hands were going numb.

The gibbon looked down in surprise. Object wasn't really doing anything. Just... sitting there. Blinking it's adorable eyes. Yet her head was starting to spin. While most normal gembounds would've dropped it by now and stayed very far away, but Researcher only awed. This was a very fascinating turn of events. Toxin? Was that the right word? Oh, she had to study this!

"Don't move," she ordered, her eyes scanning for something else to hold the lesser in. She didn't want any more of this slime on her body. A weed, maybe? Could she arrange the leaves of one of those star-plants into a temporary surface? Or would the sturdiness of a slate make up for its weight?

Nothing. She frowned slightly and looked down at the slimebelly as her head twirled. She tried to shuffle her hand towards her arm fur in hopes it'll move over, free up her hands and stop doing whatever was making her dizzy. "Disregard what I said. Move over here, please." And then she trotted forth towards the far exit, hoping to see something along the way that would help.

The little Slime Belly hesitated, the yellow spots glistening across its skin, as hands shuffled for it. This was most certainly outside its usual experience, and the fingers alone seemed large--in comparison, at least. What to do-?

There was a scurrying movement as it darted from the hands--but it went no further, only taking a few crawling steps up along the fur. It didn't flee entirely; in fact, it seemed content to cling where it'd been shoo'd to, and just to... wait, for whatever happened next, wide eyes taking in the tunnel as it flashed it by.

What an interesting adventure this was turning out to be-!

@Researcher

Okay, good. This was going smoothly. She held her breath a little as the slimebelly hesitated to climb, but let it go once the wide-eyed wonder snuggled itself into place.

Now, only if the numbness could go away...

Her eyes scoured the walls, flicking her blueish hands rhythmically to get some more feeling back into them. She didn't have the time to carve out a great cage. Not without Object running away. And it'd take ages to run back to Eridanus to ask for help from the Elf girl. But perhaps it could bribe it with something tasty to stay...

"What do you eat, Object?" Researcher mused. The child thought back to the tooth conversation she had with the Raccoon, Cortex. They had different mouths, and thus ate different things. She herself ate bugs and fruits, pushed through her stone. She only ever saw him eat beetles. "Beetles? Do you eat beetles?"

Bugs were easy to find, she knew. With how unsanitary the caves were they were practically everywhere. Researcher didn't like unsanitary places. She prefered something more sterile. Still, it didn't discount that they were great food. Taking care not to jostle the lizard by moving too fast, she moved along the wall, keeping an eye out for green wallcrawlers.

Bingo! Two fat, emerald insects, their little legs flailing helplessly beneath her fingernails. She eyed them like a specimen, quickly crushed their beady heads, and then offered the twitching corpses to her shoulder buddy. "Do you want to eat, Object?"

The Wallcrawlers were three to four inches long, on average, and these were no exception. They were thick-bodied, like millipedes, and that left them a little too large for the six-inch-long Slime Belly, aka Object.

Object instead stared at them, and for a moment tried to eat one--mouthing at it fruitlessly--but such a meal was proving too large. Still, it remained unafraid, peering up at Researcher afterward as if to ask, 'what now?'

@Researcher

Researcher eyed Object quizically as it attempted to eat the bugs, but then stopped. Her little kiddy mind, smart enough to know something was wrong but not enough to know why, started ticking. 'Object attempted to consume material, but did not. Why?' She prodded the green shell. 'Is it the color?' She sniffed at it. 'Is it the scent?' She compared how it looked to the Slimebelly, and it finally clicked in her mind. 'Oh. It's too big.'

With a quick motion of her fingers she crushed up the dead bugs, splitting apart the carapace and cutting up the meat into smaller, jagged portions. Her other hand was multitasking, slightly patting down the wall for any more bugs while trying not to bother Object. All the while pacing down the cold tunnel at an ambulatory pace.

"Here. Crushed. Eat it, Object." Researcher pushed the pulpy wallcrawler remains in front of the lesser expectantly. Suddenly, her hand (still on the wall absentmindedly) plunged into a dark, dank crevice, and she hissed out in surprise. It reeled back just as quickly, but the startle made her stumble a little too, her hand cupped protectively beneath the Slimebelly in worry. "Are you alright?"

The slime belly squeaked at the sudden sharp movement, and leapt--darting to the nearest wall and down it, scurrying and scampering for a new crevice.

It was possible to stop it before it reached it, or perhaps to let it flee and try to coax it out again, but for the moment, Object was shook.

@Researcher