Porkchop was ABSOLUTELY STUNNED by this showering feast of cream-filled snacks.

"I- I-" he stuttered in disbelief. "OH my GOD*!!!" This was AMAZING! Even Porkchop wasn't sure he could eat this much in one sitting. Nevertheless, he immediately gave Nemean and the rest of the quest party suspicious looks, lunging to grab the first Twinkie for himself. Sweet, spongy cake, a luscious cream filling... Porkchop's creepy white eyes seemed to glow even brighter with sheer delight.

Without regard for Nemean's babbling about how they should probably move on and go to Cetus already, Porkchop dropped everything (literally; the unbearable pain ball package crushed a Twinkie as it was dropped and got smeared with cream and everything) and moved to devour even more of the deliciously unhealthy snacks, making some unsavory munching noises as he went. UNIQUE, TASTY, unlike ANYTHING HE'D EVER HAD BEFORE, just like he wished for!

The pig was in a state of bliss.

*replace god with something appropriate to the caves, probably.
@Maximus

Maximus had all but lost hope of finding Porkchop by now. They'd looked for signs of him on their journeys through the caves but found nothing. They just hoped he was doing... alright...

They stopped to stare at their long-lost piggy child, their eyes wide. They tilted their head and slowly made their way forward towards him, a little confused at the pile of sweets he was surrounded by.

”... Porkchop?” they asked quietly, standing a bit back in case they startled the pig. ”Um... hello little one- or, not so little anymore.”

They approached with no intention on eating his food, instead crouching down to peer at him, their ears twitching curiously. ”What is this?”

@Porkchop

... Porkchop?

Porkchop grunted in surprise at a voice that wasn't Nemean's, looking around blankly with half a Twinkie sticking out of his mouth. Twelve feet tall... biped... pale fur, arm plates... hey, didn't that look like someone he knew?

"MAXIMUS?!" he blurted in disbelief, though not before swallowing the Twinkie so it didn't fall. "Y-you look different!" Although, come to think of it, Maximus had told him that that was the purpose of going to sleep in their chrysalis for a while. "... I guess it worked, then," he said, half to himself, with no spoken mention at all of what "it" might be.

"You bet I'm not little!" he barreled on through the conversation, happily oblivious to Maximus' surprise at seeing him again. "Look at me! I WON Nemean's carnival through STRENGTH AND CUNNING, and now I've got the grand prize for some big quest the entire caves're doing or something!" Porkchop jerked his head dismissively at the 'bundle of unbearable pain' sitting off to one side, then gestured aggressively with a hoof to the pile of Twinkies.

"THIS," he continued proudly, "is my wish from the wishing stone!" After a moment's hesitation at sharing the delicacies, he continued: "TASTE ONE! I got like a HUNDRED!" Because really, he was already feeling well on the way to a full stomach after barely more than twenty. Also, how was he supposed to show off his possession of this new snack if no one else knew how good it tasted?

And there was the little fact that Maximus had shared loads of bananas with Porkchop back when he was a baby. That too. He might even be... a little fond of the valkhound's presence?

@Maximus

Maximus nodded slowly at the other's exclamation, tilting their head and listening to the other talk. It was nice to catch up and see how he was doing after so long. He was relieved, too, since it seemed like Porkchop had done well for himself since they were gone.

”Alright, I'll taste one,” they finally said, daintily plucking a single Twinkie from the pile and peering at it curiously.

They took a bite and immediately perked up, eating the rest with one snap of their jaws. They nodded and swallowed, having enjoyed the tasty snack immensely.

”They are amazing,” they gushed, before scooting forward to rest a hand on Porkchop's head, rubbing gently. ”Congratulations on winning Nemean's carnival, I assume it was difficult, like her trials often are.”

Maximus was referring to both the Deathmatch and the Haunted Tunnel, both of which had been difficult for them, albeit for different reasons.

They caught themselves staring at Porkchop, overwhelmed with sudden emotion. They scooped him up like they did all those cycles ago, though with a little more strain. Thankfully they were a 12-foot tall valkhound who weighed about the same as a large horse, so Porkchop wasn't too hard to pick up.

”I missed you, little one,” they said, snuffling and nuzzling at his head. ”I'm so proud of you!”

@Porkchop

Porkchop laughed at Max's enthusiasm. "I KNEW you'd like them," he declared, then ate another himself. "Oh, you BET! Apparently, it's supposed to be rigged and unwinnable and all that. But my natural dexterity came through in the end! Oh, look what else I won--"

He trotted over to the pink-and-gold wrapped package he'd left off to the side and dug out the red kazoo, being careful not to touch the unbearable pain ball next to it. "THIS!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, and hummed various pig noises into the plastic toy, which buzzed obnoxiously. There was the little ring that whispered, too, but Porkchop had never figured out what that was supposed to be for, so he simply didn't mention it.

He froze for a moment as Maximus picked him up, and then simply melted into their embrace. Nobody had picked him up--likely, few Gembound would be able to even if they wanted--in cycles. The hug brought him back to memories of being a piglet, squealing enthusiastically and feasting on bananas with his loving adopted parent.

He leaned his head on Maximus' shoulder and just grinned, chest bursting at their praise. Porkchop had missed this kind of affection.

@Maximus

”Well they certainly aren't, seeing as how you won,” Maximus said, their mane puffing up as they laughed quietly, as soft-spoken as ever. ”But you won other prizes? Impressive!”

Max laughed at the kazoo, utterly charmed by the thing. It was so... silly! Like Porkchop was, it was a fitting prize to win.

”Oh, I really ought to tell you what I've been up to,” they said, though they didn't put Porkchop down, instead pulling their head back to look down at him. ”I have a garden now, a secret one in Eridanus. I acquired it from the Wishing Stone, and I've made it my new home. You're welcome to visit whenever, but if I am not there, I'm most likely in Cepheus, the cave with the big castle. I play music there, sometimes.”

They smiled at the thought, proud of themselves for finding something they were truly good at. It was... nice.

Holding Porkchop like this, they didn't mind that they were a 12-foot tall valkhound created for the purpose of killing. They'd simply... repurposed themselves for other means. Like cuddling 400 pound pigs, apparently. Which, of course, was fine by them. They loved their piggy son and he would always be their little piglet.

@Porkchop

"A secret," Porkchop whispered hoarsely, his white eyes shining. "Does that mean no one else knows? I'm really good at keeping secrets," he reassured, although he'd never tried keeping one before. It just made sense that he'd be good at it, though, since he was good at plenty of other things. All you had to do was to not say anything, right? Easy enough.

"... will you show me how to find it?" he added as an afterthought. Secrets seemed like they'd be pretty hard to find, because of all the, y'know, secrecy. "And what is... myoozik?" Porkchop had never heard of such a thing before. Somehow, he got the impression that it was good: Max liked it, after all. Was it... some kind of game, as playing implied? Hey, maybe-- "We should play myoozik together!" he suggested eagerly. He wanted in on the fun too! He was good at games!

@Maximus

”No one knows,” Maximus said with a smile. ”Only you and me! But yes, I'll show you.”

They finally set Porkchop down and flopped on their belly, setting their chin on their hands. ”Music.
It's noises made to sound nice.”

They laughed at Porkchop's proclamation and reached for a twinkie, gently picking it up. They popped it into their mouth and nodded in agreement, though they did wonder how Porkchop would press the keys properly... or sit. As far as they knew, Porkchop couldn't even look up, but they had faith in Porkchop.

”Sure. I'll show you how to play if I can,” they said, their tail wiggling happily.

@Porkchop