Where Do People Like Us Float? [Bog]
Shocked from her investigation by his voice, the stick tumbled from her jaws and clacked against the roots of the tree before splashing into the murky waters below. The critters in the water seemed to be feeling more alive lately, glowing more brightly with each passing day under the strange moon and unsettling streaks in the sky. "S-sorry! I'm just trying to figure out what they are." she said, features pitiful and tone contrite. He frowned lightly, and shook his head at his own foolishness. "Nah, yer fine. Jus' scared me, is all. Y'ain't got everythin' in the swamp figured out yet, and I don't want ya getting sick from somethin' as silly as a mushroom." he explained, his expression mirroring her own as he gently bumped his head against her much taller shoulder. "What's a spore?" she asked next, and he glanced up with a soft smile. Well, there was no time like the present. It was always better to learn things in the moment, as they came up. He could demonstrate things better on whatever they stumbled upon, instead of trying to work with theories. "It's how the mushrooms make baby mushrooms, usually." he replied, stretching his shorter limbs up the trunk of the tree. The rough bark was easier to grip on to, even when it was damp from the humid air and whatever the mushrooms might be secreting into the surrounding bark. "I'll take ya out with me one a' these days, puffball mushrooms make it easier to show ya what I mean. With these kinds, yer usually safe as long as ya don't touch 'em. They need to see some rain, and then the little bits- the spores- get washed away somewhere new to make baby mushrooms." emerald eyes were only level with the smallest of the trail that climbed the bark, or more accurately, climbed down the bark. Spores were probably travelling through channels in the rough bark, and sprouting new ones as they made their way down. "Did anyone ever teach ya how to test if plants are safe to use? It's usually the same for mushrooms," he tipped a head over his shoulder to look back at the young fae that was still very much at eye level while he stood on his hind legs. There was that ever present urge to be stupid and simply eat the strange, glowing fungus. Something about the way it glowed in those gentle, rhythmic pulses in his peripheral vision was inciting the instinctive desire to at the very least give it a little lick. The caps were collecting little pools of water, all but begging to be tasted. However.. it wouldn't set the best example for his new protégé... |