One In a Melon

The child was receptive to her idea with that youthful innocence and excitement Inoki wished she still possessed. She helped roll the watermelon back to the rest of the patch, taking care to not squish any paws on the way there. It would be a shame to make the child cry, and Inoki didn't feel like dealing with an emotional child and and angry parent. Once the fruit was settled near the others she moved to inspect the others, looking for one that was large enough to maybe even use as some sort of bowl for herbs, but small enough that her dexterous-fingered friend would still be able to carry it around.

The child chattered excitedly, or rather over-excitedly, but it didn't bother Inoki all that much. She simply tuned out the unnecessary parts of what the child, who she now knew went by Rue, was saying. A soft giggled escaped her at Rue's babbling, a thought in the back of her mind thinking that perhaps the parent had intentionally dropped the child off so they could get some peace and quiet.

"It's nice to meet you Rue, I'm Inoki. And no, I'm not part of your pack." The compliment was nice, especially from a child, she knew they had no filter and usually said what first came to mind, but she figured breezing past it was the better option since Rue was so excited to start opening the watermelon. "Watch me closely," Inoki said to Rue, settling herself next to her chosen watermelon so the child could easily see what she was doing.

With a well-placed paw Inoki pushed down on the rounder edge of her somewhat oval-shaped watermelon, and it made a very satisfying crack as a small line appeared in the rind. She carefully dug a blunt claw into one end of the crack, and very slowly pried it open until the crack spanned the length of the rounder edge. "You want to be careful to not crack the rind all along the length of the watermelon, unless you plan on having two open halves," she explained as she worked. She then set one forepaw upon the non-cracked side of the watermelon, while the other very quickly tugged at the crack to snap off one part of the rounded edge, leaving her with an opening that she could scoop out the insides and then have a hollowed-out watermelon to carry something in. Or for her friend to carry since she didn't have opposable thumbs.

Inoki then looked at Rue, setting the small chunk of watermelon and rind beside her. "Now you try. If you are struggling I'll help you, this takes a bit of delicate work to do correctly, depending on what you want to achieve."

Word count: 1,970/2,500