Page 58 of Monsters After Dark

I could scent them there and they smelled pleasant. I considered that they were also there to eat and I wondered if they ate the globe food I gifted to them. Maybe next time they will greet me.

The noisy could have easily caused the new one to run away from all his sounds but once I rolled the globe the noisy became completely quiet for the first time. Did he also sense the newcomer? Did he make noise at them once I returned to the water?

I carefully waggled two limbs at him, once up and once down. He tilted his head to consider me, as if I was something to figure out, but did not make threats this time.

We remained watching each other without a sound. We stared at each other until he shook his feathers lightly at me, only once, and then turned and retreated into his hole.

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KHAW

This day when I rise,I remain in my nesting spot instead of meeting the rising glows. My thoughts have overtaken me completely and I need time to consider things.

It has been many nestings now since something altered. It began with the first day the new being was in the feeding grounds, hidden behind the eating source. She remained quiet and hidden and did not interact, but I could scent her. Definitely an egg-giver. I wonder if she has a mate?

When the one from the wet gave her food, I did not expect this gesture from him. I thought he might attack the new creature since he and me wish to battle but that did not occur. He even left us both in peace.

Past this, we have watched each other but did not try to battle again. When he moved his flesh talons at me it was not in threat, it seemed like greeting. When my tribes own egg-givers came down to the wet, he brought nestlings to greet them, and brought eats from the wet. This brought the egg-givers much happiness, both the wet-food, and seeing the hatchlings from those that live in the wet.

We also did not know they were able to gather food from the wet so easily! It often takes us a full duration of the glow and we only manage to capture a few.

It was a kindness and we did not know the ones from the wet were capable of this. Before I left to my nest, I greeted him with my quillens out of respect.

But it was the many glows that followed that I was now thinking on.

We still rose and saw each other first each day, but now we simply meet on the grains and go to eat together. And we met our new one from behind the tree! We introduced ourselves. Her name is D’zee, and the one from the wet in named G’lb, and I told them I am called K’aw. We started to learn to communicate with our faces and limbs, and we began to learn small words of each other. I also learned that G’lb and his kind only take from the top of the nectar pods, and they leave the lower for my tribe because their flesh talons are longer. Yet another kindness. They share and we did not know. What else are we mistaken of?

D’zee is one of the fleshy beings and she smells very good to me. G’lb and me both noticed that she does not scent of another. I began the opening of a mating dance for her, so she knows I have no egg sitter. She bared her mouth sharps at me and slammed her hands together. I could not tell if she wanted to battle and if I was engaging her, so I stopped until I understand what had happened.

I do not think she wishes to battle though, because we three now meet each glow from up until down. I have learned that she bares her mouth sharps when she has joy. When she does it while huffing it means extra joy. She calls this feeling ‘happy’.

I do not think we have seen her battle face or movements yet, and this is good as it means she welcomes my presence. And also G’lb’s.

More confusing is that my time with them both is what I rise for now.

When S’qak called my tribe to remind us to be careful of the newest hatchlings, it upset me being away from D’zee and G’lb. My upset was noted but S’qak did not anger at me, he just asked if I found an egg giver. I… did not have a response. But I now look at my nesting spot and I wonder if I should invite them to stay. Would my tribe accept them? My instincts say to invite D’zee, but G’lb should come also. It is nice when it is three. When not, it feels like something is missing.

Recently D’zee gave us a gift that made me wish to dance for her again. D’zee brought hatchlings of the nectar pods! We watched as she put them into the grounding. She aided all of our futures by feeding us and our tribes. This made me feel things I have never felt before. Not even when she showed us that the angry greenery near the nectar pods are called ‘brambles’ and they make what she calls ‘berries’ which we can eat and taste good. Or that others of the grounding greens are edible as well. We had more food than we knew of. She is taking more away to make hatchlings from them as well.

Maybe she is planning for her own hatchlings when she becomes an egg-giver, so she can feed them. Will they be with me? With G’lb? Is she an egg-giver for someone else? I hoped not but I have seen another fleshy one walk with her sometimes by where she nests.

Recently G’lb and me went in the glow-down to try and see her in her nest. She was on the outside talking with a male fleshy and making ‘happy’ bared mouth sharps so we did not intrude. We did not like seeing her with the male fleshy… It upset both of our instincts.

During our retreat, we heard sounds and saw other fleshies in their nests. We think they were making hatchlings. They are very unlike us so we stayed and watched the process.

We got to see the fleshies without their coverings. They come in many different colors, both the flesh and the covers! The creatures mated in numerous positions. The females had a pouch or opening underneath them. The males elongated and entered into the pouch and moved a lot before depositing. In some of the nests the male restrained the female during mating. In some, the female restrained her male. In some they took turns cleaning each others parts using their mouth before they mated, and both seemed to enjoy that.

The one which fascinated me most was the one with three mating instead of two. Half of G’lb’s eyes were on me and half on the matings as we watched. It is clear to us that we both want D’zee.

I know that I can protrude but I do not know if G’lb can. How do his people mate? In my tribe we enter our mate and spray our release, and did not move around. There is no joy, just making hatchlings. We do not respond as the fleshies do during mating, but the more we watched, the more I wanted to try this. I think G’lb did too. It seemed enjoyable. I very much wanted to try the mating of mouths that I saw. The one with that will use her mouth limb, not her sharps. And the one where you groom your partner with your mouth.

We presume that D’zee must look similar to the other fleshies we are seeing but can we both mate with her?

I can perform a mating dance again and see if she accepts me as hers. G’lb has not danced yet though. Why does he wait? Maybe it is that he does not have attractive quillens to wave, like I do. He is embarrassed. This is why he does not dance for her.

I can fix this!

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