"So… leme ge dis wight… et wasn a fake u bu da reel u? Et al weally hapend?"
"Yup, pretty much"
"An… an i… ded all of dat as wel?"
"What? The touching my tail part? Yup that also happened"
Inv puts his paws on his face, clearly trying to hide his embarressment.
For the past bit I've been explaining to Inv that everything he experienced when we were last in the soul space was actually real. Also explaining to him how to move in the soul space.
'Im still not sure if Inv really touched my tail but I'll just say he did. I can call it like… a soul tail or something' I randomly think to myself as I watch Inv be embarrassed.
His skin? I'll just say Inv turned red in embarrassment since I'm still confused on the soul part. But so far it seems Inv's unique quirk of his emotions changing his color is also present on his soul. Which is interesting now that I think about…
'I've seen Inv's stats and I don't remember any of his passives mentioning anything about the color of his skin or fur reflecting his current emotion? That's really strange…' I ponder on the obscure detail. Puzzled as to why this quirk of his isn't listed as a passive…
…
'Meh, whatever. I got more important things to think about' I push the thought aside, knowing that this isn't an issue at all.
What's more important is I was able to get closer to Inv! I didn't think I would be telling him that I used to be a human so soon… actually, I didn't think I would tell him at all.
Not because I wanted to keep it a secret or anything but due to there being no need to actually tell him. But it somehow worked out! Also for some reason… telling him kinda lifted a weight off my chest I didn't even know I had?
Like yeah, I AM a slugcat now. But deep down I will always know my true origins was that of a human. Even if I have lived much longer as a slugcat compared to my human counterpart… I will always know where I started.
And I think that was the main reason Inv was so hesitant to tell me. Because he thought I was a full on slugcat. Telling him about my past life though I think I was able to get Inv to realize I don't care if he is a slugcat or not.
Him quickly figuring out that I already knew he wasn't a slugcat though scared me for a moment… but he took it pretty well actually…
…
His true form is definitely not what I expected though… I expected some sort of… eldritch lovecraftian horror beyond my comprehension… but he ended up being a lot more cuter than I expected??
I'm not really sure how to explain it… when his slugcat form… broke down, his body? Form? Actually expanded. Probably growing twice the size of his slugcat form. I think he took up about 40% of the shelter in his true form.
My only guess is that while he's in his slugcat form he's actually compressing his mass like some sort of clay. Shaping the clay into his slugcat form that I've gotten used to…
And when it's not compressed he goes back to his original form which is what I saw before we went to sleep…
'So is that how his Mimic passives works? He can shape himself to any other form of creature if he has a good enough understanding of it?' Thinking over the details of the passive, I feel like I'm pretty spot on. But the only other question I can think of is…
'How did he shape himself into a slugcat? I know he said he's met other slugcats before but wouldn't he need to actually somewhat understand how a slugcat works?' I think as I look at the still blushing Inv hiding behind his paws.
'Cute…'
…
So many questions… no answers… that's just my life at the moment i guess…
'Baby steps… I'll figure it out eventually… It's only been 4-5 cycles since I met Inv… and there's many more to look forward to!'
Back on topic. His true form. It kinda reminds me of some sort of slime you would see in a game? I can faintly remember it looking very close to a game I played before but it's been so long that I just can't remember the name of the game…
Of course don't let that description fool you. Inv was still a massive bundle of… weird flesh? But he was somehow very smooth… very comfortable as well…
Basically, Inv is one huge flesh slime. A soft squishy one. I'm not crazy! I swear!
Oh, and he also has the ability to just somehow grow literally limbs and organs on himself if he wants?? I think I've gotten so used to encountering the literal horrors that Rain World has to offer that it didn't scare me at all when Inv was looking at me with 10 eyes.
'I mean… if he wants to look at me that much… How can I just say no? I wonder if he can grow more arms as well…'
…
Ok! That's enough thinking about that!
Overall, I'm just happy everything worked out. Now I can slowly ease Inv into being more comfortable with himself… I don't want to see him sad like that again…
I feel like that was the last thing really keeping us truly separated was his fear of what he really looked like. Now… now we can really explore this relationship…
…
'This dork…' I think to myself as I still see Inv covering his face, somehow blushing even harder than before.
While I do appreciate him letting me monologue to myself about what I experienced, I think it's time to break this silence.
"You alright Inv?"
"Y-ye… i jus… im su sory… i didn tink et was weal an i…" Inv blushes harder, probably remembering groping my tail.
"Well, it uh… it was real. But that's ok Inv, really"
"U… u noat mad?" Inv moves his finger covering his eyes. One of the eyes now looking back at me.
"Of course I'm not mad. I did say you could touch me when we were inside a shelter… don't you remember?~"
…
Inv's blush deepens a darker red. Score, I knew that would make him more embarrassed!
"Y-ye… i wemember… bu i stil sory…"
"And you are forgiven" I gently place my paw on one of Inv's paws that is covering his eye. With a gentle push(and Inv willingly moving his paw along with mine) Inv's paws stop hiding his face.
"Seeing me is much better, isnt it?" I hook my arm around Inv's shoulder, floating right beside Inv as my anchor. Feeling much more bolder with physical contact as well… well as physical as souls can get anyway.
"Y-ye… et is…" Inv looks at me to his side, also slowly hooking his arm around my waist.
I would be lying if I denied that it got my heart pumping.
Holding each other side to side we look out into the endless void.