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"Him? Your friendly jungle spider? Well... he made that web you were resting in before, and he's the one who I've had watching the place. So, I'm just rewarding him for his time."
"Ahh... I see you like the catch. It'll be some time before it's ready, but it's a pygmy gazelle I caught. I also gathered some honey, so if you like, I can glaze it over when it cooks a little more. Should give a sweeter flavor overall."
"Oh! I almost forgot. I got your, um, shirt and hip cloth here if you want them," he said pointing to the side by his bag.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel seemed to be greatly fixated on the kill before turning and looking toward Zim. She nodded softly before looking toward the Spider. Ixchel felt odd trying to talk to a spider but...
"Ahh...Thank you."
Her tone was very sincere and she even made an effort of gently patting the spider. Ix moved around to the other side of Zim and snuggled into him while resting her head upon his shoulder.
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The spider chitters and goodness knows what the heck that means, but it doesn't bite or make a threatened gesture, so it must be good! Maybe Zim's presence keeps it calm, or it's actually just friendly. Shortly thereafter, it goes back to picking at the remains.
"Hey there pretty lady, how's it going?" he smiled. He assumed she wasn't particularly concerned about her old duds or the glaze, so he'd leave the former and apply the latter in due time.
"When you look into the fire, Ix, what do you see?" he asked, casting an appraising glance.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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She whimpered and moved away from the fire a bit pressing into him more. Her eyes looked up toward him before looking back toward him.
"I don't like fire..."
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Zim chuckled.
"It's just a cooking blaze, Ix. I've made many before, it's not going to run rampant. Ahh, you worry too much. Sometimes, life's most fun when it's dangerous."
"Oh... I picked up some gazelles with this little guy. If you want, you can take one or two of them for protection. I'll probably turn them into spearheads otherwise."
Near her clothing and Zim's bag, they could be seen. Maybe about seven inches long, they consisted of brown spiraling curved horns. Naturally aesthetic.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel pulled back a bit from Zim and peered over at the bag. She blinked as she looked at the two horns resting. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she let out a huff before looking at the fire once more. Licking her lips, her eyes watched the meat before snuggling more into Zim and stroking the hour glass mark upon his chest.
Her eyes peered over at the spider that was still eating. Ixchel looked over the various parts of the spider.
"It have a name?"
She continued to watch it with a bit of fasination, curiosity, and confusion.
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"No, no... he's hardly a pet, and I don't want to humanize him with a name. He just hangs around (literally) and I think it's a mutual thing. He keeps a loose watch on the place and I throw him a meatbone here and there."
"It probably wouldn't be fair for me to name him, anyway. There must be thousands of arachnids out there, and I probably couldn't remember more than a handful of names if I tried. (No, I am not the equivalent of the 'cat lady', despite all appearances.)"
The shaman puts an arm around Ixchel as they sit together, with the other hand occasionally turning the spit.
"When it gets a little more brown, I'll honey glaze it. We'll let it cook in and then it should be good."
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel continued to look toward the dog like spider and let out a sort of huff before looking back at the food.
"Ahh...I see."
Her eyes gazed into the fire and she just sat there watching and waiting. Her hand moved to her stomach and she flinched a bit feeling very hungry, very weak, and tired.
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Time passes...
The spider skittered back into the tree cover, leaving the two of them alone.
Zim treated the gazelle meat with a lavishing of honey glaze and rotated the spit some more.
"It'll be done shortly. Just let it cool, and we can take what we want."
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel watched as Zim glazed the meat with the honey he had gotten from the bees on his errands run. She had noticed that the spider had gone on his/her merry way and had left the two of them alone. Her eyes closed as she rested up against Zim and let out a cute little yawn.
When the meat was done and brought off the fire, she waited a second for it to cool before she dove into it hungrily ripping off pieces here and there and shoving them into her mouth one after another.
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Zim picked at the legs of the gazelle meat, but found himself more watching the eating machine that was Ixchel. "Oh... wow, you're hungry, aren't you?"
Where does she put it all??
The shaman was more than willing to let her have the lion's share. He mainly relied on the Orchard anyway, and it was nice enough to simply enjoy what he had here.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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She continued to pack a good portion of the meat away before she sat back and started to lick her fingers one by one. After letting out a soft burp, she sat back and placed her hand on her tummy.
"That was good."
Ixchel turned and looked back at Zim before moving over to him and curling into him slightly.
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"Ahhh... I'll take your word for it. You ate most of it," Zim said, blinking. "Feeling any better now?"
With his foot, he began kicking sand and dirt onto the small cooking fire.
"Is there anything you want to do?"
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel sat and looked around as he spoke pondering on a few things. As he asked her if there was anything she would like to do, she turned her face toward his and gently kissed him using her good arm to prop herself up as she leaned forward slighty into it.
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A little unexpected, Zim didn't mind either. And when she was done, he returned the favor, kissing her lips teasingly.
"So... was that up for interpretation?" he smiled.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel blushed as he kissed her back in his own way and let out a soft murr seeming to melt into him. Resting her head under his chin as he spoke, she closed her eyes and let out a content sigh before letting out a little soft giggle.
Ixchel was feeling a lot better and her wounds seemed to be healing at a rather nice pace.
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Zim was happy that she was happy. Back during the mountain days, she was even shyer and less positive than now, despite all that had happened to her lately. It was a change he liked in her and hoped it would continue.
Zim stroked her hair and cheek, quietly humming a soothing tune.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel seemed to murr contently as she sat there resting within Zim's warmth. Her body continued to lean aginst him more as she continued to relax. After a few moments, Ixchel actually fell asleep with a full tummy and the humming tune from Zim himself.
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The shaman looked tenderly upon Ixchel, rather touched that she felt comfortable enough around him to sleep. He smiled to himself, continuing to hum.
It was about now that he began to wonder what Ixchel would think of the DreamTime. It was a place between this world and the next where one walked with their spirit form, rather than their body. Often, Zim would simply enter the state in his rest, but he never brought someone else along. Would it fascinate or frighten her, he wondered? Perhaps a question better left for later. She was hardly in a position to debate it now.
Left alone, Zim did not want to distract her by moving. He continued to hum, but in time, he would enter a trance for it was far too early for him to sleep yet.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel continued to rest there with him and murred in her sleep. She would rest for about an hour or two before something seemed to be causing her deep trouble. Tears would start to run down her cheeks before she jolted up and looked around wildly.
Panting heavily, she looked around a bit more disoriented before bringing her good hand to her face.
It must be true that eating before bed gives you nightmares!
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(I certainly find that to be true.)
Bodily, Zim could hear her. But his mind wasn't quite there and he didn't get an impression of danger, floating ghostly about the nethers of the jungle. So his body remained rather frozen and unreactive to her panic, still staring vacantly where he drifted off when last holding Ix.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel hugged herself tightly and whimpered as she tried to calm down from where she sat. Taking a deep breath, she finally looked at the fire before looking at Zim and remembering where she was. As she looked toward Zim, she looked with worry as he didn't seem to be moving at all.
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"..."
Yes indeed, ole Zim was about as responsive as a statue. Clearly alive, but just not mentally there.
After some moment of quiet, Ixchel heard skittering from behind. It was that affable spider from before, climbing down a nearby tree.
It moved over to the two of them, and seemed to look at them laterally. Then, it whipped the shaman upside the head with a swift kick of it's leg.
THWOCK!
The shaman flailed and fell backwards, disoriented. "What-where? Huh??"
He blinked, rubbing his face, and sat up again. There he found his spidery ally and a distressed seeming Ixchel staring back.
"O-oh... did I miss something-?" he asked, puzzled.
The spider chittered noisily and retreated back when it came.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel watched as the spider came back down and skittered over to them before watching the spider, once again, wack the poor shaman across the back of the head. Blinking slightly, she watched it take off before hearing Zim make a noise.
Jumping and letting out a slight shreek, she jumped back from Zim and crouched a bit before. She quickly looked toward the fire causing some of her hair to fall into her face and hide part of it. Ixchel just shook her head in answer toward his question before sitting down and hugging herself tightly.
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"No? Hm... usually he doesn't do that for no reason."
Zim dusted himself off and stood up. He glanced about rather confused and then looked overhead into the tree canopy. There was nothing to see in the gloom, one would assume, but something caught his attention somewhat.
"Oh, maybe..."
*sniff sniff*
"Hey Ix? Rain's coming. We should probably head to higher ground. This place tends to flood a bit til it spills out into the desert."
That would explain the overgrown plants and sand floor.
"A little ways from here, there's a short mountain we can hit. A few cave entrances there. You feeling good enough to walk?"
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