Yves pov-
Her scent remained bafflingly weak, barely a whisper of the albus serpentine musk, unlike the rich, potent aroma of other females. He had almost overlooked her entirely before. He found her peculiar, almost innocent reaction to him both confusing and intriguing.
"Food," he stated simply. His voice, though deep, held an almost instructional tone. Rami blinked rapidly, confusion clouding her features. She crawled out more fully, squinting, her eyes adjusting to the deeper twilight, realizing it wasn't just the gigantic egg. Nearby, a lifeless bear-like creature with deer-like spots lay sprawled on the damp earth.
Everything in this realm seemed oversized and surreal, a constant assault on her familiar perceptions.
She examined the creature closely, her brow furrowing, wondering, "It looks like a bear, but… was it?".
Yves observed her curiously, his snake tail flicking behind him. His initial assessment had been "not food" for Rami, but for him, this was sustenance.
"Food," he repeated, his gaze shifting from the carcass to the immense egg, a hint of his satisfaction evident. He had hunted, as was his instinct, and now he presented his bounty.
He was accustomed to females of his kind immediately recognizing and consuming such offerings. However, Rami's hesitant, almost questioning posture was, like much about her, entirely unexpected.
Yves' tail flicked against the moss, each twitch betraying his impatience. For him, this was sustenance, the reward of the hunt. For her, it was terror wrapped in impossibility.
"Food," he repeated, this time with pride. His golden eyes gleamed as if the word itself were a victory.
Rami's stomach twisted. Hunger gnawed at her, but the thought of swallowing such enormity was absurd. She touched the egg's smooth shell, cold and unyielding, and laughed—a fragile sound, breaking under the weight of panic. "How does he expect me to eat this?"
His hiss cut through the clearing, sharp as ozone. "Swallow." The command was not suggestion but law, ancient and absolute.
She recoiled. "I can't… I don't know how."
Frustration radiated from him, making the fungi glow brighter, pulsing with his agitation. To demonstrate, his jaws unhinged, opening into a grotesque gape that seemed to tear the air itself. She gasped, shoving at his head.
"No! It's too big!"
Unmoved, he coiled around the egg, muscles convulsing as he swallowed it whole. Then, with a violent snap of his tail, he broke the bear's neck, the sound echoing like a crack in the sky.
"I… I can't eat that," she whispered. "I can't swallow like you."