Looking above Inv's head I can actually see smoke starting to exit out of his ears?! What the hell is head made out of?!
But before I can stop Inv from thinking any further, so his head doesn't blow up.
"Aha!! Ye ye ye!!! Dis es alwas nex tu ta hidey holes!!!" Inv says with excitement. His head turns to me. This action of his wouldn't be so weird if it weren't for the fact his body didn't move at all. Inv is basically looking at me with his head twisted at 180 degrees!
'How is his head so flexible?!'
"I alwas sweep en dees!!" Invs entire body turns towards me as he says this.
'Ok Joseph, focus on the main issue. I can deal with his… interesting perks later'
"Hidey holes?" Is he calling shelters hidey holes?
…
That's sorta cute.
"Ye! Tas wat I cal em!"
Ok… so he clearly doesn't know what they're called… I have one more question in mind for him. The most simple question I can ask him. If he also doesn't know what this is then it 100% confirms my thought.
"Inv… do you know what a food pip is?" This is the one question he should definitely know since it's the one thing he needs to focus on all the time which is food.
Knowing that he should need 12 food pips this should be his number 1 priority all the time.
"Fud pip? Wat dat?? Dos et tase gud???" Inv sits down and looks at me in confusion. I can see his tail starting to sway side to side as well… is it because I mentioned food?
…
Ignoring the rapidly growing speed that Inv's tail is going at, I come to the conclusion of what I thought earlier.
…
'Fuck he knows nothing about this world!? How has he even gotten this far without knowing anything?!'
This changes everything! I can't go off of what I know about him from the game if this is the case…
…
'Well maybe it's better this way anyways. I shouldn't see Inv as some sort of character from a game and act like I know everything about him…'
I look at Inv who's looking at me with excitement. His tail going at speeds that are starting to leave a blur behind him.
…
'He is my partner now. Not some video game character'
Making this resolution in my mind I let this matter go. If he doesn't know anything then I'll just teach him along the way. Besides he probably already knows a lot of things if he's been able to get to this point.
Letting out a sigh I walk up to Inv and put a paw on Inv's chest.
"Sorry Inv, a pip isn't food" I say while looking up at him.
"A-awwww…" Inv's tail immediately stops right after he hears this. I can also see his ears plop down on the side of his head.
I feel a little bad seeing him like this. I try to comfort him by rubbing his chest with my paw. I didn't think he would get so excited at the mention of food…
…
Wait… oh shit! I completely forgot!
"Inv, have you eaten anything at all this cycle?" I ask with worry. I completely forgot Inv has to eat as well! If he doesn't have enough food pips, then he can't set his spawn point in the shelter I'm at! If he dies without sleeping with full pips in there, who knows if I'll ever see him again!
"Nu… I ate a beg bug earler bu et wasn weally felling. I twied tu fin mor fud bu a beg blu thin attac me. I defet it wit eg bu et loak groas. I foun a blu lizar bu wen et shaw me et jum off ledg…" Inv says to me with a sad look while his skin starts to turn a darker blue.
Is he talking about the dropwig I killed earlier? I guess that actually was him… also was the lizard I saw falling earlier the same one he's talking about? Did it seriously commit suicide just by looking at Inv?!
…
That's sorta funny in a fucked-up way.
Trying not to laugh to the best of my ability I push this thought away and focus back on the main issue of Inv's food problem!
I would start massively panicking right now if I didn't have a backup plan. Thankfully I haven't eaten my back up plan yet!
"Don't worry Inv! I've been saving something for situations just like this!" I say to Inv while feeling immensely relieved I haven't touched the popcorn plant yet. I've been saving that for a cycle if I somehow ever didn't get enough food in a cycle. Thankfully since I only need 4 food pips to safely hibernate for a cycle, I usually wouldn't need it. But I definitely know Inv needs it!
"Weally!? U hav fud!?" Inv's says excitedly towards me.
"Yup! I got something that will fill you up!" I say this while patting his chest. After a couple of pats I move my paw away and turn around.
"Come on, I'll show you where it's at" I say this as I get ready to jump towards the pole to slide down to the surface below us. But I'm stopped as I feel something touch my shoulder. Feeling the sensation of many tiny centipedes crawling on my shoulder I can already tell its Inv's paw.
"What's wrong Inv?" I ask as I turn around.
"T-te eg… et stil en u…" oh right the egg bomb. I still haven't explained to him what a stomach pouch is.
"Don't worry Inv. remember when i asked if you knew what a stomach pouch was earlier?" I look up still seeing a bit of worry on his face as I say this.
"Ye? Wut es dat?"
"It lets you store an item you can't eat inside your stomach. Here step back and I'll show you"
Still looking lost at what I just said, Inv takes a hesitant step back from me. After this I get down on all 4's and get ready to throw up the egg bomb. This part honestly sucks since I'm basically forcing myself to throw up. Thankfully I never throw up actual food though… Now that would just suck.
After preparing myself I start heaving. You see watching a slugcat do this through a screen is one thing. But doing it yourself is much worse than you would expect. Trying to force yourself to throw up without feeling sick at all is extremely hard to do. It took me a lot and I mean A LOT of attempts to actually figure out how to do this.
As I continue to heave, I can feel something rising up my throat. With a bit more effort I'm able to throw up the egg bomb out of my mouth. I watch as I see the egg bomb hit the ground and start sliding across the ground in front of me.