[GrayGriffin]

When they'd heard rumors of there being a flesh-eating butterfly species in the Whisper Forest, A. Joe immediately flew up to the ceiling and started spiraling in excited circles. Sure, he and Oath had mostly given up the hired killer life, but sometimes things forced their wings and talons. The Quiksylph mostly watched those scenes of carnage with distaste, but she seemed to understand they needed some outlet for their aggression. And she did understand why the Lunafly would be so excited to hear of a creature similar to his current form.

[GrayGriffin]

So this way why the trio was now making their way through the forest, A. Joe leading the way excitedly. For once, Oath and the Quiksylph were the ones hanging back together.

"Well, at least I'm pretty sure none of us are appetizing to a flesh-eater," noted Oath. He did have an exoskeleton, after all, while the Quiksylph was made of metal and A. Joe would barely be a mouthful.

"What are you going to do when you find it, anyways?" asked the Quiksylph, floating next to him, arms held in a questioning position.

[GrayGriffin]

"That's up to Joe, isn't it? Wouldn't you know better than me? You two have got that special bond, after all," snarked Oath. The Quiksylph stared. She thought that Oath was mostly over his jealousy about their relationship. She supposed that a lifebond was a pretty serious thing, though.

"It's not as if it tells me every secret of his. I can mostly just know where he is and if he's in danger or not."

[GrayGriffin]

"Are you getting anything about danger right now, hm?" asked Oath, head tilted sharply to one side. The Quiksylph shook her head.

"I'm not. But it's not really able to tell the future. So we could still be ambushed at some point."

"If that's the case, why are we hanging back so much?"

"Well, he seems to want to lead this expedition. And really, he's behaving so much more like the Joe I knew, I can't help but want to indulge him."

[GrayGriffin]

"Wow, you sure are smitten," commented Oath. She didn't even dignify that with a response. It would likely only make his teasing worse.

"You're also obeying his wishes just as well as I am," she pointed out. He raised both scythes in a shrug.

"Hey, they're perfectly reasonable wishes! I'm fast enough that if anything pounces I can get it before he gets too messed up. Though he'll probably want to slice it apart himself before I get the chance."

"True, he is quite self-sufficient..."

[GrayGriffin]

"Slice what apart?" asked A. Joe, floating back to see what his two companions were talking about. "I definitely don't want to slice up whatever that flesh-eating butterfly is! At least not totally! Just think, we could have so much in common!" He flitted back and forth. If he'd still had visible eyes, the Quiksylph could imagine them sparkling.

"You don't eat flesh," noted Oath.

"Not for lack of trying!" muttered A. Joe.

"Hey, your lack of carnivorism makes people underestimate you more, you know," added Oath encouragingly. "Isn't it nice when that happens?"

[GrayGriffin]

"It'd be nice if I actually could, though," noted A. Joe. "But there's nothing I can do but sip nectar instead."

"You could try drinking blood," suggested Oath. The Quiksylph fluttered closer, crossing her arms and sounding indignant.

"Don't give him ideas!"

"Aw, lighten up," laughed Oath. "We've got to have some fun now that you've made us give up our main source of income."

"You're doing fine financially even now, you know," noted the Quiksylph. "I've been keeping an eye on your ledgers, after all."

[GrayGriffin]

"Aw, you're worried about us? That's sweet!" exclaimed A. Joe. Despite his somewhat mocking tone, he did seem really legitimately happy about that.

"I'm the one who encouraged this other path of yours, after all," noted the Quiksylph. "It would be irresponsible of me not to make sure you can live by it."

"So if we weren't making a profit, you'd really let us go back to killing?" asked Oath, sounding skeptical. The Quiksylph quickly shook her head.

"No, of course not!"

[GrayGriffin]

"I'd assist you in finding a different line of work!" she exclaimed, both arms thrust up into the air. "What makes you think I'd just let you go back to killing, after I tried so hard to steer you away from that path?"

"Aw, Oath's just joking. Right?" A. Joe's voice actually sounded slightly threatening as he landed on the Chimerantula's head. "He's just seeing how far he can push you."

The Quiksylph sighed. "I still don't think this entire plan is a good idea in the first place."

[GrayGriffin]

"Why not? I already told you, it's not likely that even if it is carnivorous it's gonna actually eat any of us," pointed out A. Joe. The Quiksylph just shook her head.

"It's not even about the danger to us. I'm sure our abilities could keep one of those creatures contained well enough. But you want to bring it back with us, don't you?"

"Duh! What else would we do with something like that? It's a kindred spirit, after all!"

[GrayGriffin]

"And you're hoping that connection will prevent it from attacking?"

"Um, yeah? That's pretty much my plan," said A. Joe. "What, you think it won't work?"

The Quiksylph shook her head. "I actually think it's quite likely you'll be able to find common ground with it. What I'm worried about is the effect once you bring it out of this place."

"...that's true," admitted Oath. "None of us are really fleshy, but there's a lot more fleshy creatures out there."

[GrayGriffin]

A. Joe paused in his midair fluttering, looking momentarily flummoxed-then laughed and dipped his wings to circle around the two. "Nah, it'll be fine! We'll just have to budget a bit more for extra raw flesh! Or maybe it'll turn out to like cooked flesh too!"

"And what will you do about its hunter's instincts? We probably have the budget for that, it's true, but the problem doesn't lie in just providing an alternative but making it clear the alternative isn't optional."

[GrayGriffin]

"Hey, Oath deals with them well, doesn't he?"

"He was raised in civilization," noted the Quiksylph. True, the Slums were a rough place, but most of the time you wouldn't have to worry about being cannibalized, just robbed or threatened. If you were murdered, it would likely be because you'd upset someone specifically.

"That is true," admitted Oath, after the Quiksylph turned her head to him in what appeared to be a glare. "I never even tried eating any of our targets after we finished them."

[GrayGriffin]

"Huh, maybe you should've," said A. Joe. If he still had hands, he'd probably be rubbing his chin thoughtfully about now. "That would probably have gotten us extra work if we pointed out you could also handle body disposal."

"Why are we discussing this?" exclaimed the Quiksylph, throwing her hands into the air. "You're not going back to that life, and you're not eating anyone!"

"It was all his idea!" said Oath, pointing at A. Joe. "I'm a civilized insect, thank you very much! Raw meat isn't even that attractive to me!"

[GrayGriffin]

"And I was just joking!" said A. Joe as the Quiksylph gave him a look. "Can't I joke around a bit about stuff like this?"

"Not when we're seeking out an actual potential man-eater," replied the Quiksylph. "And you'd better not have any thoughts about using it to achieve that plan instead of Oath."

"Who, me?" asked A. Joe. "No way! I don't want to jeopardize what we have now-really!" His tone of voice got a bit softer there as he fluttered closer to the Quiksylph's side. "I just want to have a bit of fun with you sometimes-you know I wouldn't go back to those days after everything you've done for us, right?"