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Post by Xentus on Oct 7, 2020 20:55:31 GMT -6
There was just so much he'd like, but nothing he could settle on as the first thing he accomplished with Basantai. Mount training, socialization, guarding.. A frown crossed the leopard's muzzle, conflicted.. What about something unexpected. Something.. Cute? Nobody would expect such a large creature to be capable of acting like a cute little puppy. That made the leopard chuckle to muse on. There would probably be some difficulty, but it was decided. That's what he wanted to do with his nearly 200 foot long serpent. Teach it to give kisses.
"Basantai!", the leopard called to the beast, "Basa!"
The serpent craned its neck down, looking at the mammalian curiously. Now that it knew he was there, it did seem to pay more attention to when he called. The pliathor lowered its head to the ground to be at eye level with Xentus. The leopard put his hand out and touched the tip of the serpent's snout.
"Boop!"
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Boop - 1
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Post by Xentus on Oct 7, 2020 21:12:43 GMT -6
Basantai blinked a slow, confused blink. What was that? Now, it did enjoy nearly any kind of physical contact with the leopard, but this wasn't the usual petting or rubbing. He took a moment to think about how he felt. Meanwhile, the leopard grinned.
"It's okay, Basantai. This one knows it's odd but please bear with him", Xentus assured, moving his hand away. He still held it up near the tip of that snout, ready for the pliathor to reciprocate. "Boop, Basantai!", the leopard encouraged. The serpent was still thinking about this. It slowly blinked again, exhaling a long, slow breath. The leopard chuckled and again pressed his hand to the tip of that snout.
"Boop!"
And again, he moved his hand away, still holding it up in the air. The serpent was rallied to return the boop.. But this was all still very confusing for him. He did want to do whatever it was the leopard wanted of him.. Just what was it, exactly?
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Boop - 2
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Post by Xentus on Oct 7, 2020 21:23:51 GMT -6
Xentus held his hand firmly in the air, his blue eyes looking expectantly at the serpent. He watched as Basantai returned the gaze, those large, puzzle cyan eyes seeming to plead for help. He could use that ribbon and just tell him what he wanted.. But somehow, that felt as if he were cheating. No, he wanted to at least teach the serpent this simple trick before giving it the ribbon. He'd feel more accomplished that way.
"Booop!", the leopard strained the word as he touched his hand to the serpent's snout once again. A thin layer of moisture had collected on his hand from Basantai's breath, though it didn't disturb him any. His hand felt mildly sucked toward the beast as it began to slowly inhale, but he did his best to move it away and hold it still in the air about a foot or so away.
"Your turn, Basantai", the leopard started, "Boop!"
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Boop - 3
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Post by Xentus on Oct 7, 2020 21:37:24 GMT -6
It had taken a while for the serpent to overcome its confusion, but it seemed to come to a conclusion. Slowly and carefully, it moved its head forward to close the gap between its snout and the leopard's hand. It knew its size and strength, and didn't want to somehow accidentally bring harm to the mammalian. Its action brought a great smile to the man's face, much to its surprise.
"Excellent, Basa! Yes, good boop!", he praised, rewarding the serpent with a good rub to its snout, "Just like that, let us try it again, yes? Boop!"
Basantai soaked in the praise with delight, happy to have pleased its bonded one. It looked to the leopard's hand again, seeing it hovering not too far from its snout and closed the space between them as this whole 'boop' thing required. Once it figured what the leopard wanted, it happily served to satisfy his wishes.
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Boop - 4
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Post by Nadia on Oct 8, 2020 10:39:50 GMT -6
 Ooh, a shell! |
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Post by Xentus on Oct 9, 2020 0:36:06 GMT -6
Xentus beamed, excited by the success in teaching the gigantic serpent how to gently 'boop' his hand. But, why stop there? Wouldn't it be fun to have the boops applied to say, his head? Imagine, a creature bigger than a house craning down upon a person, stopping the assault of its maw just in time to gently touch their head.. He chuckled at the idea.
"Good job Basantai!", the leopard praised, rubbing that gold tipped snout, "Again now, but with a twist, yes?"
The mammalian backed away from the giant and held his hand with the palm up on the top of his head. The magic word was spoken. Basantai blinked, seeing that the hand to touch wasn't where he was expecting, but it didn't take him long to find his target. He lifted his head high enough to crane down upon the leopard. Just the tip of his nose motioned to meet his palm, the leopard moved it! And the snout touched his white, dreadlocked hair.
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Boop - 5
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Post by Xentus on Oct 9, 2020 2:21:11 GMT -6
Despite his large size, the serpent was able to feel every inch of his body just fine. And the tip of his snout decidedly did not touch the rough padding on the leopard's hand. Another slow blink passed the creature's eyes, information processing through its mind. It almost though it did something wrong, if not for the leopard's shower of praise.
"Yes, excellent, Basantai!", he chimed, stifling a chuckle, "Good boop!"
The creature's nose lifted away from the man's head and then down toward those rubbing hands of approval. A delighted rumble sounded deep within the serpent's throat, happy to know it had pleased its bonded one. Xentus gave the beast an affirming pat before starting his walk again. He mused on the next step in his grand idea to make the pliathor cuter.. Smiling, perhaps? The idea might be more scary than cute, but the thought entertained him enough. To do so, though, he figured it would be best to now use the ribbon.
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Boop - 6
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Post by Xentus on Oct 9, 2020 2:30:48 GMT -6
After wandering the muddy riverbank for a short while longer, the leopard stopped and turned around. Basantai was only a couple steps away, catching up with the mammalian man quickly. A sly grin teased the edges of the man's mouth.
"Basantai!", he called, pointing to his own head, "Boop!"
Always willing to serve its master, the serpent's head descended from high above, nose aimed directly at the bright white hair. The sight was thrilling - to have such a giant gently reach with its snout to his head. Its scaly lip nuzzled his hair, pressing with a light touch. A word of praise from the leopard as he patted the beast's nose, then he beckoned for it to lower its head further. Basantai's head was once again at eye level, his cyan stare penetrating through his very being.
"This one has another gift for you", Xentus told him, running his palm along the large, scaly head as he made his way down to the base of the brilliant gold horn jutting from above its eye.
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Boop - 7
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Post by Xentus on Oct 9, 2020 2:39:16 GMT -6
Ideally, this would go around the tip of the horn or so.. But without the use of Papilio, it would be tricky at best to get the ribbon over there. Perhaps if he had the beast tilt its head? Xentus gave it some thought, wondering how easily he'd be able to get Basantai to do such a thing. Shouldn't be too hard. The serpent did like its head scratches. Xentus ran his claws over the golden horn, giving it a good raking. If they were anything like his own horns, a good scratch felt great. And it seemed that Basantai approved of this feeling. The beast's eyes drooped halfway closed. He could feel it gently pressing itself into his claws, prompting him to scratch more. Which, he was more than happy to do. As he'd hoped, Basantai's head tilted to allow him to reach further down the long horns. If he had to guess.. The horns on this grand serpent spanned nearly twenty feet or so!
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Post by Xentus on Oct 9, 2020 2:47:15 GMT -6
Everything about this giant amazed him, really. Basantai was the ultimate guardian. The leopard hummed as he worked his way down the length of the sparkling horn, until he reached its tip. He willed that the serpent would hold still just long enough to tie the ribbon on.. Whether or not the beast felt his will like the golems did, he wasn't sure. But in any case, it didn't take long to wrap the ribbon on and knot it tight. The ends were a bit long, dangling off the tip decoratively. Now he only had to wrap the other half onto himself and the connection would be established.
Xentus stepped back a few paces to get a better look at the serpent's head. It wasn't long before those large, cyan eyes returned his gaze, seeming curious about what the man had planned next. It was always a little odd, speaking through the mind to another being.. Hopefully Basantai would take well to it.
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Post by Jack on Oct 9, 2020 22:51:48 GMT -6
  A fish and a pearl, how cool! |
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Post by Xentus on Oct 10, 2020 12:40:03 GMT -6
The leopard wasn't very good about having beasts talk into his mind. That one wiurn was probing and callous when he wanted to be. And doing it on purpose with these ribbons? It had a certain convenience, sure.. But it was almost too personal. Overall he had mixed feeling about them; rarely did he establish this connection with the ribbons, despite owning 5 of the things. Perhaps Basantai would help him change his mind about it. He tied the paired half of the deep blue ribbon around his wrist, knotting it loosely.
[... Basantai?], the leopard spoke his first word through the newly formed link. He watched that large cyan eye blink, head lifting slowly as the creature repositioned to stare at the leopard more directly. The returned thoughts were unclear, humming between 'master?', 'voice.. not voice', 'confused'. He could hardly pick out anything coherent in the tangle of words.
[It is okay, Basantai. This one speaks to you, yes], Xentus communed as he pressed a palm gently on the creature's snout.
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Post by Xentus on Oct 10, 2020 13:02:05 GMT -6
He could see the confusion in the serpent's eyes, pupils wide and almost.. Scared. They were focused on him, but there were little twitches in movement - like a person reading words in a book. Like he was trying to read the leopard's voice as the words probed into his mind. The returned thoughts were frantic still, but slowly calmed as Xentus rubbed his hand over those golden scales. The beast breathed in a long breath.
{Master's voice}, the first clear thought came through. It was a deep, rumbling voice with confusion lingering its the tone. A kind smile pressed itself onto the leopard's face, eyes gently looking into the serpent's.
[Yes, Basantai. It is.. Master], the leopard replied, hesitating to use the word 'master'. It felt odd to think himself the master of such a powerful creature. It was easy to think himself master over a rat or a vulticus or even a wiurn. But this behemoth? This would take some getting used to.
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Post by Xentus on Oct 10, 2020 13:13:39 GMT -6
And now it slowly exhaled. Its eyes were stable now, seeming accepting of this dramatic change in communication. Its thoughts were less jumbled, seeming to muse on the idea of 'master's voice'. Xentus couldn't pick up on any clearly communicated words in the mix. This was certainly different than talking with Kyrio, who's thoughts were clear and direct. Perhaps clarity would come with time. This was all still very new for him after all.
Oddly enough, now that he could directly commune with the beast, he wasn't sure what to say to them. He wanted to teach them more things to do..
[How does Basantai feel about.. Learning more commands?], Xentus asked, curious to know how the beast felt. Was the whole 'boop' thing silly? Was there something that he would prefer to do? Despite knowing that the serpent wanted to serve just prior to this whole telepathy thing, now that he could hear its thoughts.. He needed to be certain.
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Post by Xentus on Oct 10, 2020 13:28:37 GMT -6
The jumble of thoughts shifted to a more enthusiastic tone rather than a confused one. 'Master', 'serve', 'make happy' and 'good' were all blips of thought that he could pick up on out of the mess. Which did comfort him some, broadening the smile on his muzzle. The serpent needed a moment to compose his thoughts into something coherent.
{Happy if make master happy says good Basantai}, the voice came through with a distinct clarity. The serpent gently pushed his nose into the leopard's palm to help convey his eagerness. And with that, his worry was quelled. Xentus breathed a sigh of relief, giving the serpent one last rub on the snout before taking a step back.
[Very well!], he replied in thought, clapping his hands, "Okay Basantai! Smile!"
He switched back to spoken word, throwing a brand new command at the serpent. Of course, he didn't expect it to know what to do. But he did need exposure to the word itself before he could communicate what he wanted of the beast.
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Grin - 1
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