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Post by Xentus on Sept 18, 2020 15:52:53 GMT -6
He could only shake his head at it. Not like the little thing knew any better. Blackbird sauntered off to perch atop a play slide where he was apparently more welcomed. Still on the table, Gambit was also becoming more rambunctious, nosing at Fauna and the berry she mushed into her paws. Since he didn't get much else aside from those pink berries, the leoaprd decided that he might be happy to have a strawberry. He fetched one from the depths of his pack, picking the smallest one out of his snack tin and offering it to the pachee. Gambit took it with pleasure, even turning away so that he could mush the stawberry in relative peace. And of course, Fauna was staring at him with those big yellow eyes, begging for one herself. And Xentus, playing favorites, was happy to give her one.. Once she was done with the fertility berry.
"Finish that one first, Fauna", he cooed gently to her, reaching a clawed hand to pet around her ear. The pachee pressed her head against the palm of his hand, accepting the pets as a temporary substitute for a strawberry. Oh, why did she have to be so cute? This would be the best time for him to jot down notes, and yet this adorable little creature was here distracting him. The leopard sighed and smiled, submitting to serve the creature with as many pets as it would like. Though.. He did hope those berries would kick in and she'd rather like the company of the two males..
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Post by Xentus on Sept 18, 2020 16:00:44 GMT -6
It didn't take too long for the mushed berry paste to be absorbed into the pachee's little root-fingers. And with that, he rewarded her with one more treat in the form of strawberry. Fauna was more than happy to accept the treat, grabbing it and scurrying off with it before either of the males decided they would like a share. Or perhaps she was off to share with Blackbird, who didn't get any strawberry of his own. He watched her as she bounded to a tunnel tube not too far from the winged pachee, poking her head out a hole in the top of it to squeak at him. The male chirped back in response, fluttering down from his perch to join her in the tube. And not wanting to be left out from all the fun, Gambit left his strawberry unfinished to go see what was going on over there.
Now that feeing time was over, he had the chance to take down notes about these things. The leopard plucked a strawberry from the tin for himself, gingerly munching on it as he scribbled down some prominent notes. The berries, the feeding behavior of pachee.. The root extensions from their paws was likely what they would use to absorb nutrients from soil usually, like most plants. But it seemed they also enjoyed sweet foods and treats. Er.. Presumably sweet, anyway. He was curious as to how the various pachee berries tasted.. What appealed to animals differed from what people enjoyed, so what appealed to plant-animals could be wildly different..
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Post by Xentus on Sept 18, 2020 16:10:06 GMT -6
There was the chance of them being poisonous or hallucinogenic, even. But.. He wanted to taste. Curiosity compelled him. And he did buy a small store of these berries for future breedings, even bringing extras with him should he need them. His notes would be incomplete without knowing for himself what stimulated pachee. Weighing out the decision, he opted to at least give each kind of pachee berry a taste. He didn't need to consume any, just a little lick would suffice. One could garner a good amount of information with just a taste. The leopard glanced up from his scrawling to see what the pachee were up to. All three were in the tube now, though he assumed the two males were chasing after Fauna again based on the rustling. Xentus watched for a little longer, witnessing as Blackbird poked out and fluttered away with the strawberry in his beak, Fauna scampering quickly after him with Gambit trailing her. He couldn't help but to laugh at the sight. Ah, he'd owe little Fauna another berry now, wouldn't he? It was her fault for going and trying to share, he supposed. They would probably work this out among each other. He hoped.
Now, back to research. Xentus started with the red berry that he gave to Blackbird, which promoted males to pass their genes.. A sniff test revealed a scent similar to grape. A careful tongue gave the juice squeezed from the berry a taste, revealing what seemed like a hint of lemon.. And an exceedingly astringent overtone.
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Post by Xentus on Sept 18, 2020 16:17:52 GMT -6
Not pleasant. Not at all pleasant. He didn't mind a bitter undertone in things like tea or wine, but the simple taste of this berry was enough to make his tongue shrivel up. If that told him anything, it would be that these fruits are most certainly not for consumption by the average person. The leopard scraped his tongue against his teeth in a vain attempt to remove the lasting flavor notes while he jotted down notes regarding the experience. Given that pachee 'ate' with their root fingers, they likely didn't actually taste what they were eating. And it was likely they experienced flavor in a different manner than those with mouths did. If they even experienced flavor at all. They did seem fond of fruits as treats, so that much told him that they had some sense of taste. Or maybe all the sought were the sugars and nutrients. That much would remain a mystery for him.
The sudden rustle of leaf-wings rushing past his legs prompted him to look up from his writing. In the time it took him to write those notes, it seemed Fauna was successful in retrieving a partially pecked strawberry and was now being chased down by the two males.. There was a barely visible dust trail behind the males, which he assumed was pollen. Were they courting? Fauna didn't seem to open up her forehead slit yet, though. She really just seemed like she wanted to absorb her strawberry in relative peace. The sight caused him to chuckle lightly, thought he did feel a little bad for her..
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Post by Xentus on Sept 18, 2020 16:26:26 GMT -6
He refrained from stepping in, though. The soft chittering sounds he heard seemed to come from the female. It didn't seem defensive or agitated, but simply playful. He'd resigned himself to only stepping in and pulling the creatures apart if they started a scuffle among one another. He was afraid of that much happening between the two males instead of the female and either male, since he figured that they might try to compete for sole pollinating rights. That's what he'd expect from a true animal. Rarely did animals want to 'share' their courted female. But it seemed this was another surprising difference between animals and these animate plants. The leopard watched on as Fauna perched atop the first branch of a cat tower, segmented tail flicking behind her as she waited for the two males to catch up to her. Which didn't take long at all. Blackbird was the first to flutter up toward her, trailing after her as she jumped up to the next platform. Excited chatters came from Fauna and Gambit, while Blackbird chirped and trilled.
As he didn't want to miss out on any of the commotion happening over there, the leopard decided that his research on the flavor profiles of the various pachee berries would need to wait for another time. There was elevated excitement happening, which to him meant that their time spent here would come to a close soon. Quick pencil scratchings about the apparent courting behavior of the pachee were jotted down, particularly about the noises made by the female.
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Post by Xentus on Sept 18, 2020 16:38:35 GMT -6
Despite not having an oral orifice, it seemed that pachee were still capable of producing a varied range of noises. From something more relaxed, like 'chee' to rumbled purrs, to excited squeaks. He could only guess that the berries accelerated the courting behaviors, on the side of either gender. The female becomes excited and the males elevate their courting behaviors and begin to produce pollen.. Fauna had yet to accept the pollen dust that was floating around the room yet. It was a mixture from either male at this point, coalescing into a thin dust cloud. Even though his feline nose was sensitive, he thankfully wasn't allergic to plant pollen.. As far as he knew, anyway. The bits of dust that wafted toward his spot did make him want to sneeze, tickling his nose. At this rate, he wanted them to be done if only to escape from this room and breathe in fresh air.
Fauna made her way to the top of the cat tower, big yellow eyes peering at the two males in hot pursuit. She squeaked at them as they joined her on the platform, the slit on her forehead finally opening up and accepting the pollen in the surrounding air. Both Blackbird and Gambit took this signal to shake their tails furiously, rattling the segments and stamen to release a dense cloud of pollen around the female. The chattering hushed, replaced by the sound of rustling leaves. And sooner than he thought, the process was done. Fauna's stigma slit closed and she clambered down from the tower, escaping the excess pollen. He.. Hoped he didn't need to clean up that mess. But with the pachee seemingly finished, there was nothing left for him but to wait for the fruits of this venture to be produced.
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> Exeunt Xentus, Fauna, Blackbird, and Gambit (20)
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Post by Silver on Sept 21, 2020 20:00:36 GMT -6
Oh how cute, and also fluffy!
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