“ Whoa! “

Zest jolted and quickly pulled their hand back, before laughing.

“ Hey, I’d rather not lose my fingers! As metal as that would be, it would make it hard to do soooo many things. I wouldn’t be able to use weapons, play video games… ohh, but maybe I could get robo-fingers! “

look sometimes i feel like a girl and sometimes i don’t, it’s more fun to keep people guessing. never let ‘em know your next move.

“ Ah, that’s no prob. I bite too sometimes! “

Zest kneeled down to get a closer look at Phantom’s tail, reaching their hand out towards it curiously.

“ I’m not gonna bite your tail, though. I think I’d break a tooth if I did… besides, you haven’t done anything deserving of a bite. “

“ Whoa! “

Zest turned back into her humanoid form, watching the other’s tail curiously.

“ Damn, look at that thing! So your tail has like, a mind of its own? “

“ Alright! First things first, check this out! “

With that, she turned into her swim form! Which looks much more like a regular squid— no, octopus— no… well, both.

“ Pretty sick, huh? “

“ You bet I am! Not only do I live around a bunch of them, but I’m a mix of both species! “

Zest grinned proudly, crossing their arms in front of them.

“ I’m like the best of both worlds! “

“ Like, all of the species here, or just inklings and octolings in specific? “

Zest asked, before pointing to herself.

“ I happen to be an expert on those two, y’know! I’m both of them at the same time! “

“ Oh, thank cod. You had me nervous for a second there. “

Zest sighed in relief.

“ So you’re just doing some research on us, huh? Why’s that? “

“ 2 of them are correct, huh? “

Zest raised an eyebrow slightly.

“ Well, I sure hope that the organ stealing one is the incorrect one. I don’t have any extras to share. I mean, I’ve got 3 hearts, but I’m pretty sure that I need all of ‘em… “

“ Whaaat, there’s a whole planet of bombs?! That’s so sick! “

Zest grinned, showing off their fangs.

“ What are you doing on our planet, then? Just dropping in? Collecting samples for research? Stealing people’s organs? I saw aliens do that in an old human movie once… “

“ Aha! So that means that aliens are real! I knew it! “

Zest laughed triumphantly, putting their hands on their hips.

“ So, what planet are you from? “

“ Not bad, not bad. You talkin’ bout the Grand Festival? It was sooo lit! “

She declared with a sharp-toothed grin, clasping her hands together.

“ And I mean like, actually lit… I’m pretty sure part of the venue burnt down. I don’t think they thought all of those pyrotechnics through properly. “

“ Amusing? Not sure how I feel about being a source of amusement for you, but aight. “

Zest murmured, putting their hand on their chin thoughtfully.

“ So the humans didn’t make you? What about aliens, huh? You an alien robot or something? “

“ Ohhh… what about the cursing? Is there a problem with it? If that’s the case, then sorry, but I’m not gonna stop. I’ll have you know that swearing is an important part of my vocabulary! “

“ You want me to guess? “

Zest tilted her head a bit in confusion.

“ I dunno, are you like… some kind of robot or something? Did the humans make you before they got wiped out? “