"I hav ide Joey!!!" Inv exclaims towards me, puffing out his chest.
"Y-yeah? What's your idea?" I ask while trying my best to not stare. It doesn't help that he still has his paw on my shoulder which basically has his chest at my eye level.
'Don't look, don't look, don't look' even repeating this to myself, I still end up looking.
"I ca clim da wal wit onl 2 spera!" Inv says with confidence.
A little surprised by his confidence, I ask back.
"How? I would still need to climb up as well Inv" I tell Inv while staring at his chest. I can't help it, my head hurts and looking up at Inv will just make it hurt worse. Yes… that's definitely the reason why…
"Don worry Joey!! I has ide!!" After saying this and not realizing my action of staring, he takes his paw off my shoulder and quickly runs over to the spear lying near us.
Picking up the spear he runs back to me.
"Giv me yur spera Joey" Inv reaches out his other paw for my spear.
Not really seeing a reason to refuse I give him the spear I was holding, still wondering what his idea is.
Seeing him hold a spear in each paw I'm a bit surprised seeing this.
'Dual wielding spears is crazy, I could hold a spear in each paw if I wanted to, but it feels unnatural to me. It also doesn't help that the spears are long enough to where either of the spears would get in the way while holding them… being small doesn't help either'
Seeing Inv hold both of the spears however, he looks like a natural pro! Maybe it's his size that helps but the way he's holding them it looks like he is used to the action of holding 2 spears at the same time. Is he capable of dual wielding spears like Spearmaster?
While being amazed by seeing another potential ability Inv has, I see him turn around and crouch down. His back now exposed to me.
Before I can ask what Inv is doing.
"Ge on me bak Joey" Inv's head turns 180 degrees looking right at me as he tells me this.
…
Feeling my mind go blank for a second I stutter back.
"G-get on your back?"
"Ye!! Ill Cary u whil i clim!" Inv answers back.
…
'I… guess that would make sense? If Inv is able to climb up the wall in a way that I wouldn't be able to, then this will help us save time!'
"A-alright" I agree with Inv's plan and approach his broad back.
Pushing down my heartbeat that's starting to speed up, I jump up on Inv's back.
Immediately the sensation of Inv's fur erupts all across the front part of my body that is touching him.
Trying my best to ignore the feeling, I lift my head up over his shoulder, getting in a position where I can safely stay on without any risk of falling.
While trying to do this, my claws come out trying to get a better grip on Inv's back.
"J-joey…" I hear Inv stutter out my name, and I can feel him shiver slightly from my action.
"S-sorry Inv, I'm just trying to get a better hold…" I apologize to Inv. I've never climbed up on a slugcats back before, especially one like Inv's.
'They make this look so easy in the game…' remembering how easily slugcats can carry each other from the game, I can't help but feel like a burden not being able to do it as well.
'I'm not even trying to do anything with my claws this time! Now's not the time for that sorta stuff!' I think to myself, remembering how Inv reacts to the touch of my claws.
After positioning myself for a little bit, I finally get in a spot where I can hold on. I have to use most of my strength to hold on but It should be fine… hopefully.
I don't want to burden Inv even further by saying I can't hold on.
"OK, I'm good now Inv" I say to Inv, with my head being right above his shoulder he can hear me perfectly.
"O-ok"
When Inv starts standing up, my vision goes up to a height I'm not used to. This is different compared to looking down from a high height. Not being able to feel solid ground underneath from such a height I can feel my claws dig deeper into Inv.
Again, I feel a shiver from Inv but this time he says nothing about it.
"S-so ef we cont gu en da tunel den wher we go Joey??" Inv's head turns towards me while asking this.
With our faces so close I try my best to focus on the task of getting food.
"See the pole above us? You have to climb on top of it and walk across it the entire way" I point above to where a horizontal pole is that goes along the ceiling above us.
Inv looks up and sees the pole I'm talking about.
Giving me a small nod, Inv focuses on starting to climb up. Grabbing a vertical pole that leads to the pole I was talking about, Inv starts to climb up.
While Inv climbs up the pole and starts walking across the horizontal pole across the ceiling. I can feel my thoughts in a different place.
'Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit' I repeatedly think to myself.
Being able to hang onto Inv point blank like this has my heart racing. The physical contact alone makes up for many cycles of isolation. How long have I desired to just hold onto someone like this?
If only it weren't for the fact that I was holding on for dear life, I would really be able to enjoy this moment.
Trying to hold on as best as I can, Inv's fur that already gave me a tingling sensation before grows stronger. Wondering why, I start to notice a small difference while hanging onto Inv. As if it's growing… easier to hang on?
Taking a quick look down I notice that Inv's fur is starting to quickly wrap around me, pulling me even further into Inv?
Seeing this makes me remember what happened last cycle when I accidentally fell asleep on Inv's back. When I woke up most of my body was covered in Inv's fur…
Inv's fur itself feels like it's alive for some reason. But I already know it doesn't want to harm me. If it did, it would've done it last cycle.
I can also feel that I need to use less strength to hold onto Inv…
'It's sorta acting like a… safety harness?' I remember an item from the world I came from that would secure someone from falling from high heights.
Feeling safer while wrapped in Inv's fur, I push myself even further into his fur. Letting Inv's fur wrap itself around me so I can easily stay on.
Burrrrr~
Feeling a sudden purr from Inv I can only wonder if Inv is the one actively wrapping the fur around me. Why else would he purr right now?
I decide not to say anything and just enjoy the feeling while Inv continues on.
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A/N: did I ever mention that when Inv isn't covered in gore and is clean that he's really fluffy?