[mdom]

Under spoiler tags because I feel it's going to be long

It was time.
It was tradition that every year, by the end of October, Trisphee's hideous beast left their cave to scare regular citizens with its monstrous visage. And they were also very, very hungry. Its tastes were peculiar, to say the least. The fickle beast sometimes would savor spicy chicken wings, but dislike chili powder. Or maybe scarf down salmon skin sushi but disregard salmon sashimi. It all depended on their mood, and only Death By Mirrors, Trisphee's infamous lorekeeper, could decipher the pattern.
After engorging itself with a huge bowl of cold miso soup, the beast fell asleep, and Death By Mirrors saw it as an opportunity to help with Trisphee's decorations. Some forums still weren't covered in spiderwebs as they should.
A couple hours and many webs later, Death By Mirrors still wasn't back. But the beast hungered, and it slowly crawled out of its cave, drooling and growling, looking around for its next meal. But instead, they only saw Gallagher, one Trisphee's leaders.
- Pssst.
Galla looked around, but having just woken up, couldn't see anyone around. Maybe they were imagining things.
- Pssst!
Hearing someone call you but not seeing anybody isn't usually cool, but hearing disembodied voices around Nox is even spookier. So Galla rubbed their eyes and tried looking around again.
- Down here, human!
- Down where motherf- HUNGRY BEAST?
- That's kinda rude, y'know. I don't call you depressed human.
- CAN YOU TALK?
- It's been years and nobody understands my growling, so I had to learn English.
- Does Death By Mirrors know about this?
- Of course, we talk a lot, when I'm not hungry, of course. They're a very good interloper when it comes to philosophy, politics, economy...
- Then why the fuck do you not ask directly what you want to eat? Why do we need enigmas and so much trial and error?
- If I might be honest... I'm so sorry, I didn't ask your name.
- Gallagher, they/them.




- My name is ʎ̶̛͓̤̫͍̯̼̎̃̽̆̎̾̔͂͐̋̉̅͂̚͘͝ ̧̧̡̟̹̠̙̲͙͚̮̳̪̺̪̙̱̘̮̟̻͖̭̠̻ ǝ̸̨̧̧͔̹͈̱͔͚͕̭͍̙̙͔̭͎̞̲̺̃̎͜ ̲̹̳̱͚̫͕͎͙s̷̛̃͑́̿̈̃̉̓̎̆̏̽̉� �̧̡̻̮̟͈̘̮͕̖̘̼̝̐̎͊͗͆͆̐̚̚͜͝� �̶̊̋̌̏̏͆̽͊͂̉̉̂̃͐́̀̀̀͒̑̚͘͝� �̪̝̻͖̭̜̟̪̫̻̱̖̫͔̳̗̈́̈̇̾̈́̉͝� �̡̨̢̨̘̯̯̳͉̼̖̲̮̟͍̝̯̪̫͖̱̖͜ǝ� �̛͚͖̃͑̂́͂͛̐̉̊̊̾́͌͋̈͂̒͘̕̕͝� �̫̝͇̩͙̪ʞ̴̲̞̹̟͔̩͐̌̊̐́͒̅̉͒͂� �̢̧̧̡̨̹͚͓͖̝̘̟͚̯͉̱̯̺̻̞̣͍̩̪, they/it.



- Can I call you, uh... Kel?
- I guess you can, Gallagher.
- Call me Galla. Everybody does.
If the hungry beast could blush, it- Ahem. Galla? What's up? They just said their name was Kel. Oh, I, uh... did you break the 4th wall for that? Hell yeah. Stop being rude. Kel isn't going around calling you Unreliable Narrator. Excuse you, if anything I'm Omniscient Narrator!... Galla? You're back in the story? Right, right, let me start again.

If Kel could blush, it would. After centuries of just slithering around in a cave and having one solitary friend, they were connecting with someone!
- So, as I was saying, Gallag- Galla. I spend all year in my cave, digesting the delicious food I get here. It is needed, but it's also... so tedious! Not even Death By Mirrors can come see me. I understand they have a life to live, but it's not because I'm not human that I deserve to be lonely. So I spend all that time figuring out ways to categorize the food I like. Words with two syllables and one vowel repeating. Even number of words in which at least one word has an S. You know, basic stuff.
- None of that sounds basic... but anyway, how come you're so picky?
Kel laughed. Or at least produced a sound that could be compared to human laughter.
- Am I? Do you eat all the dishes in the world? I heard humans sometimes reject food on the basis of texture alone! Not even for the taste.
- You know what, you have a point.
- Thank you for agreeing. I guess Death was right... humans are alright.
- Some are. Fortunately at Trisphee folks are pretty respectful of bea- other creatures.
- It's ok, I guess I am what you call 'beast'. Non-humanoid... walking on all sixes... disguisting...
- Alright buddy, don't call yourself names. It's not good for your self-esteem.
- I know what I am, Galla. Condemned to live in a cave instead of having lively discussions with the rest of you. And rightly so, I don't want to scare anyone.
- Well I... I'm not scared.
Galla and Kel stayed silent for a moment. Kel looked softly at Galla with all of its eyes, and slowly tried to reach them with one of the paws. Galla also tried extending an arm towards Kel. But before they could touch, Death By Mirrors was back. Kel shrunk back to the cave quickly, almost as if they were embarassed.



- Galla? What are you doing here? ʎ̶̛͓̤̫͍̯̼̎̃̽̆̎̾̔͂͐̋̉̅͂̚͘͝ ̧̧̡̟̹̠̙̲͙͚̮̳̪̺̪̙̱̘̮̟̻͖̭̠̻ ǝ̸̨̧̧͔̹͈̱͔͚͕̭͍̙̙͔̭͎̞̲̺̃̎͜ ̲̹̳̱͚̫͕͎͙s̷̛̃͑́̿̈̃̉̓̎̆̏̽̉� �̧̡̻̮̟͈̘̮͕̖̘̼̝̐̎͊͗͆͆̐̚̚͜͝� �̶̊̋̌̏̏͆̽͊͂̉̉̂̃͐́̀̀̀͒̑̚͘͝� �̪̝̻͖̭̜̟̪̫̻̱̖̫͔̳̗̈́̈̇̾̈́̉͝� �̡̨̢̨̘̯̯̳͉̼̖̲̮̟͍̝̯̪̫͖̱̖͜ǝ� �̛͚͖̃͑̂́͂͛̐̉̊̊̾́͌͋̈͂̒͘̕̕͝� �̫̝͇̩͙̪ʞ̴̲̞̹̟͔̩͐̌̊̐́͒̅̉͒͂� �̢̧̧̡̨̹͚͓͖̝̘̟͚̯͉̱̯̺̻̞̣͍̩̪, , were you talking to them?



What if everyone finds out? The mystique will be gone! I'm not even sure you deserve this macaroni and cheese!
- Death, you're way outta line. Kel deserves to live among us. We can find another Nox activity.
- No, Galla, don't worry... it's almost time for me to go anyway. Thank you for talking to me... showing me affection. I'll never forget it. Even if you forget about me until next year.
- I won't forget you! Not even if I tried to.
Death by Mirrors was definitely confused. They couldn't have been gone for that long... How could they have bonded? Were their eyes getting watery? What was going on? Gallagher broke the silence first.
- Death... would Kel eat... a Galla?
- I can't do that, boss! Trisphee needs you!
- Toho and Percival can handle my work. Just tell me. Will it eat a Galla.
- Sigh... yes.
- No! Galla, I couldn't do that you.
- But I... want to. Let's spend the year together. You can spit me out inside your cave if you want, by the way. I don't wanna die, lol.
- Then it's a deal.
Kel unhinged its jaw to a human sized opening, and slowly involved Galla. Death By Mirrors tried to turn back, but couldn't stop looking at the scene. In a couple minutes, Kel went back to the cave, but this time, truly satisfied, emotionally and physically.


The End