"Is that really good?" Fuzz tilted her head. Despite her biology and her inability to eat, the myceloid still thought she could judge Wilona. "It doesn't seem all that healthy? And the potatoes too, I didn't know you could crush them and then fry them."

  "Trust me." Wilona gave the mushroom a thumbs up. She grinned. "It's very good, like, you've never tasted anything like this ever before. The poison makes everything so spicy too, did you know that?"

  "I did not, no." Fuzz shook her head in a yes. She leaned forward as though she were using her eyeless face to critically inspect the food. In actuality, she's just being expressive. After spending weeks together, she's since learned that Wilona interpreted words alongside gestures. "You also made a sauce using the poison."

  "Yeah, I did. Kind of." Wilona shrugged unapologetically. She had a Korean friend in the past and she never understood why she liked to eat spicy food, but now she could kind of understand. "I also powdered the root and sprinkled it all over the fries, which I think is kind of neat."

  "Yes..." Fuzz trailed off in concern. The root, even when dried and crushed, is still highly toxic. Wilona would be fine thanks to her ring, but eating it every day ran the risk of the poison actually taking effect. "Do you feel well?"

  "Yeah?" Wilona stopped eating to give her a weird look. What was Fuzz going on about? "I feel great! I can handle a little bit of spice, you think I can't?"

  "I didn't say that," Fuzz quickly replied. "I am more concerned with the fact that you are eating poison every single day and not collapsing due to your body breaking down from the inside out."

  "O-okay—what? Why the hell would you describe it like that?!" Wilona paled. She blinked once, then twice. Fuzz's words registered and she realized just how deep she was in fuck county. "You're telling me that I'm... going to die?" She pulled away. "What?!"

  "You're clearly not." Fuzz gestured forward. Wilona followed after the sign and looked down at herself. "You don't seem to show any of the effects that a poisoned system would. Your pallor is lovely, your skin is smooth and milky still, and your eyes are full of life and did not lose their shine."

  "You know you can't just say the most specific shit at me and then compliment me in the best way possible, right?" Wilona smirked. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "If you wanted to hit on me, you didn't need to scare me like you did just now."

  "I wasn't trying to do that!"

  "You weren't?" Wilona shrugged. "Yeah okay, guess I don't have to let you down slowly then. I mean, no offense but like, you're a mushroom. How do we even do it?"

  Fuzz went silent. She watched Wilona go back to eating like nothing just happened. "Is that all it is to you?"

  "What is what?"

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Why did you jump to us being intimate almost immediately?"

  "First off—" Wilona wiped her hands and pointed at Fuzz accusingly. "You were the one who hit on me, and second of all, I dunno, I just thought that since it's what you're going for, then clearly that's what you want. Kinda obvious isn't it?"

  "No, not at all." Fuzz shook her head. What was Wilona saying? "Assuming that I was being serious, don't you think that I would be hurt if you immediately think that I want to sleep with you when you see me court you?"

  "Okay smartass, what else are we supposed to do when we're in a relationship? Hold hands?" Wilona rolled her eyes. "What are you, some kind of Catholic or something?"

  "I don't know what that is but... why do you assume that relationships are for carnal pleasures immediately?" Now Fuzz was curious. She knew that Wilona is a noble—and those guys often do sleep with each other, what with all their partying—but to think that she does not believe in meaningful relationships is a shock to her.

  "We're going in circles with this." Wilona sighed deeply. She put down her food and stared at Fuzz. "What do you—" Wilona emphasized, "—expect from a relationship then?"

  "I don't know, emotional support?" Fuzz said with lacking confidence. What did she want? "I expect my partner to be there for me at least."

  "That sounds vague as shit." Wilona snickered. "Isn't that expected? Like, for people to want to help you when you're with them?"

  "To an extent, yes, but I can say the same when it comes to sex." Fuzz replied strictly. "Sure, the cravings of the flesh can be satiated with your partner, but there are other ways to feel fulfilled when you are in a relationship."

  Wilona downed half her bottle of toxic wine. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand. "Like?"

  "Supporting them in any way you can, encourage them when they want to do something. Do not let them down, be there for them even though the world is against them, stand your ground against the tide of hate that comes to them, and nurse them when they are under your presence."

  "Yeah, I think I can kind of get it—it's like us, isn't it?"

  Fuzz turned her head to look at Wilona. She smirked.

  "What's with that expression?"

  "It's true," Wilona added with carelessness, going over Fuzz's question and smiling. Her lips quirked up into crescents as she rested her head on her palm at an angle. "You cook my food, prepare my bath, even support me when I ask you questions. You're not my servant, that's obviously not the kind of relationship that we both have, we're equal even. We treat each other that way."

  "What are you trying to say?"

  Wilona got up from her bath and made her way over to Fuzz. Bubbles clung to her body, and a hand ridden with them cupped the right side of Fuzz's face. It was rougher than Wilona expected, but she didn't mention it because she didn't want to ruin the mood. Instead, she said—

  "Do you want to do it?" Wilona purred, her eyes glossing over as she looked down at the myceloid. "You've done one part of the relationship, do you want me to fulfill my side of it?"

  "N-no?" Fuzz pushed her away. She's really thankful she didn't have a heart in this body right now, and Wilona is just drunk enough to not notice the sudden heat in the environment as her mycelium network went into overdrive. "I don't want to."

  Wilona backed away and laughed. "If you say so, your loss." She gave the myceloid finger guns and went back to the bath. "I've never done it with a mushroom before, but who knows, maybe you're like, super cool in bed."

  What is she saying. Fuzz snorted. "Super cool in bed? Does that have some kind of hidden meaning that I did not understand?"

  "Nope." Wilona shook her head. She grinned. "I kinda just made it up on the fly. Kinda cool huh?"

  "I suppose," Fuzz responded with a composed nod.

  The rest of the night went on with the two of them just calmly standing by each other's presence, and though Fuzz didn't show any signs of being flustered, that's because her body doesn't have any mycelium. Or at least the network within it isn't complex enough to have properties similar to that of a human nervous system.

  She observed Wilona go about the night like she always did, seemingly uncaring of what transpired between the two of them. What she did may have been caused by her drunken state, and Fuzz didn't want to take advantage of that. Even then, did she need to act so casual?

  It's like what happened didn't matter to her at all. She's just eating dinner like she always did. Did she even wonder about how Fuzz feels, or is she thinking that Fuzz moved on from it at the same rate she herself did?

  The myceloid wasn't sure if her questions were on the right track, nor did she believe that her answers for them were correct. But if there's one thing that she knows is true and is happening at this exact moment, all the way to the following weeks or even months, it would be that she wouldn't be moving past this anytime soon.

  Wilona may not get easily attached, but she does. And like mycelium taking root in the ground, a sense of warmth began to grow within Fuzz's metaphorical chest and she...

  ...shook her head. "Maybe not."

  "What?" Wilona stopped her stargazing and faced her.

  "Nothing."