"Ummm… Joey?" Inv mutters my name.
Realizing how close our faces are, I pull back a bit and let go of Invs head.
"S-sorry Inv… I was just…" I try to come up with a reason for why I just held his head like that but can't come up with a good excuse.
I can't just tell him I watched his ear and a part of his face turned pink!
"Joey wut wong?? U actin stwange… es dere somting on me fac???" Inv says while raising a paw to his face touching the now pink area around his eye.
Ignoring the fact that Inv is bending his arm in ways I can't even comprehend. I see his skin slowly start to turn back to its natural blue. Still seeing the pink area not change color its finally dawning on me that this might be because of my mark…
"Awww… et no tingl enymor…" I hear Inv murmur sadly.
'Yeah… it has to be from the mark. It started turning pink around right where my mark was… but if that's the case then wouldn't that mean the color on my cheek has changed as well due to Inv's mark?!'
"Nothing is wrong Inv… it's just the area around your ear has sorta…" I hesitate to finish the rest of my sentence. Would Inv get mad about something like this?
"Sora wa?" Inv says still confused while touching his now pink ear.
…
"Its… turned pink…" I say quietly worrying that he might get mad.
"Hmm? Et dos dat somtims Joey… i cont weally contwol dat" Inv says to me and lifts his arm in front of me.
"Se? Et blwu! Bu uhh… whe i du somting lik dis" Inv shows his arm being blue and then starts slowly reaching towards my chest.
Seeing him hesitate to touch my chest my worry somewhat goes down.
'This dork has already touched my chest before and he's still hesitating?' I amusingly think to myself.
Using my paw, I grab his paw and place it on my chest speeding up the process. Looking down with a smug grin I see Inv's face turn a bit redder.
"S-se? Noaw e-et penk…" Inv stutters out while slowly rubbing my chest.
Looking at his arm, I see it slowly turn pink. But compared to the pink that's on Inv's ear. The pink radiating from his arm is more… ethereal.
"No, I understand that Inv… I'm saying the area around your ear has… turned even more pink…" I finally say to Inv.
"Mor penk?? Hoaw??"
The best way to explain this would be to just show him… thankfully I have something akin to a mirror in here.
"I'll show you Inv I just gotta… uhh" I say to Inv with my attention to hop off his back… but with him still rubbing my chest I kinda don't want to.
…
With a little regret I grab Inv's paw stopping his rubs.
"We can… continue that in a bit Inv. I think it's more important that you see this" I point to a corner of the shelter that has a long shiny piece of metal.
"Oh… ok" Inv says in a somewhat sad voice while looking at the corner.
Letting go of his paw (with great regret) I hop off of Invs back. Landing on the hard metal surface of the shelter I feel the world of difference that is being on Invs back compared to this damn ground. I also feel a bit guilty now that I've been experiencing such comfort while Inv has to be the one remaining on the ground… if only we had a bed we could both lay on… maybe a king sized considering how big Inv is…
Thinking these thoughts, I walk over to the impromptu mirror. I'm actually pretty proud of finding this thing. I'm not sure how long ago I found this, but while I was out one random cycle I stumbled upon this piece of metal. It stood out like a sore thumb due to how much… shinier it was compared to all the rusted metal everywhere else.
Being able to see my reflection I knew I had to take this back to the shelter. Thankfully it wasn't far away at all. I spent almost that whole cycle trying to pry this damn thing from the wall I found it on with a sturdy piece of rebar. The hardest part was actually lifting it into the shelter. It barely fit but I somehow made it work!
Sure, I went to sleep starving that cycle, but I think it was still worth it. Having something equivalent to a piece of furniture makes this shelter feel just a bit more… homely.
Arriving next to the mirror I look back and see Inv just getting up. Watching Inv walk over to me I still can't help but look at Inv's now miscolored face. A huge portion of it being his natural blue while the rest is now exactly the color of my fur. It's like someone threw a paint bucket on Invs head…
"Su wha ded u wan tu sho me Joey?" Inv asks when he arrives next to me.
"You see this right here Inv? This is kinda like a mirror" I point at the metal piece.
"Miror? Wha dat?" Inv cocks his head to the side and asks.
…
"You… don't know what a mirror is?" I ask a bit surprised.
"Nu?"
…
'Why am I surprised by this? Of course he wouldn't know what a mirror is! It's not like creatures in a world like this would care about how they look all the time… besides me. I care!
'If I'm going to be pink, I have to look good while being pink!'
"This will show your reflection Inv! Just step in front of it and you'll see what you look like!" I explain to Inv while stepping in front of the mirror.
Seeing my reflection, I get a good look at myself. Sure, it's not the best reflection that an actual mirror would show but it's better than nothing!
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A/N: I can't wait until I make the shelter a bit more homey for the duo :)