> My Little Slugs: Nature is Fascinating > by Equimorto > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > And That's How Flurry Was Made > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sky was grey and cloudy, the air cold and heavy with moisture, and drops of water still dotted the leaves of the trees after the recent rain. Few sounds were heard in the park, and little to no wind blew. Its body covered in reflective mucus, Shining crawled along on the grass, leaving a trail of slime behind itself. As its foot contracted below it, pushing it forward, its lower tentacles sensed something in front of it. It moved closer, and its suspicions were confirmed. Another trail, belonging to another slug who had recently passed there. One looking to mate. Immediately, the slug began to follow the trail, accelerating to catch up with the other. Cadence crawled on the grass, with deliberate slowness, leaving behind a trail of thick mucus. It was looking for a partner to mate with, and hoped to find one soon. Sunset was near and the night would grant plenty of time for reproduction, but when morning came the slug would need to hide away, and it might be days before another occasion presented itself. Suddenly, something gently nibbled on the tip of the slug's tail. Pleased with the occurrence, Cadence began to move faster, leading the way for its partner and heading for the nearest tree. Finally, the two reached the plant and began to crawl up its bark. Their thick mucus allowed them to maintain a stabler grip on the vertical surface, and though their pace was slow and the tree was tall no fall or kerfuffle interrupted their ascension. Soon, they reached a branch, and deeming it an appropriate location for their mating they began to crawl on its underside. A short distance along the branch, Cadence stopped, and allowed Shining to crawl over its body. The two began to circle each other, slimy bodies sliding and coiling around one another. They wrapped one around the other, in tighter and tighter spires, nibbling at their bodies with small, gentle bites. They slid and crawled and moved to form a writhing, sticky mass covered in their mucous fluids. This continued on for several minutes. The two kept sliding and coiling around each other, still nibbling and still wrapping themselves in tangles, both exploring the other's body and circling around it. On and on, the two kept going, passionately crawling along themselves and covering each other in slime. Then, suddenly, finally, after an hour or so of passionate courting, the two slugs began to descend towards the ground in a coiled tangle of slimy bodies. They did so on a string of special, thick mucus, strong enough to hold their weight to the branch. Their spiralling embrace moved down, their tails hanging from the string while their heads pointed to the ground. At once, after more twisting and coiling had taken place, their male organs began to extend from behind the two slugs' heads. The long, blue protrusions exited further and further, and finding each other they too began to descend and wrap around one another. They spun and spun, pushing against each other, while sliding out from the two slugs still embraced, still hanging from the branch on a string of mucus. As the two organs slowly grew longer, and entwined further, the shape they produced became more intricate. At first it was a simple helix, but in touching each other their heads flared out, and the more time passed the more their embrace grew closer. They spun and spun, more and more. The combined shape of the male organs took on the semblance of a blossoming flower, then of one opening around a sphere comprised of the ends of the genitals, now even more closely linked and tightly packed there. The slugs' male organs fanned out further, a translucent quality adding itself to their natural vibrant blue and white colour as they more than ever pressed against one another. The flower-like shape uniting the two blossomed in full, and sperm began to be exchanged between Shining and Cadence. Each one gave, and each one received, as their genetic material travelled along the lengths of their appendages to be transferred in the other's. The deed was done. Slowly, the two slugs' male genitals unwrapped from each other and began to retract. They slid back inside them, their length pushed back into the holes behind the slugs' heads, to the side, and a moment lather no trace of them was left. The two lovers parted with a nibble, then Shining fell towards the ground, while Cadence simply crawled back up the string of mucus and returned to the branch. It began to descend the tree's bark, while Shining moved away from it, leaving a slimy trail on the grass. Both had been fertilised, and would now seek an appropriate location in which to lay their eggs. As it crawled on the grass, Shining's thoughts went to the slug it had just had sex with. It wondered if it would see it again, and in which circumstances. Similar thoughts passed through Cadence's mind as it descended the tree and reached the ground. Both would fondly hold on to the memories of their shared experience, as brief as it had been. Flurry Heart would be the name of their offspring. Shining knew it, though it did not know how it was so certain of it. It also knew that Cadence had the same certainty. It did not know how it knew Cadence's name was Cadence either, as they had not talked to each other, being slugs. It was not even sure how it could entertain such thoughts, being a slug. It chose to ignore the weirdness of the situation. It instead focused on being its slug self, crawling along the green grass towards the further reaches of the park, a slimy trail behind it, as its foot contracted rhythmically to propel it forward. Its tentacles extended and ready, it felt eager to explore the world, ready to crawl, eat, and leave a trail of slimy mucus.