on the digestive nature of tangleweeds

OIA'I'O

and i asked myself about the present:

”Mmhm.” You record studiously, feeling none of the accompanying pangs of worry that your twin’s statement ought to have prompted. If anything it would be rude not to take notes, lest Kai’s death (or mauling, mutilation, whatever) be for naught. You record every word Kai says before pausing to pluck a few questions blowing about in your mind. “So it’s a chemical numbing then, not one caused by cold or lack of circulation?” Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating. Perhaps the theory about hidden predators is more apt than you had initially thought.

But then you think of something. “Has it spread to other areas, or is only ingesting the portion of your arm that you have placed inside?” Suddenly you’re considering whether or not this is simply another form of greeting; it wouldn’t be the stick’s fault that Kai’s skin reacted to its touch in this manner.

how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep