Attempting to bring the bone back for inspection to see what’s wrong, the worthless thing stays firmly glued in place. No matter how much I wrestle and pry, it remains unyieldingly attached to the back of my head. This can’t be good. What will all the others think? No one else here has any bones sticking out of them.

  Taking the pot off my head and placing it on the ground in order to get better leverage on the bone, I stop myself. This pot. It’s very, very stained at the bottom. It shouldn’t look like this. I rigorously clear the mixing pot after every session via a rigorous scrub of scum or dirt. Oh no, did I accidentally grab the slime pot from the pocket? That’s exactly what I did, didn’t I? What have I done?

  Probing my hands across the top of my head to probe for a larger injury, my scalp feels spongy and squishy. Ugh, if it’s not one thing, then it’s another. Running my hands down my neck, the slight squishiness leads all the way down to the protruding bone and then stops. Did the slime seep into my skull as its new hiding place? The book did state that they’d hitch rides on living creatures, but never described exactly what that entails. I assumed that it simply meant clinging to the surface of their skin or hiding in their hair. This certainly seems like a very significant detail to have missed when writing those works.

  Leaving my hands on the bone to monitor the situation, I feel it slowly sinking deeper into my skin. It must be the slime eating. What else could it be? If only I could actually see what was going on. Stupid lack of eyes on the back of my head!

  Pausing for a moment in disbelief at the true depth of my stupidity, I slap myself hard in the face. The surface of my skin vibrates in protest, agitated and made nervous by the sudden blow. How could I be so foolish? My slime teacher’s the one who literally taught me how to see without eyes. I got out of the habit after getting caught by that awful big one, but that shouldn’t matter here. I’m safe here. This is home.

  Sitting down and closing my eyes, I extend little tethers out in every direction around my head. Immediately, a plethora of competing tethers meets me in the middle, idly fishing for more treats or new threats. We both tangle together, mutually surprised by the unexpected encounter. However, as soon as the inability to cause harm is rigorously determined, the tangle quickly transforms into more of a welcoming handshake. My little arcane hands feel out the embedded body of the slime inside my skull and skin exactly as it constantly explores and inspects my body.

  The slime has greatly calmed now that it’s escaped both pocket and pot. Although, I imagine that the meal helped too. Is my head really such a good home? Oh well, what’s the worst that can happen? If it starts to eat me, then I’ll simply drink a potion or bury myself in the mud again. Problem solved. Life doesn’t have to be hard.

  Wait, no. That’s not right. How long ago did it embed itself into me? I took the pot out of my pockets ages ago in that feverishly hot world. Haven’t I been wearing it ever since then? If it transferred over to me fairly quickly, then it must have been on me when last submerged in the mud. Is that how it got so deeply embedded inside my skull? Did the mud do this and not the slime?

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  Ugh, it does complicate things if the mud’s only going to drive it deeper. Methodically scanning my internals, everything looks fine. Even my personal status says nothing’s wrong. The only thing different is this glowing blob on my head. It’s almost like a new organ. Maybe it won’t be so bad? Yes, of course. It’s only another buddy. Although, can’t add too many, or I’ll never keep track.

  Getting back up, I walk over to the meat pile and grab another small chunk of flesh. Plopping it directly on top of my head, there’s an odd sizzling sensation as the happy slime enthusiastically digs in. It’s really more of a small, dull pain. Far less alarming when you know it’s coming.

  After waiting for the discomfort to stop, I stroll over to Ha’koff, grab his hand, and place it on top of my head. Teary eyed, he looks up at me more confused than scared. However, I ignore him, closing my eyes to carefully watch for any interactions. Nothing. No pain, no movement. The slime completely ignores his hand. It really doesn’t want to eat living things. Whether due to something about its diet or some social pact that begs to be left alone, I don’t know. Guess this means that I’ll be fine? At least for now. What other choice do I have?

  Dropping Ha’koff’s hand, I take another fresh piece of meat and shove it towards his face.

  “Fud! Oat fud. Non fud? Ood. Tak fud? Een,” I sternly warn, leaning close to his face to express the seriousness of the situation.

  I can’t feed one buddy and allow the other to starve. We’re a team, after all. We watch out for each other.

  The reluctant little one morosely takes the offered food, hands shaking uncontrollably. Slowly bringing it up to his mouth, he takes the tiniest of first bites.

  Fireworks explode behind his eyes, and he takes another. Then another. Soon the miniscule portion of meat is gone, so I throw him a new one. A bigger one. He devours that as well, before lurching over to the pile to enthusiastically grab more on his own.

  Ah, my buddy. You’re growing so well. Maybe this is why the others couldn’t learn? They’re simply too old. Ha’koff is a fresh, clean slate. He’s a far better project for proving that I can teach songs to my brothers. A true, long term investment.

  “Ach– Gak! Uff. Uff.”

  Casually sauntering over to Ha’koff’s side, I smack his back hard to dislodge the blockage in his throat. No point returning to the pits more than twice in a single night! No, no, in one… how long have I been here?

  Regardless, he’s the perfect test subject. In a way, he’s the new slime on the team. That makes the old slime into the new… head parasite? Extra tether buddy? Useless meat glutton? I really need to come up with better roles for this team.