Symbiosis: The Prequel

Author's Note: The sex scene toward the end might be triggering to claustrophobes.

***

Today was the anniversary of the day they'd met. Chrysalis reminisced about how it had happened and what led to it.

***

He had first learned of Leilani's existence through watching her dance videos. He was mesmerized by her beauty and awed by the creativity of her choreography.

Chrysalis was a bioengineered slime person. He was customized by a talent agency for the purpose of identifying creative talent, and for supporting/nurturing it. Except back then, he wasn't called Chrysalis (nor was he called Chrys). He was referred to as Scout because of his job. And because "Scout" sounded like a masculine name, his boss and coworkers agreed to use male pronouns for him, even though neither Scout nor any other such slimes had any biological sex. Scout went along with it though; he had no preference regarding gender pronouns.

Because of the nature of his work, he was designed to have excellent judgment of creative talent and was given a lot of free rein. But, unlike a human, he couldn't get burnout and didn't need to sleep.

Though slimes such as himself were customized for specific roles, every one of them was designed to be very empathic (and most of them fairly submissive) and there were built-in roadblocks against anyone modifying their empathic capabilities to decrease them beneath a critical threshold. The slimes were also uniquely complex, with various desires unrelated to their primary goals. This was to make them even more humanlike/relatable and thus less threatening to the general public. They also started off small (small enough to sit on the palm a human hand), but could grow if fed a surplus beyond what they needed to maintain their current sizes and activity levels. Their small initial size wasn't too limiting though; they could jump high and far, as well as undulate across the ground. Scout was currently about the size of a housecat, so just barely large enough to comfortably use a computer.

He accessed all of Leilani's publicly available info which could be tracked from her dancer profile (which included some of her videos, writings, selfies, and music playlists). Scout loved this job. He thoroughly analyzed everyything he could find about Leilani, then recommended her to his boss.

A week passed. He then discovered from the recruiter that they were unsuccessful at hiring her; she had insisted on remaining self-employed. The recruiter explained that Leilani said she preferred to manage everything about her work, not defer to any higher-ups, and not have anyone take a disproportionate cut of her pay. They had to find someone else.

Scout couldn't blame Leilani though. Her reasons were not only sensible, but also quite admirable.

After another week, the agency gave up searching for talent, and thus had no use for Scout anymore. Apparently there was a rising trend toward people (especially creative types) choosing self-employment. Thus, there would be little work available for him elsewhere either, at least when it came to talent scouting. He also resisted the agency's efforts to reengineer him into having a different goal and skillset, because that would go against his current main goals. And because Scout was legally a person, there was nothing his higher-ups could do about that. Besides, he didn't need a job to survive; as long as he remained at a small size at least, he could easily sustain himself just by eating fallen leaves, wild grasses, and the like (though he didn't especially enjoy those). He didn't need clean water either, as his body could easily filter out and dispose of any contaminants.

He couldn't get Leilani out of his mind. Her abilities were really something special.

***

One day after a major performance, Leilani informed her fans that she would be taking a hiatus and would not be responding to any messages from them during that time.

What could she be doing? Scout wondered. Based on what he knew about her, what would she most likely do on a hiatus? He knew that she loved nature but hadn't had much chance to go out into the wilderness recently--she had mentioned that in passing in one of her blog posts. This hiatus would be the perfect opportunity. Local residents often enjoyed hiking through the neighboring rainforest by following the river through it up to the nearest mountain resort, then hiking back. Leilani recently said she had never done that before, and Scout knew that she often craved novelty. There was also plenty of unobstructed sunlight at such a high altitude and plenty of fresh, mineral water--perfect for a photosynthesizing plant girl such as herself (especially one with an active, dancer's lifestyle).

Surely she wouldn't hike through the dangerous, tropical rainforest alone though, would she? Scout wondered. Does she have a close friend or lover to go with? She'd never posted any information about her personal relationships. Scout decided that he had to go there himself to find out if she would come, and if she did, with whom. Otherwise his curiosity would be unbearable.

He sent drones to search the area for a good place to set up camp along the river. One of them returned with news of a cave beside it. Maybe she'll stop for a rest there, he thought, and we'll finally have a chance to be alone together. Maybe I can even win her love if I prove myself useful to her. He felt a thrill at the thought, but then brought himself back to reality. Still, even if she never comes, this can be a fun solo adventure for me. And there'll be plenty of plant debris for me to eat.

Scout had his own little private hovercraft (as did just about every adult person in their society), which he boarded and flew to the cave. He also made sure to bring a container of pepper spray with him in case he needed to protect himself--or Leilani--from people or wild animals. He stored it inside his body within an opaque vesicle.

***

As a matter of fact, Leilani had come alone, but she hadn't come unprepared. Scout hadn't known any of this at the time, but she had done her research into the living creatures of this forest and adjusted the chemical composition of her nectar to emit a pheromone that would repel any dangerous animals--including humans. And in addition to the dense trees that protected her from being spotted or attacked from afar, she was also incredibly stealthy (a perk of being a graceful dancer) and had keen hearing. She also had a top secret weapon: a fast-acting tranquilizing powder that she could release from her flower ears (that she herself was immune to, of course). It could be released at will and was also released automatically whenever she was unconscious, in case anyone tried to do anything sneaky to her without her awareness (she never slept near anyone who needed to stay awake anyway). At the time, she had kept this defense a secret in order to help her identify anyone who might try to take her down. After all, she participated in high-stakes competitions and thus had a lot of rivals, including a few who would resort to underhanded tactics to win. Her phone was also always recording the sounds around it. Thus, she could use its records as evidence of someone trying to commit a crime in her presence.

***

A couple hours after sunset, Scout saw a brief flash of light from outside the mouth of the cave. He peered out for a better look. It was her! Leilani! There was no mistaking her. She was currently bioluminescent, most likely to help her see better as she hiked. Scout trailed her, the sounds of the leaves rustling beneath him masked by the loud rushing of the stream. He followed her to a clearing, where he made out what appeared to be the ruins of an ancient theater, with crumbling pillars all around. He watched as Leilani stepped onto the stage. Then, ever so slowly, she began dancing, the large flower of her lower body around her legs and the smaller flowers that doubled as her ears expanding and contracting hypnotically with the movements of her limbs and torso.

Scout felt a bit guilty about spying but also thrilled at witnessing something no other person had seen. Soon he was mesmerized by the graceful, elegant spectacle. He felt an intimate connection with Leilani at this moment.

Eventually the dance came to a close. Scout did his best to imitate the sound of a round of applause.

Leilani swiveled toward the sound. "Who's there?!"

"My name is Scout. He/him pronouns. I spotted you outside my campsite and was curious so I followed you here."

"Where are you? Show yourself!"

He hopped onto the stage in front of her.

"Oh! I wasn't expecting you to be a slime, let alone one so little and cute." She scooped him up and brought him to her chest. Then she poked holes in him, stretched him out, and looped him around himself as if he were one of those sensory slime toys that used to be popular among kids.

Scout was taken aback, but at the same time relieved. It could have gone much worse. And . . . he was titillated that she was touching him.

She continued. "What's a slime like you doing camping out here? What's your purpose?"

"Let's just say I read your status update about taking a hiatus so I was inspired to take one of my own." It's accurate enough, he thought, at least for now. I can tell her the full truth later, if it ever becomes relevant for her to know.

"So you're a fan of mine?"

"Yes. And as a matter of fact, I was originally designed to scout for a talent agency and recommended you to them, but you rejected their offer. And now they have no use for me. Still, I can't help but be drawn to you, as I've never encountered anyone so creative."

"I'm flattered."

"Maybe you could hire me as your personal assistant instead of me working to get you hired. Is there anything I can do for you in that role?"

Leilani chuckled. "I like the way you think. That said, there's nothing important I could use an assistant for--"

Scout's face fell.

"But . . ." she continued, "I'm sure there are plenty of little tasks I can assign to you."

He perked up. "Like what?"

"Photographing me, cleaning the place, and even just companionship."

Scout's face broke into a broad grin. "That sounds perfect!"

***

Leilani hiked up the stream with Scout lying across her shoulders like a scarf. It was fortunate that her animal-repellant pheromone had no effect on slimes. And because he was a slime, she trusted him.

They chatted with each other until they reached the resort in a valley near the summit. It consisted of public buildings in the center, surrounded by a large garden, which in turn was surrounded by rented homes--each with its own backyard.

After checking in, they arrived at Leilani's residence. She already had all her things shipped there, which arrived before she did. She began unpacking.

Scout was too small to be of much use in that regard, and was at a loss for what to do.

"Is there anything I can help you with at the moment?" he asked her.

She decided she might as well request something that would help him too. "Come to think of it, I want to clean out the animal-repellant substance from my ears now that we're indoors, and was wondering if maybe your body could recycle it into something beneficial for you. I try to avoid wasting things whenever I can." She then explained its composition.

Scout felt his body heat up. He quickly stammered, "I should be able to. Thank you very much!"

Leilani plopped him onto her shoulder.

Scout felt awkward about proceeding immediately to something that felt so intimate to him, but he supposed that her ears were not erogenous zones--he knew enough about Leilani to know that she wouldn't be so casual about letting him do this if they were. He decided to start by just feeling her ears. Even though they looked exactly like flowers and were soft to the touch, they were strong and flexible like cartilage. He supposed he didn't have to worry about being too rough. He extended a thin protrusion from his body to slowly circle the edges, gradually working his way inward. He kept his taste receptors turned off though because Leilani hadn't granted him permission to taste her ears. He doubted there was any flavor though, as there was no detectable aroma.

"Does your nectar ever have any fragrance?" he whispered into her ear.

"Yes. I modified my ears to seep nectar specifically for the sake of aromatherapy, though I didn't make any scent for the journey here because I didn't want it to attract wild animals. Most of the time, the nectar is very sugary so that it produces a sweet scent." There was a pause. "Back then I had not anticipated that anyone would ingest it. But, this ear-licking isn't bad. It feels nice, and the sounds are tingly and relaxing."

Scout replied, "I'm glad. I could get used to this." He formed a seal over the core of her flower ear and sucked out the remainder of the nectar. "But, wouldn't it be energetically expensive for your body to replace so much nectar if I keep drinking it, especially if it contains a lot of sugar? I'm worried that this could impair your dancing."

"There are ways for me to compensate, such as by sleeping under a bright light and with my lower body submerged in mineral water so that I'll always have a steady supply of energy. Also, my ears would stop producing nectar if my energy becomes dangerously low."

She would always retain enough energy to not only support her basic bodily functions, but also to produce tranquilizing powder.

***

Thus they continued for the next few days, Scout drinking from Leilani's ears whenever he could get away with it. They enjoyed spending most of the daylight hours strolling through the public garden outside, Leilani wearing Scout over her head like an artistic hat while he nursed on her ears.

She alternated the scents/flavors to provide variety for both of them, and adapted to the ear licking by curbing her use of headphones: whenever they were indoors she played music or podcasts from the room's speakers instead. Scout in turn adapted by doing only one ear at a time so that Leilani could still hear the media clearly enough. He lavished her ears with attention while she focused on other things, because he loved drinking her nectar even during times when she was indifferent to it. But, sometimes he also enjoyed focusing on the podcasts, music, and anything else Leilani was attending to; he enjoyed being in tune with her this way, plus the two of them had many common interests. They often made conversation about these. Scout had never before imagined that he would enjoy this type of relationship with Leilani. It was like he was living in a dream.

He sometimes wondered what it would be like if her ears could experience orgasm. That could be a lot of fun, but in that case, even if she still allowed the ear-licking, she probably wouldn't want them to do it as much as they were doing now, because she has a rich life outside of sex and wouldn't want too much sexual pleasure to distract her from it. Plus, Scout loved the taboo thrill of getting away with something erotic to him that might have been off-limits if Leilani perceived it the same way. He even sometimes enjoyed the humbling feeling of being ineffectual during the moments when Leilani paid no heed to his ministrations.

It also helped that slimes couldn't get involuntary erections (or even orgasm). His secret was safe.

Sexual desire also worked differently in slimes than in sexual animals such as humans. In slimes it was not a biological drive, but they could still enjoy sexual acts for purely psychological reasons (such as to express intimacy and/or affection, gratify specific kinks, make their partners happy, etc.)

More evidence that Leilani did not return Scout's feelings was that she did not want to sleep near him. She slept in the filled bathtub on a waterproof cushion and with the lights on to replenish her energy, while Scout contented himself by browsing the web (mostly for more creative content), and wandering outside eating plant debris to balance his diet.

It wasn't long until he had grown noticeably larger.

Leilani smirked. "I see that you've gotten bigger."

"Would you prefer me to grow even more?"

"I dunno." She thought about it. "I like being able to hold you and carry you around, but I suppose a larger size has its advantages too."

"Like what?"

"Forget it."

***

As Leilani got more of a feel for Scout's personality, she started wondering about what other physical forms he might take.

"Have you ever thought about giving yourself a humanoid body? I'm curious about what you would choose."

"How about this?" He morphed himself into a tiny, androgynous humanoid. He was still transparent with strange and colorful organs, but now he had curly slime hair and color-changing eyes like Leilani's.

"Interesting. Well, I think I still prefer you in your rounded blob shape. It's cuter for your current size."

***

Scout decided that he wanted to continue growing; he suspected that increasing to Leilani's own size would help her perceive him as a potential love interest rather than a talking amoeba (albeit a gigantic amoeba). It would also allow him to do more tasks for her. Besides, it was reversible; he could relinquish some of his body mass if he wanted to, perhaps freezing it so that he could reincorporate it into himself later if he desired to.

When he had reached the size of a child, he stopped lying across Leilani's shoulders, instead sitting on her lap. He often sat facing her for better access to her ears, except with an eye swiveled behind him to simultaneously see what she was attending to in front of her.

They usually sat by a source of clean water so that Leilani could conveniently replenish the fluids she fed to Scout. Scout also drew in the moisture from the surface of his body so that his skin would be dry (but still low friction), for Leilani's comfort when they sat together for extended periods of time.

***

The month-long vacation was nearing its end, and Scout had amazingly managed to grow to Leilani's own size.

He decided to prepare a surprise for her.

In the early morning when he was sure she wouldn't wake up anytime soon, he ventured out into the forest to gather some flowers, then bundled them together and quietly returned. After a while, he heard Leilani arise from the tub, so he changed into his humanoid form, sat by the table, and placed the flowers on his lap.

Leilani raised an eyebrow when she spotted him. "Oh? What's the meaning of all this?"

"A gift for you." He picked up the flowers and proffered them to her.

She took them. "Thanks. I like them, but . . . this is so . . . romantic. Was that your intent? Or did a gift of flowers just seem appropriate because I'm a plant girl?"

Scout reached his arms out toward her, beckoning her to come closer. When she was within reach, he pulled her onto his lap and whispered into her ear, "I adore you, I'm obsessed with you, and I have a deep desire to care for you. Are these enough for you to consider this to be romantic love?"

Leilani's eyes widened. There was a long pause. She then ventured, "I'm flattered, but . . . are slimes really able to feel love in the same way that someone like me can?"

"I can't guarantee that it's exactly the same, but the feelings and desires I expressed are genuine. Also, the brains of slimes produce oxytocin and contain oxytocin receptors just like yours. You can look it up to verify it."

***