Chapter 408: Master-Pet Dental Bonding
(Planet Juxta, Leo’s POV, The Prison Room)
Leo exhaled slowly through his nose as he began to map out the prison room in his mind.
He roughly calculated the length of each wall using eye measurements and instinct, his gaze tracing the perfectly symmetrical layout while noting every crack, every curve, every microscopic inconsistency, to arrive at the conclusion that the room he was in was a 40x40x40 prison cell.
"Alright, Dumpy, listen up!" He said, as he came up with a rudimentary plan of escape.
"I think there’s a high chance that there may be a hidden trap door or some sort of perfectly sealed entry door somewhere in this room, so if we roll gently and trace every inch of the ground with our weight, we should be able to ascertain if there are any tiles that feel off, anything that sounds hollow or gives off a vibration that’s different from the other tiles... that is what we want to be looking for," Leo instructed, as he himself began gently rolling on the ground.
"Yes, Lord Father!" Dumpy replied with noble determination, feeling eager to follow in Leo’s lead, before immediately fumbling his first roll and flopping sideways like a sack of wet towels.
"Don’t worry Lord Father, I will scan this forsaken prison with my mighty body!" Dumpy said, as he began to violently roll with all his strength as if he was participating in a rolling race.
*Sigh*
Leo sighed. "Don’t scan it all at once, you idiot. Roll slow."
"Understood, Lord Father" Dumpy huffed, as he began to rotate in short, deliberate arcs, inch by inch, belly dragging across the floor while his jacket made soft scraping noises.
For a while, the duo silently mapped the floor, nobody saying a thing, until it was Dumpy who once again broke the awkward silence.
"You know... despite everything, I must say... I’m kind of happy right now." The frog began, as Leo raised an eyebrow, clearly confused by his claim.
"Happy at being captured? Are you a masochist?" Leo asked, as Dumpy shook his head in denial.
"I mean... I’m happy to be alongside Lord Father again, even if it’s in such pitiful circumstances. I feel like I’m learning valuable life insights while rolling beside you.... I mean, searching for pressure plates with our body weight? My stupid frog ass would never think of this.... It’s just genius!" Dumpy glazed, as Leo blinked twice in disbelief.
"How did you end up here in the first place? I’m pretty sure that the smoking man only came for me? Remind me why you’re here again?" Leo asked, as Dumpy choked on his own words.
*cough*
Being the prideful creature that he was, Dumpy found it impossible to admit being defeated by the smoking man while trying to save Leo, and hence, he instead tried to tactfully shift the topic, so that he may not have to provide Leo with a humiliating explanation for his defeat.
"Ribbit–"
Dumpy croaked, as he bumped into Leo’s foot, and immediately began giving him a status report.
"Lord Father! So far, this entire patch feels like rock. Slightly warm rock. But that’s all I could feel, because the rest of my senses were blocked by the thick jacket I’m wearing, so I’m not sure about the pressure on the tiles"
Leo closed his eyes. "Fantastic."
Ten full minutes passed.
Leo tracked Dumpy’s movements as the frog diligently rolled in his absurdly restrictive coat from one side of the room to the other, muttering personal commentary the entire way.
"Northwest tile? Solid. Northeast quadrant? Also solid. This place literally feels the same from edge to edge."
Eventually, Leo managed to cover the entire area of the floor thoroughly, and there wasn’t a single tile that gave way, not a vibration, not a creak, not a scrape of something mechanical.
It was all seamless stone.
Which meant the method of entry... was still a mystery.
Leo grit his teeth. "Alright. Phase one is a bust. Time for phase two."
"LETS GO! I was waiting for phase two! But remind me again Lord Father, what exactly was phase two?" Dumpy asked excitedly, as Leo calmly gave fresh instructions.
"You come here, and I try to chew through your bindings..... that’s phase two."
There was a pause.
"... Genius as always! I have a lot to learn from your—"
"Glaze later Dumpy, Get over here first," Leo said, as Dumpy obeyed without hesitation, slowly rolling his body like a weighted bowling ball toward Leo’s face, overshooting his angle on the first try and missing completely, bumping against Leo’s knee instead.
"Okay okay, hang on, I tilted too far! Reverse roll! Reverse roll!" Dumpy panicked, spinning awkwardly until he landed upside down, his belly wiggling like a turtle flipped on its shell.
Leo stared. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I was trying to pivot using my left thigh. But the jacket doesn’t bend there. It’s got too much... uh... chonk."
Eventually, after enough wobbling and cursing, Dumpy finally managed to position the edge of his binding near Leo’s mouth.
Leo took a breath, opened his jaw, and bit down, but it felt like he was trying to gnaw through tempered alloy.
His teeth scraped against the rope with a dull, metallic grind that sent sharp pressure into his gums, and within seconds, it became painfully clear that it wasn’t the rope giving way, but rather his teeth.
’The fuck is this thing made of? Dwarf-forged steel wire?’
He shifted his bite, trying again from another angle, but the result was the same.
The rope did not budge, there was no progress made on trying to nibble even a small part of it, as Leo felt like he was needlessly wearing down teeth enamel, rather than accomplishing anything productive.
*Spit*
"This is pointless."
After the third attempt, Leo spat out a sliver of air and leaned his head back against the cold floor, wondering about phase three, when Dumpy began speaking yet again.
"I felt honored though," Dumpy said softly.
"Your teeth have touched my jacket. We have now bonded at the dental level."
"Shut up, Dumpy."
"Yes, Lord Father."