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Today had been overall pretty quiet. “Had” being the important word here. But it started out like any other day. Momoyo woke up, searched her room for random scraps of food, ultimately gave up, went digging, and eventually skittered herself back to her nest. Fully content with the hard day of work she put in.
But every once in a while she arrives to a visitor in her nest. Not an unwelcome one, mind you, in fact it’s one she’s overly familiar with, smell and all. Today there’s a Great Tengu in her room, roaming around in a circle, chewing on the tip of her thumb, and staring at the floor. The oomukade is over familiar with this pose and what comes next.
“Yo Megumu, what’s-” she begins, but then.
“Ah, good you’re back,” Megumu interrupts, removing her thumb from between her teeth with a deep frown etched across her face accompanied by a low brow. Her wings are all puffed out too like some kind of threat display.
"Is she pissed off at me or-" Momoyo thinks to herself.
“You will not believe the day I had,” Megumu begins to lament, moving herself over to the low table, and plopping herself down on the nearest floor pillow. “First, I had three separate scout reports, all of which decided to drop them off at my doorstep before dawn. The morning dew ruined the ink so now-”
“Uh huh…” Momoyo mumbles, no longer really listening as Megumu continues on. The centipede sighs, moving herself to go sit beside the crow, who has taken to waving her arms around the air. Momoyo attempts to tune back into what she’s saying.
“Around noon I was already redrawing several of my maps. Turns out my information on the southern side of the mountain was inaccurate. So now I’ll need to-”
“Sounds tough…” Momoyo grumbles again as the tengu’s words become another slurry of noise. She hates it when Megumu gets like this. Usually she enjoys when the bird is gushing about something. A new map. A new book. A new discovery about the oomukade species. But when she starts bitching about work. It’s just…draining.
“And then by evening the Wolf Chief was causing me grief!” Megumu shouts, spreading her wings for emphasis too. “I cannot even begin to state the issues I’ve been having with her! We had our yearly meeting a couple of days ago and-”
“Ah, yep…” Momoyo yet again mutters under her breath. Not like it really matters how she responds anyway, Megumu is too wrapped up in a whirlwind of emotions.
Speaking of whirlwinds, Megumu is now flapping her wings which is causing feathers and other junk to whip around.
“Ugh, I just cleaned up too,” Momoyo thinks, watching as the once neatly placed stack of papers flies across the room, scattering to the tengu’s wind. The oomukade has often heard stories about how these crows can produce galestorms, she just never figured it’d happen in her caves.
And Momoyo still isn’t really listening to Megumu’s ranting, only catching a few words here and there. Something about some unruly underlings. Something about more meetings. Something about the other Great Tengu.
“What a pain.”
Usually when annoyed, Momoyo would just get rid of whatever is bothering her, normally by killing and eating it. An overall simple and straightforward solution in most cases. However, she can’t just do that with Megumu, part of her won’t allow it. But this is her nest, so leaving is also out of the question. What to-
“And then!” Megumu says next, trusting a finger up to Momoyo’s face, forcefully seizing her attention again. “If all that wasn’t bad enough, I still have to meet with Lord Tenma by tomorrow evening!” Yet another exasperated sigh escapes from Megumu’s mouth as she finishes her most recent complaint.
The crow suddenly reaches over, taking a nearby cup of tea, and gulping it down. It's probably to fuel the next round of ranting, or to help with a dry throat. That was technically Momoyo’s drink, but hot leaf water isn’t really her thing.
The tengu finishes her drink, letting out a deep exhale. “And let me just say,” Megumu begins again, putting her hand up to Momoyo’s face again, “once I get my hands on Shameimaru I’m going to-”
The words become a slurry of noise once more.
This is it, the breaking point. The tengu’s finger is in front of the oomukade’s face, her eyes following it intensely. The low light of the nest almost highlighting the tengu’s paler skin as the bird’s sweet scent wafts through the stale air. A primal, almost pure, instinct is taking over the centipede. The urge to pounce. The urge to pin. The urge to bi-
But she forces herself away from those urges. No, this isn’t the time for that. However, another plan breaks through those thoughts. An idea to try and quiet this squawking crow. There isn’t much time, but needs to strike when the opportunity is right, and the bird seems ready to keep going.
“With all that said…” Megumu says with a smile. “I’m just glad you’re such a good-” The tengu curls open the rest of her fingers, attempting to cup the side of the oomukade's face.
Momoyo seizes the opening, grabbing Megumu by the wrist, and pulling her close. As she was mid-sentence, her mouth was already open making it easier for Momoyo enact her plan. She places her other hand on the back of the bird’s head and firmly presses their lips together.
Megumu instinctively muffles a surprised sound, her attempted gasp stopped by the oomukade’s face smushed up against hers. The tengu struggles ever so slightly for half a second, in some vein attempt to wiggle away, but stops herself as quickly as she began now seemingly fully accepting Momoyo’s surprise advance.
She then mirrors the oomukade’s actions, gripping the back of Momoyo’s head with her only free hand. Looping her fingers around a mass of hair as if to get lost in it. Further tangling the two of them together as they continue this impromptu duel.
While it was silent for a moment, the sounds the two are making now fill the once dead air. Heavy breathes, mutterings of names, and accompanying moans being produced. Admittedly, this does make Momoyo somewhat of a hypocrite, but she’s now enjoying herself too much to care about the precious silence she wanted.
“Momoyo, I…” Megumu muffles again, her wispy breath flowing over the oomukade’s face as the two begin to pull away from each other, releasing each other in turn.
The tengu pauses, staring towards the oomukade. But Momoyo can see the dazed look in Megumu’s eyes. Her gaze is almost aimless, wandering.
“I…” Megumu says again. Then she begins to tip backwards.
“Woah!” Momoyo instinctively lunges, grabbing the tengu's shoulder, and gently lowering her to the floor.
“Ya good?” The oomukade asks, releasing the tengu again.
But Megumu doesn’t say anything. All she does is keep staring at the ceiling, giggling to herself a couple of times. Her expression is also…odd. Her once sharp eyes now rounded and droopy. Her ridged limbs now limp and floppy. Her neat wings now messy and crinkled. And to top it off, the typically talkative tengu still hasn’t answered.
“Megumu?” Momoyo says, poking the tengu on the shoulder. The hell is going on? Is she drunk? No, they haven’t had any booze, just a shit load of tea. So what-
A memory flashes in the oomukade’s mind, one of their first kiss and the reaction the tengu had from it. Momoyo touches her lips, the venom from her fangs coating them. Damn bird must have gotten too much this time. The stress from work might have to do with it too…especially if she hasn’t been eating.
“Ah, knew I shoulda put some food out,” Momoyo mumbles. “Damn, now what am I gonna do with ya?” Stupid tengu, went and made herself all vulnerable in front of an oomukade. If anyone should know better not to do that, it’d be her. Ugh…
“Though…this was kinda my fault.” Momoyo admits to herself. She doesn’t feel guilty. Oomukade don’t feel guilt, per se, but at the same time it is her responsibility to make sure Megumu is at least comfortable.
“Let’s get ya off the floor,” Momoyo grumbles as she gets to her feet, now looming over the tengu.
Well, that’s what Momoyo would like to do, but Megumu is in a bit of an awkward position. Fully against the ground and splayed out. But, thankfully, she’s not wiggling at all. Just kinda lying there like a dead fish. Limp…helpless. She still smells like she always does. That sweet, almost hypnotizing pine odor. It’s strong enough for an oomukade to get lost in.
Momoyo’s mouth starts to water.
“Gah,” Momoyo hisses to herself, shaking her head. No! It’s not the time to be thinking about that. Right now Megumu needs to be put to bed. Just…just very carefully.
Momoyo kneels down on a single knee, attempting to slide an arm under Megumu's legs. She first tries near the mid thigh, but can tell that will put the rest of the bird’s legs in a weird position, so opts for curling under the knees. The oversized tengu garment makes it a tad difficult to locate those, but Momoyo finds them quickly enough and loops her arm completely under them. Megumu just responds with a giggle and a few incoherent mumbles.
Next is the upper half and by the looks of it, and it’s not gonna be any easier. Neck support is a no go and the lower spine is too low. That just leaves…either around or under the wings.
Momoyo, for one of the few times in her decently long life, hesitates as she stares at them. They’re bigger than they used to be and obviously more powerful, but most likely as delicate as any other bird’s wing. Part of her can just tell one wrong move and…
crack
A rock looses itself from the ceiling and smacks next to the centipede, causing her to flinch. She jerks her head to glare at the pebble, growling ever so slightly too, before looking back at the bird.
“That’s right, I just…gotta be careful,” Momoyo whispers with a hard swallow.
Then she starts to move her other arm, slipping it under the tengu’s soft wing, across her back, scooping up the opposite wing, and gripping onto Megumu’s far shoulder. Momoyo starts to stand, but freezes again as Megumu stirs, struggling slightly in the oomukade’s arms. However a grin etches itself across the loopy bird’s face followed by an airy exhale.
“Ah, I’m caught,” Megumu giggles while tilting her head up a tad. “What is a tengu to do when in the claws of a beast like you?” She slightly kicks a leg a couple of times, as if to mime some attempt to fight the centipede off. It’s obviously completely ineffective.
Momoyo rolls her eyes, but decides to go along with the venom drunk idiot. “Nothin’,” she answers, a playful grin forming. “Ya can’t escape when an oomukade has you in their grasp.”
There’s another bout of silence after those words echo around the nest before fading away. A deafening silence follows that only gives way to the sound of settling earth and skittering of insects.
“I see,” Megumu responds, her eyes widening a bit. A bit of lucidity has returned to her tone as her jaw tenses. “Then do whatever you wish with me!” she says next. Just as quickly that unserious grin returns as the tengu’s head flops backwards and the giggling begins again.
Momoyo grumbles as she chews on her bottom lip. “I’m puttin’ ya to bed. That’s what I wanna do with ya.”
“Bed sounds…fun,” Megumu mumbles, still as limp as a wet rag.
Momoyo knows she’s not all that smart but she’s not a complete dumbass either. She understands exactly what this damn tengu means by that.
“No. No fun,” she grunts, getting to her feet with the bird safely cradled between her arms. “You need rest to sleep off whatever the hell is wrong with ya.” Sadly her bed, or rather pile of sheets in a corner, is the only place to put Megumu right now. It’ll do. Megumu has slept there plenty of times in the past. Her being like this shouldn’t make a difference.
Megumu seems to puff out her cheeks, pouting with closed eyes. Momoyo can’t help but think it’s kinda…cute. Damn bird. Always finding a new way to annoy her…Make her feel things she shouldn’t be able to.
The tengu’s various grumbles of disappointment aside, Momoyo makes her way over to said bed, placing her feet with as much precision as she’s able to muster. The oomukade kneels down again to carefully place the tengu on the small mountain of dirt riddled blankets.
“Mmmph,” Megumu mumbles, her eyes just barely open. “M…Momoyo,” she says next as Momoyo finishes releasing the bird from her arms.
“Hmm? What’s up? Part of ya twisted up or somethin’?” Momoyo asks, spreading and flattening out the sheets a bit more.
Megumu slowly shakes her head, cracking open her eyes a bit. “You…let me go…” she says, her tone oddly disappointed. “Did…do…you not want me?” Her growing frown is obvious; her unsteady voice punctuating it.
“I said I was puttin’ ya to bed,” Momoyo grunts. “You’re so annoying sometimes…”
“I’m sorry,” Megumu whispers.
Another round of silence. Another round of awkwardness.
“It’s fine,” Momoyo finally breaks it, scratching the back of her head. “I’ll just let ya sle-”
“You can still do whatever you want with me…you know?”
Momoyo blinks, shocked by the interruption, and watches as Megumu shakily raises an arm up to her shoulder, pulling down on the top of her robe, and exposing her neck. Scars dance across the bird’s once pristine skin. Some faded. Some fresh. All a result of the oomukade’s actions.
Momoyo swallows hard as she keeps staring. Keeps remembering.
Memories play back in the centipede’s mind. The warmth of her body. The smell of her sweat. The taste of her blood. The temptation to partake swells. A line of venom seeps out from between the oomukade’s lips, trailing down to her chin. The memory of tracing her fangs across the bird’s skin comes next, then feeling of them sinking into flesh. This is the perfect position too. The perfect angle to strike. It'd be so easy, but…
“But I want her to rest.”
At the last second, Momoyo brings herself back to her senses, wiping her chin with her palm, and leaning away. Those advances aren’t…not like this. It doesn’t…feel right for some reason.
“I said no fun, Megumu,” Momoyo huffs as she throws a random blanket over the crow. “Now go the hell to sleep, before I make ya.” She growls, showing her teeth.
“You’re so…awful,” Megumu grumbles, shutting her eyes. “Terrible…” She exhales. “Horrible…” Her breaths quickly fall into a steady rhythm as her heartbeat slows.
“Sure am,” Momoyo mutters under her breath. “Nothin’ but a heartless bastard. A vile beast…” She stays still for another second, making sure the bird is fully asleep. The wispy noises escaping from Megumu’s mouth confirm such.
What to do next does puzzle the oomukade. She could curl next to the tengu, keeping her company through this. But at the same time, that could wake her, causing more grief.
“I’ll just…wait at the table, or somethin’,” Momoyo grumbles before slinking her way over there. She positions herself towards Megumu, to keep an eye on her, while propping her head up on her hand. If the tengu’s sleeping habits are anything to go by, this is going to be a long wait.
Megumu can only describe the feeling in her head as a dull, drumming pain with a pressure built up behind her eyeballs. For a second, she can’t think straight, she can’t even remember where she is. All she can tell is that her throat is dry and slightly numb.
Then the memory of Momoyo’s surprise kiss comes back. Not much can be recalled after that. But judging by the look and smell of her surroundings, she’s still in the centipede’s nest. Or rather, resting on Momoyo’s bed.
“Ugh,” Megumu groans, sitting up as the ratty futon top that was covering her slides off. She’s still clothed and whole. No limbs, digits, or even a single feather missing. No new bruises, bites, or scars either. She’s just the same as when she passed out, just in far too much discomfort. The tengu pinches the bridge of her nose, shutting her eyes tight to ease the throbbing.
“Bed sounds…fun.”
“No. No, fun.”
A short conversation breaks through that haze, playing out in the back of Megumu’s mind. That’s right, she wasn’t all there but was still talking, still tempting the oomukade to take the next step.
“You can still…whatever you…”
More scattered memories.
“Ah...that’s right…” The tengu mutters to herself.
The pain fades a bit as Megumu reopens her eyes and glances over at the low table in the center of the room. The oil lamp is dim but still flickering away as Momoyo sits near it. Her mouth is hanging open and a couple of gravely snores leak from her throat.
“Poor thing, I stole her bed,” Megumu whispers. “I’m such a horrible friend to my oomukade.”
And when she was being such a good listener too.
“It would be for the best if I repay her…”
But that could lead to missing my meetings.
“Lord Tenma might be cross with me…”
A twinge of anxiety surges in the Great Tengu’s gut but settles quickly as Momoyo loudly snores accompanied by some drool running down her arm. Megumu can’t help but smile at the sight.
“I guess, I’ll just have to wait for her,” Megumu hums, carefully getting to her feet. “Then I can ask what she wants as thanks.” She makes her way over to the low table. She understands the centipede's sleeping patterns well enough to know she won't have to wait all that long for her answer.