Short Stories

Qinter Oneshot

It was about 9:00 at night, and Winter was just finishing up his work. It had been a hectic day. One of the scavengers in captivity died from natural causes, and the other scavengers did some kind of ritual. In one talon, it was sad that one of the scavengers had died, but on the other, it was exciting to see how they responded to death. Of course, this comes with a bunch of notetaking, which leads to a ton of notes needing to be organized, which is what took so long. But finally, he was done and began to head back to his cabin. When he got close, he saw shadows of Qibli moving inside. 

It had been about 4 months since Qibli moved in and refused to move out, though it wasn't particularly voluntary, to begin with. After Moon died a couple of years ago, Qibli had sworn vengeance against her killer, who turned out to be more supernatural. Eventually, the killer was apprehended and imprisoned, but not before almost killing Qibli. Qibli had been hospitalized for 3 months, and was now in recovery, with his physical therapy doctor coming to do exercises every other week. They had decided to move Qibli in with Winter because while his physical condition was improving, his mental condition wasn't getting any better. He seems to have almost skipped the first stage of grief and stayed in between the second and third stages for more than a year.

To Winter's surprise, it had helped Qibli go from hostile and vengeful, to more like the one Winter was clawmates with all those years ago.

For example, when Winter walked into his cabin, Qibli was singing at the top of his lungs (of course, this was a hyperbole because Qibli, Winter had learned, at the top of his lungs could bring down a mountain) as he worked something on the stove. When he heard the door open he turned and smiled at the icewing, who winced only slightly as he saw the sandwing. Qibli now had multiple scars, going up and down his face, body, and neck. 

"I was beginning to think you'd never show, princess," Qibli remarked with his new and most annoying nickname for Winter. "Sorry, ex-princess. How insensitive of me!"

"What are you still doing awake?" Winter questioned, too tired to deal with his roommate's shenanigans. "The doctor specifically instructed you to go to bed before 8:00 pm every night."

"I've decided I've outgrown bedtimes," Qibli remarked. "Sit down! I made dinner!"

"With what?" Winter wondered. From his memory, there was nothing in the fridge or freezer to eat. The sandwing gave a cheeky grin that worried Winter deeply.

"Well, Turtle came by to check up on us and brought some shark," Qibli explained, and Winter tensed. He tried shark about a year ago, and it had instantly made his top five favorite foods. Plus, Qibli was cooking it? As much as he hated to admit it, Qibli was a cooking guru. Winter couldn't be in a bad mood after eating one of the sandwing's meals. 

"I'll try a little," Winter mumbled, and Qibli grinned excitedly. As Winter sat at the table, Qibli brought over a large metal container, the smell making the icewing drool slightly. Qibli giggled at Winter’s behavior.

“Tonight, Icecheeks, we feast!” Qibli exclaimed, lifting the lid. The smell coming from the meal was so good that Winter forgot to address the insulting new nickname. Qibli grabbed a pot as well, dipped a large spoon in, then poured some of the sauce over the shark. He did this a few times before preparing him and Winter’s plate. They sat and ate in silence for a few moments, Winter’s mouth exploding with taste with every bite before Qibli broke the silence. “So how was your day? You got home really late today.”