Mogeko March 2023

Neko x Wings: Fungas x Chlomaki

CW:

The air in the bathroom was thick with humidity as Chlomaki finally stopped the running water and stepped from the bath. She reached for a towel quickly, wrapping it around herself until it clung to her body snuggly. The week's strife had seemed to melt away in the hot water she had just spent the past hour and a half lounging in and a renewed sense of peace had been returned to her. 

Sighing in relief she crossed the bathroom floor to retrieve the airy, comfortable clothing she had picked out before taking refuge in the large room on her own. As she picked up the soft cloth in her hands, her peripheral vision took notice of her form in the foggy mirror. Her long ears flicked with interest as she turned her head, taking in her blurred form. With this much condensation on the glass, it almost looked as if she'd been freed from the crow feather wings on her back. A notion to good to be true, she smiled softly nonetheless at the thought. 

After dressing herself and hanging the towel to dry, Chlomaki opened the door to the bathroom. It swung wide into her bed chambers where Fungas awaited her patiently. His back was propped up by the two pillows on his bed and he was occupied with flipping through the old pages of a tome. 

"Good bath?" he asked.

Chlomaki hummed in response, tying her long black hair back in its usual low ponytail as she strode into the room. As she walked towards their shared bed she passed a small standing mirror. Her vision fixated on the clear image of her wings and she frowned, standing still to examine herself more closely. There wasn't truly anything wrong with her wings, just where they came from, and what they symbolized. A long sigh escaped her lips and she stretched one of the feathery limbs out from her back.

"What's wrong?" 

Chlomaki glanced at her familiar. He looked up meeting her gaze for a moment before she turned away. There was a long silence that sunk itself into the room as the witch studied the mirror again. Finally, after frowning in frustration for several minutes at the black feathers attached to her, she responded with, "I wish I could chop my wings off."

She could see the crocodile blink up from his book through the clear glass of the mirror. "What, why?" Fungas' exclamation was painted with concern. He sat up and moved to the edge of the bed.

"They're just a reminder of that infernal God, and everything he caused," she responded, grabbing a few loose feathers and pulling them away like dead hair.

Other than the soft shuffling of Fungas standing and walking closer to her, silence donned the room. He pressed his back behind her, brushing her tied back hair over one of her shoulders. His scaled hands brushed against her skin and she shivered at the light touch. He smiled at the reaction warmly and planted a long soft kiss between her long ears; they twitched as his hair tickled them. Chlomaki scrunched her face at the loving gestures as his arms wrapped around her waist. 

"I think your wings are beautiful," he finally told her, "they might remind you of a time much worse than now, but they aren't the same wings, just like you aren't the same person."

The witch didn't say anything to her partners kind words, instead she let them soak into her skin as she pressed her body back into his. He held her steady, enjoying the feeling of Chlomaki in his arms. He didn't need her to respond to know that she had received his words. 

After several long minutes, Chlomaki tilted her head back to see the crocodile looking back at her intently, his dark eyes unblinking. She stood on her tippy toes and craned her neck to kiss his cheek before trying to step away. Fungas' grip proved to be too firm though.

"Eh, you can let go of me now," she told him, her tone falling back to its normal lax attitude. 

"That's okay," he responded, squeezing her tightly in his arms.