Work Text:
Sakumo groaned as he pulled the now-filthy cloth away from his face. He was still sweaty and grubby with soot and blood - none of it his own - but he already felt better.
Somewhat better. His wings itched.
“Well you have soot ground into them,” Kohari said when he voiced the complaint, flicking the back of one of his wings, “hardly unexpected. Sorry I’m short on the energy to do better than this.” she added with a regretful sigh, tapping her toes against the bucket in front of her.
Sakumo reached out and clasped her shoulder. While he would very much love to be able to slide into one of her tricky little temporary hot springs, he was much more glad that she was here and in one piece after the nasty battle, and so were they.
He told Kohari so, and she smiled at him, bumping one of her own filthy wings against his own; only peeks of her own plumage’s colour - and her mate’s, of course - showed through the amount of soot and blood and mud on her feathers. Not that Sakumo could talk; it seemed like there were no more than a dozen places his own silvery plumage could be seen properly.
Dan had fared a little better, but not much, his pale blue-white and richer yellow-toned feathers not quite so bright as usual to look at even where they were more visible than Sakumo’s or Kohari’s.
The three of them helped each other get clean, as they had many times before, light hands gentle on battered wings. Sakumo twitched when Kohari’s fingers tightened on his wing near the joint at his back, but managed not to grab at Dan’s feathers.
“Kohari, what-”
“Oh kami.” Kohari said, and Sakumo stiffened.
“Kohari.” Sakumo demanded, stepping back a little and twisting to look at her. Her eyes were wide and her clean wings halfway up into a mantled pose. “Kohari!”
“Sakumo, your wings!” Dan said, drawing his attention back, and Sakumo looked at him only to still as he caught sight of one of his own wings, stretching out further in his concern. He knew they were still dirty, but. . . But that wasn’t dirt or soot, and the soaked feathers shone like spilled ink. “Your pattern! You have it!”
“Oh my- I-” Sakumo’s breath caught as he brushed his knuckles over one of the wet, shining feathers that was most definitely no longer silvery-white. It was clean, and his, and not any of the colours of his own plumage. “My mate-!” He stared at his wing, breathing shakily. “I flew with my mate today!”
“You’ve finally found them, Sakumo!”
Sakumo’s mind was occupied whirling through the mess of jutsu and blood and fire that had been the battlefield they fought upon today. His wings had been unpatterned before, so it must have been when he was in the air over the battlefield, but it had been a huge battle, and Sakumo didn’t even know who had been in the air at the same time he was from his allies, and it could have been-
“You’ll be able to-”
“Do you have any idea how many people there are with dark wings?” Sakumo demanded, grabbing hold of Dan by the shoulders and shaking him just a little, then turning his teammate loose with a keen as he sank down into a chair, wings drooping.
“Yes.” Kohari said, reaching out and smoothing a hand gently over his newly-patterned wings. “We do. This looks like true black, though, and that-” she broke off with a gasp.
“What?” Sakumo demanded, head coming up. She was no longer looking at his wings, but past him, at the entrance of the tent. Sakumo rose from the chair to turn and look himself, then froze.
“Hello.” Orochimaru said with a slight smile. His elegant wings were cupped forwards just a little instead of his habitual way of carrying them pressed against his back, sleek and hidden.
They were also shimmering with silvery feathers in a curving pattern of streaks that Sakumo knew his sharp wings had never borne before.
Bright against his stark, true black feathers.
“Oh- Orochimaru-san.” Sakumo’s voice hitched over the honorific. His mate, Orochimaru must be his mate, and he- they had finally found one another, and-
Sakumo just barely caught the sound of Dan muttering something at Kohari as he stepped past Sakumo. She fluffed her wings with an irritated sound, and Dan pushed her a little more. “Come on,” Dan muttered, all but forcing Kohari across the tent towards where Orochimaru still lingered in the doorway, “we’ll leave you two alone for a bit. Orochi-san.” He dipped his head as he shoved Kohari past Orochimaru, stepping gracefully out of the way with a quirk of his thin mouth.
“Thank you, Dan.” Orochimaru said, stepping forwards and letting the fabric of the tent swing closed behind him, smiling slightly as he met Sakumo’s eyes once more.
“Orochimaru-san.” Sakumo said again, then winced minutely. “I had no idea who. . .”
Whose plumage he now carried in his own. Sakumo’s heart fluttered gleefully.
Orochimaru’s smile widened, just a little, as he tilted his head, his wet hair falling forwards across his face but not concealing it as it might have if the heavy locks had been dry. “I believe it was . . . much easier, for me.” he said dryly, flicking one wing. “Far fewer have feathers like the moon.”
Sakumo had been about to speak himself, but he swallowed against a suddenly tight throat at that, taking a moment to catch his breath. “I suppose that is true. I was,” he paused, dipping his head, “lamenting how difficult it might be to find you.” he admitted softly, and Orochimaru’s eyes widened briefly, the bright gold softer somehow as he moved closer to Sakumo.
“And. . . How do you feel about this?” Orochimaru asked, his voice low. “Now that you have . . . found me?” He held back, his wings tucking further in towards his body, his head tilted as he slanted a careful look at Sakumo.
Sakumo felt the shiver through his feathers. “I am only not pouncing on you to kiss you,” he said honestly, and grinned hopefully as Orochimaru twitched, eyes widening, “because I haven’t yet asked your permission - and also I feel that you might eviscerate me for it, and more so if I managed to startle you.”
Orochimaru took a quick, sharp breath, shallow but not unsteady, and moved a little closer, his wings easing away from his back. There was the faintest tinge of pink in his pale cheeks, and Sakumo’s heart pounded in his chest. His wings were arching in a showy display, he realised, and couldn’t quite control himself enough to bring them down.
“And if,” Orochimaru said softly, “I gave my permission?”
Sakumo froze, meeting Orochimaru’s gaze as he slanted a look at Sakumo through his lashes, eyes heavy-lidded. His thin lips trembled, just enough that if Sakumo had been further away he would certainly not have seen it, and his wings were so still he must be holding them very carefully indeed.
Sakumo pounced from a standing start, his wings flaring, tumbling them both to the ground and twisting to use his body - and his wings - as a cushion for Orochimaru’s as they went down. Orochimaru twitched, lips parting as he gasped, and Sakumo covered his newly-discovered mate’s sharp mouth with his own in a warm, soft kiss, cupping Orochimaru’s face with one hand and curving his broad wings up around Orochimaru without thinking.
Orochimaru made a soft sound against his mouth, and then his lean body . . . softened, relaxing until he was almost melting against Sakumo, his wings held loose and open, his mouth moving against Sakumo’s, warm and inviting.
Sakumo gave in to temptation and slid one hand up into his inky hair, finding it cool from the wet and heavy like fine silk. Orochimaru shivered, fingers curling against his neck and his side just above one hip, and nipped his mouth lightly, making him shiver, the faintest promise of heat lighting in his veins.
“You are . . . not displeased, then, I take it.” Orochimaru said softly, his smooth voice a little breathless, as he pulled away. Not far; he remained easily in Sakumo’s embrace, inside the shelter of his wings. He was still lying across Sakumo’s body.
“You have no idea.” Sakumo said, breathless himself, licking his lips. He grinned, lifting his head and rubbing his nose against Orochimaru’s, gentle and affectionate. Orochimaru’s lashes fluttered in a quick, confused blink, but he smiled. “I am so pleased to have found you, mate.” Sakumo said before he could stop himself. “. . .and thank you for the permission.”
Orochimaru laughed, and Sakumo stared, entranced by the softly smoky sound and the way it transformed his mate’s face, the flashes of his wickedly-sharp teeth and the light in his eyes. “I had no idea you would take it up with such,” he paused, “vigour.”
Sakumo cleared his throat, wings twitching.
“But I find I very much,” Orochimaru said, fingers trailing along Sakumo’s jaw, “do not mind that you have.”
Sakumo grinned, relaxing again. “How . . . do you feel about this?” he asked, thumb sweeping over Orochimaru’s cheek.
Orochimaru smiled at him. “Kiss me again.” he requested, winding his fingers into Sakumo’s hair, and Sakumo pulled him down willingly into another long kiss.