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The Sky Overlook was especially windy today as Tanjiro made his way to the very edge of it. Gusts of wind blasted his hair every which way and he made a mental note to ask Nezuko to help him cut it later. He couldn’t have it getting in his eyes when he was flying.
Stepping up to the very edge, Tanjiro spread his wings, allowing himself a moment to appreciate the view before diving. He let himself plummet for one, two, three heartbeats, then spread his wings just as he fell through a wispy cloud. The water vapor was chilly but refreshing and he couldn’t help but laugh as, with a few powerful sweeps of his wings, the cloud was dispersed.
He could never get tired of flying. It was so freeing , having the whole world spread out before him.
Right now, though, as much as he loved the feeling of the wind in his feathers, flying was a means to an end. He had someplace to be and he didn’t want to be late.
He swooped lower until he was flying just above the trees of a massive forest. A few birds burst out of the leaves, probably disturbed by his wingbeats, and flew along with him for a few moments before diving back into the branches.
It wasn’t long before he reached his destination: an ancient camphor tree, visibly a little taller than all the other trees around it. He flapped his wings more powerfully, propelling himself higher, then folded them and dove straight through the narrow opening in the tree canopy. Just before he hit the ground, he spread them again, and with another powerful beat, slowed his descent to land lightly on the forest floor.
“Showoff,” a gruff-yet-fond voice commented from behind him.
Tanjiro whirled, not even stopping to look, and threw his arms and wings around the speaker with a laugh. “Genya! You beat me!”
“For once,” Genya agreed, nuzzling his cheek against Tanjiro’s hair. “You get delayed?”
Tanjiro nodded, pulling back to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I was giving Rokuta flying lessons and lost track of time.”
“Is he really a fledgling now?” he asked. “He’s only a little older than Koto, isn’t he?”
“He just turned three!” Tanjiro beamed at the memory of the small celebration they’d had for his little brother. “You know, maybe I can bring him with me sometime and they can meet - from what you’ve told me about Koto, I’m sure they’d be great friends!”
Genya’s smile fell a little, his gold eyes dimming. “You know why we can’t do that.”
“I still say the rule is stupid,” he argued. “We shouldn’t be forbidden from interacting just because I’m an angel and you’re—”
“Not,” Genya finished. “But it doesn't matter what it should or shouldn’t be,” he sighed, even as he ran a hand through Tanjiro’s hair. “That’s just the way it is. It’s dangerous enough just the two of us; if we get caught, I don’t want to get my - or your - siblings in trouble too.”
They’d had this conversation a million times before, and every time, Tanjiro had to ask, “Do you want to stop meeting like this? It… would be safer.”
And every time, Genya would roll his eyes and retort, “I didn’t say that .” He grinned, extra-sharp canines on full display. “Besides, do you really want to bring them both here and then have to explain to a toddler what a relationship is? You know they’ll ask.”
“Fair point,” Tanjiro conceded, letting out a soft sigh of relief that he immediately felt guilty for. It would be safer for them both if Genya said yes, that he wanted to stop meeting like this. But Tanjiro had asked no less than twelve times and Genya had said no every single one of them.
It wasn’t safe meeting like this, not really. Not when Tanjiro had wings and Genya had fangs, when Tanjiro lived in the clouds and Genya lived deep underground. They’d only gotten by this long because they only met in neutral territory, the human lands, and even then they’d had a few close calls. And if they were caught - at best they’d both be put on trial, and the consequences of that could be…
But he didn’t want to lose this - lose Genya. And Genya didn’t seem to want to lose him either.
Which was why they were here, by this massive camphor tree, having slipped away at a time when neither of their families would miss them.
Genya pressed a kiss to his forehead and murmured, “Enough of that. It’s been a while - how’ve you been?”
“I think I nearly shattered Uzui’s eardrums while trying to sing the other day,” he admitted as he wrapped an arm around Genya’s waist and a wing around Genya’s shoulders and guided them both over to the tree’s massive roots, where they could take a seat nestled against the worn bark. Genya barked out a laugh and Tanjiro elbowed him. “Don’t laugh at me! You know I’m tone-deaf!”
“Damn right I do,” he nodded, still laughing. “I think everyone knows that. So Uzui brought it on himself, really.”
Tanjiro frowned up at him, pretending to be upset. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“No, but maybe these will,” Genya said, reaching back into a hollow at the base of the tree, and revealing a colorful bag.
“What’re those?”
“Some human candy,” he shrugged. “Mashmallows? No, marshmallows. Sanemi told me about them once, said they’re best roasted over a fire. I picked them up from a market on my way here.”
“Oh! You didn’t have to do that!”
“I wanted to,” he shrugged. He tore open the bag, then offered it to Tanjiro.
Oh …The marshmallows smelled so light and sugary. Shaking out a few of them, Tanjiro set the bag between them and held a marshmallow out expectantly. “Fire?”
“On it.” Genya took the marshmallow, holding it faceup in his palm, then closed his eyes to concentrate. His brow furrowed as a few faint sparks danced across his hand; his jaw clenched as a small flame caught and began to grow until the marshmallow was completely enveloped.
“Whoa,” Tanjiro breathed, watching as the flame flickered and danced. The smell of caramelizing sugar filled the clearing and the marshmallow began to change from snowy white to golden brown.
Genya opened his eyes and the flame in his hand died down, leaving behind - what Tanjiro presumed to be, since he’d never seen anything like this before - a perfectly roasted marshmallow. Genya tried to hand him back the marshmallow, but— “Uh,” he said as the marshmallow sort of squished but didn’t quite peel off his hand.
“It’s sticky?” It hadn’t been when Tanjiro handled it.
“I think I melted it a little,” he frowned, getting most of the marshmallow off his hand but leaving behind plenty of sticky white residue. “Here, open wide.”
Tanjiro did as told, and he carefully dropped the melted marshmallow into Tanjiro’s mouth. “Oh—!”
“Is it too hot?” Genya worried. “I didn’t burn you, did I?”
“No - no, I’m fine,” Tanjiro assured him once he’d chewed and swallowed. “It’s good ,” he explained. It was sweet and slightly smoky and the texture was unlike anything he’d ever had before, but in a good way.
“Oh,” Genya let out a breath.
“You have to try one!” Tanjiro insisted. He gave Genya another marshmallow and watched expectantly as Genya roasted it, then popped it in his mouth.
“Oh,” he said. “All right, that is good.”
“See?” Tanjiro gave him another quick kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for bringing them.”
“Oh, come on,” Genya complained, a smirk blooming on his face, “is that really all the thanks I get? They were better than that .”
“Greedy, much?” Tanjiro teased, but this time his lips found Genya’s.
This…how could this ever be forbidden? How could it be taboo or wrong? It didn’t cause harm or suffering, didn’t have anything to do with anyone else. It was just - it was light, happiness, love. It wasn’t wrong. It couldn’t be, no matter what anyone else said.
“‘M only greedy when it comes to you,” Genya murmured when they separated, just a little.
Tanjiro laughed, “Isn’t that a little cliche?”
“Are you complaining?”
“...You make a compelling argument,” he conceded before closing the gap between them once more.