Chapter Text
“I cannot even begin to tell you how many rules you're breaking.”
“Oh good, I didn't want to hear it.”
Leo bites back the first scathing reply that came to mind. The dry air is already burning his throat. Sunburn has settled like an overly warm blanket behind his face. The soaring trees, in complete defiance of logic, make almost no shade.
“We're going to be late to dinner,” he tries.
The leaves ruffled overhead as his companion does.... whatever he does in trees. Kiss owls.
Takumi pops out from the tangle of leaves and branches, grinning like a maniac. His silver hair tumbles around his head. “This is better than dinner.”
“No it's not,” Leo mutters.
“Prick.”
“Owl kisser.”
“What?”
Leo coughs, backpedaling. “It's not better than dinner.”
Takumi, bless whatever cosmic being ruled the universe, jumps tracks immediately. He scowls. “Yes it is! I'll prove it! Hold on, just another minute.”
He disappears back into the branches. Leo ponders if his friend has ADHD. Would his family take him to be diagnosed? Takumi's mom seemed nice enough when she dropped him off at camp, mellow and sweet, but she was dropping him off at church camp, and there's a lot to be said for that and disconnect with reality.
Maybe he's judging harshly. He's biased; he's only here because Father seemed to think it would be good for his sense of discipline.
Leo ponders briefly if he could hide Father's body in the woods.
Nah.
“Got it!” Takumi materializes between the branches again, looking absurdly pleased with himself. He's holding something cupped in his hand, close to his chest, like a treasure, or an injured bird.
“Got what?”
Takumi lets go. Leo's heart catches in his throat and his eyes fly wide open and Takumi's falling-
He lands like a cat and stands easily. Leo tries not to look like he just had a small heart attack.
“Got this,” Takumi smiles, and huddles close to Leo- uncomfortably close, and Leo's not big on physical contact, not like Elise or Camilla, and Takumi's hair tickles and stirs under his breath and Leo wonders if the other boy can feel the warmth from Leo's blood starting to burn under his skin- and he holds his find out for Leo to see.
It's a bird egg.
“A bird egg,” Leo deadpans, “Is better than dinner.”
Takumi scowls. “It's a crow egg! They're one of the smartest birds in the world. We can train him to steal stuff for us!”
“A bird egg.”
“An investment,” Takumi replies flatly. Leo forgets that Takumi's actually really smart and knows smart words.
“You stole a bird egg,” Leo says. “How do we even know it's gonna hatch? Is this legal?”
“He's healthy,” Takumi says. He doesn't answer the other questions, Leo notices. “We can call him... Call him... Kiragi!”
“Kiragi?” Leo asks. He's fairly certain he butchers Takumi's native language. The eggs sits in Takumi's palm, flecked and blue. “It sounds like the stuff your brother shouts when he's catching fish.”
Takumi scowls. “What would you call him, then?”
Leo sputters for a moment, glancing around for something to help him. “Forest.”
Takumi gives him a disbelieving look.
“Forrest with two R's.”
“You have no imagination.”
“I didn't steal a bird egg.”
“I didn't steal him!” Takumi defends. “We're adopting him. There's a difference!”
“We?”
“We,” Takumi says firmly. “The nest is abandoned, and I can't take care of a crow by myself. They need too much attention.”
Leo struggles to find an appropriate counterargument. Like, there's no way the camp counselors will let us keep it, and how will we be sure it hatches, and shouldn't we just drop it off at a wildlife rescue somewhere, and don't you know the kind of things people will say if you keep saying we're adopting?
“Is this legal?” he tries again, weakly.
Takumi frowns at him, which answers his question. “Does it matter?”
Leo opens his mouth to say yes before he remembers his casual plans to bury Father in the woods. He frowns and considers.
“... Ye-es?”
Takumi rolls his eyes. “C'mon,” he says, and then he places the egg in Leo's hands.
Leo almost drops it, he's so unprepared. The egg is the size of a marble. It seems so very small in the palm of his hand, warm, and light. Leo feels strangely sweaty and a little bit in awe and like if he moves too fast something important will break. He holds very, very still.
“Cool, right?” Takumi asks, looking pleased.
“Uh.” Leo can't find words for a moment. He recovers. “Yes. Yes. Very cool.” He sounds like an idiot.
“Yeah.” Takumi grins, and then he picks the egg up gently again, to Leo's mixed relief and disappointment. He gives it a small smile, and he looks soft in the sunlight, silvery hair tumbling around his shoulders, eyelashes pale and feathery. He'd make a good dad for a bird, Leo thinks.
“We can train him to eat the eyes of our enemies,” Takumi adds.
A terrible dad for a bird, Leo corrects, but an excellent military general.
“And to steal your sister's earrings,” Takumi continues. He nudges Leo briefly, the kind of shoulder bump friends do. His shoulder is firm with muscle beneath his shirt sleeve, unlike Leo, who's constructed entirely of bones and height. The taller boy's arm tingles where Takumi's skin touched him. Leo might have a serious problem. “If we get back before dinner we can hide him in your bag.”
“We're probably missing dinner,” Leo offers, still trying to get his words back under his control.
Takumi swears and pushes Leo in the direction of the hiking trail. Leo fights the natural impulse to shove him back and starts backpedaling awkwardly.
“We're going to be awful parents,” he adds.
“Probably,” says Takumi. He offers the bird egg out again. “Want to carry him?”
“... Sure.”
Kiragi (Forrest?) is warm in his palm.