Work Text:
“...What are you guys up to now?” Ifa sighed, setting down a small bag he had just acquired from the market.
Cacucu and Ororon both froze in place, slowly turning to look at him even as their bodies scrambled to cover up the crime scene.
“Ifa!” Ororon exclaims, giving the saurian vet a half wave before freezing and shoving his flour covered hand behind his back. “We didn’t expect you to be back so soon…”
An open pack of flour sat on the table behind Ororon, part of its content on the counter and floor while the other half was on a now white Cacucu.
“...Were you trying to make Cacucu into a meal?” Ifa asks instead.
Almost immediately, Cacucu had zipped up to his face, hitting him with excess flour that came off the saurian’s wings.
“The heck are you on about bro?!”
The saurian vet lets out a laugh and a wheeze, trying not to breathe in the flour. “I’m joking, I'm joking! Though an explanation might be nice?”
“It’s gonna be Halloween in a few days. Don’t tell me you forgot?” Ororon questioned, trying in a futile effort to wipe the flour from his hand onto his pant leg.
“Of course not! I promised Cacucu I would go trick or treating with him! What type of bro would I be if I went back on my promise?”
“But he doesn’t have a costume!”
Ifa blinks. “...what does that have to do with you both being covered in flour?” A pause before he adds, “And he does! Look!”
He pulls out a small hat, almost identical to his own besides a small hole at the top the size of Cacucu’s head feather.
“See!?”
Ororon stares for a moment, but then nods.
“...That could work…”
“Ororon, bro. I still would like an explanation for the flour?”
“Oh, we were planning on making Cacucu into a ghost by using flour to make him white then using special elemental markings for a glowing effect.” Ororon glances back at the chaos behind him. “We just… didn’t expect for it to be such a mess.”
“Do you even hear yourself, bro?”
“Cacucu, you can’t blame it all on Ororon when you also agreed to the idea.” Ifa scolds, though there is no heat behind his words.
“Mmm… I think I can tweak it?” Ororon mutters absently, looking back and forth between Cacucu and Ifa.
“Tweak what-?”
“Hold still for a moment?” Ororon says suddenly, and there’s no warning before he’s up and in Ifa’s personal space, grabbing his waist and staring intensely at his chest.
“U-uh… bro…?”
Flustered, Ifa looks off to the side, only to make eye contact with Cacucu.
The saurian’s gaze was piercing through him as if to say, ‘Get a room.’
Ifa tries wiggling out of Ororon’s grasp, but one look makes him go still again.
“Bro… what exactly are you doing…?”
Seemingly not to have heard him, Ororon nods to himself, beckoning Cacucu over and picking up a brush off the table miraculously not covered in flour. Gently, Ororon holds the saurian in his hand like a globe as he begins painting, and though there didn’t seem to be anything on the brush, a glowing outline followed in its wake.
Cacucu looks content sitting in Ororon’s hand, snuggling a bit deeper into the palm which Ifa now notices is missing the usual gloves. He refuses to focus on Ororon’s hands and the intricate markings there, instead turning his attention back to Cacucu, watching as patterns slowly cover the expanse of the saurian’s body.
Neither of them say anything, but the atmosphere is comfortable.
It only takes a couple minutes, but Ororon pulls back with a flourish of his hand, letting out a content hum.
“I think that looks pretty good, don’t you think Cacucu?” The bat hybrid questions, taking the little hat Ifa was holding earlier and placing it on Cacucu’s head.
Immediately, Cacucu beelines for the window to look at his reflection, staring for a moment before circling back excitedly around Ororon’s head.
“Oh wow, bro! Oh wow, bro!”
Ororon smiles. “I’m glad you like it.”
“You look amazing buddy!” Ifa pipes in, laughing a bit as Cacucu flies over to nuzzle into his chest.
The little saurian was still white due to the flour, but most of it wasn’t flying off anymore, though Ifa made note to do the laundry later.
“Now you really do look like me, don’t cha’?”
“Bro!”
The two of them let Cacucu fly around for a while longer before the juvenile Qucusaurus tired himself out, flopping down onto the couch with a small huff.
“You know you're gonna leave a white mark once I pick you up, right?” Ifa chuckles, poking a finger at Cacucu’s feathered cheek, only to earn him a small glare.
Barely holding back another round of laughter, the saurian vet raises his hands in surrender. “Of course, of course, I'll let you rest, your excellency- we can wash it out later. Still got a few days ‘till Halloween after all, and we don’t want you flying around with flour for three days.”
Another tired huff before Cacucu closes his eyes.
Smiling fondly, Ifa watches Cacucu for a while longer before finally getting up and turning to Ororon.
“Thanks for that, bro. Probably means more to Cacucu than either of us think.”
Ororon was slowly sweeping up the excess flour when he was addressed.
“It’s really no issue. You didn’t hear it, but Cacucu even learned how to say ‘Trick or Treat’. I’m sure he was excited to celebrate with you.”
“Still… I appreciate it.”
Ororon hums, the last of the flour being swept into the dustpan. There’s another pause before he continued speaking. “You were asking about what I was doing earlier.”
“Yeah, I'm a bit curious about how you made invisible glowing paint.”
A breath. “It matches your nightsoul pattern.”
Ifa blinks. “You can see that???”
Ororon nods, having placed down the dustpan and walked over to stand beside Ifa. “More like… feel?” The bat hybrid leans into his side. “I’ve always been able to. But usually people’s patterns are so loud they feel murky. It’s hard to focus hard enough to see any of them clearly.”
Ifa slowly guides them to the couch, sitting them down before picking up a now sleeping Cacucu and letting the saurian rest in his lap.
“Yeah? And what let’s you see mine?”
“Mmm… I'm used to you. It’s hard to explain.” Ororon responds slowly, his words slurring a bit as his head lays to rest on Ifa’s shoulder. “Your soul envelopes me? Instead of shining directly, it surrounds me. Feels safe.”
Ifa sits perfectly still, though his breath hitches when Ororon turns his head just enough to press a light kiss to his neck.
“Sorry- tired.” Ororon murmurs, his eyes slipping shut.
Of course. It occurs to Ifa suddenly that Ororon is nocturnal, and has probably been staying up all day to play with Cacucu.
So, instead of asking all the questions in his mind, mainly ‘Do you love me the same way I love you?’, he hesitantly places a small kiss to Ororon’s head before leaning back and closing his eyes.
Later, when the sun is setting through the window and orange rays stray into the room, Cacucu wakes up slowly, blinking sleep out of his eyes.
The flour on his body is feeling slightly itchy, but one glance upwards stops him from moving.
Ororon slept soundly, and his cheek undoubtedly would be spotting a red mark later from where he was pressed up against Ifa’s shoulder. Ifa himself had his head resting gently on top of the bat hybrid’s, and sometime in their sleep, their hands had become intertwined.
Cacucu lets out a small huff before closing his eyes again.
He could nap for a bit longer.