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Pearl giggled as she ran into their tower, BigB in tow with her.
“I can’t believe we did that,” BigB exhaled in disbelief, unable to hide the smile on his face.
“I know, right?!” Pearl turned around, and took his hands in hers. “I’m so glad you backed me up.”
BigB let out a laugh, “I didn’t want to lose more time.”
Pearl waved him off, “That’s not the point. We Nosey Neighbours stick together.”
Her smile made something twist in BigB’s stomach. His eyes darted away from her face, that white face as pale as the moon rising, and focused on the torch hung against the wall.
“Yeah,” he replied softly.
His hands got squeezed in hers, and his gaze flicked to their tied hands. They were warm against his. It sent a shiver along his spine. His wings couldn’t help but twitch at the thought.
Pearl raised their hands towards her lips, and slowly kissed his knuckles. BigB inhaled sharply, unsure how to react. His feathers ruffled from his legs to his neck.
“Do you trust me?” Pearl asked, breath blowing against his skin.
BigB didn’t know what words would come out of his mouth if he opened it, so he nodded mutely. He trusted Pearl. She saved him from Jimmy’s imprisonment, she went with his idea of stealing Scott’s enchanter, she backed him up against Cleo’s words.
BigB didn’t have the heart to tell her she should put that trust elsewhere.
Cleo was right, all he did was betray his closest allies. He was about to remedy that this time, he wanted to be solo, and live among the frogs and slowly be killed by the clock ticking right against his heart. If Pearl hadn’t found him, she would not be running for her life against Martyn and Scott.
“Can I preen your wings?”
Her voice shook him out of his thoughts. It was so soft, so quiet, that Froggy meowed louder than her words. BigB blinked, wings ruffling at the suggestion before he could even process it. Pearl laughed at his reaction.
“They look itchy.”
Nobody had asked him that before. He always managed to do it himself during the quieter times, away from everyone. His skin shivered, and his eyes drifted towards Pearl’s wagging tail. He trusted Pearl. His wings glued themselves closer to his back despite that.
“It’s alright,” he smiled, “I’ll —”
Before he could finish his sentence, Pearl placed a hand on his shoulder, jerking his eyes towards her face. BigB wanted to call her smile toothy, a toothy grin, but the way her ears drooped and that gentle squeeze of her hand, he wasn’t sure anymore.
“Nosey Neighbours stick together, yeah?”
Her voice was a whisper, like a promise made into the last rays of sunlight illuminating her face. He trusted her with his entire being.
His wings expanded slightly, one reaching her arm. The brush made him shiver, but he held in his sharp gasp at the touch. Pearl hummed before leaning forward, lips brushing his ear.
“Thank you,” was the only thing she said.
A ball of nerves formed in his throat.
Her hands slowly explored his feathers, the contact singing under his skin. His wings extended unconsciously, and her giggle warmed him up in ways he never felt before. Ren often organized what he called “spa days” during quiet times, and BigB participated one time before never going again, coming up with excuses. When Ren had brushed his hand on his wing by accident, BigB became vulnerable in ways he never wanted to be again.
Before Cleo’s distrust, they had let BigB brush their hair once, commenting on his gentleness at handling hair. That went up in his head, and never left, keeping him warm whenever Cleo glared at him with their icy gaze.
Pearl brushed off some dirt from the feathers, bringing him back to the present. He had to keep in his chirrups and excited flaps. He didn’t want Pearl’s fingers to stop touching him. He couldn’t help but wonder if she would have asked this if she knew how unreliable BigB truly was. As her fingers pinched molted feathers, making him sigh in relief, his mind stayed on high alert. He waited for the other shoe to drop, for her to laugh at him and call him names, for her fingers to tighten and tear out a fistful of feathers.
None of that came as Pearl went on the other wing, resting her unoccupied hand between his extra appendages. BigB gasped, face warming up out of mortification. Pearl giggled before nuzzling her cheek against his curls.
“You make cute noises.”
BigB laughed along, face now warm for an entirely different reason.
“Thanks,” he squeaked out, unsure if that was the answer Pearl wanted.
She chuckled and carded her fingers through his feathers.
“Gee, relax, your wings are all tense.”
BigB obeyed immediately, letting Pearl preen him as he focused on the movement of her fingers. Her pinches to release molted feathers, her brushes to push dirt away, smoothing out feathers out of place. As if she had already done this before.
He wanted to ask, mouth open and ready to question her. But when he saw her tongue poking out of her lips, eyes concentrated on her work, he simply huffed and relaxed into her hands. He still couldn’t let his chirrups and gasps escape his mouth. BigB couldn’t afford another heartbreak.
“There, all done,” Pearl announced.
He already missed her touch.
BigB expanded his wings, humming in satisfaction at her work.
“Wow, you did awesome, Pearl.”
The sunlight illuminated her face as she laughed and sat beside him, resting her head against his shoulder. Her tail wagged back and forth, hitting his rear at times, while her ear tickled his neck.
“We are pretty awesome.”
BigB huffed, “Yeah, we are.”
As they watched the sunset, BigB tried to appreciate the moment. He tried to appreciate Pearl’s warmth, his clean wings, her ear brushing against his jaw. His mind couldn’t help but think, at the end of this, he would go back to being solo, and Pearl would have forgotten about him. She would join the others and call him a traitor, a betrayer, someone unworthy of trust.
Because that was what he was known for. Betraying his closest allies.