On the far side of the busy street, a woman balanced on a ladder, carefully nailing up a line of Christmas lights along the balcony of her house. At the other end of the string, a small, bird-headed man was methodically pulling them back down, wrapping the loose end absentmindedly around his neck like a scarf as he did. He clucked to himself with his tongue as he followed along, the soft notes barely recognizable as
Jingle Bells. For each light she put up, he pulled one down.
Cluck-cluck-cluck. She hammered in another nail.
Cluck-cluck-cluck. She mopped her bangs out of her eyes and glanced over.
Cluck-cluck-cluck, cluck-cluck-- "HEY!"
Breaking off with a squeal like skidding tires, the tengu froze and then backpedaled, pulling down another four or five lights in the process as his new necklace stretched taught and his feet scrabbled on the icy sidewalk.
"You! What are you doing?!" Panicked, his beak bit down on the line and snapped it, leaving a frayed, sparking cord dangling behind. The woman shook her fist after the black-headed demon as he turned and bolted, sandals slapping loudly on the pavement as he ran.
"Typical..." she muttered as she watched the figure disappear down the street in a panic, the end of the broken cord skittering behind him.
After she gave up and went back inside, Kuwa came back out onto the street with his heart still pounding, stuffing his hands into his pockets for warmth. It was winter break at the academy and he'd come to the city to look for decorations, but his efforts had thus far been grossly misplaced and he was starting to get cold. He only had a thick jacket over his uniform, the collar of which barely peeked past the hood. Lacking mittens, maybe he could at least find some hot tea. This was motivation alone to make Kuwa patter up to a light-haired boy he could see holding some kind of hot beverage. Someone alone, someone he wouldn't bother! The heavy wreath of Christmas lights around his neck
clacked merrily against his chest as the tengu stopped in the human's path, peering curiously at the stranger's sunglasses.
There was then a long, awkward pause as all the words he had been trying to say proceeded to fly out of his head. Tongue utterly failing him, Kuwa held up his hands to show he meant no harm and then pointed to Ezekiel's coffee cup. He made a sound like hissing steam to clear his throat, cocking his head to the side questioningly.
Words, words... so many words... Trying to suppress the unease and anxiety prickling under his skin, Kuwa fluffed up his feathers and managed an insistent (and masculine)
"Where?!"
