#I have a request to write some Bruce/Manabu so Imma do that soon

[talesofzero]

Happy Birthday Gen!!

@genesisnx Here’s a drabble about Harpy Manabu and Naga Bulge for u. You’re precious and I hope you have a good birthday. 

And now I just want to write GR things. (EDIT: I accidentally hit post instead of queue so you get it early because I’m dumb!!)

Something blocked out the sun overhead. The shadow cast onto me moved like some furious swarm, warped and ever-changing. I should have hidden automatically at a sight like that, considering how close I was to bird territory, but curiosity led my gaze up just in time to see whatever it was getting closer.

Again, I should have moved, but it was still moving in a flurry, and the nearing cries of “no, no, no!” made me raise a brow as I squinted through the treetops. It hit the balcony with a crash and a cry, and by that point, I could tell it was small. It fit easily in my arms when I reached out to catch it. A hail of drifting feathers followed like an odd snowstorm.

Its own feathers were ruffled, sticking out every which-way. And its – or rather his – eyes were wide and dazed.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“Uh,” he answered, blinking a few times. He was the oddest bird I’d ever seen. Couldn’t have been more than seven years-old and tiny as anything. His ruffled hair was the same brown as his eyes, but his wings were a shimmering green. They were also thin and sharp like blades. Around his throat was a ruff of blue feathers which looked puffy and soft.

Finally, his eyes found mine. He looked as though he’d just noticed me there. “Can you stand?” I asked.

“I think so,” he said.

I settled him down on his taloned feet, which seemed much too big for him, and he leaned his weight between them as a test. “Yeah,” he decided. “I’m okay.”

“That’s good.”

He looked back toward me, still puzzled. He was just tall enough to reach my hip, though he was quick to trail his eyes down, following my tail all the way to its tip. “Oh, you’re a snake,” he said.

“We prefer Naga.”

His eyes were wide again as they returned to mine. “Are you going to eat me?”

“No.”

“Oh, okay. I’m Manabu Yuuki.” All anxieties gone, he stuck out his hand with a big grin. One of his teeth was missing, but I assumed that had happened before the fall. He must have hit his head pretty hard though.

Out of politeness, I took his small hand in mine and shook. “My name is Schwanhelt Bulge.”

A moment’s confusion crossed through his eyes as he tried to make sense of my name, but he shook it off. “Nice to meet you!”

“Yes, it’s a pleasure, but what are you doing down here? Ground-level isn’t safe for young birds. Did you fall?”

Well, clearly he’d fallen, but he was quick to shake his head. “No, I meant to come down here,” he lied, crossing his arms. They were littered with cuts from the branches overhead, like his cheeks. “Where is your shirt?” he asked to divert the conversation.

“I don’t usually wear shirts in the summer.”

“Why?”

“I’m cold blooded, so I’m plenty warm if the sun is out.” Plus, I couldn’t afford them.

“I bet you never wear pants.”

“That would be correct.”

He started giggling, and I couldn’t help but smile along. He seemed good-natured, even if he was likely also trouble. He was lucky I’d been the one to find him and not some of the others of my kind. The wolves and cats down here could be trouble as well.

“Where are you off to, Manabu?” I asked, hoping to speed him along.

“Oh!” His eyes darted off to their corners. It was all too obvious I’d caught him in his lie. “I was just going back home.”

“Then you should be getting back. It won’t be light out much longer, and trouble always comes out at night.”

“Right, I can fly back!”

I wasn’t so sure, but his wings shot up from his side. At least, one of them did. The other seemed to catch, bent at an odd angle. Manabu made a strangled sound, and his eyes rolled back behind fluttering lids. I had to swoop down to catch him before he could fall to his knees.

“Manabu,” I called. “Can you hear me?”

His head lolled for a moment as he struggled to pull his chin up. “M’okay, Swan,” he mumbled, near incoherence. “Hurts…”

I wasn’t sure why I always put myself in these situations, but with a sigh, I picked him back up like a fragile piece of glass. “Climb on my back,” I said, worried about putting any pressure on his wings. “And stay awake.”

Of course, as soon as he had his arms around my neck, he rested his forehead against my shoulder.

“No falling asleep,” I said. “I need you to show me where you live.”

A trembling hand reached out, pointing up above the trees toward the cliff-side that hung over the forest.  “There,” he said.

Why…why did I always put myself in these situations?

The bottom of the cliff wasn’t far off. In fact, I made my home there in a cozy alcove. I’d seen the shadows of birds flying overhead before, but I’d always imagined them living in the trees. I thought of the caves as safer, more troublesome for the birds to reach. If I survived this, I would need to look into a change in address.

“Do you know where your home is from here?” I asked once we’d reached the cliff side

He squinted at the sky with a hum. “Yeah, up there where the rocks poke out.”

It was twice as high as the treetops. I was going to die. With a deep breath, I released his legs and reached up for the towering wall. At the same time, I brought my tail up and curled it around his middle.

“Do you squeeze people to death?” he asked.

“No.”

“Do you bite people to death?”

“No. I don’t kill people.”

“Oh. Daddy does.”

That made my hands freeze against the rocks. “Why’s that?”

“It’s his job. He’s uh captain.”

He must have been part of the Guard for the area. They were supposed to be neutral, only killing when necessary, so I hoped he would recognize me as harmless. Then again…

“Would your father be able to carry you back home?” I asked, though I began climbing anyway.

“Yeah, he’s real strong, but he won’t get home ‘til night. Big brother gets home late too. Mom was out getting dinner.”

“So there was no one around when you tried to fly off?”

“No,” he said, only to catch himself. “I wasn’t flyin’ off!”

Scolding him wasn’t my job, so I let it go. I had to focus on climbing anyway. Despite my upper body strength, climbing was one of those rare occasions where legs would have come in handy. My tail was too wide to rest on any small ledges, so I was left to dangle.

Not even a fourth of the way up, my arms were already burning. Letting go wasn’t an option, though. I was just going to have to suck it up.

“You’re very strong,” Manabu called.  

“I do my best,” I said.

“We’re getting up.”

“Yep.” Edges on rocks bit at my fingers, and my sweaty palms made the dirt cling. I was sure I wouldn’t be able to move for days after this. I also wasn’t too sure how I was going to get down.

“Are you afraid of heights?” Manabu asked.

“I’m not used to going much higher than the trees, so I’m not sure,” I answered through gritted teeth. “Are you?”

He laughed at that. “I like being up high. I almost never touch the ground.”

Of course, stupid question. But that didn’t explain why he trusted me so much. If I fell, he did too. He should have been more concerned about that, but at least one of us had faith in me.

As I dragged myself up one ledge, I found it wider than the rest, though not by much. Still, I let out a sigh of relief and took a moment to rest my weight on it. Though Manabu still hung over the edge in my grasp, he didn’t seem to mind. He kicked his feet as I dusted off my hands.

“How’s your wing?” I asked.

“It’s fine.” He ran his hands down my scales, refusing to look up at me. He really was a terrible liar.

“How is it really?” I pressed.

He puffed his cheeks. “It kinda hurts when you move, but it’s okay if I don’t move it. It’s fine.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign. Bird anatomy wasn’t a strong suit of mine. “It sounds like it’ll heal fine,” I said anyway.

He nodded, and I returned to the wall in front of me. Manabu continued to chatter as I climbed the rest of the way. My short answers didn’t put him off in the slightest.

“Your tail’s pretty,” he said as I neared our goal. “I didn’t know there were blue snakes. Blue’s my favorite color.”

I answered with a huff as the ledge cut into my gut. Once I’d dragged my top half up, my upper body was done moving, so I lay there and curled my tail up alongside me. I was careful to set him down on his knees before unfurling my tail.

“There-there,” he said, patting my back. “You made it!”

“Mm-hm,” I returned. The air up here was nice and cool, rolling over my back. I let my eyes fall shut until I felt Manabu kiss my cheek. He didn’t seem concerned by the startled look I gave him.

“Thank you,” he said. “Do you want some water? You can come inside.”

I peered around him to see a massive, round door at the mouth of the cave. Having a door must have been nice, probably kept the drafts out.

“I think you’d have to drag me inside,” I said with a weak laugh. “I’ll just lie here a minute. I’d appreciate the water though. Be careful of your wing.”

“I got it!” He popped up and rushed into his home. Such an odd little bird. I knew they weren’t all like that. The scars across my face proved it. He must not have been a predatory bird, didn’t have the wings for it, though he did have a good set of claws on those feet. He was a bit too fluffy looking to come off as threatening.

That was not the case for the guy who slammed down next to me. I saw his feet first, bigger than my head with talons sharp enough to take out my eyes with one quick movement. Pain and fatigue vanished from my mind as I shot up to face the new bird.

He was tall, as tall as I could be when I pulled up as much as my tail would allow. With my heart hammering and my vision narrowing, I could only see his burning blue eyes. “What are you doing here?” he snarled. “How did you get up here?”

My stammering didn’t help matters. “Manabu- I had to carry-”

“Manabu!?” he screeched. “Did you touch my brother!? I’ll kill you!” His wings shot out, massive compared to Manabu’s. Those were true predator wings. He had none of the fluff Manabu did. With one strong flap of his wings, he was off the ground, his talons out in front of him.

My only thought was to get away. He was prepared to gut me. Tossing all my weight to the side, I was quick to realize my mistake when the ground dropped out from beneath me.

I heard a howl from Manabu, a loud, terrified scream of “No!” He was the last thing I saw before dropping off the edge. He stood in the doorway clutching a glass of water with his eyes wide.

I knew this was a bad idea.

There was nothing to catch my fall but the ground, so I shut my eyes and waited for it. My back did slam into something, along with the spine of my tail. It did hurt but just enough to bruise. The thundering roar of flapping wings surrounded me, and I opened my eyes into slits.

A man with calm eyes and sleek black wings held me. His hair was much like Manabu’s, the same curls of brown, but his jaw was firm, his shoulders wide. Had he not looked so relaxed, he would have been more terrifying than Manabu’s brother. His neck also had a ruffle of feathers, but they were a bloody red and smoothed down.

“Are you alright?” he asked as he settled into a landing.

“Yes?” I croaked.

“Swan!” Manabu called from up above. He sounded terrified. “Are you okay? Big brother, you almost killed him!”

The brother said something that I couldn’t hear, but it was clearly a bad call because Manabu started yelling at him.

“Boys,” the man sighed. He turned back to me with a weary smile. “My apologies. Mamoru can be testy. My name is Wataru Yuuki.”

“I-I’m Schwanhelt Bulge,” I said.

“May I ask what you were doing at my home? Actually, more importantly, how did you get up there?”

“I climbed. I had to get Manabu back up.”

“Back up?” Wataru frowned. Without asking if I was prepared or alright with it, he bent his knees and flexed his wings.

“Wait-” I began, but he shot up into the sky. He must have been as strong as he looked to be able to carry me. With the weight of my tail, I was heavier than any creature with two legs.

Still, he settled us back on the ledge as though he’d been carrying a child. The boys silenced at his arrival. “Manabu, what happened?” he asked. “Are you alright?”

Manabu must have forgiven his brother because he was quick to hide behind him. “M’okay,” he mumbled. “I just fell.”

“You fell!?” his father and brother echoed.

The brother, who must have been testy Mamoru, looked little like either of them. His wings were more like his father’s, stained dark unlike his neat blond hair. The feathers of his throat were red like Wataru’s but flat and shimmering like Manabu’s wings. Mamoru and Wataru wore the same navy uniform, with the crest of the Guard, but Mamoru must have been about my age, somewhere in his late teens.

Manabu hid farther behind him, burying his face in his brother’s slacks. It was clear from the anxious yet firm look in Wataru’s eyes that he wouldn’t allow Manabu to hide anything from him. “You’re home early,” Manabu mumbled.

“Sir, could you put me down?” I asked as he tried to bore a hole in his sons to figure out what was wrong.

“Oh, certainly. Let’s go inside for this.”

That wasn’t what I meant, but who was I to argue with the man whose feet could crush my skull with ease?

The inside of the Yuuki home must have been through some portal because it looked nothing like a cave. Everything was decorated and smooth. It was cozy. Wataru set me down to lie across their couch. I was far from fitting.

I was starting to understand where Manabu got his socializing habits from because Wataru didn’t seem too concerned about me. Though he had little explanation as to why I was there, he seemed to trust me. With his back to me, he knelt in front of his smaller son. “Alright, Manabu, I want an explanation. We should get this sorted before your mother gets home. You know she’ll be upset.”

“I tried to fly,” Manabu mumbled, still trying to hide behind his brother. “But I couldn’t.”

Wataru heaved a sigh. “So you fell?”

“Yeah. Swan caught me though.”

Wataru looked back at me with relief, but I had to speak up in case Manabu didn’t. “Check his wings,” I said. “The trees caught him first.”

Manabu shrunk back from his father’s hands, “Manabu,” Wataru warned. “Let me see your wings. Stretch them out.”

“I can’t,” Manabu whimpered. “It hurts.”

Wataru heaved a sigh. “Son, come here. Let me see.”

Manabu tiptoed over and turned so his father could prod at the thin wings. “Swan carried me back up,” Manabu said. “He’s very strong.”

“He must be,” Wataru said. “We’re very grateful to him. We weren’t expecting to come home early, so it’s good to know that he was willing to go out of his way to take care of you.”

“It was nothing,” I attempted.

Wataru threw me a smile over his shoulder. “No need to be modest. You really saved him. There’s definitely at least a fracture, so we’ll have to take him to a doctor.”

“Can Swan come?” Manabu asked.

“Swan has his own things to get back to,” Wataru said.

He seemed to want me to back him up on that, but I had nothing for him. “I, uh, I do need to find some food.”

Wataru blinked. “You don’t have a job?”

Scavengers like myself were a rare breed now. Most had converted to the human system with jobs and stores. “Few are willing to hire Naga, sir,” I said.

“Well, you’ve got the formalities down, so you can join my platoon if you’d like.”

“What?” Mamoru squawked. “Dad, he can’t possibly-”

“He save Manabu’s life. We owe him. Besides, he’s shown himself to be selfless. He would make a fantastic addition to the platoon once we train him. Of course, it’s up to you, Bulge.”

I didn’t feel like I had a choice. Saying no to him seemed impossible, not that I ever would have. The Guard was the elite, the most loved group in the forest. I sealed my fate with a nod.

Mamoru was trouble, but he grew on me. I wasn’t sure if I ever grew on him. Manabu was bigger trouble, always trouble. He only got worse as he grew, but it was impossible not to adore him. He always demanded attention with the brightest smile. Like his father, it was impossible to say no to him.

I wasn’t sure why I tried.

When Wataru slammed down outside my cave and said I was coming to Manabu’s 18th birthday, I should have known better than to suggest I needed to get ready first. Wataru scooped me up in his arms against my protests and shot back up toward their ledge. My stomach found my throat.

“Please stop doing that so fast, Captain,” I wheezed as he set me back down. “One of these days, I’m going to puke.”

“Don’t get sick. There’s cake.” He was kind enough to straighten my uniform. I hadn’t gotten the chance to change since getting home, but it was one of the only shirts to fit me well. The rest were hand-me-downs from him.

“Isn’t there always cake?” I asked. “This is Manabu we’re talking about.”

Wataru cracked one of his rare grins. “I hope you’ve gotten to like sugar water.”

“Then I really will puke.”

Inside was filled with the warm, sweet smell of baked goods. Manabu’s hummingbird mother greeted me with her wings buzzing. “Bulge!” she cooed. “So glad you could make it.”

“Swan is here?” Manabu called from the hallway. I heard the click of his talons and the buzz of his wings before he crashed into the doorframe, his eyes bright as usual. “Swan!”

He’d never grown out of the nickname. In fact, he may have thought it was my actual name. “Evening, Manabu,” I greeted. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you!” He didn’t appear to need more sugar, hovering in place thanks to his rapid wings, but he took the water his mother gave him, no doubt laced with sugar. I’d always wondered if the glass he’d fetched me when we first met was sugary as well.

“Calm down,” his mother said. “You’ll knock something over.”

Dropping to the floor, he blew bubbles in his water, his cheeks shaded pink.

Luckily for me, Wataru and Mamoru also ate meat, so there was something edible for me. Kanna actually had the skill to cook just about anything, even if she didn’t eat it. Manabu’s entire dinner was cake, his talons kicking under the table. I couldn’t quite sit like them, so I did without a chair, curling my tail up under me.

It was far from the first time they’d had me over for dinner. In fact, they tended to pull me up at least once a week. I’d never understood why they’d always been so kind to me. I owed them far more than they’d ever imagined they owed me.

It wasn’t until Mamoru pulled a gift wrapped in pretty blue paper from the coat closet that I recalled the small one back at my home. “Ahh, I left mine,” I hissed.

“We can go get it later,” Wataru said with a soft laugh. “That was my fault.”

Manabu seemed to vibrate as he opened the gift, his smile getting wider and wider. His wings started to flick. He was awfully cute.

When the paper fell away, it was the same navy coat that I wore. Wataru had talked over adding him to the platoon for the past few years. The captain always looked anxious at the idea, but it looked as though Manabu’s pleading had finally won out. My gift wouldn’t look like much in comparison. I’d never seen Manabu quite so happy.

“You’ll still have to complete training,” Wataru tried to say over all Manabu’s eager thank you’s. Manabu managed to quiet him by tackling him with a hug. Despite Wataru’s best attempts to look stern, he broke with a smile as he hugged his son in return.

“I helped talk him into it,” Mamoru said just to ensure Manabu would turn and hug him as well. “It’ll be good to have you on the team, little brother,” Mamoru hummed. He was such a softie when it came to his brother.

“Bulge did aid in your argument as well,” the captain said.

That was true, but… “Captain, you don’t need to-“

“Really!?” Manabu turned on me as though he saw stars. He started hovering again, and shot over to me.

I wasn’t sure what I expected, but it wasn’t a kiss. His lips met mine, sweet as all that sugar thrived on. I wasn’t usually one for sweets, but it was nice when it was him.

At least, it would have been nice had it not been in front of his whole family. Manabu broke away red-faced. He looked as startled as I did, his eyes wide. “Whoops,” he said airily.

“I’ll kill him,” Mamoru said.

“Mamoru, no,” Kanna scolded as she stepped forward the shield me. She was tiny standing in front of her son, but her presence was enough to wear him down.

Wataru was the one I really feared, but he blinked, looking as calm as ever. “Looks like you won’t need to go fetch that gift then,” he said. “Manabu already stole his present from you.”

Manabu’s face turned red as blood. “Dad, hush.”

“I believe I raised you to be polite and ask permission before invading someone’s personal space.”

Manabu buried his face in his hands. “Dad, no.”

I still felt like I’d taken a blow to the head. “Um…welcome to the platoon,” I offered. “It’ll be nice to have you with us.”

Manabu nodded. “Sorry about that.”

“Uh, it’s alright. I didn’t mind.” Wait, no, that wasn’t what I’d meant. Well, I did mean it, but…

I was sweating as all eyes turned on me. Manabu peered between his fingers curiously, Wataru looked like he was trying not to laugh, Kanna grinned, and Mamoru looked ready to tear my throat out.

Why did I always put myself in these situations?