“Pipi, who are you having such a conversation with?”
Serdin, who had just woken up from Formo’s commotion, asked in a low, sleepy voice without even opening his eyes. At his voice, Formo was startled and stammered.
“N-nothing! Go back to sleep!”
Perhaps finding those words amusing, Serdin let out a low laugh even in his drowsy state.
“How can I go back to sleep after you’ve woken me up completely, Pipi?”
Anyway, what a funny long-tailed tit. Could everything he does be so clumsy and amusing like that? Serdin raised his upper body while having such idle thoughts. The nightgown he had tied roughly before sleeping was disheveled as always today. The nightgown slipped off Serdin’s broad shoulders and barely hung around his forearms.
Formo’s mouth fell open at seeing Serdin’s broad chest revealed through the loosely open nightgown. Formo quickly covered his eyes and said.
“Put that on properly!”
Having gained a human body, Formo had become even more sensitive to Serdin’s exposure than when he was a long-tailed tit. Therefore, he nagged every time he discovered Serdin walking around with his nightgown completely off. Not that Serdin would be deterred by that, though.
Serdin, who had roughly closed his nightgown at Formo’s criticism, got up from his seat and walked to the table where Formo sat. Then he stood behind Formo and leaned his face against his shoulder.
“Pipi is too conservative.”
Serdin grumbled in a pleasant voice.
“Can’t you let it slide when it’s just the two of us?”
“Let what slide?”
Formo glared at Serdin, who was saying things that wouldn’t work at all, then let out a deep sigh. Serdin was an existence that was boring when quiet and tiring when noisy. Now that he was awake, it wasn’t boring, but fatigue was starting to accumulate.
Regardless of what Formo thought, Serdin was happily watching Formo, who was nagging cutely from the morning. Formo had a habit of sticking out his lips or beak when nagging or voicing complaints, and that was extremely cute. Sometimes to the point of wanting to pull those lips or beak with his hand.
Of course, if he put that desire into practice, Formo would get angry and peck at him furiously.
“Pipi, let’s change your clothes.”
Serdin said so and brought out Formo’s clothes from the dressing room connected to the bedroom. Unlike usual, Formo showed a surprised expression at the small number of clothing items Serdin was bringing. He had just been thinking about voicing his complaints about his excessively formal and complicated outfit unlike Serdin’s.
“Pipi, today you’ll dress comfortably.”
Serdin placed the clothing items on the bed. Formo’s eyebrows twitched at seeing the light sky-blue blouse, navy vest, black trousers, and cravat. That damn cravat never misses a time. To dress comfortably, there shouldn’t be a cravat.
Whether he knew Formo’s feelings or not, Serdin pulled the bell rope to prepare wash water. When the warm wash water arrived, Serdin gestured that he would help wash him.
“I can wash my face by myself.”
“Really?”
Formo narrowed his brow and looked at Serdin with serious eyes. At that look, Serdin shrugged his shoulders and said.
“Alright, Pipi.”
Until now, he had helped with washing for the fun of wiping every corner of that small face. Though he acted indifferent, he couldn’t help feeling disappointed. Serdin waited holding a cloth for Formo to dry his face. Soon, Formo, who had finished washing his face in the warm water, naturally received the cloth and dried himself.
His snow-white face had pink tinges here and there. Serdin watched it quietly, then started washing his own face with the wash water prepared for him. When Serdin, who had splashed water on his face several times, raised his head, Formo handed him a cloth.
“Thanks, Pipi.”
Serdin smiled gently at Formo, who had handed him the cloth following his example, and dried his face. Formo, perhaps finding Serdin’s thanks embarrassing, cleared his throat softly and headed toward the bed where the clothes were laid out. He wanted to dress himself today too.
Wouldn’t he be able to succeed at buttoning easily by now?
“I’ll dress myself today.”
Serdin’s eyebrows, which had readily accepted even the face washing, twitched slightly.
“Can you really dress yourself, Pipi?”
“Yeah.”
“You have to button too, really?”
When Serdin asked back as if he couldn’t believe it, Formo frowned and snapped angrily.
“Yes, I said so!”
Just how young did he see him? After this much time had passed, it was natural to be able to button by oneself. Formo grumbled inwardly and hesitated while trying to take off his nightgown.
“……Don’t look. Got it?”
Serdin glanced at Formo’s completely hunched shoulders and said.
“I’ve been watching all this time, and now suddenly?”
“F-from today on, you can’t. Don’t look.”
Even though he hadn’t shown it until now, showing his naked body seemed to have been quite embarrassing. But Serdin’s mood gradually sank at Formo’s declaration of independence. It felt like sending out into the world a child he had kept in his arms and cared for devotedly. Truly absurdly so.
Helping Formo wash his face was enjoyable, but helping him change clothes was twice as enjoyable. It couldn’t have been more pleasant watching Formo, who obediently relied on him while his earlobes turned red. Serdin furrowed his brow.
“You’re not looking, right?”
“I’ll try.”
He gave the absurd answer that he would try to the questioning Formo, then roughly turned his gaze away. Beyond his blurred focus, he could see Formo wriggling to take off his nightgown.
“Now you really can’t look.”
“Mm.”
Serdin replied with a throat sound while concentrating on Formo visible outside his focus. Perhaps still not reassured, Formo didn’t completely remove his nightgown. After glancing back at Serdin for a while, Formo soon took off his nightgown as if determined.
Then he quickly put on the sky-blue blouse. The problem was what came next. The blouse had a string attached that could be tied into a ribbon. Tying a string required more delicate handling than buttoning. After pondering for a moment, Formo decided to put on the vest first.
The navy vest Serdin had chosen had three intricately decorated buttons. Three buttons that inevitably had to be fastened. After taking a short deep breath, Formo began fastening the buttons while fidgeting with his fingers.
Despite his careful gestures, the buttons deviated from where they should go several times. Formo became impatient, but without getting flustered, he moved his hands steadily. After holding on like that for a long while, one button miraculously went through.
“I, I did it!”
Formo sparkled his eyes while uttering an interjection soaked in joy. And at his success, Serdin’s mood sank even more. He sat in front of the table with his legs crossed, shamelessly watching Formo’s back. The memory of replying that he wouldn’t look had long since flown from his mind.
Serdin stared quietly at Formo, who was only focused on the buttons with his bottom exposed in his underwear, then opened his mouth.
“Pipi, when are you going to put on your trousers?”
“Mmm. Don’t worry. I’ll put them on after I finish all the buttons.”
Formo, who replied as if mumbling due to his concentration, didn’t notice Serdin’s gaze and moved his fingers again. How much time had passed like that? Formo, who had been fastening buttons while concentrating so hard that beads of sweat formed on his forehead, spoke in a triumphant voice.
“I fastened all the buttons.”
“Good, Pipi.”
Serdin replied indifferently with his chin propped up. He didn’t even give the perfunctory words of congratulations. His gaze was still directed at Formo’s modest bottom. Formo, who had adjusted the appearance of his blouse though clumsily, began putting on his trousers with some effort. Formo staggered but resolutely put on his trousers by himself.
Naturally, only Serdin watching Formo was anxious. He propped his chin with a bored expression while twitching his eyebrows in sync with Formo’s movements.
Soon, Formo, who had put on even his trousers, only had the string attached to the blouse and the cravat left. Both required shaping, so for Formo, whose fingertips were still immature, they weren’t things that required just a little effort. Now might be the time to ask Serdin for help.
Though he was reluctant, it would be better than spending half a day getting dressed. Formo slowly turned around to look at Serdin. Then he carefully asked for help.
“You know…… I can’t do the string and cravat by myself.”
“So.”
When Serdin asked back quietly, Formo fidgeted with his fingers and continued.
“Won’t you help me……?”
“You said you could dress yourself, Pipi.”
At the somewhat blunt tone, Formo scratched his cheek, reminded of the fact that he had taken back his words.
“Mmm. I did say that, but the string and cravat are difficult……”
Formo trailed off while reading Serdin’s mood. He didn’t know why, but Serdin didn’t look to be in a good mood. He chewed his lips while waiting for Serdin’s answer.
Soon, Serdin’s firmly closed mouth opened.
“Come here, Pipi.”
Before he knew it, a smile was hanging crookedly on his lips. Formo, who became puzzled at the sudden emotional change, tilted his head.
Anyway, such a strange jaguar.
Even while thinking so, Formo obediently headed toward Serdin.
