At Serdin’s absurd demand, Formo completely lost his senses. What on earth did being sorry have to do with a kiss? What a truly wicked human. Formo glared at Serdin with haughty eyes before turning his gaze away, pretending not to have heard his demand.
He couldn’t give a kiss to a human he had only just met—something he didn’t even do often with his own parents. Though he could certainly use his sharp beak to leave a wound on the cheek of the annoying human demanding a kiss.
“Pipi, you won’t do it for me? Hm?”
Formo ignored Serdin who kept pestering him, then thinking it wasn’t going to work, turned completely away from him. Instead of his face with its delicate features, Serdin was now looking at his snow-white, cute back of the head. Suppressing his laughter, he called out to Formo.
“Pipi?”
When Serdin’s long index finger traveled down his spine and came back up to tap on the back of his head, Formo’s beak twitched irritably. Their standoff continued for a long while in that state, until it came to an end when Formo, who had been lacking sleep, began nodding off and eventually leaned his head against Serdin’s hand.
It was an anticlimactic conclusion, quite different from the tension that had been flowing.
Serdin smacked his lips while looking at the small bird sleeping soundly with its head resting on his hand. It was behavior that would have shocked and angered Formo if he had seen it. But Serdin also had his own difficulties.
Even though he wasn’t hungry, his mouth kept watering whenever he looked at Formo. And that wasn’t all. He wanted to shove that small body into his mouth and thoroughly soak it with his saliva. If it stopped there, it wouldn’t be called a difficulty.
And what about that round, soft head? He wanted to rain down hundreds of kisses on it. The savory and warm scent emanating from that small body kept stimulating his sense of smell, keeping him in a constant state of trouble.
It had been like that earlier too. No matter how hard Formo’s tiny wings slapped his cheek, there was no way it could hurt. It was merely ticklish. The moment Serdin saw Formo’s face looking a bit smug, thinking he had hurt him, he wanted to make the small bird uncomfortable.
Formo’s expressions really changed from moment to moment, making it fun to watch. In a way that made him want to tease him more and more.
Serdin firmly swallowed down the impure desires that kept rising without end and turned his gaze away from Formo. If he teased him too much, that prickly bird might try to peck at his cheek.
Well, receiving a kiss in that manner wouldn’t be bad either. But he wanted to tease the bird in a moderate way if possible.
—
* * *
It had been about a week since he started being called by the bizarre name “Pipi” that he had never seen or heard before. This peaceful, luxurious, and even excessively extravagant life had one great disadvantage. It was far too idle and boring.
Without bothering to hide his bored expression, Formo wandered around the vast bed, pecking here and there with his small beak. He now wanted to get down from the bed and walk around freely.
But this wretched human was not the type to simply watch his feet touch the floor. Formo glanced toward where Serdin was and moved his beak in dissatisfaction. Serdin was sitting in a chair, watching Formo while humming a tune.
*’Doesn’t that human go to work?’*
Formo shot a pathetic look at Serdin, who looked like an idle man of leisure, then turned his head sharply. This wouldn’t do. For the sake of his family who must be worrying about him, he had to find some way to send word.
No, actually, the fundamental solution was only escape.
Whether he sent word or escaped, he first needed to get off this wide bed…… Formo let out a deep sigh. Would that human only realize the seriousness of the situation if he bit and tore apart all the pillows rolling around on the bed?
“Pipi, what are you thinking so hard about? Could it be…… you were wondering when to give me a kiss? Hm?”
Whenever Formo stood there worrying with his round eyes blinking, Serdin would come over with frivolous remarks. When he saw Serdin’s lips twitching while spouting such unfunny nonsense, sighs came out naturally.
Whether he knew Formo’s gaze was growing colder or not, Serdin was looking at Formo with eyes full of expectation.
Formo, who had been quietly receiving that burdensome gaze, jutted out his beak and turned his back. His small, round body wriggled for a moment before settling down in the middle of the bed.
The face of the long-tailed tit sitting in the middle of the wide, flat bed was filled with indescribable irritation.
“Pipi, what about a kiss?”
Ever since Serdin had brought up wanting a kiss as an apology, he had been going on about kisses constantly. As if kisses were the ultimate goal of his life, he would ask “Pipi, what about a kiss?” at every opportunity, to the point where his ears were about to grow calluses.
The more he thought about it, the more absurd this human was. Formo irritably shook off his feet, wings, and tail feathers, then pretended to doze off. It was a somewhat petty method, but nothing worked better for diverting Serdin’s fervent gaze and burdensome attention.
Of course, if he pretended to doze too obviously, Serdin might catch on, so there was the constraint of having to act as realistically as possible. Formo wiggled his bottom to settle into the most comfortable position possible, then tilted his head forward.
Then, at an appropriate timing, he began pretending to doze, nodding his head.
Serdin had his arms propped on the back of the chair with his chin resting on them, quietly watching everything Formo did. The corners of his mouth twitched before curving up at an angle. That tiny bird often did quite cunning things, and pretending to doze was one of them.
That clumsy, full-of-holes act was always fresh and funny no matter when he saw it, and quite cute too. And that wasn’t all. It even stirred Serdin’s impure desires. Serdin quietly observed what Formo was doing, not even thinking to control the corners of his mouth that seemed ready to soar to the sky.
Then, when he discovered Formo trembling as their eyes met while he was stealthily opening his eyes to check on him, he had to hurry to cover his mouth and swallow his laughter.
“……”
Having been caught pretending to doze after all, Formo let out huffing breaths before springing up from his spot and walking across the vast bed with quick little steps. Then, as if having made up his mind, he spread one intact wing to point at the window and asserted.
“Ppiik! Ppii!”
It was quite a resonant cry, but there was no way Serdin could know what meaning was contained in it. He merely gazed at Formo with interested eyes.
“Ppiii!”
Only after Formo cried out again while pointing at the door did Serdin’s eyebrows rise, having vaguely figured out what the long-tailed tit wanted.
“Pipi, are you curious about outside the window?”
“Ppii!”
Now they were finally communicating. Formo nodded his head vigorously in agreement with Serdin’s question. He had nodded so hard that his vision spun round and round, but intoxicated by the joy of having conveyed what he wanted to Serdin, such a thing didn’t matter at all.
Serdin slowly rose from the chair and headed toward the bed. Formo, who had trembled at his imposing physique for a moment, soon looked up at him pretending to be fine. It was a truly touching effort. Serdin had clearly seen Formo flinch and tremble but pretended not to notice for the sake of the long-tailed tit’s dignity.
If he carelessly brought something up to tease him about, he might end up only seeing the cute bottom of a thoroughly sulking Formo. Seeing the small bird’s plump bottom was nice, but seeing the face where expressions showed clearly was better.
To the point where he kept thinking he wanted to shove that face into his mouth someday and savor it.
“Pipi, come here.”
When Serdin extended his hand and spoke, Formo, whose tail feathers trembled slightly, circled around it warily. Then, as if doing him a favor, he placed his small foot onto the large hand. The bird, as light as its small size, was so weightless that it made him wonder if it had even properly climbed onto his hand.
“Pipi, why are you so light? What should I do if you’re still light even though I’ve been feeding you? What if you get carried away by the wind and fly off?”
Formo was startled when Serdin’s face came right up to him, and he jumped high in place.
“Ppik!”
Formo, who had gotten very angry as if telling him not to startle him, glared at him with sharp eyes.
“Alright, Pipi. Sorry for startling you.”
Serdin, who apologized readily with a smile on his face, headed toward the window with Formo on his palm. When he opened the tightly closed window, a cool breeze blew in.
How long had it been since he properly enjoyed the wind? In a good mood, Formo half-closed his eyes and felt the gentle breeze. If things went well, it seemed like he might be able to ride the incoming wind and fly outside.
His beak, which had been moving for a while as if gauging the strength of the wind, closed firmly, and at the same time, Formo’s round eyes snapped open.
“Ppiit!”
Soon, the small long-tailed tit kicked off from the wretched human’s grasp with a resonant battle cry and leaped up. It was a breathtaking moment, like when the very young Formo had attempted his first flight.
Before long, the white, round long-tailed tit fluttered its wings spread like a fan and rose into the air.
