and gentle grip. Soft breath tickling her neck. Warm as firelight. Her headache returning like a faithful hound, broken glass grinding at the base of her skull.
Clasping Buruu’s neck, she tried to ignore Kin’s hands on her hips, the play of muscle across his chest as he leaned against her. She entwined her fingers in the arashitora’s feathers, felt for the heat of his mind, growing more jagged and bright with each passing moment.
You’re awfully quiet.
ABOUT WHAT?
Don’t play coy with me.
YOU CHIDE ME FOR PLAYING COY. AFTER TELLING THE BOY YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU FEEL, THEN LUNGING FOR HIS TONSILS A HEARTBEAT LATER.
I … He makes me feel something, Buruu. Something I think I need right now.
MMN.
Well, go on then. Get it off your chest.
The thunder tiger tossed his head, swooped around a castle of tangled sugi trees, wisps of lightning crackling at his wingtips. She could feel him in her mind, loud as the thunderstorm gathering overhead, stubborn as the mountains around them, reminding her so much of her father she could almost smell pipe smoke. She remembered the beast she’d roamed the Iishi with, the arrogance and pride, the fury coiled inside him. He’d been an animal then. Clever, yes, but still driven by instinct rather than conscious thought. Now he was more; ferocious cunning layered with human faculties for judgment. And she could feel the urge to speak his piece bubbling inside him like a wellspring, until finally he couldn’t stop himself.
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOUR KIND. WITH ARASHITORA, THE FEMALE CHOOSES THE MATE WITH THE STRONGEST WINGS, THE SHARPEST CLAWS. THE MALE HAS NO CHOICE AT ALL. HE IS SIMPLY A SLAVE TO INSTINCT AND THE FEMALE’S SCENT.
Well, that sounds awful.
IT IS SIMPLE. YOU HUMANS. ALL THIS SIGHING AND SPITTLE SWAPPING. YOUR COUPLING IS COMPLICATED BEYOND ALL NEED OR REASON.
Gods, please don’t use that word …
MY OTHER OPTIONS ARE LESS POLITE.
Because you’re usually a paragon of courtly manners?
The thunder tiger harrumphed, swooped lower so his belly brushed the tree line. Gentle rain began falling from the storm-washed skies.
TELL ME. THE MASHING OF YOUR FACES TOGETHER …
Kissing.
IT DEMONSTRATES AFFECTION.
Yes.
AND THE TONGUES?
… What?
HONESTLY, WHAT PURPOSE DOES THAT SERVE?
How under heaven did you …
SISTER, YOU WERE PROJECTING YOUR THOUGHTS OVER THE ENTIRE FOREST. IT WAS LIKE HIGH SPRING OUT THERE. A SWEATY TIDAL WAVE OF BARELY REPRESSED ADOLESCENT LUST DROWNING ALL BEFORE IT.
Gods, really?
THE MONKEYS IN PARTICULAR SEEMED … EXCITED.
She pressed her fists to her temples, glanced over her shoulder at Kin.
WELL, PERHAPS EXCITED IS THE WRONG WORD …
Yes, Buruu, I understand. Thank you.
TITILLATED?
Buruu …
ENGORGED, PERHAPS?
Oh my GODS, stop!
The treetops parted like water as they descended through the canopy, showers of severed green tumbling earthward in their wake. Away from the glare of the garish day, Yukiko pulled her goggles down around her throat, ran her hand across her eyes.
You could really hear what I was feeling?
LOUD AS THUNDER. AS IF I FELT IT MYSELF.
She chewed her lip, listening to the faint cacophony on the edge of her subconscious.
The Kenning has never been like this before, Buruu. Your thoughts are louder than I’ve ever heard. If I listen, I can hear every animal for miles. All those impulses and lives stacked atop one another. It’s deafening.
YOUR FATHER NEVER SPOKE TO YOU OF THIS?
He never even told me he had the gift. But, he drowned his Kenning in liquor and smoke. Maybe this is why? Maybe as we get older, it gets louder? Or maybe breaking Yoritomo’s mind did something to break mine?
She sighed, ran her fingers through his feathers.
I don’t understand any of this, brother …
They circled past a copse of maidenhairs, knotted branches and shovel-tip leaves laden with rain. The soft scent of green rot entwined with the perfume of deepening autumn, the leaden smell of the storm above. Thunder
Clasping Buruu’s neck, she tried to ignore Kin’s hands on her hips, the play of muscle across his chest as he leaned against her. She entwined her fingers in the arashitora’s feathers, felt for the heat of his mind, growing more jagged and bright with each passing moment.
You’re awfully quiet.
ABOUT WHAT?
Don’t play coy with me.
YOU CHIDE ME FOR PLAYING COY. AFTER TELLING THE BOY YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU FEEL, THEN LUNGING FOR HIS TONSILS A HEARTBEAT LATER.
I … He makes me feel something, Buruu. Something I think I need right now.
MMN.
Well, go on then. Get it off your chest.
The thunder tiger tossed his head, swooped around a castle of tangled sugi trees, wisps of lightning crackling at his wingtips. She could feel him in her mind, loud as the thunderstorm gathering overhead, stubborn as the mountains around them, reminding her so much of her father she could almost smell pipe smoke. She remembered the beast she’d roamed the Iishi with, the arrogance and pride, the fury coiled inside him. He’d been an animal then. Clever, yes, but still driven by instinct rather than conscious thought. Now he was more; ferocious cunning layered with human faculties for judgment. And she could feel the urge to speak his piece bubbling inside him like a wellspring, until finally he couldn’t stop himself.
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOUR KIND. WITH ARASHITORA, THE FEMALE CHOOSES THE MATE WITH THE STRONGEST WINGS, THE SHARPEST CLAWS. THE MALE HAS NO CHOICE AT ALL. HE IS SIMPLY A SLAVE TO INSTINCT AND THE FEMALE’S SCENT.
Well, that sounds awful.
IT IS SIMPLE. YOU HUMANS. ALL THIS SIGHING AND SPITTLE SWAPPING. YOUR COUPLING IS COMPLICATED BEYOND ALL NEED OR REASON.
Gods, please don’t use that word …
MY OTHER OPTIONS ARE LESS POLITE.
Because you’re usually a paragon of courtly manners?
The thunder tiger harrumphed, swooped lower so his belly brushed the tree line. Gentle rain began falling from the storm-washed skies.
TELL ME. THE MASHING OF YOUR FACES TOGETHER …
Kissing.
IT DEMONSTRATES AFFECTION.
Yes.
AND THE TONGUES?
… What?
HONESTLY, WHAT PURPOSE DOES THAT SERVE?
How under heaven did you …
SISTER, YOU WERE PROJECTING YOUR THOUGHTS OVER THE ENTIRE FOREST. IT WAS LIKE HIGH SPRING OUT THERE. A SWEATY TIDAL WAVE OF BARELY REPRESSED ADOLESCENT LUST DROWNING ALL BEFORE IT.
Gods, really?
THE MONKEYS IN PARTICULAR SEEMED … EXCITED.
She pressed her fists to her temples, glanced over her shoulder at Kin.
WELL, PERHAPS EXCITED IS THE WRONG WORD …
Yes, Buruu, I understand. Thank you.
TITILLATED?
Buruu …
ENGORGED, PERHAPS?
Oh my GODS, stop!
The treetops parted like water as they descended through the canopy, showers of severed green tumbling earthward in their wake. Away from the glare of the garish day, Yukiko pulled her goggles down around her throat, ran her hand across her eyes.
You could really hear what I was feeling?
LOUD AS THUNDER. AS IF I FELT IT MYSELF.
She chewed her lip, listening to the faint cacophony on the edge of her subconscious.
The Kenning has never been like this before, Buruu. Your thoughts are louder than I’ve ever heard. If I listen, I can hear every animal for miles. All those impulses and lives stacked atop one another. It’s deafening.
YOUR FATHER NEVER SPOKE TO YOU OF THIS?
He never even told me he had the gift. But, he drowned his Kenning in liquor and smoke. Maybe this is why? Maybe as we get older, it gets louder? Or maybe breaking Yoritomo’s mind did something to break mine?
She sighed, ran her fingers through his feathers.
I don’t understand any of this, brother …
They circled past a copse of maidenhairs, knotted branches and shovel-tip leaves laden with rain. The soft scent of green rot entwined with the perfume of deepening autumn, the leaden smell of the storm above. Thunder
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