Ah, phooey!

> > > > >

Momiji scampered back and forth along a cliff face where other adventurers gathered, the throng clearing to stragglers far before he ceased the overaction of his legs. If anything, he never slowed. His movements just got faster -- too fast, lunging on his feet in broad leaps blink to blink.

<<<<<

His expression, too, didn't falter; puzzled, was it, or worried? Considerate? He was lost in his thoughts and in the motion he trapped himself within, struggling both to come up with a cohesive new plan and break from the burrow he had paved through snow. He began to pout. Sniffle. 

v v v v v vvvvvvv

If Staggy had come with him, he wouldn't be in this predicament - but the creature had fallen into his cups in the later evening and Momo - after repeated poking, prodding, and sticking - had decided against a night in. He needed the action. He needed the excitement. He needed ...

^

And then he stopped, abruptly. His face cleared. His eyes brightened and he spun in place in a sudden aboutface, one foot lifted and the other to turn as an axle. He lingered in this position, trembling, and then slammed it down to give him both propellers to a hop closer to the steep rock. He'd stare at it in complete silence, open his mouth, close his mouth, and then open it again with his first made sound that wasn't the friction of the elements against his pretty reddened legs. He shivered, tilting his head back as if facing to the heavens.

"Who will help Momo!?" So came his master plan. "Oh ... woe!! Woe is Momo! owwoᵒᵒᵒᵒ!!"

[ 307 ]

A deep inhalation basking in the wealth of isolated scents that permeated Mother Nature's domain with arms pulling to unfasten the tie digging too tightly into his neck. Vesper was not dressed for the occasion, upholding the creed as it were, to always dress as your best self - to be as elegant as possible. The occasion in question? Something a little familiar to the young baker, but with a daring twist all in good fun. Cooking a meal while clinging so desperately to a cliffside was not something Vesper would have ever considered participating in, but that's the appeal of the trip, no?

He was alone in this endeavor, his best friend was too busy to come along, and no matter how much Vesper begged and pleaded like a needy puppy, Briar wouldn't budge. A hand raises to wipe the sweat dripping from his brow, irritating friction of his wrist that causes skin to billow across his forehead. He huffs and puffs, following his nose to trail behind the other participants, lugging around a backpack full of cooking utensils and climbing gear. Vesper was too skittish to cluster too closely to others, especially a group that seemed to build with every passing checkpoint. He was content to be the lone wolf for this particular activity, immersed in the desire to conquer this ordeal all by himself.

Well, that was the plan. A sound from beyond the horizon - a cry behind the weeping willows praying for salvation. From what? Vesper hadn't the faintest clue, but a call for help was an inevitable spring to action for the fledgling hero. A swift dash beyond the barrier of the trees that obscured the vulnerable "Momo" from gallant providence.  

"Is everything okay!? I'm here now!" Vesper scampers over, crouching down to meet the wailing and ailing boy flashing an innocently warm smile, pawing up to brush his bangs aside. He didn't appear to be injured, which elicited a sigh of relief and a tilt of Vesper's head to catch vivid emerald with ruby. "Hi, Momo~ My name is Vesper Lovera, at your service~" An outstretched hand to assist, beckoning to continue their adventure up the mountain together, an answer to the question he overheard in a simple gesture. Vesper would help Momo~

"Let's go together, okay?"

[388]

A reply would answer Momiji's plaintive whining like a rescue dog coming to dig him out of the cliff face; he pawed at the stone with weak, limp wrists, his lower lip falling in a tremble. A boy had bounded over to him, fair of face and soft edges. Momo paused when his head tilted back, craning to look behind him without turning his body away from the objective, and the dazzle in his eyes overtook his curious expression until his face split into an upside-down frown. "ʷᵒᵃʰ! A prince! A prince came for Momo!" He exclaims.

He'd purse his lips together in an awestruck 'ooooh', widening his eyes on every word of aid offered from this new friend. He clapped his hands together in front of him, back still toward Vesper, and then twirled in place with a whip of his head that left him trembling to reconfigure himself when every limb caught up with the motion and his about-face had landed him directly in Vesper's line of sight. He giggled, one hand holding his cheek and the other playing at the air as if it might just reach out and pet Vesper. "Momo's okay now! There's a prince!" Momiji points at Vesper, as if the target of his attention would be otherwise confusing.

His words tattled from his lips in his thick, broken accent, rumbling as if he might purr between his high-pitched - excited! - squeals. "ᵥₑₛₚₑᵣ, Vesper ... aaaah, wordy! Veh-es-purr?" He'd play with this on his tongue, surging in movement again to step in wide, inquisitive glances around Vesper; circling him with hands brought just under Momiji's own chin, clasping them together with a wishful, starlit gaze. "A prince! Better, hai, hai? ✰ Love Prince! ✰" He threw his arms wide, hopping back on a foot to make a slight distance between them and better scan Vesper along with his tag-along items. He had come prepared? For Momo?! "You're pretty!"

His fingers snapped, a light vibrating out from his eyes on the other mage. He'd giggle again, something dimming to a composite point inside that stare. "And ⁿᶦᶜᵉ! Are you nice, Mr. Prince? You are, right, hai?" Then he'd tap between his feet excitedly, pointing up the cliff side.

"Momo needs to go up there ... but oh no, oh NO says Momo, 'cause Momo can't cook ... and, and, Momo can't climb, oh no." He'd show his hands, palms flat toward Vesper, as if the unmarred nature of his twitching fingers might prove his point for him. He sighed, looking at Vesper with a slope to his shoulders and big, sparkling eyes. "Were you helping Momo to cook? Or, or --" And he interrupted himself, spinning in place, only to point suddenly at a nearby older couple. "Help! Momo and the Prince will ᵈ ᶦ ᵉ ! You have to help! They need ... food!!"

Their faces, pleasant at first sight, blinked to abject confusion at the tweaking little creature.

[ 467 ]

Every motion bleeds in passion that could never be contained, overflowing until it leaves his captive audience completely enamored. Vesper didn't know how to react to the gale whipping up a storm so vivaciously, eyes flared to gaze with blooming red roses. The paleness of his cheeks flooded with ruddy waters. An elegant oasis etched into the cliff side in the meeting of two princes. Vesper leans over, a finger battening his lips closed out of fear of an uncouth parting, split open from wonder. This boy was an odd one. Fascinating. A pitter-patter in his chest beating in tandem with the little maestro's rhythm. A whip of his body, spreading wings as if to take flight, but instead they found their roost, outstretched to point at Vesper.

Vesper tilts his head, half confused but mostly flattered by the noble title bestowed upon him. He'd never thought himself the princely type and found himself wiggling at the repeated mention of the title that felt wholly undeserved. It sounded so endearing coming from his adorable foreign accent, quivering lips and words that elevated in pitch with every erratic flourish. A soft chuckle escaped his lips, and he bows so readily as if to graciously accept it regardless. "Mhm! What kind of prince would I be if I ignored the pleas of someone as adorable as you?" Vesper rummaged through his pack, pawing around to pluck a piece of homemade candy to give to the excitable Momo. "Here you go~ Everything is going to be okay now. Did you get lost? That's okay, you can just tag along with me then~" A quick flash of a smile that radiates as bright and fleeting as any given stir of the tempest.

Vesper quickly realized that the boy had long shed any semblance of inhibition, every thought pouring from his lips like a deluge. His face begins to saturate, pink burning into a deep crimson that matched his eyes that were since left dazed by the sight of something too bright. Paralyzed and thoughts devoid of a normal response. "Uhmm... Thanks! You're really pretty, too!" His eyes shift to the side, paw raising to nervously stroke the fringes of his hair while his foot taps against broken branches. "H-Hai! I'm nice, too. Don't worry I'll take care of you..." A soft mutter while he looked away, hiding away within the sensation of friction between his fingers.

There was no calm. Magical and fleeting with a tempo that was impossible to keep up with - One, two, three! Presto~! Hands splayed out, whining, begging in such a pitiful and darling manner. Vesper couldn't help but grin, face trying so hard to fight the urge to giggle along with the boy. He knew he had to be responsible for this little disaster, or at the very least keep him occupied. He was struggling to recover from the onslaught of emotions swelling up inside when another question was posed. "Yeah I was going to help with the-" Before he could even finish, the boy had found more victims - pleading to the old couple for help just as woefully.

"No, no, no. It's okay, Momo! That's why I'm here. I'm here to help remember?" He steps towards the  boy, hands gently resting on his shoulders with a reassuring squeeze as he leans down, craning his neck to behold lush viridian. "I'd like to think I'm pretty good at cooking, so don't worry~ I'd never let you starve. We can climb together, too! Wouldn't you like that? Climbing up the mountain with your prince?" He spoke to Momo like he was a child being delicately comforted, a soft tenor that fluctuates in pitch to be as pleasing as possible. Vesper waves towards the old couple, signaling that there was nothing to worry about and holds an arm out for the boy to cling to while they began their adventure up the mountain.

[672]

The curtains were drawn and quartered. It was a fell blink that took the previous rondo with it, a whirlwind silence in its quell with the close and shut of his eyes in that moment. His eyes on Vesper wavered. They popped with dozens of fireworks lit by the other boy's words, widened again and this time - intense. It was a spotlight placed on this princeling. He froze in place, the eye of the storm, and it only lasted that brief, brief instant. A transitional second. In another's world it'd register not even an impact, no stone turned, a single line in a breeze. It was the tree in a forest. There it went, timber.

But Momo heard it. Momo heard it. Oh! "You!" The boy sang, the confused coupling he had bothered moments before - and Vesper had already handled, not that Momiji was going to spare them a second thought - dismissed and taking the chance to scuttle off after confirming that the boys really were okay. Just some eccentricities; the brunette one appeared to have the blonde under control. Momiji's arm had flung wide and pointed directly at Vesper, made harder when the space was closed. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. BA-DUM. "Oh!"

Something, somewhere, went spiraling. The butterfly of Vesper's lips drove a tempest. Momiji didn't seem to know what to do with himself and the offered arm, looking between his twitching - disarmed - hands with an agape expression and eyes brimming with starlight. Pop, pop, pop. That was the sound his chest made in visible thrums, his pupils practically sharing space with stars and hearts. A prince! A prince had come to his rescue, and the prince was so ... so ... so ...

"Cute! Cute! You're too cute!" Momiji squeals, ignoring the previous offer to throw his arms around Vesper and jump up and down; dragging the other with him and in circles, twirling on each resoundant squeeze. "Momo thinks you're so cute! Vespureh! Wow! Wow!!" His laughter had turned to a hyena's cackling, maddened giggles and the taps of his feet each time they hit the ground anew. There was the impact. The stones turned. He hopped backward toward the cliff face, loosing his grip on Vesper, only to find himself stepping up the stony wall and hanging horizontal from its outcrop in defiance of gravity. It rippled with light, his feet winged, and his arms hung light around Vesper's shoulders. He watched him, wide-eyed, before touching his forehead to the top of the other boy's. He hummed, a singsong with his very breath. "Momo's prince."

Thus was it sealed, an untouchable light resonant around Momiji's frame and the contact between the two. Vesper would have to untangle himself if he wanted to go any further with the quest - Momo was basking, stroking the side of the wolf's head. He was going to be taken care of.

[ 531 ]

Vesper had plenty of experience playing the role of a knight, a prince, even the odd princess every now and again, whether it be to placate the wondrous imagination of children or entertain the plethora of theatergoers when he'd performed alongside his best friend, Briar. He didn't spare it much of a thought. If the boy desired the salvation of a Prince Charming, then Vesper would gladly adorn that regal crown, glimmering opulence that  harmonizes wholly with a smile that was a bow meant only for him. Vesper was taken aback by the sheer exuberance on display, a soft giggle as he seemed awestruck, little mind racing at a pace similar to his teetering fingers and limbs. The birth of a new star, stellar sparks beaming with a torrential cascade that overflows and congeals into dazzling jade. Momo was cute. It was indisputable. Euphoric in the vibrations of a creature that glowed so bright.

He was surprised again. Arms strain to engulf the pretend prince, caught up in the gravity of a celestial object, bursting in turbulent sunspots that flick tepid embers that gently kiss the skin of a mere mortal. Vesper had never met someone that radiated their essence so purely. The happiness and elation that couldn't be contained, visible even in the emptiness of space. If Vesper was cute, then this boy could only be referred to as a marvel. Resplendent, heavenly - anything that elevated him before earthly comprehension.

"Wh- Oh goodness!" He's given no opportunity to riposte the glowing praise, swept up in the sparkle of a shooting star revolving so intimately around himself. Vesper's arms unravel - bloom towards that radiant light and entangle around its core, supporting it in its rightful place hovering high above. He can't contain his smile that expands beyond the boundary of his face, eyes reflecting viridescence as he reveled in such joyous laughter. "Aren't you just adorable, yourself! I'll be Momo's prince forever and always! Something like a princely knight that will always come to your rescue, yeah? It's a vow." Momo was almost cheating with how he appealed to Vesper's sensibilities. Petting him so affectionately, a happy smile and dulcet laughter teeming with child-like innocence and a darling little accent. The thump in his heart is blaring now as his face is colored a soft shade of crimson.

He can't find a way to resist the temptations, to indulge a little in this fantasy. "If I'm your prince... then what exactly are you, Momo?" A soft giggle as he sweeps the boy up to cling around his sturdier frame, hopping up to traverse the slight incline. It would be difficult to climb further with the added strain of a boy so tenaciously constricting his every movement. Perhaps, this was good enough. He didn't expect to make a new friend today, so he welcomed the reprieve - the opportunity to cook for two instead. Vesper didn't stray from his touch as he set down his pack, rummaging through to gather all of his cooking equipment. He plucks a bag of sweets and hands them to the boy to spoil him a bit before the main course. "Here you go, Momo~ A little something to hold you over for now while I cook for you. Consider it a treat for being so well behaved." Vesper elevates a hand to pierce the intangible firmament and rests it so gently atop the little luminary, ruffling his hair with a gentle pet - a touch of princely praise.

"Do you mind telling you a bit about yourself, Momo? I'd really like to get to know you~" Vesper is preparing the meat that would soon be roasted over a small bonfire for the two to share and genuinely wanted to get to know his companion, but a thought sprouts in the doldrums of such mundane work. A quick perk of his eyes to peek up with a flash of a smile. "Oh! By the way. I adore your accent. It's very cute~" Only fair to return every flattering compliment with another.

[673]

Whisked. There was something that lit - a new star in the sky - on Momo's ascent in Vesper's arms, his eyes and mouth widening to breathe the very sparkles overtaking his every spot of vision. It blotted everything but the rather bishonen frame of Vesper he pictured, roses blooming, enraptured. He pricked himself on the thorns with a certain eagerness. Dug his hands into Vesper's arms and back, scuttling, a bug or koala to hang from the other boy's shoulders; if not the cat he was, little clawtips and flicks of an amorous tail.

It wasn't so simple. This wasn't the entertainment Staggy offered. It was something different. Something pure - something given, something taken. Momo thought he might explode. It pounded in his ears. It broke his heart. It had him almost panting, his cheeks a step below burning in a similar way to Vesper's - he was a creature born of fire and brim and it expelled in the heat on the boy's neck, the warmth in his core spreading not to ignite but smelt. He was melting. He was dazed by the fireworks in every pop from his lips, hanging on with every word the other so carelessly spilled for him. He lapped it up. Gasped until all oxygen in the atmosphere was collected in his little frame, trembling as if he might start crying --

And instead he shouted, throwing wide his arms and clinging from Vesper with his legs alone around his waist; unbalancing both without a care, and he slunk backward, bending behind to yell out over the ground they were leaving behind. "Momo loves you! Momo loves Vespureh!" He hollered, pawing his way back up only to vice constrict his new prince in a hug that threatened again to take them back to the earth. Vesper was strong, though! He was a knight! Momo's voice rattled in a song sang, pitching through every bell note and trembling with energy to dwarf his previous activity. "Momo loves you, Vespureh! You're a good prince! The best prince! The ᵇᵉˢᵗ! You're the best! Momo thinks you're ᵃ ᵐ ᵃ ᶻ ᶦ ⁿ ᵍ! Momo is ... Momo is ..."

And he paused, his breath catching with how little he was getting between his rambling affections and the way Vesper had to keep righting himself to stop them from crashing down. He couldn't possibly pay that mind, leaving all the effort to his patron. He had promised, anyway. He vowed himself to Momo, ♡ forever and always. ♡ Nothing else mattered anymore. He cherishes the candy without eating it despite his gluttonous nature, holding it in a breast pocket that thrummed just over his heart. Or because of it, manic in its beating as the rest of him. "Momo is ... Momo!!!" He'd exclaim, cackling wildly with unburdened entertainment. If Momiji had played to Vesper's weaknesses, the mannered wolf was a calamity for Momiji. He was going to cause one.

"Momo is a good boy." A smile, his tone softer, a warning just below every word that he might detonate again at any second. Fulmination in iridescent green. His gaze was chartreuse. I spy, I spy. "So you have to take care of Momo, okay? Hai? And Momo will love you forever, ᴼⁿii-chan ~"

He looked almost innocent. Maybe that's all Vesper saw of him. He was vibrant in the turn of the high afternoon light, his smile unmasked. He felt ... well, he felt like he could do anything right now. He could love anything. He could rip it apart. His body wanted to do it all at once. He wanted to hold something. He wanted to crush it. He wanted to mold himself with Vesper until what became of them was unrecognizable. He laughed, again. Clapped his hands at Vesper's chest, swaying his head from side to side in elation. "Momo is cute, hai, hai? Still learning Fiore. It's funny. You're all funny. But the prince ... the Prince is more than funny. Vespureh is pretty. Pretty, pretty nii."

There was no inhibition with his fingers prodding the other's face, squishing and kneading and stretching to his contentment. He never hurt him - but neither did he relinquish his contact. He'd pull on his cheek if the other tried to wane him off. "Momo is Guardia Compagnia. Nothing else! Free, ᶠʳᵉᵉ Momo ~ բᵣₑₑ, cute, ᵍᵒᵒᵈ Momo ~ And now Momo is here ... with you!! Yay! Yay!!"

It was going to be a long climb.

[ 808 ]

A pretty flame that danced, flickered and expanded to the edges until it overflowed, melting the fragile glass of a tiny lantern. It ruptures from its shell with such delirious frenzy and envelops the prince with an all-encompassing fever. Vesper is entangled with volatile limbs that cling greedily to his body, shaking him off balance in more ways than one. The tepid breath staining his neck with sparkling humidity sends a wave of modest shame shivering down his spine from a passing impure thought. Momo was cute, way too cute. Vesper's eyes widen in fear, a hand scrambling to regain the stability lost from Momo's abrupt declaration of love and the vice grip threatening to pry them from their sky-bound ascent. "Ah...! You love me!? Awwww~" He peeks back with a chirp, cheeks flushed with roses that bloom in reply. Vesper was enraptured by such beaming praise, soaking up every ray of the twinkling star, pulsing so violently. It was too intoxicating to be doted on so possessively. "You're really something special aren't you, Momo?"

Vesper hums a gentle tune while swaying to the beat of a wagging tail that dangled spectral between his legs, hand raising to pat the tempestuous feline's head. "Mhm~ Momo is good boy! Your.. O-nii-chan will always be there when you need him, okay?" Vesper understood the meaning of the title, no stranger to the honorific from various comics he enjoyed, but it still felt a bit strange to say out loud. A big brother and a prince added tp the collection of parts to play. He'd be anything for the boy to see the smile that seemed to stretch infinitely, vibrating to the rhythm of his chaotic, uninhibited emotions. Dependency shared within one another - eternity in the throes of the Cheshire cat beaming an everlasting smile.

Vesper was liquid, flowing and molten from the loving touch and affections that were blessing his every action; never a hindrance. He was eating it up like any good dog would. Ruby eyes spill with an enamored luster that always seem to find their way back to viridian hearts. The gentleness of Vesper's expression never waned, never became disfigured by irritation at the paws that eagerly blended with his body. Vesper was putty in the boy's hands, twisting and turning to placate every vagary and urge. "Nuh-uh! If anybody is pretty here, I think it's you!" It was a playful retort, bright eyed grin, with paws that raised again, cusping his cheeks wholly to mold to his whims, ruffling and teasing with tiny shakes. "I really love the way you talk... if that makes sense." He releases Momo from his clutches and continues prepping for their meal as he talks about himself, curious paws still tracing along Vesper's face and frame.

"It must be nice to be so free and cute, huh? Hehehe- I'm in Blue Pegasus, so I'm not sure if we would have met otherwise. I'm really thankful... Now I get to make a meal for Momo~" He crouches down and strikes flint with stone at this makeshift campfire, cinders that pale in comparison to the supernova hanging from his side. "I think we've climbed enough, yeah? You can settle in with me while I cook, okay, Momo? You'll be a good boy for your big brother, yes?" Praise bubbles with the flow of butterflies flying sanguinely to satiate the chaotic squall. A promise in continued praise should he remain on his best behavior.

Momo is special! Special! Special! Momo is a special boy, he knew, the prince said, Staggy said -- everyone thought Momo was so special, and pretty, and cute, 'cause he is. A flourish of light sparkled between his emerald gaze, glittering in the aftertrail of the comet that was Vesper's returned affection. It made him want to explode. It burnt through his body, clenching tighter around Vesper until briefly - in just the span of one big, quavering squeeze - it seemed like he'd get an explosion out of the other boy instead. He didn't want to pop off the prince's head, he realized, and relaxed over the dwindling course of a second that kept his arms fully entangled but his grip less constricting. He was no snake, after all.

No, Momiji was no snake.

He purred like a cat, laughed like a hyena, and chittered like a bird with his head resting on Vesper's shoulder and nudging in occasionally at the side of his head with toying pecks. "O n i i - chan! See! Woah, woah, good job, Vesprrrrreh! You learn from Momo fast. Hai, hai -," and he returned to treating the boy's cheeks like play-dough, kneading him into shapes between the sounding consonants of his words; and, to Momiji's surprise, Vesper urged him on with that same shared joy. "You're weird!" He laughed, jolting his hands up to ruffle through Vesper's hair in every direction - musing his strands to an unkempt mess and petting a ruly, complacent dog in the same breadth. "Heeee ... hehehahaha! Onii-chan, onii-chan ~"

If for any other faults Momiji wasn't a difficult character to entertain,  kept so by the smallest inclination from Vesper and further making his own fun at every turn. With no barrier to his excitement, and no attempt to put a stopper on his boundless energy, he'd see no end until he tuckered out; and for poor Vesper, that didn't seem to be the case any time soon. Still, he handled him well. "Momo is cute!" The boy retorted as his explanation for why Vesper would like the way he talked; 'cause he talked cute, of course. And why would he talk cute? Well, it must be because he was cute. For the constant odd inflections and dissident stares that spliced between his regularly bombastic attitude, Momiji didn't present complicated. It was hard to say he was at all.

"Onii-chan talks funny, too ~ You go, you go ... ueeeheehahaha ... you go - 'Awr awr awr, do not worry, Vespureh is here to save the day! I am big strong and can do anything! Vespureh ... loves Momo!!'" His imitation fell apart quickly and especially at the end, but his point was made between the side-churning laughter that had him slipping off Vesper's back until he hit the campsite the other boy had tended to for them in the process of his play. Momiji continued to giggle, blinking away tangling eyelashes, and cast his gaze wide to the sky above. When had it started getting later? Did time really pass like that? "Momo doesn't know that one. Blue ... Pegasus ...? Remember, remember ~ Momo will have to ask friends. To find you again! Otay? Hai, hai? Otay, Onii-chan?" He'd lift himself with his eyebrows to prop up and stare wide-eyed, wide-mouthed back at Vesper, impressing the gravity. "When you leave, you'll find Momo again, too?"

"... And cook again! Yay, yay~! More candy, too!" And of course, he devolved back into giggles, kicking his feet and rolling on the ground to right himself that much closer to where Vesper was hard at work. He hadn't contributed nominally to the climb, or the cooking, and if anything had served as something of a counter force ... but Vesper's perseverance proved his strongest quality in the face of this tempest. If he could brave Momiji at the height of his attentions, the young magi would be well suited for any coming challenges in his life.

"Momo will be a good boy, Onii-chan ~ If you stay with Momo, yeah, yeah?"

[ 693 | exit ]