"Why are you doing this?"
Oceros looked over at his mate, a frown curving down his face. "What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean," Kin responded, tail lashing behind him. "He could kill you!"
"He won't," Oceros said. "Trust me. Have you seen the way he's changed?"
"I don't give a damn about his personality shift. He still did what he did. Do you see the paranoia in Nivea's eyes when she hears his name, or how Tekuta held back his tears when he had to bloody that fucker again? He's dangerous, Oceros. He'll kill you. I don't want him to kill you..."
Oceros stared at the other for a moment, before calmly replying with "He won't."
Kin let out a long, drawn out sigh. "I hate how kind you are..."
The shorter narwhal went over and wrapped his arms around Oceros, pulling him into a tight embrace. He buried his face into his chest, and in response, Oceros also hugged him tightly–running his fingers through his hair.
"Please come home tonight. For the love of the gods please come home tonight... If he kills you I'll–!"
"He won't, Kin," Oceros interrupted, yet in his soft, tender voice. "I promise."
Kin growled at this. "Bastard... I'll load my glock in case I suddenly hear you scream."
"That won't be necessary."
They finally let go of each other, much to Kin's dismay. Oceros knew how protective his mate was of him, how his possible death was his biggest fear...but he couldn't take him along, he wished to speak with the bird alone.
"I love you." Oceros said with a smile, quickly pecking Kin on the lips before leaving the house.
Kin sighed as the door shut, holding himself as he stood in place, now alone.
"I love you too."

...

It wasn't hard to find the bird. Maccormicki had his own house, but he seemed to use it more like a storage area. He was generally outside of it, even to sleep. He wasn't asleep right now luckily, just sitting alone on the ice, staring out at the vast ocean that surrounded the isle.
"Mind if I join you?"
Oceros's voice startled him for a brief moment. He whipped around, eyes wide, the feathers on his wings puffed up defensively. At seeing the kind smiling face of the narwhal, he quickly relaxed himself with a huff, then looking forward again. "If you want."
Oceros slowly walked over to Maccormicki, sitting next to him and staring over at him. This was the calmest the narwhal has ever seen the skua. It was also one of the rare times he's seen him without his hat on. He was currently holding the brim of it in one hand. Maccormicki quirked a brow, glancing up at the narwhal confusingly. "Why are you out here?"
"I wanted to talk to you." Oceros responded.
Maccormicki snorted. "Talk?" He repeated. "I'm not one for talking."
"You look like you need someone to talk to right now."
The skua frowned, huffing. "Oh, do I?"
"Maccormicki," Oceros began. "Please don't be so bitter... I don't come with ill intentions. I've noticed ever since that demon first got here, you started changing. You two have something, don't you? Is that why you seem so solemn?"
"Why the fuck do you care about my personal relationships?" The narwhal frowned at this answer in a certain way that struck Maccormicki for some reason, so he sighed. "Yeah, sure... I may have...a thing for the guy."
"Oh, that's wonderful!" Oceros responded, his frown quickly turning into a smile. "Doesn't it feel wonderful? Having someone like that??"
"No. It's the worst feeling in the world."
"You're not a very good liar."
If it wasn't for the sweet aura Oceros gave off, Maccormicki would've punched him by now. "Sure, the feeling itself is pretty, but this whole thing isn't sunshine and rainbows. Especially considering he goes away for...long periods of time."
"That...would hurt," Oceros responded, his heart hurting at the thought of Kin being gone for so long. "But just having these feelings has changed you! For the better!! You haven't attacked anyone in a really long time. Your temper's gotten better too! Even when Yuka stole something from your house and you caught her, you took the thing back and left her unscathed... Now I know it can be a little frightening at first, I mean, you know how I've changed since I got with Kin... I'm not as naive as before, and I certainly know more about...well, sex now. That kind of thing."
Maccormicki huffed yet again. He did that a lot, didn't he? "That's different. You were already good before. I've never been good, I was born into a shit family and trying to undo all of that is a fucking mess, you hear?" He flinched after realizing what he just said, seeing the wide eyed curiosity on Oceros's face. "Dammit...you're not gonna leave until I tell you, wont you?" Oceros nodded, and a soft growl escaped the bird. "Fine..."
"What was that demon's name again? Kootye?"
"Keutou," Maccormicki corrected. "Listen... I've never had anyone come on to me like that before. Actually adore me, make the first move, y'know? I've always done what my pops did to my ma, used fear and harm to get what I want. Try to enforce some kind of dominance over them. Hurt them. Keep hurting them. They won't stay otherwise...but this is different. I learned my lesson twice y'hear? I don't wanna lose someone like that again. Hell even after everyone berated him with what I did, he still wanted to stay. I can't ruin that. I can't ruin him like my dad ruined my mom, and my sister...and...maybe he was the reason we both joined the military and cut all contact with them. Neither of us wanted to, but sometimes you need to make sacrifices to get to happiness..." He huffed a laugh. "Hey, Oceros, Tekuta and Nivea aren't the only ones on the island affected by me, have you noticed?"
"Well..." Oceros said, putting a hand on the back of his neck. "Nobody really likes you... That's the truth, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry, I've noticed," Maccormicki grumbled. "But do you remember Eirlys's face when she first saw me? That look of hatred in her eyes despite not probably knowing who I was?? Yeah, we fought alongside each other."
Oceros's eyes got wide. "Really?! That's incredible!"
"Not really." Maccormicki muttered, staring down at the hat. "I lost my sis, y'know? We had this unbreakable bond. We were unstoppable as a pair. If we were outnumbered, we could take it, just the two of us."
"Maccormicki... I'm so sorry..."
"Eh, she's been long gone, don't pity me, I've long got over it." He stared down at the hat, frowning. "She was my sacrifice, I guess, even if I'm not happy. At least I'm free. But not long after her death I was moved to another squadron in a different battalion. There I ran into Eirlys's squadron. Yula, Grizzle, and Laven were also in it. You've seen them before... Yeah well, I didn't like them, and they didn't like me because I went out of my way to be a dick to them. They were just like me and my sister, y'know. Unstoppable. I hated that." He suddenly looked over to see a grin on Oceros's face. "The fuck you smiling for?"
"...So you were jealous?"
"WHAT? No!!!"
"Oh you're so jealous!"
"I WAS NOT JEALOUS!!!" Maccormicki snarled, beginning to beat his fists against the narwhal, who laughed. Even after the bird stopped hitting him, he continued laughing. "Why the fuck are you still laughing?!"
"That barely hurt!" Oceros squealed between a laugh. This wasn't amused laughter...it was happy laughter. "I thought you would do much worse at first!!"
Maccormicki frowned, sighing and looking forward again. "Yeah, you would."
Oceros calmed down soon afterwards. "You really have changed..."
"...I wouldn't do it if I didn't want something so badly," He grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I hate this. He was just someone to fuck at first and now every day he's away it hurts me more. I...miss the bastard. I HATE that I miss the the bastard..."
"...What else are you not saying?"
Maccormicki suddenly hugged the hat to his chest. "My reputation here is poor, you know that... I've hurt a lot of people. That's never gonna change. I can't change the past, even if he doesn't care about it... I'm not happy here because of it. Every passing day I realize just how much I fucked up people's lives, and it's fucked, y'know? I don't regret it as much as I should either. I feel like that's gonna change soon too the longer he's away. He's the only thing on my mind nowadays... It's...why I'm thinking of asking him if I can come with him the next time he leaves again. He lives in a scorching world not made for me, but that'd be karma for me, and at least if I left here everyone wouldn't have to be reminded of what I did every time they find my feathers, or look directly at me. And maybe...I could actually hurt people that deserve it."
"D...Don't say that. You shouldn't hurt anyone!"
Maccormicki looked over, a smile curling on his lips for the first time tonight. "You really are too kind, aren't you?"
Oceros shrugged. "I just believe anyone can change...and you're proof of it."
"...Ha..."
Maccormicki looked straight forward again, out to the sea. It was silent for a good few moments, before Oceros stood up.
"I think I've heard all I want to hear, and you've said all you want to say... I should leave you. I'm sure you want more time to think about yourself, and...Keutow."
"Keutou, close enough," Maccormicki responded, suddenly putting a hand on the back of his neck. "Eh...thanks anyway. Guess it was nice having you here."
Oceros smiled, his tail swishing behind him. Before he left, he decided to ask one final question. "Maccormicki?"
The bird turned to him. "Yes?"
"...You didn't get that scar from combat, did you?"
Maccormicki huffed, but there was still a smile on his face as he turned back forward. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
The narwhal was silent after that, before turning to leave, a calm smile on his face.
Maccormicki listened as the sound of Oceros's footsteps in the snow grew quieter and quieter. After they silenced, his complete focus went to the waves again. But where there was water, Maccormicki saw flames.