12: Warmth
Curled up together in a tangle of arms, legs, and wings, after enjoying the sunlight and privacy to fly, I realize this is the warmest I have ever been as I doze off. A sudden pressure on my right wing makes me crack an eye open at a rustle of feathers and I see red obscuring my vision, Daisuke had evidently shifted in sleep. Extracting my right wing from where it had somehow been half pinned under him, I then stretch it out and drape it over us like a blanket. Now more comfortable in this position than having him lying on my wing I attempt to go back to sleep. I am warmed from the embrace of wings, and from the companionship of my first friend, who was so lucky to be born a Niwa. —Unable to resist I carefully shift until my hand is resting on his wing, half buried in the down, and run my fingers through his feathers. He makes a cute noise in his sleep that sounds almost like a purring kitten in response to my touch. Lulled by his purr and the warmth of our feathers I smile and drift off to sleep again.