Bas almost didn’t notice the passing of the season. The next thing he knew, the nights were getting terribly cold, and he realised that Autumn had passed them by, and Winter had arrived. Winter. That meant that he and Hazel had both reached adulthood. He felt like there should be something… some acknowledgment of the passing season.

So he set them up with a decent supply of snacks (both of them had decent appetites) and poached some alcohol from Halo. Hopefully, she won't miss it any time soon. He set up in their little tree house, and waited for Hazel to come home. He maybe, kind of, rigged up a bag of feathers above the door to fall on her when she walked in. but birthdays needed a bang, right?


"Basilisk Fatalis"

Two years had come and gone... two whole years. Two years in the Armada with her best friend, what more could she ask for? It had been a year, too, since her brush with death. Nearly a year. They'd been in the north for a year now too. So much had changed and so much had stayed the same. For turning two, Hazel didn't feel any different. The days came and went, she did her job, she patrolled. Sometimes she helped Halo with things, or did what she could to work with the pups. Was it routine or was it monotony? Probably somewhere in between.

Halo had sent her back from helping in the garden with a basket of snacks and honey, as was typical. The bees had been kind this year, and there was so much honey to spare. Honey, tea, seasoned meats and sweetened nuts. All the lovely things. It had all been wrapped and packaged carefully, with love. Hazel smiled softly to herself, walking home through softly falling snow. Carefully, she climbed up to their tree house, ready to come home to her best friend.

And then it happened. The basket thudded softly to the floor (with no breakage as far as she could tell) as the bag of feathers came tumbling down around her. "Bas what the fuck!" Hazel shouted, swatting at the debris as it came down around her. Surprise, sure, but she was also laughing. It was a hell of a prank, and she was borderline roaring with laughter as she did her best to right herself through the feathery assault.
"Speech"

Basilisk put his head on his paws and let out a sigh. Their schedules didn’t always line up exactly, and waiting was boring. He ended up having a little dose, and woke to music in his ears. Bas, what the fuck! He woke suddenly, and tilted his head. Grinning and stretching and getting to his paws to take in the true majesty of his work. Snow had fallen from loose branches and kicked up by her paws. Anywhere where her fur was wet, the feathers stuck. She looked like a porcupine, all prickly.

He raced towards her, scooping feathers in his mouth as he did and tossed them at her. Watching them fall slowly. One stuck to her forehead and he sniggered, and then he was laughing. Until he could barely get a breath in. ’Ha-” He wheezed “Ha-happy Birthday Hazel!” he grabbed another pawful of feathers and wiped them across her face. He didn’t have to act like an adult with Hazel, just because he became one. Right?


"Basilisk Fatalis"

She wasn't mad, no, but that didn't keep her from pouncing on Bas as he cleared the bedroom that they had bickered over and ultimately ended up sharing most nights. She was damp in so many spots, and it would be in her best interest to try and slime him with as much remaining moisture as she could. Laughing the whole way, the feathers still floating around on all sides and making the floor slippery beneath their paws. Hazel sprung at the boy, laughing as she did. "Happy birthday to both of us," she cackled.

The girl leaned up to lick his cheek, as slobbery as possible, so she could blow even more of the feathers into his dark coat. A wayward feather stuck to her forehead, and more on her cheek and shoulder. Laughing gleefully, rolling, playing-- sure they were technically grown now, but what did that matter? Alleged adults, but alleged at best. The two of them were held together by so much, more than they even knew. In chaos there is comfort. Here, Hazel is home.
"Speech"

It wasn’t long before Basilisk was as coated as Hazel was. She gave as good as she got, and he expected as much. His sides hurt from laughing, and they both stank of feathers and snow. She pounced on him, and he let her knock him to the ground. Rolling, and pulling her on top of him. Groaning as she placed a wet lick across his cheek. He rubbed the offended fur in her coat, which only served to wipe feathers across his face.

He huffed, amused and exasperated. “We're a mess. I got us some food and… other stuff I snuck from Halo’s den, but maybe we should clean up first…” He suggested. They’d gotten even more coated than he had expected. As he waited for her answer her rubbed his cold snout into her neck a couple more times.


"Basilisk Fatalis"

They were a mess, but they were a mess together. Something that couldn't really be helped, especially when they were nearly inseparable and had been for the better part of two years. They rolled and laughed together. Home. This is what home felt like-- there was no better feeling. The two of them couldn't be pulled apart by anything, not space or time or circumstance. There was no better feeling in the universe. She was sure of it. Even if they were both somewhat-soggy, slobbery, feathery messes. The two of them were held together by things so much bigger than themselves. Not that she was sentimental.

"I wonder whose fault that is," she laughed. "Halo sent me with even more food, it's like she thinks we don't eat," it was the healer's way of showing her love, even if they were just starting to recognize that now. Still, she was reluctant to get up, still flopped across Bas's chest. His cold nose against the side of her neck, and Hazel swatting softly at him as he moved. "We're going to be finding feathers for weeks," another soft laugh. "I guess you're right," a grumble, rolling reluctantly to her feet.

Hazel fished the basket out from the feathers, setting it to the side first. From there she began to slush the bulk of the debris into a pile, taking care to kick them in Bas's direction as she did.
"Speech"