Roommate

Featuring Amadán

Autumn, Year 765 of the New Age

Oakfern, the Warren

Set immediately after Renewing Friendships.

     That… hadn’t been what -- or who -- he’d expected to run into.  Especially after having just been jolted out of a nightmare. It had  helped chase away the remnants of his haunted sleep, at least, and he  actually found himself walking back into his den with a relaxed gait.

     Amadán settled back into his corner; he rarely bothered gathering  material for a nest nowadays. His earlier encounter was allowing him to  hope that he may actually get some peaceful sleep. He shifted, getting  comfortable.

Then he happened to finally take in his surroundings, and –

    “…Oh. I-it’s y-you again.”

     A tiny ball of feathers stood right in front of him, watching him  with yellow orbs bulging out of its face that he supposed one could call  eyes. It held his gaze, unblinking, and tilted its head  ever-so-slightly every few seconds.

    It had become normal  occurrence to see this burrowing owl around. At first, it had just  happened to show up in one of his dens – it hadn’t really been his den,  just an empty hollow he’d decided to settle in for the night. During  his long period of isolation, he’d hopped from abandoned dens almost  nightly. Regardless of how far or near his newest spot was, the little  owl would keep showing up. It had been rare at first. Amadán hadn’t even  realized it was the same owl until he started seeing it about every  other night. By then, he’d figured out it was a female, with a  distinguishing dark tip to her beak and the most ridiculous eyes he'd  ever seen.

    He’d never liked the idea of a denmate, but owls were  sacred creatures, and the idea of chasing her off was not a good one, as  much as he liked the thought of it.

    He rested his chin on the  cool stony floor. His nose was barely an inch away from the little owl’s  feet, yet she remained there, eyes glued to him. After a few motionless  seconds, he let out a puff of air. The little owl’s chest feathers  ruffled and she flapped her wings before letting out an indignant chirp.  Amadán snorted.

    “Y-you’re something.”

    He was about to  shut his tired eyes when the owl made a hop to one side, then the other.  She kept her eyes on him the whole time, almost like she was trying to  figure something out. Then suddenly, she hopped forward to land directly  on his head, and proceeded to hop up his long antlers. Amadán’s head  shot back up in surprise.

    “Wha – hey, h-hang on, you little r-r-rat!”

     He gave an irritated shake of his head, but she clung on, squeaking  angrily at him. He twisted his mouth to the side and huffed. He couldn’t  see her from where she perched, but he still decided to shoot a  halfhearted glare upwards. After only a brief pause, having considered  his options, he slowly set his head back down again. Fine. She didn't weigh that much, anyway.

     “F-fine. Just d-don’t go making a m-m-mess up there,” he told her  drowsily. His eyelids dropped shut, and the little owl puffed out her  chest in satisfaction. She waited only a few moments, then made her way  down from his rack to land beside his head. Amadán's  eyes popped open again when he felt her shuffle under his neck. He was  about to lift his head up in confusion, when he realized she had snuck  her way to the other side of his neck in order to be underneath his  thick curtain of a mane. He felt her settle down into a fluffy ball with  his hair blanketing her as her feathers brushed against his neck.

     Amadán let out another slow sigh and rolled his eyes. He didn't have  the energy to move or deal with her now; he'd already given up. “Let ‘em  g-get away with o-one thing, a-a-and they c-can get away with  anyth-thing,” he mumbled, unconsciously quoting what his mother had once  liked to say about him and his brother.