New Tactics (Momo/Xochi, Tezca/Tenoch)

The Emperor has a human he is clearly falling for, and Momo decides to speed up the process. The Emperor is not amused.

            Xochi was staring at him with narrowed eyes, suspicion practically rolling from him in waves, but Momo refused to look his way. If he did, he’d confess everything, and what would be the fun in that?

“ I know you did it.”

“Did what?” It took all of Momo’s control to keep his face neutral when Xochi hissed, the end of his tail flicking in annoyance.

“You know perfectly well what, you giant oaf! You pushed that human off the viewing platform just to see if Tezcacoatl�"our glorious Emperor, since you seem to have forgotten�"would bother catching him!” Xochi was so worked up, he’d risen as high as he could on his tail without losing his balance, which put him at about the same level as Momo’s nose, and was poking him hard in the chest to punctuate each point.

Because Xochi had really bony fingers and they hurt, Momo caught his hand and finally looked him in the eye. “I did not forget, and I knew Tezca would catch his little warrior. He’s all but claimed the human, who, if you haven’t noticed, doesn’t seem to mind the idea in the slightest.”

His smugness at flustering both his ever-composed cousin�"glorious Emperor or not, he was a little snot as a nestling�"and their not-so-temporary human guest was lost when Xochi smirked. Damn, slithered right into that one.

“I knew you did it. So tell me, did you at least make it seem like an accident, or did you simply toss the poor thing over the railing?”

Momo grinned right back. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. The human merely tripped over the end of my tail and when I tried to pulled him back I clumsily knocked into him and he fell over the edge. It’s very fortunate that our Emperor was there to catch him.”

He nodded sagely at his own logic and Xochi snorted, his face a perfect study in pure skepticism as he retreated back to his side of the doorway. “I hope you have a better excuse than that when Tezca comes hunting for you.”

Their conversation was cut short as Tezcacoatl dragged open the heavy doors to his personal chambers where Momo and Xochi were posted guard.

“You.” Tezca hissed, looking absolutely livid and all but dropping his fangs. Momo barely kept his lips from twitching upward at the sight of him, face flushed with anger and headdress slightly crooked. “I should have your sorry hide skinned and hung above my mantle!”

Xochi was no help at all as he grinned gleefully from behind Tezca’s turned back, shoulders trembling with restrained amusement. Playing dumb had helped him in the past, so Momo just stared back blandly at his Emperor’s furious face and replied carefully, as if he were thinking each word over carefully. “I believe, my Emperor, that our prisoner,” and wasn’t that a joke, the human wasn’t a prisoner in anything other than title, but he’d let his cousin pretend for now, “should be honored that one as grand as yourself would care for his safety and hold him as one would a beloved bride.”

Tezca turned a concerning shade of red and Xochi covered a sound that was suspiciously laugh-like with a cough. Snarling out sounds that only vaguely resembled real words, Tezca made some surprisingly descriptive threatening hand motions at Momo before retreating back into his quarters with an angry snap of his tail against the tiles. He managed to shut his doors with a surprising amount of force despite their weight, and Momo guessed he was probably taking quite a bit of his anger out on them.

As soon as they were shut, Xochi dissolved into a pile of coils and helpless laughter, taking advantage of the thick walls and doors that muffled most sound, barely keeping a hold on his spear. Momo snickered along with him, one hand over his face as he leaned back against the wall. It had been years since Tezca had been that riled up. The human was definitely a keeper, and Momo promised himself not to toss him over any more ledges. It would probably be wise to remember his name as well, and grinned as he wondered just how twitchy Tezca might get when Momo befriended his little human.

Xochi had managed to calm himself down and looked over at him. “I hope it was worth it, because you know he’s going to put you on double-shifts for then next five moon-cycles, don’t you?”

Momo groaned at the thought of so much work and so little sleep, but even then, it had been worth it. Five moon-cycles without the chance to nest properly with Xochi was not a pleasant thought, though. “I’ll make it up to you.”

Xochi raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “And when will you have the time to do that?”

“Tezca’s too angry to even think right now. We’ve got at least tonight before he’s coherent enough to give me my punishment.”

Eyes intent now, Xochi studied him. “Oh? And what do you plan to do with this one night?”

Apparently, today was a day of breaking rules, because Momo slid the short distance to wrap Xochi up in a quick tangle of tails, just long enough to speak, so softly it was barely more than a breath. “Everything I possibly can.”