Delouse that thang

Sugarsweet was a nice fella, Kaiwi thought to himself, kind of quiet but agreeable, making an effort to introduce himself when they’d made eye contact at the Lunar Festival. By the end of the night, much to Cassidy’s amusement, they had agreed to go on a hunt together and get to know each other better while Sugar was in the area. He was new here, barely memorising the streets back to his nest and Kaiwi felt his usual urge to mentor any drifter that came through his territory. He had volunteered before he’d even thought it through, but Sugarsweet was eager to get to know the place, having had such trouble navigating since he arrived. Now, they were circling the outskirts of the city to check the grasslands for prey and tracking the smell of elk through the dense shrubs that backed onto the buildings. However, over the usual musty scent of elk, Kaiwi couldn’t help but be distracted by a sweet smell that floated on the wind as he walked behind Sugarsweet, letting him take the lead to work on his wayfinding in the more familiar semi-urban sprawl.

“There's a strange smell, it's been following us all day,” Kaiwi pondered, sniffing the air.

“Ah, that would be me, I'm sorry,” Sugarsweet mumbled, looking down at his feet.

“Oh, well, it's not a bad smell, it's kind of pleasant actually,” Kaiwi tried to appease him awkwardly.

“I know,” Sugarsweet bemoaned, “it's been a problem my whole life.” The purple raptor tilted his head and waited for an elaboration on how this sweet scent would be an issue. “It's the bugs,” Sugarsweet sighed, “they're attracted to me like they would be to real sugar or flowers. I’ve tried fire, brushes, sprays, you name it.”

“See there's your problem, all these modern solutions aren't going to solve this,” Kaiwi scoffed, “Come on now, I'll get you sorted.”

“Now, we'll rid you of these nasty pests the way our ancestors did, with dust and sand,” Kaiwi declared, gesturing at the flat, ashy ground before them.

“You just... roll around in it?” Sugarsweet asked suspiciously.

“Nothing simpler, doesn't have to be a whole complicated procedure,” the older raptor reasoned. He stood out into the sand pit and began to paw at the ground with his feet. The sand moved easily, like water, and piled up into a soft swoop upwards, reaching the height of his ankles. He used his wings to sweep up more until the pile was as wide as his body. He turned to face Sugarsweet and opened his arms, spreading them widely before falling backwards and landing on his pile of sand. He started rolling back and forth, grinding his back into the ground and feeling the grains of sand work their way between his feathers until they reached his skin. He allowed himself another moment of indulgence before he rolled onto his belly and shook the dust from his head. He watched the motes flurry around him in the sunlight, catching the light like glitter and sparkling. He held his breath to avoid taking a lungful of it but he savoured the moment nonetheless. He stood up when it had mildly settled, sending another plume into the air as he shook his body and tail. He looked over his shoulder to see Sugarsweet squinting into the dust cloud. “Your turn!” he said happily, stepping aside and beginning to preen the rest of the dust off of himself.

Sugarsweet took a similar position, falling back like Kaiwi had done and squirming into the sand. He felt the sand chase the bugs out of his feathers, though he couldn’t see them through the dust he had disturbed. The feeling was instantly relieving and he let himself sigh in contentment, unfortunately taking a deep breath after he did so and beginning to gag. He flipped onto his front and kept spluttering as his eyes and nose watered, finally able to take a breath once the dust cleared.

“It takes some practice," Kaiwi reassured him, thumping his back to help him cough up the last of it. Once he had finished rejecting his lungs, Sugarsweet tentatively sniffed the air.

“It didn’t do anything,” he said, dejected.

“Oh, did it not shake the bugs?” Kaiwi asked, peering through Sugar’s scruffy feathers like he could see them.

“No, it did, but I thought it would get rid of the smell,” the pale raptor explained.

“Aw, nothing’s gonna do that,” Kaiwi shrugged. Seeing the other’s distraught face he hurried to continue, “I mean, that’s not a bad thing, if the bugs are the main problem you can manage those, right? A dust bath a day sounds practically luxurious to me!”

“I guess,” Sugarsweet sulked, “But I think I’m gonna keep trying to smell normal.” Kaiwi felt the words stab his pride but he decided to nod sagely instead, putting his claw on the other raptor’s shoulder.

“I understand, I’ll help you out however I can, buddy.”