Osgood the Mimic: Part Two (special preview)

I watched the sunrise over the canopy of trees as the sky faded from black, to purple, to pinks and oranges that radiated warmth along the horizon. The rays of the sun stretched out, reaching the Tugly Wood which caused an uproar of singing from the creatures within.

“Don’t you miss this?” Osgood asked.

I breathed in the dewy, cool air. “I see sunrises where I am now.”

“I mean, here, like this. Sitting on top of Tulgey Wood, close to the heavens. Do you do that where you’ve made a nest for yourself?” he chuckled.

I looked up at him, and the way the colors of the sky reflected off his teapot gave him a watercolor appearance. “Not exactly. But we are near the ocean, and the way the sun comes out of the water is almost as breathtaking.”

One of his hands came out from under the lid and patted the top of my head. His long fingers curled within my hair, gently pulling at the nap of my neck. It was a strange sensation, part annoying, part pleasurable.

“What are you doing?” I huffed.

“I’m not sure.” Osgood recoiled his hand.  “You don’t have a handle I can pull on. How am I supposed to...you know?”

I bit my lips to suppress the massive grin trying to grow. “Right here? Right now?”

His big red eye glowed dimly. “Well, I mean, we should try. But not here! Of course not.We’d fall to our deaths.” He jabbed a foot through the canopy.

I chuckled and tried to cover it. “It’s so early, everyone will be waking up.”

Osgood leaned in close, placing a hand under my chin and squeezing my cheeks. “When did you get so modest? What have those other humans been doing to you?” A finger plucked at the lacing on my blouse. “You didn’t use to cover yourself like this.”

I shooed his hand away and laid my hand over my chest. “It’s chilly. And yes, well, maybe I have had to learn a few things out there. But still, if you want to attempt a mating, you could be more inviting than pulling my hair.”

“And how do I invite you?” Osgood teased.

I fluffed out my hair from where he had pulled and tried to buy time. “Well, take me somewhere more private than here for one.”

Osgood scooped me up into one palm. I sort of liked the way his hand felt on my rear, squeezing gently, his fingers pressing into tender areas.

Osgood lowered us down through the canopy. “My new nest might suffice you, but after living in such a fancy home in the kingdom, I dunno if you can rest comfortably without feathers and windows.”

“Are you mocking me?” I jabbed back.

“Maybe I am, Lady Fancy House.” We zoomed through the trees as he leapt and bounced off trunks. His grip became tighter, and his hand around my rear fastened itself. A tickle ran up through my chest and spine and I bit down on my lip.

I gulped as I tried to think of a response. “You’ve gotten an attitude now that you’ve got me!”

“I’m proud of myself, you can’t blame me.” He slammed into a tree and I slammed into him. His teapot felt warm against me.

I wriggled in his hand, causing him to grasp me harder than before. “Stop moving! I don’t want you thrown into oblivion.”

“Your hand is-” I stopped myself as he slipped down the tree. We plummeted faster and faster until he slung us inside the giant trunk. We fell a short distance until we hit his nest, it was a soft landing of moss, downy, and web. Up through the trunk I could see flickering bits of lights.

“Is this private enough for you?” Osgood chuckled as he set me down in the nest.

“This is so nice,” I murmured. “You made this?”

He scoffed. “What? Are you surprised?”

I leaned back in the nest, feeling more comfortable here than I did in my bed back at Lady Blackwood’s home. “Actually? Yes, this is quite nice.”

Osgood turned slightly. “I always hoped you’d come back so I could share it with you. I wanted it to feel...like home.”

I sat back up, bringing my knees to my chest. “I figured you would have found a mate by now, considering well...that it’s you.” I peered up at him. “But thinking that always made me a bit sad. A little angry too.”

He turned back. “Really?”

I nodded. “I’m only human.”