KALIM x AVIAN!READER
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˙⋆✮ 1,044 words
˙⋆✮ Fluff, pre-relationship, mutual pining.
☆ Kalim spends his afternoon helping preen your feathers <3 ☆
THIS IS LILIA AND KALIM POLL PROPAGANDA.
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A/N: This one-shot was requested as part of my VOTE LILIA 2026 campaign by an anon. Admittedly, I wrote this at 1 in the morning, so if I missed anything in my editing... Well, sorry, I’ll try and fix it later. But SPREADING LILIA PROPAGANDA was more important.
Oh, and since this fic is about Kalim, you should VOTE HIM TOO!! There’s no incentive to do this; he’s just a cutie patootie.
Also, I must admit, I’ve never considered myself a Scarabia girlie at all, but this my third time writing a one-shot focused on them... I’ve technically written for Kalim more than I have Riddle... Suffice to say you guys are starting to convince me. I’m having a great deal of fun thinking about these sillies.
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Kalim loved finding every excuse to spend more time with you. He could sit in the dorm’s common room for hours, warm air drifting through the large windows and stirring up all the finely woven carpets and tapestries.
Spending the afternoon preening your feathers wasn’t exactly what he’d expected when you’d asked to come over, but he certainly wasn’t complaining now, was he?
You sat facing away from him; crimson wings neatly folded against your back. You’d changed out of your uniform into looser clothing, better suited for Scarabia’s weather. Just looking at you made Kalim flustered.
“So... How was your day?” You asked, lifting one wing. Not completely unfurled yet, just enough for Kalim to shuffle forward and begin running his fingers through the first set of feathers.
“It was nice!” he answered. His hands shook as he reached out, brushing against your skin and feathers. You were warm, and impulsively he wanted to just stay still, or to trace along the down that covered patches of your back. But he didn’t, and focused on his task, setting each loose feather aside in a little pile. “Kinda boring for the most part, though.”
You shifted slightly as Kalim pulled a little too hard. “Gentle, please,” you said, turning to look at him. Kalim winced, twisting the good feather between his fingers.
“Sorry,” he apologized. He needed to relax. There wasn’t anything to stress about. It was like playing with someone’s hair. Yeah, just like all the times he would braid Jamil’s when bored in class (which often got him chastised, of course, but it was fun while it lasted).
But then again, this wasn’t even close. It wasn’t Jamil he was with; it was you. Glorious, wonderful, beautiful you, and therefore what should have been a very casual activity felt infinitely more daunting.
“Anyways... Surely something happened, yeah? I don’t care if it’s boring, I want to hear about your day,” you restarted the conversation, looking up at the ceiling.
Kalim smiled. “No, it really was nothing. You?” He admitted, moving on to the next section of the plumage.
“Truly stupid, is how it’s been,” you answered.
“Well, what did you do?” Kalim asked, finally getting into a groove. It felt natural, ruffling through your feathers, setting loose down to the side and scratching at the occasional pin feather.
“Oh, it’s not what I did. It’s what Grim did,” you explained, shaking your head. “You know how you took me shopping a few days ago? And I bought all those cans of tuna?”
“To store for after exams, yeah,” Kalim nodded along. He loved taking you down to Foothill Town to shop. Even if you spent half the time turning down his attempts to spoil you, the few gifts he managed to get always made the trips special. “As a reward for him doing well.”
“Yeah, I hid them in one of the side rooms. Even asked the ghosts to stand guard!” You chuckled, “Don’t know why I thought that would work, though. Because you know what Grim did?”
“Find it all?” Kalim guessed, pausing as you stretched your wing all the way out, the blue and yellow pinion feathers normally hidden beneath layers of crimson finally given bright sunlight, standing in perfect contrast to the sandy browns and reds that made up the room’s walls. He moved away from you to preen them too, now able to look at your face as you both talked.
You met Kalim’s gaze as you corrected, “Ate it all.”
Kalim gasped in mock surprise. Grim’s appetite was something he was aware of—Hence why he always tried to remedy it! “How could he possibly eat all that? We could barely carry it all back to the school there was so much tuna!”
“Exactly!” you said, feathers ruffled in excitement. “Like, where does it all go? Does he have some secret stomach?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Kalim laughed smoothing your feathers back down and returning behind you to start on the other wing. “No evidence otherwise! He very well might.”
“Ehh, probably not. He’s currently experiencing the consequences of binging that much,” you explained. “And despite being completely sick to the stomach, he still insists he’d do it again! How am I to deal with him?”
Kalim opened his mouth to respond when you leaned back against him, head resting on his shoulder as you looked up at him. Kalim squeaked in surprise; his cheeks flooded with color.
He stared down at you, realizing you were blushing too.
“Thanks for this, by the way,” you chirped. “I know it’s a bit of a hassle, but it’s hard for me to reach back there, and--”
“It’s not a problem at all!” Kalim interrupted, sitting you back up and returning to work. His head was spinning, and he was instantly reminded of just how close he was to you right now. How intimate the whole process was. He couldn’t get the image of your face out of his head, all rosy and relaxed. Your lips curled into a gentle smile, eyes sparkling in the sunlight... Sevens, he was getting distracted. Clearing his throat, he continued, “I enjoy this, actually. Just getting to talk with you. And besides, I get a nice little collection out of it.”
“... Collection?”
“The feathers, obviously. They’re beautiful. I’d much rather wear yours than the ones I already have,” he admitted, pushing through the embarrassment of the confession. The ones attached to his hairband were nice, sure, but he would much rather be able to carry a little sign of you everywhere.
You folded your wings up again, turning around to face Kalim. You reached up and pulled the old ones out, setting them aside, and tied the new feathers in.
Your hands were so close to his face, your wings reaching out to pull him closer like a little hug. You were so close—Kalim so desperately wanted to kiss you. But then again, that would probably be a terrible idea. You came here to talk to him as a friend, right? One of these days, he’d find a good way to finally confess to you but today wasn’t that day.
It did feel like a step closer, though, and that was enough.