Pain and despair

“Boar meat isn’t very soft, no. But the taste is quite good.” “It’s strong! So… So…” “Gamey? Wild? Yes. It would taste even stronger, without the right marinade in the right herbs.” “It’s great!” She picked another piece, her appetite growing. “Oh, and these are…?” “Acorns. Eat them with the meat.” She did so, and the taste improved even further. Her worries quickly melted away, replaced by deep satisfaction and curiosity. She had never suffered hunger, but to think there were so many dishes, so many ingredients she had never tasted before made her so hungry, not just for food, but for life itself.

“I’m the only god in this place, Moriko. Did you forget the matagi on the mountain?” “Alright, perhaps their Goddess is blind or doesn’t exist, but a kami effigy is totally different! What if it gets angry? We can’t toss it away and use its hall as our home!” “Of course we can.” He was very close, one of his large hands touching her back and moving lower, his mouth brushing against the shell of her ear. “The kami would be happy to see this place filled with life.” “That’s true, but it still deserves our respect.” He licked her ear, making her yelp and then laugh. “Stop it! No, Sukuna, we can’t. The shamusho, where the priests and miko used to sleep – that’s what we need!” He started pouting in that cute way of his. “We deserve to sleep in the hall of the god, not in a dormitory.” “But it won’t be a dormitory anymore, it will become our sleeping quarters!” She smiled at him, patting his hand. “And it will be large enough for us, Uraume, and our daughter.” “Daughters.” “Daughters, alright. I forgot you want an army of girls running around.” His grin was full of triumph and a bit of mischievousness.

I commissioned the wonderful @sadmocha for a scene from my fic Irori!