Naturally

Aaaaah okay... listen... I knew from the start that Fauna and Mumei would be my favs of Council, but I never expected them to be THIS much of my favs or for both of them to be so impossibly criminally CUTE and teetee together... They've only had one collab so far at this point and it just sold me on them that much harder. They are the cutest together and no one can ever change my mind.

So I tried. Don't know much about them/their lore yet at this point, nor do I think I captured their personalities/speech patterns the most accurately, but I couldn't just sit here and do NOTHING while they existed in the same franchise together. So here is some hurt/comfort/fluff!

Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated in any way with Hololive or vtubers.

--------

							Naturally


It doesn't come as much of a surprise to anyone that Mumei isn't exactly paying full attention to the current Council meeting.

She is for the most part, because any good Council member would be very in-tune and attentive during their Very Serious meetings where they discussed Very Serious topics, such as The Cube and The Cone and the hidden messages scattered throughout the EN trailers.

But Mumei has her moments of spacing out as well; sometimes trying to remember her stream schedule, sometimes trying to think about what to have for dinner that night, and sometimes just thinking about absolutely random owl-related things. The chatting, laughing voices of her fellow Council members tend to fade away as Mumei floats around in her own mind until she's addressed directly, at which point she always yelps and hums and tries to come up with a response.

But today, it's thanks to her moments of distraction from the meeting that she comes to notice something.

Everyone seems to be their usual, funny, energetic selves for the first half of the meeting as far as she can tell. But instead of looking at the projector screen to view the trailer and dissect it with the viewers, Mumei's eyes wander a bit.

And eventually, she can't help but notice that across the room from her, Fauna has started to act a little strangely.

It really isn't much, nor is it very noticeable to anyone who wasn't specifically looking, but Mumei follows her instincts and comes to spot a few things.

At first, Fauna brings her elbow up onto her podium and leans forward to rest her head in her hand as she watches the video again, which Mumei thinks is a little odd, considering how formally and properly she always holds herself.

And then a few minutes later when Baelz asks her a question, Fauna ends up spacing out even more than Mumei herself before floundering for a response.

And after that, she contributes less and less to the conversation, whereas she'd been comfortably talkative at the start of it.

Mumei tries not to think too much into it.

/Hoo… She's probably just tired from the craziness of the debuts and stuff. I think./

Mumei does her best to refocus on the meeting, but now that the tiny seed of worry has taken root in her mind, she can't stop looking over at Fauna.

Fauna keeps smiling and laughing lightly along with the flow of the conversation, but every now and again she ends up closing her eyes for a few seconds. Mumei can't help but think she's starting to look a little pale.

"Uu…" /What should I do? Should I say something? I don't wanna embarrass her, though.../

She debates on this matter with herself for a few minutes, continuously flicking her gaze up at her gen-mate.

Just as Baelz, Kronii, and Sana are sharing a raucous laugh about something or another, Fauna joins in half-heartedly before finding a pause and speaking up.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I need to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

"Hah?" Baelz turns to her with a sharp, cute grin. "Okay, sure thing!"

"Thank you. I'll be right back…" With this, Fauna vacates her podium and quickly turns for the doors. Her hair hides her face before Mumei can see her expression.

Even as Fauna hurries across the room and disappears out the doors, she seems to be moving a little stiffly. Mumei whimpers to herself again.

"Uuu, I don't like this… Is she okay…?" She fiddles her fingers at the ends of her shawl and fidgets in her spot.

/This is no good! I can't focus on the meeting like this… I'm too worried.../

So she makes an executive decision.

"Ah," she says loudly enough for the others to hear. "I actually need to go, too."

"Huh?" Baelz looks back at her now. "Okay! Just- try not to get lost, mmkay?"

"Do you remember which way the bathroom is?" Sana asks. "To the left."

"I think I got it!" Mumei takes a determined step away from her post. "I'll be back asap!"

"It's all right," Kronii says. "Take your time."

"Was that a pun?" Baelz snickers.

As the other three continue their conversation, Mumei hurries out the doors of the Council meeting room.

As soon as she's out in the hallway, she pauses, needing a moment to remember her lefts and rights. She holds out each of her thumbs and index fingers until she figures out which one makes the L shape.

"Ah! Okay, this way!"

She turns to what she thinks is probably, most likely her left. But when she takes a step in that direction, her instincts chime in again and send a prickly feeling up her back.

"Mn… this doesn't feel right…"

She contemplates for a second, realizing it isn't her sense of direction that's off. Rather, Fauna hadn't actually gone the way she'd said she was going.

Mumei might not be as close to nature as Fauna herself is, but she is still an owl, and so she's going to trust her instincts.

So she turns around, and instead starts hurrying down the right hallway in search of her friend. Only, there aren't many other places Fauna could be down here. All the other rooms are locked or used for other matters. There's only one door that makes sense.

Mumei slows down as she reaches the exit.

"Why would she leave in the middle of a meeting? Hoo, I hope it's nothing serious…" The worry continues squirming in her stomach like a bunch of worms as Mumei pushes her way out.

The day outside is beautiful, especially from the view of the side exit. The main entrance to the building led toward the town, but this door let out to a nearby forest, which is in full bloom.

The sky is a lovely blue and spotted with fluffy white clouds, and as Mumei walks a bit farther from the building she can hear more and more birdsong. She has an inkling as to where Fauna might be, but she still isn't sure why.

/Either way, I need to make sure she's okay!/

Mumei glances downward at the grass. There's a faint coloration difference to some of the blades. Whereas the majority of the grass around the building is a regular light green color, it's obvious that some patches are a bit darker and healthier.

Naturally, those would be the spots where a Kirin had walked.

Mumei follows Fauna's footsteps toward the little forest, keeping her senses on high alert.

"Fauna…?"

She moves quietly, not wanting to disturb any plants or animals.

But it doesn't take long before she spots a familiar figure up ahead.

Fauna has her back to her, and she's placed one hand on the trunk of a large tree. As Mumei perks up and steps a little closer though, she can see that Fauna's other hand is clutching at her chest, and that's she's breathing hard.

Mumei yelps outright.

"F-Fauna-?"

She hurries over to her friend right away, skidding to a halt just a foot away from her, bursting with worry. She can see now that Fuana is shaking, and her expression is very pale and furrowed from pain. Mumei's hands tremble as she reaches out, but she doesn't know what to do.

"F-Fauna…?"

Only now does Fauna seem to realize Mumei's presence. Slowly, she opens her eyes, which are usually so bright and pretty like the summer sky. But now they're riddled with discomfort, as if a stifling storm has come over her.

"Ah-" Her voice is quieter than usual, so quiet it barely makes much of a sound at all. "Meimei-"

But before she can finish, she cuts off with a gasp and starts to sway.

Mumei yelps again and reaches out to hold onto her so she won't fall or hit the tree.

"Fauna! Wh-What's the matter? Are you hurt? Wh-Wh…?" Mumei panics, feeling Fauna all but collapse against her. She struggles to hold her up, but she's too nervous and scared to stay on her feet, so Mumei lowers the two of them as slowly as possible.

She hugs Fauna close and gently helps her sit, leaning her back against the tree. Her face is still all pale and sickly, and her hands go up to hold her chest once more. Mumei feels tears coming on.

"F-Fauna… Wh-What should I do…?" Panicked, Mumei looks around frantically as if the forest will give her an answer. "Sh-Should I go get someone? Uweeh, but I don't wanna leave you-!" She rubs her hands slowly up and down Fauna's arms and shoulders in an effort to try and provide some comfort for her.

By then, Fauna has regained a bit of her composure and flutters her eyes back open.

"Meimei... it's okay. I'm fine. You don't need to worry."

Mumei sniffles.

"B-But-!" She blinks, and a few tears start dribbling down her cheeks. Fauna seems to immediately forget about whatever pain she'd been feeling until now.

"Oh, no, no. Meimei, don't cry-" Fauna reaches out one hand to her, cupping Mumei's cheek and brushing away her tears so, so gently. Mumei hiccups.

"B-But… Fauna, what's wrong…? Wh-Why are you…?"

Fauna winces a little, but she maintains her smile.

"It's all right. I'll explain it to you, okay? Here, come sit with me." Fauna moves over just a little bit to make some room beside herself at the tree. Mumei wipes her face a bit more before crawling forward to sit right next to her.

Fauna smiles at her, but then she flinches again at some unseen agony and lets out a difficult breath. Mumei reaches for her hand with one of hers, then rubs gently up and down Fauna's back with the other.

"Fauna…?"

"I'm all right…" Fauna breathes in deeply, and then lets it out. Mumei whimpers and scooches a little closer to her, wanting to make sure she won't fall over.

"Y-You can lean against me," she offers. "Just take it easy, okay?"

Fauna sighs, but she's feeling so hazy that she gratefully accepts the offer. Being mindful of her horns, she gently lets her head fall sideways onto Mumei's shoulder as she draws in another unsteady breath.

"Thank you, Meimei…"

Mumei keeps one arm around her and gives Fauna's hand a squeeze with her other.

"So… what's wrong…? Wh-What can I do to help-?"

Fauna sighs again.

"Unfortunately, there's nothing anyone can do about it, really. You see… this happens sometimes. Being that I'm so closely-connected with nature… my body reacts to things happening in nature as well. For example, I'm usually fine because on most days, nature all around the world is generally in good balance. Even if there are storms or floods or other dangerous things… they're all still parts of nature, so things like that don't affect me. But…"

She cuts off for a moment to catch her breath again. Mumei whines and rubs her back for her.

"Fauna…" Mumei starts to sniffle again. She pulls Fauna into a loose side-hug.

Fauna swallows, closing her eyes for a moment before continuing.

"But today… today it seems nature is suffering just a bit more than normal… Humanity's actions are having more of an effect. Maybe a lot of trees are getting cut down and deforested today… or there was a big oil spill in the ocean, or a big fire on the savannah, and a lot of plants and animals are dying… It could be anything. But today nature is suffering, so it's having a bit of an effect on me…" She tapers off as if talking so much has made her breathless again.

Mumei whimpers more and more, resting her head softly against hers.

/She was being considerate… She said 'humanity,' but I know it's really civilization that's doing this to her…/

Mumei herself is only a guardian of civilization, but she isn't directly linked to it like Fauna is linked to nature. So whenever natural disasters occur and take many human lives or shatter human civilizations, Mumei never feels affected by it. But it's different for Fauna.

/I wonder…/ Mumei blinks away a few more tears. /How many times has this happened…? And Fauna just went off to try and deal with it all alone…? I don't want that…/

They may have only just formally met not long ago, but Mumei wants to be there for her. She wants Fauna to know she can rely on her in her times of need.

Mumei closes her eyes and turns her face to bury it in Fauna's soft green hair, crying softly. She can still feel Fauna shaking a little, and her heart is pounding hard enough for Mumei to feel it beneath her palm.

"'m sorry…" she mumbles. "Fauna… I'm sorry…"

"Hm…?" Fauna opens her eyes, realizing that Mumei has started blaming herself for this. "N-No, no! Meimei, it's not your fault!"

Fauna lifts herself up so she can look earnestly into her friend's eyes. She cups Mumei's cheek and offers another small smile.

"You have no control over this. It isn't your fault at all. And besides, I'm already starting to feel better. Coming outside and being in nature always helps me recover a bit quicker." Fauna leans close and rests her forehead gently against hers. "So please don't cry, Meimei… That's hurting my heart the most…"

Mumei blubbers a little bit, making sounds so cute and yet so heartbreaking at the same time.

"Faunaaa… uwaaa…" Mumei hugs her, sniffling as she takes refuge in Fauna's shoulder. Her feathers brush against Fauna's horns and tickle her temple. Fauna lets out a small laugh.

"Meimei, you're so precious. Thank you for worrying about me." Fauna leaves a small, sweet kiss on Mumei's cheek and hugs her in return.

Mumei burrows deeper into her shoulder, trying to calm her tears. When she breathes in, she catches the scent of the flowers in Fauna's hair, as well as her natural scent, which is exactly like a sunny spring day. It puts her at ease enough to stop crying.

/But I'm not the one who should be getting comforted right now… Fauna's hurt…/

Resolved now, Mumei eases back just a little. She withdraws her arms from the hug only when she's certain Fauna is supported by the tree instead.

Mumei then makes quick work of unbuttoning her shawl. She carefully drapes it across Fauna's back and shoulders instead, fastening it at the center of her collar.

"Maybe this can help a little," she murmurs. "It's really soft…"

Fauna is quiet and still as Mumei finishes adjusting the article on her. The pain that's been throbbing in her chest is suddenly overwhelmed by a strong rush of warmth and affection.

"Meimei…" She smiles, much more brightly than before, and her eyes sparkle. "Thank you so much. Really, Meimei. You're so sweet." Fauna can't resist leaning in to kiss her cheek again.

Mumei sniffles, but a small smile finally wobbles its way onto her lips.

"Do you feel any better, Fauna? Are you okay?"

Fauna opens her arms and pulls her into another hug, a little more firmly this time.

"I'm feeling so much better. Really, I am. Thank you, Meimei."

Mumei sighs with relief and hugs her back snugly.

"Thank goodness…"

"No," Fauna shakes her head. "Thank you."

"Fauna-!" Mumei giggles, so much happier now in knowing she's okay.

The two of them maintain their embrace for a long moment, feeling safe and sung and cozy beneath the warm dappled sunlight.

"Fauna..." Mumei mumbles. "If you're hurt... if this happens again... please don't deal with it alone. We can help you, okay? We don't want you to be hurting all by yourself. That would make everyone so sad..."

Fauna nods vigorously.

"Yes-! Of course, Meimei! I'm sorry for keeping it to myself. I was just a little embarrassed, is all." She pauses, folding her arms more tightly around Mumei's shoulders. "But you're right. I wouldn't want you or any of the others to be hurting all by yourselves, either. If it happens again, I'll tell you, right away. I promise."

Mumei nods in return, channeling her relief and her joy into the hug.

"Okay." She lets out another sigh. She can feel Fauna's heart beating softly against her chest, and she's thankful that it isn't so fast or hard anymore. Mumei hums happily to herself. "You're all better..."

"Yes," Fauna coos, patting her head. "I'm all better."

A moment later, Fauna realizes Mumei has gone limp in her arms. When she gingerly eases back, Mumei is fast asleep. Fauna smiles.

"You silly girl. You worried so much you tired yourself out."

She cards her fingers through a few stray locks of Mumei's hair, tucking them back behind her ear. Fauna gently eases her back until she's resting against the tree. She then leans in to leave a tender kiss on Mumei's forehead.

"My precious Meimei… What would I ever do without you? Thank you for being my gen-mate. I'm so lucky."

All of the discomfort that had been assaulting her earlier is now completely gone. But though Fauna is feeling so pleasantly refreshed, she isn't about to get up anytime soon.

"I'll just have to explain to the others later… But for now…"

Fauna eases herself into Mumei's side, letting the owl rest her head on her shoulder. Fauna strokes through her hair a little more, laying her head lightly on Mumei's as she slowly closes her eyes for a little nap.

The two girls doze off together, curled up comfortably beneath the warm afternoon sun.

---------

A/N: This idea just hit me the other night and I wanted to try it out. I hope I did them justice! If I get more ideas I'll definitely write more for them!

Also, I couldn't think of a good title TwT I just think they go together 'naturally' haha