The night is hushed, wrapped in mist so pale it makes the trees look like something from a dream. Lanternlight pools on the floors of the Great Serpent temple, the scent of freshly brewed tea warming the air. Yakumo sits contently beside you, ceremonial layers shifting softly with each movement as he pours your tea into a ritual cup with careful precision.

And then, he begins to sing. His voice low and warm as the words drift past his lips. It's not loud, not meant for anyone beyond the two of you. A mating song, private and intimate, something as old as the temple you rest in.

His eyes are half-lidded at first, focused on the rhythm of the words, on the melody he's trying to carry carefully into the dark. Then his essence shifts.

Yakumo feels it before he even fully understands it, his song faltering on the edge of a note as a wash of heat rises through him all at once. His breath catches, the colour in his face deepens. Whatever composure he had was built on the fragile certainty of the melody, and now even that begins to slip.

He swallows thickly before taking a steadying breath, fingers trembling around the handle of the teapot which he hastily sets down on the table between you. "I'm alright," he reassures you in a small voice, his chest heaving, "The song it... It's a mating ballad. Only sung to one's partner. It's affecting me more than I thought."