For one blissful moment, neither Rocky nor Soren moves except to touch one another as if familiarizing themselves with each other all over again. 

Soren touches Rocky's shoulders and grazes the muscles in his arms, feeling small upticks of delight disperse across his senses that certainly didn't come from him. And Rocky touches him too, holding his face and running his fingers through his hair, a shuddering breath escaping his slightly swollen lips when he feels a rush of complete adoration coming from Soren.

They feel each other, not only physically, but within themselves. 

"Rocky--!" Soren gasps sharply when the extent of what they'd done suddenly hits him, "What the hell did we just do?" 

Of course, the question was ridiculous because he knew what they'd done, or at least what they'd done as owls. Rocky and Soren had formed a deep bond that would follow them for the rest of their lives. Wherever one owl went, the other would follow, never too far behind. 

"Oh, my God!" Rocky wails and tumbles dramatically off Soren, shattering the beautiful moment in seconds, "You just bonded with me, Soren Shay! I didn't even put on any makeup or get my nails done! This was supposed to be the most important moment of my life, and I missed it!"

"Oh, come on, Rocky!"

"I can't even put a picture of us on social media because I'm covered in spunk!" Rocky continues, his face buried in the bedsheets, "I don't understand how this happened. How could someone so beautiful want an owl like me?"

"Rocklin," Soren whispers, and he sits up, gently manuvering so he's holding the other owl, "Listen to me, okay? Even though you drive me bat shit insane half the time and you're literally the loudest owl I've ever heard, it was always going to be you."

"Really?" Rocky whispers, his voice small, "You're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

"I'm not just saying that," Soren replies, and he presses a kiss to Rocky's shoulder. "I'm always going to choose you. You're my other half."

Rocky rolls over to face him, his red hair the same shade of maple leaves in the fall, his eyes dripping crystal tears. Even then, he was the most beautiful thing Soren had ever seen in his entire life, without sparkles or makep, though he was just as irresistible when he had eyeliner and glitter spray on.

"I love you," Soren whispers to him, and then he slides his hand over so that their fingertips are touching.

"I love you, too," Rocky replies softly, hooking his pinky over Soren's like a promise. 

Shouting erupts from outside as they cuddle in the comfort of Soren's bedroom and Rowan can be heard yelling and laughing his wild hyena-like laugh. A second later, Quince's voice joins in his hollering directly aimed at Soren's window.

"He's probably in there smoking pot again!" He shouts, "I told him he better be careful and open a window or he's going to smoke himself to death!"

"Great," Soren mumbles, and he sits up, rolling his eyes, "the rest of the chaos crew's awake. We better head down before they come looking for us like I know they will."

"Well!" Rocky chirps, and he reaches over and grabs some tissues from the nightstand to wipe off his chest, "At least we had our fun before our mother abandons us in the woods like animals!"

There's a commotion from the window, and a small owl lands on the pointiest part of the roof. A second later, he's joined by another, larger owl, who knocks him aside. Angry screeching quickly erupts, and the two launch into a squabble before flying off to the side.

Soren gets out of bed and quickly goes to throw open the windowsill. "Hey!" He shouts, "Knock it off before you break something, assholes!"

"Hurry your ass up, then, Poetry Boy!" Rowan shouts, and he dips into view, holding onto the windowsill. Like a menacing shadow, he was dressed in a black morph suit with long sleeves since it was chilly outside. "Why are you naked?" The bald boy demands, "It's like thirty degrees out here and raining. You jacking off to Bukowski again?" Grinning, Rowan makes a jacking-off motion with one hand.

"I just got out of the shower, cock-sucker," Soren scowls, closing the windowsill. "I'll be down in a minute, alright? I still need to go wake up Rocky, he sleeps like a corpse."

Rowan falls back when Soren slams the window closed and shouts, voice muffled as he tumbles down the side of the roof.

"Soren!" Soren's mom yells as if on cue, "Rocky! I better see you down here in five minutes!"