“It must have been that stack of books on my nightstand.” Iris explained. “They’d been leaning kind of off balance for a while now.”
Ramona’s eyes darted over to Curtis, and they shared a mutual suspicion and disbelief at the likelihood that some books just randomly decided to play skydiver just then. Curtis was especially unconvinced as he’d noticed the broken balcony door and he’d felt a draft throughout the apartment. It was entirely possible that that miserable punk snuck into Iris’s apartment sometime today to finish whatever he’d started. Curtis was having none of it and steeled himself for a confrontation.
“I’ll go check.” Curtis announced.
Byxx heard this sudden assertion and darted into the spare room, nearly toppling into the dust-covered easel and canvas that were set up by the entrance. He spun around to close the door, praying quietly in his head that it wouldn’t squeak. Iris tried to buy him some time, calling out to Curtis as he started making his way for the hall.
“Don’t worry about it.” Iris entreated. “Really, it’s probably nothing.”
“It’s no trouble.” Curtis insisted. “I’ll feel better knowing that the pages and spines aren’t damaged. It should just take a second.”
Having no further justification for stopping him, Iris stood upright too quickly to follow Curtis, causing the blood to rush to her head. Iris became dizzy again and reached out for her best friend for support. Ramona caught Iris and helped steady her stance before gently pushing down on her shoulders for Iris to sit on the couch.
“Come on now, baby girl.” Ramona suggested. “Let’s just have a seat and wait for Curtis to fix your books for you. You’ve had a rough day. Let us help you out, all right?”
Iris sat quietly on the edge of her cushion, tensed and ready to pounce, should Curtis discover either of her two newfound roommates. Tired as she was, Iris simply could not cobble together an excuse to keep Curtis out of her bedroom. Ramona clung affectionately to her side, partly to keep Iris from moving around too much, and partly to get a few extra cuddles without Curtis around.
Curtis gingerly pushed the creaky wooden door open and scanned the bedroom for signs of intrusion. He strode over to the windows and grinned at his good fortune. Iris was usually a tidy person, but she did have blind spots in her cleaning routine. Literal blind spots, in this case, as the blinds and windows were overdue for a good cleaning. Curtis examined the window carefully, and discovered that the dust around it was undisturbed.
The inspection continued, as Curtis ran his hand along the surface of the dresser with the sandalwood diffuser sticks. He shuffled past the queen-sized bed and over to the homely little wooden nightstand nestled between the bed and the closet. He was loathe to admit it, but Iris was right. A single, precariously perched book about the life and works of Paul Gauguin teetered helplessly on the edge of the nightstand. Beneath the single book was a heap of her precious tomes scattered all over the floor.
There was one last place to look. Curtis pressed his dry lips together and poised his arms to fling open the closet door. Nothing. Well, not nothing. The closet was packed from floor to ceiling with plastic totes and Iris’s meager wardrobe of work clothes. There simply wasn’t enough room for an intruder to hide. Curtis scoffed with a gentle huff before bending down to collect the fallen books.
A pair of silent, kindly hands appeared from above, picking up the collection from the floor. Zayzann stared in wide eyed horror from beneath the bed as Curtis lifted each book tenderly. His face was warm and shoulders tensed to his ears as Zayzann concentrated on regulating his breathing. He couldn’t afford to panic, especially not now, so he clung silently to the pink cardigan for dear life. Once the last book was recovered, Curtis mumbled something under his breath before sauntering out of the bedroom and leaving the door ajar.
“You were right, bee.” Curtis called out as he walked back to the living room. “It was the books. A couple have dented covers, but they’re otherwise fine. Say, where did you get the book on…”
His voiced faded as Curtis departed, leaving Zayzann trapped and alone under the bed once more. His body ached all over and Zayzann found it impossible to feel comfortable like this. He wanted so desperately to whimper and coil into a ball, but he tensed again when a new set of feet silently appeared before him.
It was Byxx, stripped down to his gambeson and leather pants, who crouched low to the floor. He’d made the most of his free time in the spare room to divest of his heavy, clanking plate armor, allowing him to increase what little stealth he possessed. Byxx propped himself up with his left hand and reached blindly underneath the bed with his right. Zayzann praised and cursed Byxx’s keen sense of smell, as he knew exactly where Zayzann was.
Byxx offered a helping hand for a speedy rescue. He shook it lightly so that Zayzann could see and grab hold. Byxx’s eyes boggled when Zayzann grasped his hand, as he had expected feathers and touched flesh instead. He jerked his arm back with significant force to drag Zayzann from beneath the bed.
W-what the? What is this?
He recoiled backwards and nearly fell into the closet door as he wrenched his hand back. Byxx sat in a noiseless stupor and stared at the quivering human drowning in swaths of too-large clothing. He watched as the warm figure trembled and shivered in pain on the floor, until the human tilted their head back and they met each other’s eyes. Byxx’s golden honey eyes bore deeply into Zayzann’s rich, aloe green ones. It was him, no doubt about it.
Byxx thought this must be some sort of illusion, or maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. He had travelled from his home world to Earth, met a strange alien bird person, and the phantom girl he thought was only a dream. It was entirely possible that he’d gone a little batty from it all. As bizarre as it was though, he knew that you can’t touch phantoms, so Byxx focused on the sprawled out being before him. Zayzann’s shaking hand reached toward Byxx, and he mouthed quietly with taught lips and furrowed brows.
“Pleece. Byxx. Help me.” Zayzann winced. “It hurts. Pleece.”
Zayzann struggled to stay awake in this half delirious state, and was fading in and out of consciousness. The pain was unbearable, causing Zayzann to convulse in agitated spasms on the floor. Byxx was at a loss at how to help him. He hoped Iris would encourage her friends to depart soon, as he couldn’t keep sitting there quietly while his new roommate was suffering. Byxx hesitated to touch him, but he eventually caved in and thrust his arms under Zayzann’s to help pick him up.
Old gods and new, is he ever heavy.
Byxx endeavored to pick Zayzann up off the floor, but found him surprisingly cumbersome for how small he’d become. He guessed that whatever happened to Zayzann changed practically everything about him, except for his weight. Byxx was certain that he was heavier than Zayzann, but he still struggled to hoist the limp bulk of the compact human which refused to cease slipping from his strained grasp. He hefted the tiny titan onto the bed and tucked pillows underneath him for support. At just under six feet tall, this new Zayzann was much better able to sprawl across the bed comfortably without hanging off one or more sides.
The ragged breathing slowed after Zayzann was made comfortable. Byxx drew his head close to listen for breathing and check for signs of life, and realized that Zayzann likely passed out from exhaustion and pain. He pressed a tremendously large hand down Zayzann’s forehead and cheek to check for fever, then quickly found that his skin was drenched from sweat. He needed a proper look at him to see if Zayzann was injured or if anything else was wrong.
At least his basic battlefield medical training could help here. Byxx started from the top and worked his way down, checking Zayzann for ailments and injuries. Zayzann’s face was flushed and hot, but was otherwise all right. Byxx brushed back his exquisite medium length blue-black locks of hair to check for wounds and found none. His neck and shoulders looked fine, so Byxx stroked down Zayzann’s arms to search for damage.
Zayzann’s bandages draped loosely and threatened to slough off. His human limbs were so much narrower around that he looked like a hastily wrapped mummy from the shoulders down. Byxx shifted the wrappings and noticed that Zayzann’s forearm cuts had healed nicely, leaving nothing but a few small scars. He was glad to have given the Paxoram some of his elixir, even if it was expensive and rare. Byxx migrated back to Zayzann’s core, brushed the loose fabric of his black V-neck shirt aside, and examined the chiseled torso beneath it.
So that’s what’s under all those feathers. Not bad.
Zayzann had a lean, athletic body that was usually concealed under cloth and his down feathers, and Byxx could better examine it now that both were out of the way. His skin felt warm and smooth to the touch, as Byxx grazed over it to inspect him. His long, muscular fingers trembled faintly as he brushed gently against Zayzann's torso. Byxx’s hand migrated down toward his waist and ran over a series of small, growing bumps as his hand traced over Zayzann’s hip crest.
What the?
His feathers were growing back in, slowly at first, then faster as Byxx recoiled and gaped on in amazement. They pressed through the human skin and erupted into bloom. Zayzann curled his body into a fetal position as his feathers, limbs and tail lengthened back into their natural state. A pair of crooked nubs pushed outward from his back, sprouting down and flight feathers as they grew. The pointed pin feathers on his body softened and fluffed out as Zayzann fledged on the bed. Byxx clasped a hand on the back of his neck and stepped forward to absorb what was happening. It was equal parts horrifying and beautiful to watch him transform.
Is… is this normal?
Zayzann remained unconscious for this transition, and only briefly stirred as Byxx tried to maintain his composure. Worry lines deepened on Byxx’s forehead and his pointed ears drew back. A few whimpers and a gentle moan were all the noise Zayzann could muster before he went limp on the bed. His long legs hung over the foot of the mattress, and Byxx had to scoot around them to avoid getting clipped by the fearsome toe talons. He teetered in wide-eyed awe at what he just witnessed, and unblinkingly slumped backwards into the wall shared by the spare room.
He's incredible…
The clip clop sounds of wedge heels echoed outside the bedroom window. Byxx’s ears twitched at the sounds of departure as Ramona and Curtis bid their respective goodbyes. After a brief pause, he heard familiar footsteps approaching.
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