He relaxed in slow increments. She watched as he shook with each breath. Mallow slowed her breathing, making it a little more obvious. Eventually, his breathing evened out. He didn’t relax completely; she could still see the tension he held in his body, but he was no longer shocked still.

“ I am going to start by dabbing your wounds with a tonic. I’m using gauze.” She explained calmly.

She waited for him to nod before getting the gauze ready. She moved slowly to avoid startling him.

“I’m going to start now.” She told him before she touched his wings with the gauze.

He didn’t freeze this time. There was just a twitch of his wing when the tonic made contact. She worked gently and efficiently to spread the tonic over his wings. It was heartbreaking to see not only the damage to his skin but also to some of his remaining feathers. She wasn’t going to be able to spread the ointment with the feathers twisted up and sticking out at odd angles.

“I need to sort out your feathers.” She told him, keeping her voice soft and steady. “There are quite a few damaged ones.”

He froze again, just for a second, before turning to look at her. His face was blank, but his eyes were frightened.

She didn’t look away from those scared blue eyes as she continued. “Some of them will fall out. I’ll put them where you can see them. I am not causing more damage to your wings, just removing the damage that was already dealt.”

He turned back around. Mallow waited a minute as he regained his breath.

“’I’m going to start now.”

She worked her way down from the top of his left wing. She gently laid wayward feathers flat and looked for irreparable damage. He took a sharp breath when the first feather fell. She moved it next to his left knee so it was in his line of sight.

Feathers continued to fall. Some fell as soon as she touched them. Others, she had to prod them out of place gently. Those were bent, broken, or cracked.

By the time she finished both wings, Wren had a pile of feathers by his knees, and his wings were quivering.

She needed to finish quickly. “I’m going to put the ointment on now. It’s going to be spread throughout your wings to help it heal. I will be using magic.”

The last thing she wanted him to do was to lash out at the first hint of her magic.

He gave her a jerk of his head, and she got to work. She had been keeping her magic tightly contained while Wren was around. She let a small amount flow freely and gather in her fingertips. Mallow could feel the ointment reacting to her magic.

Wren didn’t startle or freeze when her fingers touched her skin. He made no show of being affected by her use of magic.

She rhythmically chanted the words to activate the healing spell that was laced within the mat Wren was sitting on.

The magic spread from her fingers, into the skin of his wing as she worked methodically, spreading the magic-enchanted ointment over his skin and then through his feathers. It was a long process, making sure that she didn’t miss a spot. That each swipe of her finger contained the same amount of magic as the last. She chanted the words softly until she was done.

For the first time since she met him, Wren looked relaxed in front of her. His wings looked visibly healthier, despite the areas without feathers. They drooped slightly. His shoulders sloped down, and for the first time since he escaped, he was pain-free.

“Leave the ointment on and sleep on your stomach. Most of the wounds will be gone by morning, and your body’s natural healing process can then take over. I can give you a healing booster in a couple of days to help facilitate the healing. “

She gathered the used gauze and put it by the pile of feathers. Some of the gauze had speckles of blood from where scabs had bled. She stood up, ignoring the pins and needles in her legs the best she could, and moved to stand in front of him.

She showed him her hands. Mallow shook out her shirt and lifted it towards her belly button so he could see her bicycle shorts, especially the lack of pockets.

It was important to her that he recognized his bodily autonomy was respected. She didn’t keep anything that wasn’t hers.

His fingers ghosted over the discarded pile of feathers.

“I can give you a box if you want to keep them.”

He shook his head and stood up. He shook out his wings and limbs. “They need to be burned.”

It didn’t take long for Mallow to start a fire in the living room fireplace. She used a little magic to help it along. After the wood had caught, Wren gathered his pile of feathers and gauze. He threw them into the fire and stood there, watching them burn.

Mallow gathered up her supplies and returned them to her workshop. She spent a good couple of minutes washing her hands. He was still watching the fire when she returned to the living room. He sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace and leaned back on his hands.

She went through the motions of locking the doors and turning out the lights before heading upstairs. Mallow was halfway up the stairs when he called out.

“Thank you.”

She turned and looked at him. He was looking up at her from his spot on the floor. He looked at peace. Mallow felt her magic swirling inside at the joy of it all.

“You’re welcome.”