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Flayon couldn’t sleep.
No matter how much he tossed and turned to get into a more comfortable position, he just. Couldn’t sleep. It had been hours since he said he’d go to bed. It was the kind of restlessness where he couldn’t really calm down enough to keep his eyes shut. His mind was racing, mostly from stuff that happened during the day, mixed in with more…concerning thoughts.
“P-Please—You can’t leave me again. Not after everything I’ve done!”
Flayon was gripping the sheets of his bed, squeezing his eyes shut.
“Why am I still not enough for you? It’s not fair!”
“Stop it! I said stop! No! PLEASE!!”
At this point, Flayon was just frustrated. He threw the blankets off his bed and sighed. He turned to the Machiroon for some emotional support. The little bastard was dead asleep, and the one thing a pet owner should never do is interfere with a creature’s beauty sleep.
Well, that was out of the question. He had to find someone awake at this hour who’d coddle him to sleep with generic platitudes about how he’s a good person and these thoughts were just too intrusive. If he was lucky, Shinri and Altare would be there to give him a good old boost of the ego to get through the night.
Alas. He opened the door. Walked through the expansive hallways of the Tempus Guild. Checking each and every door. They were all sleeping. Some of whom were much louder than others. Flayon grumbled under his breath as he passed by Axel’s door and saw the guy, on the verge of falling off his bed, snoring up a storm.
Eventually Flayon noticed a dim light underneath the crack of Hakka’s door. The door was ajar. He was…kind of afraid to open it. It felt like a cursed tomb about to be uncovered, despite the fact that it was clearly just Hakka’s quarters. He should have figured by now that Hakka doesn’t really sleep, and he hasn’t gotten a full night’s rest in a long time. Somehow, though, Flayon didn’t quite trust that he wasn’t up to something.
Curiosity killed the pilot. He opened the door as quietly as he could and…Hakka seemed to be meditating. And he was doing a really ass job at it too, judging by the constant squeezing of his closed eyes. Flayon mouthed a humble “Shit!” to himself, he probably broke Hakka’s concentration and he wasn’t going to hear the end of it.
He chose to instead lay his eyes upon the large set of wings that rested on Hakka’s back. It had been a couple weeks since his corruption, and while the guild was able to restore him to a more humanoid state, it didn’t quite undo all the changes that the poor exorcist had to deal with now. Flayon knew pretty well what the biggest change was, he was literally staring dead at it.
In all fairness, those were some pretty wings he had there. Black crow wings. There were little dabs of white at the feather’s tips, but otherwise it was pure ebony goodness. It was both grandiose and humble. It suited Hakka well. He couldn’t imagine anyone else being graced with such beauties on a body that was being devoured by curse after curse.
It wouldn’t hurt to just poke at them for a split second, right?
That’s what Flayon thought mere seconds before he was thrown into the wall via the force of a startled exorcist’s wings, spreading far out and whacking Flayon square in the face.
“AUGH! Ooof…”
Flayon rubbed his head. Hakka turned around, completely giving up on the whole meditation thing as he investigated the source of his troubles. He’s not surprised.
“Ah, so my suspicions were confirmed.”
His piercing eyes further accentuated by the now black sclera would be enough to get anyone to shit themselves, especially at this hour. But Flayon wasn’t deterred by him. He’s had to look at that face for a while now. It was something he got used to.
Someone had to break the tension somehow.
“Dude, what the hell are you doin’ in my room?” Hakka furrowed his eyebrows, arms crossed. “I heard you come in and I was trying to ignore you until I felt something touch my wings.”
Flayon, in an unserious manner, clutched his heart as if Hakka said the most horrible thing ever to him.
“Couldn’t sleep.” The pilot bluntly proclaimed. “You’re the only one awake right now and it didn’t seem like you were going to sleep at any point.”
Hakka was going to refute that but he knew his argument would be destroyed in mere seconds.
“Fair enough. I’ve been trying to calm myself down so that I can get a pretty good one hour of sleep in, but I got no clue HOW Shinri does this shit.”
“Me neither. I think he’s just built different.”
The two exchanged some chuckles from each other’s words. Whatever tense aura there was, it was slowly dissipating.
“So like.” Flayon pressed his two index fingers together. “You wanna have like— sleepover or something? Braid each other’s hair and talk about gossip and order a pizza?”
“Hmmm.” Hakka blinked. “Sure, why not? Got nothing better to do tonight. If the back pain isn’t keeping me up, my hunger sure is.”
As if on cue, he rubbed his stomach as it rumbled.
“I hate having a monster appetite, dude. My diet doesn’t exactly align with a corruption beast’s.”
Flayon laughed again. But he also did feel a little bad for the guy. Eating and eating and never feeling full, and never being able to sleep because of this endless hunger. What a hellish thing to live through.
But like. Why did Hakka have to look so cool while suffering. His arms and legs were covered in feathers and his grippers were just out there for everyone to see. Not like he could really fit talons into anything. Not to mention the fact he basically opted not to wear any shirts because it felt weird against the wings and he kinda looked a little more toned than usual—
Flayon was straight up spacing out while Hakka was yapping about his appetite. He was really interested in his wings the most out of everything.
“Yo! Elysium to Flay!”
Hakka was snapping his fingers at him.
“You alright bro?”
Yeah, Flayon snapped out of it.
“H-Huh—!! Oh, right, sorry, I was just…uh…”
There was just no normal way of putting this, was there?
“You keep staring at me. I thought you were used to…well…all this by now?”
He motions to his body.
“O-Oh, no, I am used to that—It’s not like that—I mean, it is—But it’s not like, BAD, it’s just…”
Flayon’s face was beginning to turn as red as his hair.
“…Look, your wings are cool. They’re really pretty. I like them. If I was cursed I’d at least like to look like you.”
Hakka looked at him with the straightest face.
“You’re a simp, dude.”
“Can I not appreciate a man’s body in a respectful, platonic way?”
Flayon was so defensive. It was adorable.
“I’ve never seen someone with wings before. I want to see how they work.”
“Could have just asked without touching them and looking at me funny.” Hakka shrugged. Didn’t seem like he was good at taking compliments.
“Hm. Yeah. But like. It’s a weird question to ask, right? I didn’t want to make you feel worse about it if you didn’t actually like having those.”
Hakka looked a tad uneasy, but his body eased up a bit with Flayon’s inquiries.
“You’re like…the first one to actually ask me questions about that. Thanks. I can tell at dinner time everyone tries really hard to avoid talking about the Karasu Demon in the room.”
“I mean, it has been a couple weeks. Maybe everyone’s used to it?”
“Yeah but they’re treating it like it’s normal. It isn’t. They know that.”
“I guess they just don’t want to offend you…I get that kind of weird treatment too. It’s hard being a weirdo.”
“Yeah.” Hakka let out a sigh. “Hard being comfortable in your own skin when it isn’t yours anymore. These suckers are weird.”
His wings flap involuntarily.
“It's like if you had a third arm all of a sudden. You spend all your life with two arms and when this new vertebrae comes in acting like he’s part of the team suddenly all your focus is on that new arm which doesn’t function as well since it’s new and you gotta learn how to use it. Or like, when you pour room temperature water in a pot of boiling water and now the water has to learn to boil again. That explanation probably made more sense than the third arm thing.”
“Ah. They seem pretty sensitive.” Flayon tried to poke at the wings. Since Hakka was prepared this time, his reaction wasn’t nearly as strong, but it still felt quite weird to him, involuntarily letting out a sharp gasp followed by a shiver.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.”
“I mean…I’m sure we’ll figure out a way to turn you back eventually.”
Seeing Hakka frown at that, Flayon snuggled up near him.
“But this other you is pretty cool too. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
“You don’t have to patronize me bro.”
“I’m not!!! Can’t I be impressed by something too?”
“Heh.” Hakka patted Flayon’s head.
Hakka’s left wing pushes Flayon closer to him. This…is definitely something Flayon takes notice of.
“Do your wings do that voluntarily.”
“Do what voluntarily.”
“That. Like you know. It was hugging me. That’s genuinely so cute.”
“OHHH yeah, I figured out pretty quickly how to curl my wings a little. Once I realized it didn’t actually hurt I could actually lie down in a good position—Cause at first the wings seemed kinda stuck so I had to lie on my stomach and—People just don’t sleep like that. It’s not comfortable at all .”
“They’re really soft. Like a blanket.”
“Oh yeah, I use these suckers like a blanket. Kept tearing up all the actual blankets.”
He points to a torn up pile of blankets. Flayon couldn’t help but notice the bed had many, MANY scratch marks on it. It was obvious the moment he walked in, but he just never noticed it until now.
“Now watch this!”
Hakka moves out of Flayon’s way, wrapping himself up in his own wings and rolling around.
“Check it out! I’m a delectable Hakka Roll! Only §5.99!
Flayon just about died of cringe there.
“That’s so fucking corny.”
“I’m afraid I was born on the cob, Flay.”
“…Did you eat Bettel’s joke book in your sleep?”
“Maybe.”
Hakka unfurled his wings, stretching them out alongside his arms. LARPing as a sushi roll would have to come later.
“I can’t sleep on them for too long though, cause then that’s when it actually hurts. I usually aim for two hour increments throughout the day, but to be honest with you I really don’t feel all that tired.”
“Me neither.” Flayon shrugged. “I came all the way here so I could make you coddle me with praises but it seems like I was the one who had to do it to you instead.”
A tease. A ruse even. Flayon nuzzled Hakka’s neck.
“I didn’t ask for that, you just walked in here all willy nilly!”
“Yeah. But you know, I feel a little less alone now.”
“…”
Hakka thought about it a little.
“I feel a little less alone too. Not that I don’t think anyone else cares about me! It’s just…you’re pretty blunt about how you feel. You don’t pull any bullshit. It feels a little empowering to me. I don’t know how to describe it.”
“It’s cuz no one else on the guild gives you the best cuddles like I do, edgelord.”
Another tease from Flayon. Hakka rolled his eyes.
“Sure dude, that’s the reason.”
He did like Flay’s cuddles, though!
Flayon looked at the clock. They had already spent quite a bit of time goofing off here. It was nice though. It was familiar and safe. Which is not something he ever expected to feel from being in Hakka’s general vicinity.
However, there was just one deep burning question in the corner of his mind that just bothered him.
“…Hey Hakka.”
“Yo?”
Hakka turned over to Flayon quizzically.
“…Do you know how to fly?”
“Heh?” Hakka furrowed his brow again. “Like, barely dude. I don’t have enough physical stamina to last very long.”
Flayon ignored how fully intentional Hakka’s word choice is. He saw right through it.
“You’re not afraid of heights, are you? ”
“N-No! I’m…afraid of falling. Two different things!”
Hakka was so flustered. Flayon pouted. Always a bad sign whenever he pouted.
“Aww man. I was hoping I’d learn what it was like to flyyyyyyy…”
“Don’t you literally already do that.”
“Yeah but like, that’s a mech, that’s different.” Flayon had clung onto Hakka, fully apparent about what he wanted.
“I’m not taking you flying dude. I can barely do it on my own, having to carry someone else is a recipe for disaster.”
“Awwwwww but if we plummet to our deaths at least I die in someone’s arms. And that’s a lot better than dying alone.”
Flayon looked at Hakka with puppy dog eyes. Hakka could withstand a lot of Flayon’s pleading in the past…
“And besiiiiiiides your wings are large enough and I barely weigh a thing, I’m sure that you can probably go far if you weren’t afraid of falling. You miss a hundred percent of the shots you don’t take!”
“And you have the gall to call me corny.”
…But Flayon looked absolutely precious, and it’s hard to say no to his face because he’ll just keep going until he gets bored.
Which was exactly what he was doing. He went on about gravity and physics and other stuff Hakka didn’t pay attention to in school. Hakka groaned.
“FINE, but I’m not responsible if the worst comes to worst.”
“YIPPEE!!!”
Flayon was carried to the highest floor the Guild Hall had to offer. Hakka wasn’t sure if he himself had actually grown stronger, or if Flayon wasn’t actually bluffing when he said he hardly weighed anything, because it wasn’t nearly as much of a hassle as he thought it would be. In fact, Flayon was practically holding on for dear life, tightly wrapped around Hakka.
“Ready when you are~!” He stuck out his tongue.
“Geez…”
Hakka looked down at the ground below him.
“Are you ABSOLUTELY sure you want to do this?”
“Yeah! We’ll be back by sunrise so, like, it won’t be a big deal that we’re out.”
“That is absolutely NOT what I’m worried about!”
“I told you you’d be fiiiiine~!”
“FLAYON!!!”
“Banzoin Hakka.”
Hakka took a deep breath. He was very much afraid of the possibility of having to explain to Altare that Flayon begged him to jump off a ledge before going splat on the ground, and how he wasn’t responsible for it.
But Flayon seemed so chill about it. Or maybe he just wanted an excuse to hug Hakka. He wasn’t sure which was which.
“Come on, get on with it!” It was difficult to tell if Flayon was teasing or legitimately impatient.
But Hakka held onto Flayon in return, preparing for take off. Closing his eyes and spreading his wings wide open.
He jumped. Bracing for impact.
…
But they’d never reach the ground. Maybe it was because having precious cargo made Hakka want to work harder to keep himself in the air, but either way, he was flying, and he was doing a pretty decent job at it.
He tripped up a few times. His talons grazed the tips of trees nearby. Flayon definitely chewed him out for this.
“Watch where you’re going!”
“I don’t need you to backseat me, you wanted this!”
But…it didn’t really seem all that scary. Before long, Hakka had built up a comfortable momentum in the air to where he could put himself in cruise control for a little while.
He knew he’d get tired quickly. Which was made all the more embarrassing when he could hear the soft snores of his passenger.
Not the most ideal scenario, but…Flayon was finally able to fall asleep. He seemed pretty comfortable in this position. Hakka really didn’t want to intrude on that
“God dammit Flayon.”
And thus, Hakka scrambled to find somewhere he could safely land before sunrise.