Work Text:
Matt wasn’t a morning person. Due to his job working as an editor and video creator, long nights were all too common in his schedule. He stumbled to the bathroom half-awake with eyes still crusty from sleep. But when he caught a glance of himself in the mirror, Matt stumbled back and immediately doubted what he was seeing He had to be dreaming. It was the only logical explanation for why he had sprouted a pair of feathery angel wings overnight.
“What the fuck?” he muttered in anger and confusion. He reached an arm around to touch the newfound extremities, gently feeling the soft and sleek feathers along the ridge of the curved bone. “What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!” he repeated, panic quickly seeping into his tone and thoughts.
“Ryan!” Matt shouted as he ran out of the bathroom to his friend’s room. He flung open the door and grabbed a sleeping Ryan’s shoulder, violently shaking him awake.
“Huh? What-What’s going on?!” Ryan slurred as he started awake. “Matt? What’s wrong?”
“Dude, I need you to tell me if you can see anything different about me.”
Ryan gave Matt an incredulous look, “What the fuck? No?”
“You’re telling me you don’t see anything different about me? Anything at all?”
“No, dude! Why’d you wake me up for this?”
“What the hell?” Matt scoffed and quickly stomped out of Ryan’s room back to the bathroom mirror. Dismayed, he realized his appearance hadn’t changed. He gripped the edge of the sink in a vain attempt to ground his thoughts. Maybe he just needed his glasses on? Maybe this was just a trick of the light or he had left his contacts in overnight? Matt pried his upper eyelids up, gently feeling for his contacts and touching his bare eye instead.
“Ow!” he hissed through gritted teeth. He sprinted back to his own room, haphazardly searching for his glasses. He grabbed his comforter and flung it onto the floor, pawing at the sheets to no avail. The nightstand drawers and top didn’t offer any help either, except for their contents adding to the growing mess as a result of Matt’s frenzy. Slow, lumbering steps signaled Ryan’s entrance into the warzone of Matt’s room. “What the fuck are you doing, dude?”
“I can’t find my glasses!” Matt shouted, throwing his hands up in defeat as he turned towards Ryan.
“You mean the ones you left on the bathroom counter?” Ryan held up Matt’s glasses by the bridge.
“Fuck me,” Matt rushed over and yanked them out of Ryan’s hand, quickly unfolding the temples and putting them on as he reached the bathroom again. Nothing had changed, except Matt could now see his newfound appendages clearer. The wings had a faint glow to them that surrounded Matt in a halo of light, especially when they were folded in close to his body like they were now. Ryan peeked his head in from the doorway, looking at Matt through the mirror.
“What are you looking at?”
“Dude, how can you not see these things?” Matt stretched his wings out experimentally, the left one stretching out into the hallway and the other touching the shower curtain rod.
“See what? I don’t see anything, except a dumbass who woke me up at six A.M. just to make a mess of his room-”
“Alright, alright, I get it, Ryan,” Matt interrupted.
“I really don’t see anything, Matt. I promise. What the hell are you seeing?”
Matt looked at his friend, who still appeared to be half-asleep, despite all of the ruckus. He inhaled sharply and sighed, turning back towards the mirror. “You’re gonna make fun of me, but I’m not joking when I tell you that I have two giant fucking wings sticking out of my back right now.”
Ryan snorted, “Really? That’s what you got all worked up about?”
Matt was taken aback, “Ryan! This is serious! Am I dreaming or something? What the hell is going on?”
“Dude, dude, calm down. I doubt you’re dreaming, since I’m pretty sure I’m not.”
“Well, pinch me or something! Isn’t that how you test if you’re dreaming or not?”
“I think you pinch yourself, but…”
“Ryan, just do something!” Ryan slapped Matt’s arm.
“Ow! What the fuck? I said pinch me!” Matt rubbed his sore bicep. “I have a bruise there, jackass.”
“Dude, I’m tired! You’re the one who wanted me to test if you’re the one sleeping.”
“I didn’t say hit me!”
“It worked, though. Didn’t it?”
“I guess…” Matt glanced back at his wings, stretching them out then curling them back in.
“So, are we just gonna gloss over the fact that you have wings now or something?” Ryan slouched against the doorframe, resting his head on the wood.
“I don’t know, dude. You can’t even see them.”
“Yeah, but what if they’re still real? Like, maybe this is a special powers sort-of deal. Maybe only you can see them, but I can’t, because I don’t have any powers or whatever,” Ryan rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and yawned.
“I don’t know. Maybe when we go into the office, someone else will see them?” Matt played his with hands nervously.
“Yeah, maybe.” Ryan pushed himself upright and shuffled back to his room. “Until then, I’m gonna try and sleep, okay?”
“Okay,” Matt replied as he heard the door close. He decided he might as well try and go back to sleep until he had to be at work.
As he walked back into his now messier than usual room, he sagged his shoulders in defeat. He didn’t solve anything by making a mess and waking up Ryan, but he still had two very real-seeming wings attached to him and a job to get to in a few hours. Hopefully, he thought while climbing back under the covers, I can just sleep this off somehow and be fine before I go to work.