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“This is so boring,” Tyler groans as he falls back, splaying on the ground.
“Tyler this is important,” Alec reminds the ten-year-old.
Magnus and Alec decided that today was going to be the day that they taught their son how to groom his wings on his own. Magnus cleared their living room of all the furniture, only leaving the rug and record player to play some soft music during the lesson. With the size of Alec’s and Magnus’ wings, it would have been difficult to have this lesson around furniture without something breaking.
“They’re not even fully grown yet!” The boy gestures his arms at the ceiling before flopping them on the ground. “Shouldn’t we wait until then?”
“That’s not important when it comes to wing grooming, Ty,” Magnus says, leaning over his son. “If you don’t learn now, then that means Dad and I will have to groom your wings until you’re eighteen.”
“Would that be so bad?” Tyler pouts before putting on his most charming smile. He pushes up on his elbows looking at his parents. “You guys are the best at it.”
Alec snorts at the suck-up. Magnus turns his head to glare at him while Tyler’s smile cracks just a bit. Alec shrugs at his husband not even trying to hide his smile.
“He definitely got that from you,” Alec points out.
“Please, Alexander,” Magnus scoffs. “I am the picture of innocence.”
Alec and Tyler share a look and a raised eyebrow before turning back to Magnus. Magnus huffs and crosses his arms.
“That he definitely gets from you, darling,” Magnus pouts while the two dissolve into giggles.
“Alright, alright,” Alec relents, reaching over to pull Tyler up into a sitting position again. “Papa is right, pipsqueak. This is important to learn at a young age. I was the same way and waited until I was sixteen to learn how to groom my wings and it was rough.”
That gets their son’s attention. He perks up at the words, his tiny blue wings shake behind him.
“What happened?” he asks.
“Well I had to get some feathers pulled out,” Alec winces at the memory. His wings shake behind him, some dark violet feathers fall to the ground. “It’s not a great feeling. I thought I could get by and be okay, but the pain of twisted feathers on your wings can become too much. It makes it difficult to fly when every time you flap your wings pain laces throughout it.”
“Oh,” Tyler trails off, his wings curling towards him. “I didn’t know it could get like that.”
Alec smiles at his son, scooting over to curl a wing and arm around him. Alec ruffles Tyler’s head and pulls his arm back before his son can swat it away.
“Dad!” he groans as he fixes his hair. Alec pulls his son in closer before he can protest.
“I get that it’s tiring work, but in the long run, it’s going to benefit you so much,” Alec explains. “Besides, once you learn, you can pass on these skills to people you love and you can help Papa and me groom ours.”
Tyler perks up at that. “You’d really let me groom your wings, Dad? Without Papa there?”
“Of course I would, pipsqueak. But you have to let Papa and I teach you first. Before you can groom someone else’s wings, you have to learn how to do it on yourself.”
Tyler nods rapidly, his floppy hair bouncing with the force of his nod. Alec looks over at his husband and sees Magnus’ eyes have a glow to them. Magnus once told him that he could watch Alec and Tyler interact for the rest of his life and be content. That he never imagined having a family of his own. A spouse and a child.
Alec sends Magnus a smile before beckoning him to come closer. Magnus scoots until he’s right next to Alec, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Tyler gags at the display of affection and mutters ‘gross cooties’ under his breath getting a laugh out of his parents.
“Just wait until you’re older,” Magnus notes. “I’m sure you’ll be singing a different tune.”
“Not in a million years,” Tyler declares.
Magnus whispers in Alec’s ear. “I give it 200 years.”
“I give it 50, only because I’ve seen the way he’s been looking at Madzie,” Alec whispers back.
“I can hear you!” Tyler exclaims with a faint blush on his cheeks, his hands cover his ears. “I would like to learn how to groom my wings now.”
Magnus reaches over and pulls Tyler’s hands away and presses a kiss to his head.
“Okay, down to business, my little blue jay. No more joking.” Magnus sits up straight, stretching out his golden wings, Alec following suit. They watch as Tyler straightens as well, stretching out his wings, serious face on. Alec wishes he had a camera to capture the moment.
“Now we’re going to start with the furthest point of our wings…”
The grooming session takes all morning. Magnus and Alec carefully instruct their son through the process of combing feathers and how to untwist them. There were moments where Tyler got frustrated with his wings but Alec and Magnus had reassured him that it was normal for younger wings to be more difficult than adult wings.
By the time noon came around, there was a pile of dark violet, gold, and blue feathers in the middle of them. Tyler once again fell on his back with a cheer of accomplishment only to sit up with a hiss. He forgot that his wings would be sensitive right after grooming them. Magnus stifles a laugh while Alec shakes his head at their son.
“We’re done!” Ty exclaims. “Can we eat lunch now?”
“Moving on before we’re even done?” Magnus asks, getting off the ground and stepping out of the room. Tyler’s wings sag at the words and turns to Alec.
“There’s more?” he whines.
“Just one more step, pipsqueak,” Alec reassures.
They both watch as Magnus reenters the room with a small chest. He sits back down in his original spot and sets the chest in front of him. With a snap and wave of his hand, the chest expands and grows in size. Opening the lid reveals a plethora of gold and dark violet feathers.
“Would you like to do the honors, Ty?” Magnus asks.
Tyler looks between the feathers on the ground and the chest. He stares up at his fathers with wide eyes. It seems that their son had forgotten this detail of grooming. Gathering the discarded feathers and locking them away in a box, so no one would be able to use your feathers against you. Tyler hadn’t really started to shed until a few days ago which sparked this grooming session.
“I get to join mine with yours?” He whispers.
“Of course you do, Ty. You are our son.”
Tears gather in their son’s eyes as he starts to gather the feathers off the ground and gently place them in the chest. Magnus grasps Alec’s hand and squeezes tight, both of them trying to reign in their emotions watching their son delicately place their old feathers in the chest. Magnus’ wing reaches around Alec’s back and curls around him. Alec gladly leans into the touch and rests his head on Magnus’ shoulder.
His husband never had a good grip on his wings when he got emotional. It’s one of his favorite things about him. Alec got so many wing cuddles after Magnus had a long day at work, but he would never complain. The fact that Magnus’ wings reached out to him and Tyler when he was exhausted spoke a thousand words about his love for them.
Magnus stops Tyler just as he was about to put the last few feathers in the chest. The only ones left were a feather from each of them. With a wave of his hand, the three feathers became connected at the shaft by a small string, making a necklace. Tyler stares at the jewelry in awe and rushes to put it on. He looks down at the three feathers resting on his chest.
Alec and Magnus wait with bated breath when suddenly their son launches at them, wrapping his arms around their neck and ducking his head below theirs.
“I love you, Dad and Papa,” Tyler mutters into his fathers’ necks, his voice just a tinge wobbly.
Magnus presses a kiss to the top of his head as Alec wraps his arms around the both of them. Magnus’ wings come around all of them sheltering them from the outside world as Tyler’s sniffs fill the loft.
“And we love you, Tyler,” Alec whispers in the small space. “Forever and always.”