Archive of Our Own ^beta

So he’s a duck. Or a chicken. There’s no way to confirm because none of the mirrors in his room are on the ground and he absolutely refuses to do the work to find out because it involves too much tail-chasing. Tail-chasing just feels a little too joyous for the mood he’s in.

All he knows is that he’s small and that he’s chirping now and that he’s so glad that he’d forced Chan to let him sleep in his bed, otherwise he’d be stuck flapping on the top bunk.

Felix would’ve also appreciated sleeping with the door open. Unfortunately as far as favours from fate goes it’s not looking up for Felix.

Being a small bird is strange, the world is suddenly very big and his body has lost all the agility of his human one. He’s like a meatball with legs.

Thing is, he can’t remember eating something funny or even anything out of routine at all. Yesterday he’d been 5’7 and blond, today he’s not quite sure but he’s pretty certain he barely makes it past ten centimetres, if that.

The only thing he’s got is high-pitched chirping so unlike his real human voice that he’d almost shocked himself into falling off the bed when he registered it. Other than that he comes up short. Heh.

Getting off Chan’s bed alone is a challenge, he waddles back and forth along the side of the bed before deciding that adding a dented beak to his list of ailments is probably not gonna change anything at all.

On the way down he discovers that his wings are not entirely unhelpful, the wild flapping helps soften the impact, still he stumbles and knocks into Chan’s nightstand.

He discovers that baby-bird-him and human-him both have hard heads, thankfully.

From his disadvantaged point he gets first class views of all the things that make living in a dorm full of boys such a health hazard. There are dust-bunnies the size of Felix’s new body and he also sees every single sock that Changbin has ever lost, it’s a sock and dust-bunny graveyard under the bunk bed they share.

If he wasn’t so scared of literally choking on the dust he’d go treasure hunting. Rich-boy Changbin surely has dropped a coin or two down there and Felix feels he deserves compensation and if he’s not getting it from the universe he should get it from Changbin.

Felix spends barely five minutes contemplating the rewards and risks of trying to find treasures, mainly he realises ducks don’t really subscribe to the value exchange of the human world and he’s not quite sure how long he’ll be a duck for anyways. It’s probably best to wait until he’s human again, at least then he’ll be able to deposit it too.

Before he can sink too far into duck economics the door slams open with a resounding bang. The fright nearly knocks Felix off his feet. Of course it’s Jisung barging in, he’s one of the people who least respects Felix’s privacy. He’s hanging off the doorframe like he’s anchoring himself to it, an expression of pure confusion on his face.

Relief washes over Felix, Jisung can be very perceptive and he’s open to things he would probably be one of the better bets to figure it out immediately. Elated, Felix flaps and flaps, chirps and chirps.

What he gets is big, glossy, frightened eyes.

“There is a duck in the dorm!” Jisung yells and he sounds like a duck is the same as a spider or cockroach. Felix is deeply offended by the palpable fright and disgust Jisung is projecting.

“A duck?” There are quick footsteps and then Hyunjin appears in the room. From the floor he’s suddenly frighteningly tall to Felix.

At least Hyunjin thinks that Felix is cute, his face is the same as it is when he sees babies, little dogs or Jeongin when he does anything. Suck on that, Jisung.

Even more insulting, Minho comes tumbling in, takes one look at duck-Felix and with the force of all the voice-lessons in the world yells, “Lee Yongbok!”

Does he really look that much like a duck that Minho recognises him immediately? Felix starts flapping his little stubby wings.

“What are you calling Felix for, hyung?” Jisung is still watching Felix warily but Felix can’t help chirping in agreement, even though Jisung doesn’t deserve his support anymore.

Minho scoffs. “Who else would bring a baby duck into the dorm?” I’m right here! Like this is his fault! Angrily, Felix stomps his little webbed feet. Ah, that probably would’ve clued him in earlier, he thinks, as he looks down at his orange feet. Webbed definitely means duck. Experimentally Felix tries to lift his right foot to get a better look, unfortunately none of his dancer’s balance remains and he tumbles onto his duck-butt.

Embarrassing.

Hyunjin squeals loudly and goes to crouch down to get on Felix’s level but Jisung tries to pull him back by the hood of his sweatshirt like Felix is an actual hazard.

God, twin-privileges revoked for life.

“It’s so cute!” Hyunjin says, tugging himself free from Jisung’s grip. Felix is still on his back, air-cycling, uselessly trying to roll over, the only good thing about this is that he actually gets to take a closer look at his feet.

He kinda wished he hadn’t, the idea of webbed feet is cuter than the reality of it, they’re odd and frankly ugly.

Pspspspsps, Hyunjin clicks his tongue like Felix is a cat but does nothing to get him back on his feet. Sometimes he wonders if Hyunjin had been lab-grown; there is a frightening lack of real world knowledge presented here.

“Aigoo!” Minho exclaims, pushing Hyunjin out of the way. “Don’t let the poor thing suffer!”

With deft hands Minho scoops Felix up until he’s settled upright in the palm of his hand. With dread Felix realises that he is really, really small. Minho’s hands aren’t large to begin with but they still serve to make him feel like the world’s smallest being.

Shocked by the revelation that he could get squashed by one wrong move from any of his band mates, Felix’s body begins to shake involuntarily.

It serves to soften Minho up, he brings Felix close to his chest, until he’s cradled against his soft t-shirt, beak resting against Minho’s neck.

Hyunjin struggles to his feet with a sheepish look on his face. Felix tries to glare but Minho starts rocking him lightly which is the single worst thing for the anger in his belly because it makes him drowsy like a baby.

Above him Minho begins to hum, his chest sends vibrations through Felix’s bird body, it almost sends him into a coma.

“Aish, where is this kid?” Minho says, leaning out of the room to look down the hallway. He clearly thinks Felix is hiding somewhere in the dorm too afraid of his wrath. Which would probably be true if he wasn’t right here. Felix blinks slowly, his head is so heavy that he faceplants into Minho’s palm. Hyunjin and Minho both coo. Jisung is probably still disgusted.

“Chan-hyung!” Minho’s yell startles Felix into yelping (quacking?) awake. Minho soothes him by pulling him closer. It’s good that Minho is calling for Chan, Chan will tell Minho that Felix is innocent and that he would never sneak an animal into the dorm.

Again.

And then maybe Felix will be able to figure out how to tell them that he is the duck.

Chan trots into the room in his usual get-up of black on black, looking sleepy and suitably rumpled for a chronic insomniac. He spots duck-Felix almost immediately and, like Hyunjin, looks like he falls in love on sight. As he should.

His whole face just melts, his droopy eyes disappear as a blinding smile lights up his face. Instinctively he reaches out to take Felix from Minho but Minho, to Felix’s utter outrage, turns away clucking. “I can’t trust any of you with small animals.”

Chan makes a noise of protest, offended. Minho doesn’t seem to care, when he turns back around Felix is being shielded by his hands so that no one can even attempt to take Felix away from Minho.

Not that Jisung is trying, from between Minho’s fingers Felix can see that he is still eyeing Felix like he’s gonna start a blood bath. He’s a whole duck, not a snake, Jisung.

Minho abandons the shielding to hold him up, into Chan’s face. “Are you not seeing what’s wrong here?” Valiantly, Felix tries to get closer to Chan, but Minho ushers him back probably to prevent a fall. Felix quacks, annoyed.

Chan watches his escape attempts fondly. “What’s wrong with the duck?”

Minho pulls Felix back into his chest. “There is nothing wrong with the duck, there is something wrong with a duck being in this dorm.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” Felix doesn’t have to see to know that Minho is rolling his eyes. “Get me Yongbokkie so that I can scold him.”

“You don’t know that Felix has brought it here.” Chan is Felix’s only friend, the only one with a shred of loyalty, the only one who actually knows-knows him, and the rest of Stray Kids can leave. They can become a duo, just two aussies, absolutely no Minhos.

“Oh, I absolutely do know,” He uses a finger to pet Felix’s tiny head, Felix has a hard time staying mad. “It’s him or Innie and I saw Innie leave, Felix is somewhere in the dorm.”

Chan remains sceptical. That’s Felix’s only friend, if he could clap he would. “After last time?”

Last time it had been a kitten, a very, very cute kitten. He and Jeongin had found it after practice, near a drain, meowing pitifully. Felix’s first thought had been to get it out of danger.

Retrospectively he isn’t quite sure who made the decision to pick it up and bring it home or which one of them – after getting attached– had decided that hiding it would work. In an apartment of eight people no less.

They lasted a whole two days before Minho used his powers for evil and sniffed out the kitten, like a mother cat with a sense for trouble.

The worst part wasn’t even the triple scoldings they had to endure for bringing an animal into the dorm and hiding it for a couple days. (As scoldings go, Minho’s hadn’t been as bad because the way he’d cradled the kitten and had puckered his lips at it every time he took a breath had severely lessened the impact on Felix).

And it hadn’t been so bad because he had his partner in crime by his side. Getting scolded together never felt that serious in the first place.

The worst part was arguably that Chan and manager Joohyuk had decided that the two of them couldn’t be left to their own devices. It was months of being treated like little kids, no walks home alone, hands held (this might’ve been initiated by Felix), the whole shebang. Neither Jeongin nor Felix were going to repeat that mistake any time soon.

“Well clearly last time didn’t leave an impression on him.You let him sleep in your bed and you let him get away with everything. You’ve spoiled him rotten!”

Felix quacks indignantly. Minho is not being fair. He flaps his little wings but all Minho does is shush him again. He snaps his beak at one of Minho’s fingers but Minho gently redirects him, then he resumes the featherlight patting. The patting is a little too good and he has a hard time trying to harness his disdain.

“He’s not an actual child, Minho,” Chan says, like a good friend and soulmate.

“Well, he sure acts like it, dragging in defenseless animals and disappearing when he’s in trouble.”

Chan grimaces, arguably he has no argument for that. Satisfied, Minho turns his full attention back to Felix. His smile is so fond that Felix can’t help nuzzling his little feather head into Minho’s offered fingers. “Which pond did that brat steal you from? You poor little thing. Hyungie will take good care of you.”

“He’s so cute!” Hyunjin squeals again, getting closer to pet him too. Felix is in heaven. His tiny body is fully covered by hands who gently pat down his coat of feathers. Maybe it’s his new biology but the attention literally sends him into a state of absolute bliss.

The sensation of this physical attention is so amplified that Felix thinks that he wouldn’t even mind staying a duck for forever if it meant this.

Chan sighs. “I’ll go look for Lixie.” He leaves but not before casting another longing look Felix’s way.

Minho harrumphs his assent. “I’m gonna kick Felix’s ass when I get my hands on him.”

As Minho tries to pet his head again Felix takes great satisfaction in biting Minho’s thumb. Judging by his startled yelp Felix is delighted to discover that duck’s have teeth or something like it. They allow him to hold on even as Minho tries to get him to let go by shaking his hand gently.

Minho is a very good person not throwing Felix to the ground so he decides to show mercy and let go before he draws blood. When he does Minho jostles him from one hand to the other and begins to suck on his injured thumb. If Felix could he would grimace, he isn’t quite sure if ducks carry rabies, let alone magic-once-human-ducks but he can’t imagine that that’s hygienic. Minho is so brave.

Chuckling at Minho’s misfortune, Hyunjin makes grabby hands. “Can I hold him now?”

Minho still refuses to relinquish Felix. “No! He didn’t mean it! He’s probably just hungry.”

Hyunjin considers this. “Do we have some cereal?” Cereal sounds amazing to Felix right now, he has missed breakfast in favour of panicking about waking up as a duck.

Minho scoffs, like duck-diets, are common knowledge. “Ducks should eat nuts and seeds, maybe rice. Not cereal. Hwang Hyunjin, don’t let me catch you poisoning the duck.”

Jisung snorts disbelievingly. Felix sends him an evil eye. He hopes it’s effective.

“Cooked or dry?” Hyunjin's eyes have not left Felix, this is the kind of attention Felix wants all the time.

“Either is fine.” Either is decidedly not fine, Felix wants cooked rice and cooked rice only. Unfortunately he can’t make his preferences known, no one really pays attention to his quacks and it’s not like they’re trying to decipher them anyway.

Maybe staying a duck isn’t so hot after all.

Hyunjin leans in and gives him a wet kiss on his duck head. “Cooked rice it is, little duck~” He says in the most sugary sweet baby voice before he prances off to the kitchen.

“Sloppy Jinnie,” Minho coos, tenderly wiping Felix’s head. Quack.

“We should bring it back outside.” Jisungs suggests a hopeful glint in his eyes. He’s still hovering like he thinks Felix will try to start a massacre, it’ll definitely come in handy later. He can’t believe Jisung of all people would suggest leaving him to the elements, abandoning him, a defenseless little duck. When Felix is big again he will have to rethink some things.

At least Minho holds on tight to his protective instincts. “We can’t. He’s too little, he probably has a mom. We need to know where Felix stole him from so that he doesn’t die out there.”

Felix is so tempted to bite another finger. He’s not a duck thief. He can’t believe that this hyung really thinks he’d steal defenseless animals for his own amusement, from their mothers no less.

“Do you wanna pet him?” Minho asks.

“I can’t think of anything I’d like to do less.”

Minho squints at Jisung, realisation flits across his face. “Sungie, are you afraid of ducklings?” There is a dark, mischievous glint in his eyes that suggests Felix is not the only one cataloguing Jisung’s discomfort.

“No, but are we even sure that’s a duck? It could be a goose or a swan. If it’s a goose I don’t want to touch it. Geese are evil, hyung, they’re so evil.” Jisung turns away from Minho with a thousand-yard stare on his face.

Minho thinks it’s a bit pathetic, judging by his exasperated huff. “Have you never read The Ugly Duckling? Look at this baby.” He holds Felix up. “He’s not ugly. And he’s too small.”

Damn right, he isn’t ugly, he’s probably the cutest thing to ever walk in this dorm. Duck or not.

Jisung refuses to even look at Felix. “Since when are you a duck expert?”

“I’m no ornithologist but I can tell a duck from a goose or a chicken or a swan. At least look at him.”

Reluctantly, Jisung turns around until he’s got big frightened, wary eyes on Felix, his eyes look almost glossy with unshed tears. Felix would lie if he said he didn’t get a little satisfaction out of that.

“It is,” Jisung takes a deep breath. “Kinda cute...I guess.” He’s visibly terrified, eyes darting from Felix to Minho like he expects the duck to be flung into his face. Felix flaps his wings a little to signal that he means no harm.

Quack.

Jisung shrinks away again.

Chan returns, stumbling and out of breath, “I can’t find him anywhere.” It’s because he’s right here. Felix quacks loudly while dancing on Minho’s palm who only pets him to calm him. Chan inches closer.

“What about in there?” Minho suggests nodding to the void disguised as Chan’s closet. This time it’s Chan who rolls his eyes. Only friend, best friend, Felix thinks.

“He’s not playing hide and seek with us.”

Minho finally relinquishes his iron hold on Felix and hands him over to Chan, who is all too delighted to finally get his hands on Felix.

“He’s playing hide and seek with the consequences of his actions.” Determinedly Minho strides across the room and yanks the closet door open, perhaps thinking he’ll find Felix crouched in the corner, black clothes nearly swallowing him. Instead they find nothing except the void-like darkness of Chan’s meticulously organised clothes.

He looks very disappointed to not find Felix in there.

“How old do you think Felix is?” Chan asks, chuckling.

“Approximately four years old.”

“You’re trying so hard to be a mum, hyung,” Jisung teases, he’s still trying to inch out of the room without inciting duck-wrath but apparently passing up an opportunity to tease Minho is worth the risk. “All I hear is ‘nag, nag, nag’”

Minho lunges in Jisung’s direction which makes Jisung squeak before high-tailing it out of the room and down the hallway.

Once Jisung is a safe distance away in his own room, Minho turns to Chan with open hands, “Hand me the duck.”

Felix does not want to be handed over, Chan’s hands are supremely comfortable and they don’t belong to a traitor. Friend-hands over hands with owners of very little faith any day.

“I just got him,” Chan says, turning away from Minho so he can’t try and swoop in and grab Felix. “Let me have this.”

Minho seems to argue with himself for a moment before he siddles closer. “Hyung~”

“No!”

“What if you drop him?”

“Why would I drop him?”

“Well–”

Hyunjin comes prancing back into the room and without hesitation gently grabs Felix from Chan. “Breakfast is served, little duck.”

Felix is swooped out of the room to the background noise of his hyungs protesting Hyunjin’s thievery. It’s kinda unsettling how little power he has over where his body is going but Hyunjin’s general demeanour makes him feel safe. He knows his bandmates wouldn’t hurt him, it’s not their fault that they’re not nearly as gentle as they could be.

In the most Hyunjin-like manner he has the rice arranged in a shallow soy sauce dish on top of a placemat in the middle of the kitchen table. It’s almost romantic.

Carefully, he’s placed on the table. “Eat well!” Hyunjin encourages, nudging him toward the rice.

He is hungry but the rice could be a tool, Felix sees his chance. He begins to frantically use his beak to dump out as much rice as possible. He makes a small pile before Hyunjin can even comprehend what he’s doing.

“Oh no!” Hyunjin tries to intervene by snagging the bowl of rice off the table but Felix already has enough gathered for his plan. “Little duck! Don’t make a mess!” Felix steadfastly ignores the scolding.

It’s harder than he thought trying to spell anything with rice let alone with a little beak. The F alone almost makes it feel like it’s minutes before he even gets the long bit done.

Hyunjin keeps diving in to sweep up some of the grains but Felix’s protests are very vocal. It almost hurts to quack this viciously and loudly. His body is so small, big sounds are hard but not impossible. Abject fear crosses Hyunjin’s face, he steps away, holding the bowl of rice in his hand, visibly unsure about what to do. Felix can’t say that he cares much.

The worst part is the panic in his belly, if he can’t get it done now then maybe he won’t ever get the chance again. The feeling isn’t unlike the paralysing fear that overcomes you in nightmares when you can’t move fast enough, no matter how urgent the situation is.

“Minho-hyung! Chan-hyung!” Hyunjin yells, voice filled with panic. “The duck is behaving weirdly!” Felix keeps knocking the rice away, it slips and slides, the only saving grace is that it’s sticky enough to not completely slip away. Beaks and webbed feet are not the perfect tools for this undertaking.

“If you poisoned him, I will feed you something worse than tissues!” Minho yells. He’s on the second stroke of the F now but he can hear them hurrying down the hallway.

It’s unlikely that his hyungs will decide to knock the rice off the table or that they'd do anything like it. Still the anxiety doesn’t subside. He hurries along to make the E.

Es are unfortunately harder than Fs.

Minho and Chan come rushing into the kitchen, both pull up short watching duck-Felix’s antics. “Wha–?” Minho sounds like he’s seen a ghost. Felix gets to work on the L.

“I guess we can stop looking for Felix now,” Chan says. Felix feels all tension drain from his body, elated that his plan worked, he plops down on the table, expectantly he looks up at the three boys watching him. He’s lucky to be surrounded by smart boys with large tolerances for nonsense, including their bandmates getting turned into ducks.

“Oh,” Minho says, looking from the abandoned letters to the duck, visibly baffled. Hyunjin looks just as astonished.

Chan takes it in stride. “One quack for yes, two quacks for no,” he instructs, all leader-like. One smart boy with a large tolerance for nonsense.

Felix quacks once.

“Chan–” Minho sounds shaky. “You can’t be serious.”

Chan ignores him. “Are you Felix?” Quack.

Hyunjin gasps. “Ask something interesting, like the lotto numbers.” Felix thinks being a duck is plenty interesting.

“The duck is not an oracle, Jinnie,” Minho snaps. The duck is Felix! Felix valiantly holds back another quack, he doesn’t want to confuse anyone.

“The duck is Felix,” Chan says, as though reading Felix’s mind.

“He needs to prove it,” Minho argues.

“He did write his name with rice.” Hyunjin shrugs, evidently it’s only Minho that still needs convincing.

“What about–?” Minho pauses for a second. “Is your birthday September 15th 2000?”

Quack.

“How does that confirm anything?” Chan asks, snickering. Silently, Felix agrees.

Minho huffs, “I don’t know what it confirms, ask your questions then, duck-whisperer.”

“Do you know how you ended up as a duck?”

Quack. Quack.

“Of course not,” gripes Minho, pulling up a chair to sit down. Felix gets up to tentatively waddle closer to Minho. He lifts his head to hold eye-contact with Felix and his eyes soften considerably. “You are very, very cute at least.” He doesn’t sound very happy saying it but Felix decides to ignore that in favour of nuzzling his head against Minho’s hand. Tenderly Minho returns the gesture.

Hyunjin makes a strangled sound. “I really can’t handle this cuteness,” he says, retreating out of the kitchen.

“Get everyone to come here,” Chan instructs Hyunjin’s retreating back. “Make sure to mention it’s an emergency!”

**

“Stress does not turn you into a baby duck!” Seungmin says, firmly. “Or Chan would be one too.”

Unsurprisingly, no one is that fazed. Everyone has taken the news that one of their bandmates has turned into a literal animal far better than Felix expected. It goes to show just how unhinged every single person Chan has picked is, perhaps it even shows what his selection criteria was in the first place.

Seungmin had barely blinked, Jeongin reacted similarly to Hyunjin and Changbin had nearly lost his mind cooing at Felix. At least he didn’t have to try and convince them, they hadn’t even suspected that they were being pranked, simply because of how pale and hassled Minho looks.

The only one truly ruffled was Jisung who had with tears in eyes and despair in his voice declared Felix ‘turned into a monster by witches’.

Conversation has quickly developed into spit-balling whether Felix has called upon the universe to become a duck or if they needed to avenge him.

Meanwhile Felix feels like a prince being handed from one person to the next, there’s just so many warm laps and palms it’s kinda like heaven. They’ll take care of it, he’s sure so he can take advantage in the meantime.

Jisung disagrees, “Nah, Chan-hyung would be a kangaroo.”

“Hang on!” He’s got Felix again, on his lap this time and he’s very attentive with his head-pats, Felix is in a state of immeasurable bliss. “I’d be a wolf.”

All of them make various noises of protest. “In your dreams, hyung.”

“Let’s refocus please,” Minho says before they can devolve into yet another raucous squabble. Chan makes a noise of agreement. “We have a baby-duck bandmate.”

“Aespa has digital avatars,” Jeongin says, wholly unconcerned. “And anyways Lixie is a duck because he keeps pouting. It all makes sense.”

Changbin reaches out to thwack him in the back of the head but Jeongin dodges expertly before grabbing onto Changbin’s hand and interlacing their fingers. “He’s still your hyung.”

“I’m not calling a duckling hyung,” Jeongin says and gives Felix an appraising once over. “That’s a full baby. I don’t know the life-span of ducks but I don’t think there is a single duck older than me. He’s probably mentally de-aged too. I’m your appa now.”

If Felix could, he would bite Jeongin so hard. He's talking muscle, cartilage, the whole nine yards of biting. He’d do what no duckling has ever done before.

**

Changbin turns out to be the most easily cajoled, soft-hearted fool in the whole of Stray Kids. Where everyone falls into line with Minho’s instructions Changbin has no qualms letting himself be tricked by sad duckling eyes.

Minho’s ‘inspired’ one-note menu for Felix has had him in a huffy strop for days now. Nuts and seeds and rice are simply some of the saddest foods to have on their own. Occasionally someone will allow him to have some greens but Felix has a massive sweet-tooth and the tenacity to get his sweets to match.

And as Felix has recognized Changbin as an easy target the syrup he’s currently using on his pancakes will soon be his.

Abandoning the seed and nut mix Minho had lovingly prepared, Felix makes to hop across the table as cutely as he possibly can. This little display helps to butter Changbin up before going in for what he really wants. Changbin is already watching with a big, soft smile.

“What do you need, Lixie?” Felix dances on the spot, spins in a circle. He really is an entertainer, no matter his physical form.

Changbin watches with an indulgent smile, his pancakes are unguarded now and Felix is tempted to jump them but everyone of his bandmates has proven to be very good at grabbing him even if he really doesn’t want them to. (He’s got a whole bed-time now, granted it’s whenever Minho decides that Chan doesn’t want a duck underfoot anymore so it’s flexible but it’s not necessarily like he has much choice when he gets scooped up).

Surely inching closer while dancing will clue Changbin in and maybe he’ll even think it’s his idea, if Felix is lucky.

Unfortunately, when Changbin catches on he looks regretful.“Oh no, little duck, this could give you duck-diabetes.” The way he pulls at his lip lets Felix know he’s open to being persuaded.

Felix flings himself onto his belly in front of the plate, little legs windmilling, he imagines it’s very cute. It’s also a little bit of a last ditch effort.

Soft, soft Changbin apparently does not need much. He sighs deeply before reluctantly pushing the plate toward Felix.

Overjoyed Felix does another little spin before nearly diving headfirst into the plate. Blissfully unaware of anything but his desired treat.

The pancakes taste better than any pancake has ever tasted before but it’s the syrup that does it for Felix. It’s sticky sweet and he has a hard time getting it into his beak, which is unfortunate because he really wants to eat as much as possible as fast as possible. Felix can’t help but wiggle in delight, in his joy he steps onto the plate to get as close as he can.

The tart sweetness of the raspberry makes him feel feral. After days of nutritionally complex things the sugar of Changbin’s food hits him immediately. His body is jittery and the feeling of the sugar almost makes his head spin.

Above him, Changbin mutters to himself. “Aigoo, Minho-hyung is gonna kill me.” He might feel bad for Changbin but it’s not like Felix can pay attention to Changbin anyway, all his focus is dedicated to sticky syrup and fluffy carb-y pancakes.

His joy only lasts so long however. As per usual lately it’s either Seungmin or Minho who come to ruin his fun.

This time it’s both, before he can even take proper notice of their presence he’s plucked from the table mid-bite and scooped into Seungmin’s hands.

In Seungmin’s hands Felix discovers he’s sticky all over, in his frenzy he’s managed to bathe in syrup. Even his feet are no longer orange.

“Changbin!” Uh-oh. There goes Minho again.

As he’s not the focus of attention Felix tries to surreptitiously pick at his downy pelt to get some of the raspberry off. Not for cleanliness, mostly so he can have some more of the treat. As a precaution, Seungmin thrusts him away from his white sweatshirt. “You could’ve said no to him, hyung,” He says, eyeing Felix like he’s a complete hazard.

The tips of Changbin’s ears are very red but he doesn’t look particularly contrite, he shrugs helplessly. “Have you tried saying no? He’s very hard to reason with.” It’s probably best that no one mentions that all Felix did was wiggle about before Changbin had caved, there hadn’t even been an attempt at a ‘no’.

“He’s a boy in a duck body, you could’ve tried reasoning with him at least,” Minho shakes his head and then turns his attention to Felix who has now moved on to practically eating his own feathers. “And you,” He wags a finger at Felix. “I’ve told you bread isn’t good for ducks, not to mention syrup is definitely not on the menu for birds. Remember we don’t know if you can have human food, brat.”

Felix quacks apologetically. Minho sighs so deeply Felix feels almost bad for not meaning it.

“I’m not doing the bathing,” Seungmin says, swiftly handing Felix from his hand to Minho’s. “And I wouldn’t trust Changbin-hyung to do it either, he’d probably drown him.”

Changbin makes a wounded noise of protest. “Yah! I would never! The syrup was a lapse in judgement!”

**

“When you’re big Felix again, I will kick your ass for this.” Minho’s white shirt is dripping everywhere. It’s giving wet-t-shirt-contest. Of course Felix can’t help but flap more, Minho’s wrath is for future-Felix to deal with, for now Felix’s mission is to be a baby duck tsunami.

“Don’t act cute, little duck.”

Felix preens and then demonstratively dunks his head under water. It’s fascinating how the water pearls down his neck, so he does it over and over again, always ending on a good and proper shake off which results in more water droplets flying everywhere.

As it turns out syrup is exceptionally tough to get out of feathers but God knows Minho is trying, except Felix is a little too raucous and no matter how hard Minho tries Felix makes it his mission to evade his hands.

In the process of his sink-pool-party not just Minho has suffered water damage but the floor and the mirror above the sink have been doused as well. It’s probably gonna be a bitch to clean up.

There are few upsides to the duck thing but getting to be absolutely unhinged is definitely one of them. His tiny body is always brimming with insane amounts of energy and it’s like he’s perpetually on a caffeine high (the crashes aren’t unlike the end of a caffeine high either). It’s all high highs and low lows.

Chan and Jeongin are the only ones who are able to keep up with him when he’s on one of these rampages. (Jisung could probably too if he wasn’t still so scared and if he wasn’t so busy nearly tearing up every time he looks at Felix for too long).

Minho spends the better part of half an hour watching Felix delight in this rare opportunity to really let loose, eventually Minho grows tired of watching. Felix can tell because he stops dunking water on him and his encouraging coos peter out. Felix is still riding the high of free expression though and tries to ignore it until he starts to feel bad for monopolising Minho.

Floating in the middle of the sink he turns expectant eyes on Minho who offers him a gummy smile. “Time to come out, yes?”

He grabs a towel and spends some time unnecessarily rubbing Felix dry, it really isn’t like he needs it but it’s nice either way. The towel is fluffy and warm after the cool water of the sink so Felix lets Minho towel him dry to his heart's content.

“Hey Yongbokkie,” Minho says, tentatively, as he pulls the towel off. “Are you upset because of manager-nim?”

Immediately Felix feels like all the energy is zapped out of him. When the group had decided that Felix wasn’t going to turn back into a human on his own they’d made the decision to get management involved. Manager Joohyuk had looked at duck-Felix with an expression that was a mix of devastation and pure, unadulterated panic. Felix swears that he saw Joohyuk age in front of his eyes.

It had been very humbling. Unlike the easy acceptance he’d seen from his members Joohyuk had been the first to bring up the idea that Felix may never turn back. None of the others had acted like they hadn’t thought of it before and Felix had felt (still feels) extremely foolish for just assuming things would be fine and not even considering the worst case scenario.

Both Chan and Minho had reassured Joohyuk – and inadvertently Felix – that they thought that this was merely temporary and that they just needed to figure out the cause and that once they did Felix would be just fine.

Joohyuk hadn’t been convinced, neither had Felix. Since then every night is spent on research into the occult. Seungmin could probably curse someone at the rate he is going.

“I figured,” Minho says gently. “Little duck, things will be just fine. Hyungs will figure it out and you’ll be big and annoying soon enough.”

**

Everyone is very busy today. Felix has been semi forgotten on the floor in front of the tv. After flicking through the channels Hyunjin had put on some drama about people who run and Felix had been semi enraptured before he started to feel droopy again.

Ducks need surprisingly many naps.

The problem with being parked in front of the tv like a toddler after a sugar-crash is the lack of physical attention. Everyone is doing human things; working in some capacity, eating nice foods, Jeongin is playing games on his phone. Felix really misses games. This whole lack of opposable thumbs is more of a hindrance than he’d initially realised.

He watches Jeongin for a bit as he lies reclined, intently focusing on his screen and decidedly not paying any tangible attention to Felix.

Feeling unjustly spited Felix decides to waddle off, if no one is paying attention to him then he’s gonna find something to do or get someone to pay attention to him. And if there is nothing to do he at least wants a nap in a warm place and if there are no laps available someone’s bed will do the job just fine. He’s thinking Jisung will make a good victim.

Except when he manages to hop through the sliding doors into the vestibule, the front door is open a crack. He figures someone must’ve forgotten to close when they left the apartment. This almost never happens, the door is heavy and everyone is afraid of letting people in that they shouldn’t.

It’s a total disruption of his new routine.

And he is so bored.

Sleepiness forgotten, he dives for the door as fast as possible before any of the members can decide to pay attention suddenly.

Outside of the apartment he realises his mistake. The world is unfortunately large and he is unfortunately small. He's gotten used to the dorm and it’s dimensions but he had not reckoned with the impact that seeing the stairs and elevator would have. Aside from that there is no way he’s gonna jump each step down the stairs individually.

The fear could be paralysing but the boredom and lack of attention outweigh his anxieties. And maybe it’s stupid but he’s sure that if there is foot traffic in the near future he can probably slip into the elevator.

He’s not quite sure what he’s gonna do once he gets the lobby but maybe just this once the journey really can be the goal.

**

Luckily enough one of the older ladies, Mrs. Choi, who lives two doors down from them and who has conveniently bad eyesight, is the person that chooses to be Felix’s smuggler.

Or the person Felix decides to piggy-back with, he slyly rushes from behind the potted plant he’d taken refuge behind into the elevator, where he makes a point to slip between Mrs. Choi’s feet so that he’s peeking out between her bag and legs.

The ride down is surprisingly smooth, all things considered. When the elevator doors slide open it becomes apparent that that is going to be the only smooth thing on this adventure.

Another thing he has not reckoned with is just how much he’d be underfoot. The lobby of the building isn’t particularly busy but he’s trying to be inconspicuous and there are only so many plant pots he can hide behind.

Worse yet, Mrs. Choi moves surprisingly fast and using her as a shield to get out of the building undetected is not possible. Felix lags behind and nearly gets stepped on when he tries to dive behind a trash can. As dives go he manages to do pretty well by duck standards.

Behind the pot he starts to contemplate his choices. As it is slipping out of the building is possibly the worst choice he can make. The outside world holds nothing but scary big people with scary big feet. It’s not even like there is a park out there where he can go for a swim.

He’s not a dog so he can’t exactly go begging for scraps, he is a duck and that does stand out massively. This excursion is more of a disaster than he could have predicted or maybe it’s because he didn’t think any of it through at all.

No impulse control his mum would say. And she’d be right, he thinks bitterly. He’d always been cautious in the wrong moments only, otherwise he has always been completely led by impulse.

On the other hand outside is not the dorm, outside is where there are things he hasn’t tried yet. Except from behind the pot the distance between him and the entrance doors is insurmountable, he’d have to try and run so fast to escape the ever watchful eyes of the doorman and he’s not quite sure if his webbed feet and questionable balance will do the job.

It’s easy to decide to turn around. Maybe half the journey can be the goal.

Except, as is his life as of right now, things really don’t go the way he wants them to. The elevator is out of the question because he doesn’t have anyone to go with and he definitely can’t reach the buttons. And he doesn’t want to wait, just in case it’s not one of the elderly neighbours.

Stairs it is.

Decision made, he rushes from his hiding spot toward the staircase, he’s lucky it’s out of sight for the doorman, however that’s about as lucky as he’s gonna get. The stairs itself would probably not be a problem if he wasn’t quite as small of a duckling as he is. Whoever did this really made it the most inconvenient experience possible.

The first three steps are relatively easy to conquer, he has to flap very hard to get enough traction to even make the jump but on the fourth step he realises his energy reserves are not cut out for this kind of exercise.

Defeated he plops onto his duck-bum. It’s very sobering to imagine what he looks like, in his mind's eye it’s all very pathetic. At this point getting picked up by the doorman is almost preferable to sitting around like a despondent, helpless idiot.

It’s also preferable to what happens next; loud stomping draws near, like thunder someone is running down the staircase. Felix, realises with sudden fright, that he might just become duck pancake if he doesn’t get out of the way. Overcome with adrenaline, he takes the leap and rolls down onto the ground before the stairs.

He barely has time to register the pain of falling onto tile before he gets back on his feet to try and fly-jump away. Holding in his quacks of fright he tries to get behind the plant pot again but is stopped in his tracks.

“Lee Felix!” It’s Chan. Uh-oh. The tone of his voice stops all movement, Chan’s patented leader-voice arrests his whole body’s momentum. Chan sounds mad. Very mad.

Ugh.

Felix thinks about trying to escape the building after all. Surely there’ll be a pond somewhere where he can live out the rest of his days.

Before he can get a quack in, Chan grabs him around the belly. “Jesus Christ, Felix.” Chan mutters as he’s pulling him to Chan’s chest. He is breathing fast like the run down the stairs was the most he’s ever exercised. Felix can feel his heart beating frantically, not that his own isn’t also beating wildly out of rhythm in his chest.

Tentatively Felix tries to sneak a glance upwards to see just how mad Chan is. Judging by the way his nostrils are flaring and the way his shoulders are drawn up in tense anger there is absolutely no chance Felix will escape this without a scolding.

Felix is swiftly carried toward the elevator. Chan practically breaks a finger pressing the call-button. Yeah, Chan is definitely mad-mad.

Inside the elevator Felix is lifted to eye level. It’s arguably the worst to be in the direct line of this much ire. Especially when it’s deserved. Looking at it now Felix is kinda unsure about the why of his own misdeed.

“What the fuck was that?” Chan asks, eyes blazing. Felix stays silent but hopes to convey his contriteness with his subdued demeanour. “What were you thinking?”

Felix is kind of happy that he can’t out loud admit that all he was thinking about was his own boredom, he’s sure he’d be in so much more trouble if he could vocalise his stupidity.

Realising that Felix won’t answer Chan plows onwards, “We thought you’d been kidnapped. Can you imagine the panic we just went through trying to find you while all you were doing...what? Some sort of game of hide-and-seek? Pranking us?”

Quack quack.

Admittedly it’s probably worse that he wasn’t pranking anyone and that he wasn’t at all thinking about anything but his own gratification but he can’t have Chan thinking that he was being malicious.

“No?” He asks, eyebrows raised sceptically. “It wasn’t a game or a prank?”

Quack.

Chan eyes him for a minute, evaluating. He seems unsure whether to believe Felix and it stings that he could even think Felix would be a liar or worse cruel.

“Okay,” He acquises eventually, nodding as he takes a deep breath. “Okay. That doesn’t change much. I am still disappointed in your actions. I didn’t think I’d have to say this but disappearing on us like that is not cool and I don’t want to see a repeat of this. Ever.”

Oof. That feels horrible. There is nothing quite so bad as Chan pulling the disappointment card. The guilt sits heavy in Felix's chest and he would be in tears now if he had the ability to cry. He hates letting Chan, or anyone, down, especially when it’s preventable. Even worse when it’s something as dumb as this.

“Do you understand, Lixie?”

Quack.

“Good. Thank you,” Chan says before giving him a little kiss on the head. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Except he isn’t is he? He’s still a duckling and right now he’d much rather be human so he could hug Chan and truly revel in forehead kisses (and also leave the building on his own but that’s secondary right now).

Chan’s left the front door wide open and even from the hallway they can hear the ruckus inside the apartment.

With dread he realises if it’s attention he wants he’s got it now.

**

“I’m glad you’re not fried chicken,” Jisung says, he’s still sitting a good distance away from Felix but he doesn’t seem super freaked out anymore which is a huge improvement and makes this statement sound at least semi genuine.

“He’d be fried duck,” Minho corrects from where he’s lounging on the sofa. “And there is still a good chance he could be if he pulls another stunt like that.”

Aside from Chan, Minho had been the one most frazzled by Felix’s disappearance. In his frenzy he’d pulled out all of the clothes from Chan’s closet looking for him. They’re now in a big pile in Chan’s room. Undoubtedly Felix would’ve been made to clean it up if he was big. For now it’s Chan who is going to have to deal with it.

As punishment Felix has been parked in front of the tv again. All the doors are firmly closed and will be for the foreseeable future. Minho had threatened a cage but Chan had rolled his eyes and shut that down quickly. Chan’s good like that.

He still feels rotten though. It’s no longer just that he had created problems but mainly the fact that it’s been a week of being a duckling and there is no feasible end to it.

It sucks.

“I’ve never heard a duck sigh before.” Chan says he's sitting next to Minho, still uncomfortable with letting Felix out of his sight.

“He needs enrichment.” Minho declares. “Maybe I should get one of my cats to come play with him.”

“Your cat would devour him.” Seungmin says dryly, from behind his phone.

“My babies would never. They have more manners than anyone in this dorm.”

Felix is with Seungmin on this one, there is no way he wants to play Tweety vs Sylvester in his own house.

“Maybe when he’s big again?” Chan suggests. “He’ll appreciate it more I’m sure.”

Oh he would. He’s been begging Minho to let him come with when he goes to visit his parents for weeks now, just for the cats.

Minho scoffs. “As a reward for cheeky behaviour?” At the rate Felix is going he is not gonna convince Minho to take him anywhere ever again.

“We’ll be celebrating Felix being big again,” Chan says, like it’s a sure thing.

Felix sighs again. If only he was big right now.

“Lixie, you wanna come cuddle?” Chan asks, sweetly. If he can’t be big, at least he can get attention. Despondently he trots over to Chan’s feet where he is picked up before he’s gently plopped onto Chan’s chest.

He curls up as closely as he possibly can to Chan’s neck so that his beak is resting under Chan’s chin. Delighted, Chan coos. “Aww little duck,” He uses a finger to rub Felix’s back. “Hyungs will figure it out. And look at Seungminnie doing all his research.”

Seungmin holds up his phone to show Felix his screen, all Felix can see is a load of text.

Seungmin works so hard, and Felix can’t help but be very impressed by his relentless pursuit of knowledge. And he’s grateful for his dedication.

“I’m close to figuring it out, Lix,” He promises with a comforting smile. Felix really, really, really wants to believe him.

**

“It’s the crystal.” Seungmin pulls it up and dangles in front of Jisung who follows it like he’s trying to get hypnotised.

Dread washes over Felix.

The members attention, he’d said, I like when they take care of me, he’d said. Like a fool. A very honest fool but still a fool. The girl had smiled so bright and he’d mirrored it because she genuinely seemed warm, and nice. And when she’d handed him a little silver chain with a sparkly yellow crystal on it he hadn’t hesitated to tap Hyunjin on the shoulder so that he’d fasten it around his neck. It’s against loneliness, she’d said with a sparkle in her eyes that Felix thought meant that she got him. Hindsight is 20/20.

He can’t believe he’d managed to get tricked by something sparkly. Minho, Seungmin and Hyunjin (of all people!) tease him for being naive and too trusting all the time. He hates that he’s proven them right.

He’s never touching anything anyone gives him ever again.

“It’s the crystal?” Minho is skeptical. “Why would it be the crystal?”

“It’s the only abnormality,” Seungmin says, like that explains it all. “He got it at a fansign, it’s no coincidence that the day after he gets it he's turned into a duck, don’t you think?”

Hyunjin snaps his fingers in realisation. “I remember it! Lix asked me to put it on him. The girl who gave it to him seemed really nice.”

“Oh good,” Seungmin says, with an unsettling glint in his eyes. “So you remember her. That’ll make the hunt easier.”

“The hunt?!” Hyunjin sounds scandalised by the mere thought of violence. “Minnie if we’re talking murder I’m out.”

Seungmin shrugs like he doesn’t really think he needs anyone’s help anyway and worse, like murder is definitely on the table.

Chan sighs deeply, he’s sitting at the head of the table looking like he’s developing a migraine. He’s most definitely rethinking the choices that lead him here. “Everyone settle down, we’re not hunting and we’re also not murdering.” He massages his temples as he says it, so it’s not nearly as authoritative as he wants it to be. It feels a little like the door to hunting and murdering is still open.

“Seungmin-hyung’s right,” Jeongin says, mirroring Seungmin’s smile. “I think ‘hunt’ sounds good. We should want to avenge him.”

It’s kinda heartwarming how ready they are to go to bat for Felix.

Chan moved onto holding his head in his hands as though his neck can’t support his head. Felix feels pity for him, he must definitely be thinking about how he could be in Got7, there’d be no responsibility if Bambam got turned into a duckling.

“Be a good hyung and don’t incite violence Seungmin-ah,” He says halfheartedly.

“It all depends on whether she can reverse this, in my opinion,” Minho says, he’s already on his phone typing furiously, undoubtedly preparing to do nefarious things. Sometimes Felix likes to imagine that Minho goes on the dark-web at night to do shady things. Both him and Seungmin could be using the whole idol gig as fronts.

Seungmin makes eye-contact with Felix. “I’ll figure out who she is, Lix,” he promises. “In the meantime do not touch any strange crystals please.”

It’s a preposterous thing to say considering the duck thing. Where is he supposed to find crystals now, let alone touch them?

Chan pats Felix’s head. “How about no more crystals ever?”

Felix can’t say he opposes that.

**

Ahn Iseul is just as nice as Felix remembers. She’s smiling pleasantly on the side of her screen, like she’s not someone who hands out magical crystals with transformation powers. She’s surprisingly steadfast too considering that the whole of Stray Kids is crowding around one screen to impromptu facetime with her.

No one’s told her what this is about but she must suspect something and still she seems wholly unconcerned. Then again she does have powers. Felix isn’t a witch but he imagines that if he was he’d have confidence in droves too.

Felix would be impressed if he wasn’t so confused. Someone so seemingly genuine and pleasant can’t be an evil witch. Shouldn’t be an evil witch.

For the moment Chan’s decided that Felix is to be kept out of the frame. Felix isn’t quite sure if he thinks Iseul can do magic across facetime or if he’s still worried that Iseul isn’t actually responsible, revealing to the fans that one of their idols has been turned into a pet is definitely a hazard.

So Felix is sitting just below the phone which is propped up on a stack of Minho’s cookbooks and leaning against one tangerine.

For a moment they sit in silence, each of them seemingly evaluating the other. While Iseul blinks at them, wholly unconcerned. Felix feels the tension in the room spike as the hostility grows. Apparently patience runs out quickly.

Chan is the first to speak, “So–” He’s interrupted by Seungmin who has been sitting, ready to pounce the moment they’d dialed her up. “What is the deal with the crystal you gave Felix?”

“It’s just a healing crystal,” Iseul says. “I hand them out all the time,” She pauses to look at each of them. “Why? Is there something wrong?”

It’s silent for a bit. Felix assumes everyone is trying to figure out how to word his situation delicately and without giving away too much.

“Noona,” Jeongin says. “Felix is a duck.” Chan groans. “Jeongin!”

Iseul seems not nearly as surprised as she should be, “A duck?” She asks, brows knitted.

“Yeah,” Jeongin plows on, Minho tries to put his hand over his mouth but Jeongin dodges him. “A duckling to be specific.” He grabs the phone before anyone else can and angles it so Felix is in frame.

“He’s so cute!” She says cooing. The room falls silent until Minho snorts, irritated.

“Alright, alright,” Iseul puts her hands up in an attempt to soothe the room. “It’s a simple charm,” She shrugs as she explains. “It’s only meant to make wishes come true, specifically it’s supposed to make the wearer feel less alone.”

“Is the meaning of wish flexible?” Seungmin asks.

“Well yeah, wish can mean small whim or deepest, darkest desire.” Sure, Felix thinks, my deepest, darkest desire is to have feathers.

Minho makes an incredulous noise. “Do you mean Felix wants to be a duck?”

Iseul only laughs, “It’s a lot more abstract than that.” Minho makes another noise of irritation, his patience is slipping and it seems both Seungmin and Changbin aren’t far behind if the way they’re clenching and unclenching is any indication. Felix would be cowed but Iseul only smiles, unbothered still.

God, Felix hopes she’s as nice as she seems and doesn’t bring up the fact that he admitted to her that he was lonely.

“I think he said that he likes your attention best, that he likes when you take care of him,” Fat chance of him ever saying anything positive about her again. “All of you. The crystal has its own way of interpreting that.”

It could have interpreted that as a few more spontaneous hugs, it’s just Felix’s luck that the crystal decided that feathery bi-ped was the way to go.

“If you wanted to spend more time with us you could’ve just said so,” Hyunjin says in Felix’s direction. Felix kind of wants to bite him. “No need to turn into a duck.” Changbin reaches out to pet him a little. Felix tries not to preen. He’s trying very hard to remember that this is a serious situation.

Meanwhile Jisung’s got his eyes on the price. “Can you please turn him back?”

To Felix’s horror Iseul makes an apologetic face.

“Oh no,” Minho hisses. “You can’t go around handing out volatile crystals and then leave the people you’ve cursed to pick up the pieces.”

“I’m really sorry,” She says, and she sounds it too. “I don’t have that much influence.”

Felix wants to cry. He really wants to cry. He’d been tentatively hoping for an immediate solution even though Chan had cautioned him to not be too optimistic, he just couldn’t help it.

No solution is crushing news. Changbin notices his mood and picks Felix up to comfort him.

“So what are we supposed to do?” Seungmin sounds very angry now, he’s got his fists clenched by his sides, the strain of it has his knuckles turned a worrying white. Felix imagines he’s gonna go on the web to buy some crystals of his own to curse her with.

“It’ll wear off. It’s fickle but it’s not forever.” Iseul sounds sure about that, at least. Fragile hope reignites and foolishly blooms in Felix’s chest.

“You should’ve led with that,” Minho says surly. “What’s the timeline?”

“It’s already been a week, yeah?” She nods her head to herself. “At best a couple more days, at worst another week. It’s not a long term thing. I guess the most important part to speeding up the process is wish fulfilment.” Wish fulfilment? He’s never, ever living this down. “But it’ll wear off either way, especially since he hasn’t been wearing the crystal.”

Seungmin un-clenches his fists, “Fine,” He grits out. “Is that all?” Apparently the last of his patience has run out.

Iseul smiles brightly. “Yes, that’s all.”

“One thing before you go,” Chan says and he’s got his no-nonsense leader-face on. “Can you please promise me not to hand out crystals anymore?” Iseul is visibly ruffled for the first time over the course of this conversation, she looks genuinely stumped for a second before she recovers.

“Chan-ssi, I’m sorry but I can’t promise that,” she grins mischievously, there it is again Felix thinks, she’s just very likable even when she’s unhinged. “I won’t give any more crystals to unsuspecting people, how about that?”

Chan lets out a long-suffering sigh, “If that’s all I can get, I’ll take it.”

“I’m sorry again, I didn’t think this would happen. Felix,” She peers in his direction to make eye-contact with him. “I know being a duckling isn’t ideal, just know that’s what the universe wants and you are very cute.” She hangs up before anyone else can say anything.

“The universe my ass,” Seungmin mutters. “This sucks.” The frustration on Seungmin’s face speaks to his unrelenting desire for clean-cut solutions as well as his neverending determination. Of course this is disappointing for Seungmin but Felix feels nothing but relief.

The initial rollercoaster of it all falls off him like water pearls off his back.

“Cheer up,” Hyunjin says. “It’s good news! Our Felix will be turning back soon.”

“Thank God,” Jisung says, under his breath.

Minho pulls at Changbin’s hand so that Felix is eye-level with him, “If I promise you that I’ll take you to visit my cats will that turn you back human?”

There they go, Felix thinks but he’s too happy to be anything but amused. Quack.

**

It takes two more days before Felix turns back. It’s quite anticlimactic when it happens.

The members had spent their time handing Felix from hand to hand so that he wasn’t lonely even once. There was always someone paying attention to him, even Jisung had warmed up enough to allow him to be on his lap for an excess amount of time (up to fifteen minutes).

Minho had given him another bath, Chan had smuggled him to the studio for one of his late night sessions in his pocket, of all places. Changbin had snuck him loads of terrible snacks. And Jeongin had spent loads of time mock-chasing him around the dorm. Hyunjin had forced him into a bunch of photoshoots. And Seungmin had spent all his time with Felix reading to him about the dangers of random crystals.

His last night as a duck is spent in Chan’s bed again, resting on the pillow right next to Chan’s head. Chan had made some time to spend in bed cuddling with Felix, powered through his insomnia for him and had even managed to fall asleep.

Probably Felix’s ideal night, if he is honest with himself.

In the morning he wakes up to Chan shaking him and whisper-yelling his name. “Felix!” he hisses. “You’re human again!”

And he is. When he stretches he can feel all of his individual limbs, no more short wings, no more yellow, downy feathers. Instead there are his arms, his legs are long and he’s got individual toes that wiggle!

Elated by this discovery he bounces up and nearly knocks into Chan’s head. Chan who is laughing and mirroring his mood. Once he’s upright Chan grabs him and pulls him into the tightest hug, he squeezes the shit out of him and presses kiss after kiss into Felix’s hair. Felix soaks it all up.

“I can’t believe I’m not a duck anymore!” Felix really, really can’t. It’s been a minute of consciously being a human again and his life as a duck is already starting to feel like a fever-dream.

“I can’t believe you were ever a duck,” Chan says like he’s reading Felix’s mind. “Let's go see the others, they’ll be so excited.”

And they are, everyone is so excited the neighbours are probably cursing them for being a disturbance. Felix is hugged and hugs everyone, it doesn’t feel the same as it did when he was a duck but it’s got it’s own appeal. He’s pleased as punch, actually.

Once things calm down Felix gets to enjoy real food for the first time in ages. They whip up a menu of every food they can find in the house and Felix can say with certainty that he won’t ever be ungrateful for any sort of food again. Meats, fruits, carbs, he’s in heaven.

When the ruckus calms down and everyone settles Felix is all too happy watching them slink off to their own things. Chan declares it’s time for some work at the studio and from there almost everyone disperses, as they always do.

Except Minho who decided to sit on the sofa, curled up with a book.

Felix should maybe be filled up on physical affection now, after days of constant affection but the desire burns strong anyway.

Felix feels almost shy trying to figure out if he’s allowed to cuddle up to Minho now that he isn’t a duck anymore. It’s not like Minho says no to him often but he feels especially bad after he’s monopolised so much of his time.

Timidly, he pulls at his lip, “Hyung?” Minho looks up, giving him a small smile.

“Hmm?” He asks, attention split between Felix and his book, when Felix doesn’t immediately answer he looks up and focuses on him fully.

Thankfully, he notices Felix’s dilemma and pats the space between himself and the armrest in invitation.

Excited Felix rushes over to fold himself into the small space. He wiggles until he’s comfy, legs over Minho’s lap and head resting on the armrest.

The food-coma sets in and Felix falls into a light doze while Minho switches to his phone to play games, aside from game noises they sit in silence before Minho decides to speak up.

“Hey,” He says, patting Felix’s leg. “Were you really that lonely?”

Felix hesitates answering. He’s always been needy but he didn’t think of himself as lonely, he couldn’t ever get enough of being in the company of his members or his other friends but aside from the occasional bout of homesickness he hadn’t felt lonely. Not in so many words at least.

On the other hand he can’t deny the duckling episode had filled a hole in his psyche he hadn’t been aware of. Eventually he settles on: “I didn’t think so, like, consciously.”

“Hmhm,” Minho pulls on Felix until he’s sitting in his lap. “If you do feel lonely – consciously– come to us, yes?” Felix nods, secretly pleased.

Minho pulls at his ear. “No more crystals though.” Felix laughs, yeah no thank you, no more crystals.

**

Felix holds the necklace up, the crystal spins and reflects the light from the window, it paints split light across the walls. It’s very pretty and doesn’t betray the potential it holds at all. Seungmin is definitely right about destroying it, something so seemingly innocent shouldn’t just be laying around in someone’s jewelry box.

It should be thrown into the streams of the Han. Or be thrown into a fire. Maybe he should ask Changbin to run it over with his car.

The more he looks at it the more he feels like he can’t part with it. The duck thing was something – weird mainly, but also...comforting. The attention had made him feel very warm and comforted. Not a break per se because of the stress of the unknown but still a pause on his brain’s constantly loud rattling.

It’s not even that his members ever deny him affection or that Minho and Chan (and sometimes the others) don’t feed him meals.

It frustrates him that even this episode isn’t enough to curb his neediness even a little bit.

He got a whole duck-vacation and still that isn’t enough.

He lingers for a moment before stuffing the necklace back into his pocket. It’s a decision for another day.

fin.