Work Text:
Jack had found the first feather in the hallway outside of his bedroom. It was long and mostly a blueish grey color, his finger running along the black tip that held specks of white.
He carried it with him out to the kitchen, a little confused on where it could have come from since clearly he didn’t have a bird nor found any other trace of outside birds taking a wrong turn. He paused at the sight of Brock’s keys on the counter and it occurred to him he hadn’t seen him yet, usually he’d have woken him up by now if dropping in.
Turning back around to enter the hallway he quickly found himself standing before the closed guest room which immediately sent up a wary flag. Opening the door he saw Brock sitting on the bed wrapped tightly in a blanket. From the doorway to the bed lay a few more feathers and it only added confusion to the situation. “Brock? What are you doing in the guest room?”
Brock seemed to look more embarrassed than earlier, pulling the blanket closer to his body. “I wasn’t sure where to go except ‘ere, ain’t no one else I can trust with this, ‘sides you.”
Jack raised a brow. “With what?”
He seemed to struggle then and Jack walked over, sitting himself down next to him only for Brock to flinch and shift away a little bit, a spasm of pain across his face. Jack stayed where he was, unsure of what he could or couldn’t do so instead he did nothing and waited before making any sort of next move. “Brock? You okay?”
“Uh, I ain’t sure.” He let out. Finally letting out a sigh as he toyed with his blanket. “Maybe best if I jus show ya.”
Jack frowned. “What exact- ”
Brock let the blanket fall from his shoulders to reveal large, intimidating wings that seemed to be soothed when they were finally able to be spread out, Jack whipping his head around as they draped behind him. He studied them, noticed little gaps in random places as well as clumps of feathers stuck to the blanket.
Clearing his throat, Brock shrugged awkwardly, clearly ashamed of what was going to come out of his mouth next. “I uh, need yer ‘elp reachin’ some of my feathers and ever since I fucked up my shoulder it’s been a pain. Like I said, yer the only one I can trust with this.”
Jack stared at Brock’s wings again silently as they spread themselves on his sheets, taking up quite a bit of space. How he hid them under normal circumstances he would never know and it really wasn’t a question he thought he could ask for the moment. “Brock, are you sure? I..I’ve never even handled a bird before let alone whatever you’re sporting.”
Frowning, Brock began pulling the blanket up around his shoulders again and Jack could feel the shift of tension in the room. “Forget it, was a mistake to try to get ‘elp fer this, I’ll figure somethin’ out and shit.”
“No, it’s not that- come on, give me a break here. Before this morning I never knew humans could have wings, let alone you.” He stared at the feathers against his bed. “I’m just surprised and I don’t want to screw this up.”
Brock stared at him for a long moment before gently lowering the blanket again. “I jus need ya to comb yer fingers through them. They bunch and kink up like animals do with their fur. Don’t tug too hard though, and if big clumps come out, don’t panic or nothin’.”
Jack nodded to each instruction as he carefully moved in closer, wondering if all of Brock’s feathers were as soft as the feather he’d picked up.
“And Jack?” He looked up at Brock and saw a bit of apprehension in his eyes. “Thank ya.”
“Sure.” Jack said, trying to clear the uncertainty in his voice. “Of course.” He adjusted his placement on the bed by sitting himself directly behind Brock and for the first time was looking head on at his best friend’s sudden appearance of wings. It was also when it finally clicked in his brain that Brock was shirtless. Sure he’d seen him shirtless plenty of times, but now the wings seemed so abnormal on something so..human, but they appeared seamless on his back as if they had always been there. It boggled his mind. Did they just disappear before? Did they do some weird magic thing where they slipped into his body and adjusted? What the hell was going on?
He let his fingers hover over the top feathers before allowing them to finally glide through and they definitely were as soft as he thought they would be. He smiled a little to himself, allowing his fingers to trail at the undersides, smoothing them down, but focused on keeping them in neat rows. He worked through them slowly, carefully, letting his hands go lower and lower down Brock’s back. As he reached the end of the first wing he heard it, just a slight hitch in Brock’s breathing and he hesitated once more. “Brock? Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?”
“No ya didn’t Jackie, m’fine.” He shifted a bit and his wings stretched outwards a little more, landing themselves in Jack’s lap.
Jack moved around them and adjusted to sit on his knees as he worked on the other wing. “How come I can see your wings now? Why not before?”
“Wings are real complicated to talk about without goin’ into strict detail.” Brock began, tensing under his touch. “In short, I jus conceal ‘em most times with a magic I was born with and yeah, it’s especially helpful when m’suddenly unconscious. The last thing I’d fuckin’ want is to be defenseless and a whole crew of jackasses see ‘em.”
Jack continued to stroke his fingers mindlessly through one section of Brock’s wing. Not too hard, just a gentle, easy pet, making very sure he treated them like they were fragile like Brock seemed to warn they were. “Has it ever messed up for you?”
“Never. It ain’t somethin’ that’ll trip up. It’s kinda like an ongoin’ fail-safe. If I want someone to see it, they’ll see it.”
Jack let the weight of the statement fall on his shoulders. “Brock, are you sure you want me doing this? Knowing all this?”
“I trust ya, Jack.”
“I know, but- ” He pulled his hands away from the comfort of the feathers before him, the amount of enormous pressure this all meant began to weigh down on him. “I’m not sure I’m the one for this job. It’s just seems rather important, more important than- ”
Brock carefully angled his body so he was facing his way. “Jack. There ain’t no one else I’d trust with this. Believe me when I fuckin’ say that. There ain’t no way in hell I’d ‘ave revealed ‘em to you, let you touch ‘em if I didn’t trust ya completely.”
Jack looked into Brock’s pleading coppery golden eyes, the apprehension gone from them now, and knew he wouldn’t win. “Okay, alright, I’m almost done anyway.” He waited for Brock to reposition himself before he let his fingers card gently through the rest of his feathers, a small hitch of breath or moan the only thing escaping Brock’s lips. It was hard for Jack not to take those sounds in, trying over and over again to keep his own breathing calm, relaxed. “There, I think it’s the best I can do.”
Brock stood up, approaching the mirror to take a look over at his wings in them. “Looks good fer now.” He walked back over to the bed to sit. “If ya don’t mind too much, I’ll need ya to help me at least one more time.”
Jack absentmindedly let his hand sink into Brock’s plumage, not able to help himself but feel them underneath his fingertips once more. It wasn’t like his best friend minded though, easily leaning closer. “Sure, if that’s what you need.” His other hand reached out for Brock’s hip and before he knew it, he’d brought him onto his lap. He felt Brock’s warm breath dance against his lips before he closed the minimal space between them and everything Jack hadn’t said all these months, hell- years seemed to spill out into that kiss. His hands roamed carefully into Brock’s wings and the deeper his fingers dug, the louder Brock moaned unabashedly into his mouth.
As quickly as they’d swept in for that kiss, Brock pulled away, shaking his head. “I can’t do this- ” His hand gesturing absently between them. “What we’re doin’ right now, Jackie.” He panted, looking a little disappointed over it. “I gotta rest. Moltin’ puts me in crazy moods and it’s real stressful when ya got no one to turn to..”
Jack nodded and forgot about the morning routine he always had as he laid back against the mattress, gently pulling Brock down to partially lay against his chest as he gave him a smile. “Then we can rest, no one’s going to interrupt us.”
Brock spread his wings out, knocking a few items over that Jack had placed on his night tables. He didn’t mind though, watching Brock quickly fall asleep as his fingers lovingly brushed themselves through Brock’s wings and as always, it didn’t take very long for him to follow soon after.