Work Text:
"Todd, I need you to go check out Room 115. Room 113 and 117 have called in saying they're hearing some strange noises in there and it's not supposed to be booked today." Mr. Palacios brushed past Todd at the front desk, doing his favorite thing of mentioning some annoying job and then walking away so Todd can't ask any follow up questions. Questions like why don't you send security to check out the room that nobody is supposed to be in and not some underpaid bellhop, or can you give me a raise, or could you stab me through the head with this letter opener because I feel like that would be more fun than dealing with any guests, thanks. But he was already gone, powerwalking across the hotel lobby, so Todd let out an exhausted sigh, patted his pocket for his master key and walked to the hallway that led to the room in question.
Luckily, it was on the ground floor, so it didn't take more than a few minutes to drag his feet to the room. The door for 117 cracked open, and a mousy looking man with glasses and a receding hairline peeked out, the door catching on the chain lock. He narrowed his eyes at Todd.
"I hope you're here to deal with... that." He flicked his eyes towards room 115. "They've been making some disturbing noises for hours. Grunting and... moaning... and-"
"Yes. Thank you, sir. We'll take care of it," Todd said, trying to pull out as much of his customer service voice as he could. The man narrowed his eyes further, almost tight enough he looked like he could be asleep, and then pursed his lips and slammed the door closed. Todd sighed and rolled his eyes. What he wouldn't give to not have to talk to people ever again... He turned back to Room 115 and knocked firmly, clearing his throat.
"Hello? This is the Perriman Grand staff. You have not reserved this room, and we need you to open the door." He listened, leaning closer to the door for any sounds. He couldn't hear anything. "Hello? Room 115. We're going to call the police if you don't leave immediately." Todd really didn't want to deal with the cops. He pleaded internally that this person would just get out of here, and also that whoever was in there hadn't completely wrecked the room. He didn't have high hopes about that though. He gave one more knock, waiting and listening to the responding silence before swiping his master key through the lock and opening the door.
He waited with the door cracked, listening again, still not hearing any movement. He really hoped some crackhead wasn't about to jump him or shank him or whatever, hiding behind the door. He took a deep breath and whipped the door in hard, hoping that if there were anyone hiding behind it, they'd be slammed into, but it just swung in, connecting with the door stop on the wall with a thunk. Todd frowned, taking a small step inside.
"Hello? Is anyone in here?" Maybe they already left. He hoped so. That would definitely make his life much easier. He could see something scattered across the floor near the sliding doors, which were slightly open, the curtain blowing in the breeze. Todd shook his head and sighed. Of course, they must have gone out the balcony.
He let the door shut behind him and walked across the room, peering down at the white things on the floor. Now that he was closer, he could see that they were feathers, not the small downy ones that come out of the pillows when people decide to be assholes and cut them open and whip them all over the place, which happens annoyingly often. These ones were long, like ones that came off a large bird. Todd knelt down, picking one of them up and brushing his finger over the edges. They were soft, but firm, and bright white, like they'd been bleached of all color. Todd looked around the floor, noticing a few of them had red specked on them. Maybe a bird got in somehow? What bird had feathers this big though?
Todd stood up from the floor, and walked out to the balcony. Since it was on the first floor, it was only about ten feet from the street, and the moldings on the walls made for convenient hand holds for anyone wanting a quick getaway. He didn't see any obvious signs of anything, so he shook his head, going back inside, and pulling the sliding door shut again and locking it. He made a mental note to let housekeeping know to come clean up the... feathers, peeking under the beds as he walked back to the door. He casually pushed open the bathroom door, which wasn't shut all the way, and the light was off, and peeked in. It was empty too, except for the large winged man in the bathtub, so Todd continued to the room door, getting ready to leave when his brain caught up to his eyes and he stopped, freezing with his hand over the door handle.
He didn't see that. He didn't actually see that, did he? Todd shook his head, trying to force himself to keep walking out, because there's no way that what he thinks he saw in the bathtub was actually in the bathtub. He was just... bored... and his brain was making up things. So he should just keep walking, and call housekeeping to clean the feathers... the large... feathers... Todd cursed internally, clenching his jaw. It couldn't have just been some homeless guy that wandered in. He had to get the fucking bird man room. He walked back from the door, bracing himself in front of the bathroom, preparing to push open the door again. It wasn't going to be in there, he told himself. He imagined it, that's all.
Nope.
Wrong again, Todd.
Right there where he thought he'd seen it... him... whatever. A half naked person, thing, with wings. Huge wings, awkwardly folded, one up against the bathtub wall and the other tucked around the man's side and back. Todd could see, looking longer now that there were dark shadows across the wings, smudges that he assumed might be related to the red specks on the feathers he'd found by the balcony.
He should leave. He was a fucking bellhop, this was way out of his minimum wage pay. He should just walk out, have Mr. Palacios call the cops on this weirdo and they can deal with whatever all this is.
But he couldn't get himself to walk towards the door.
"Hello?" He said softly. He noticed one of the wings twitch slightly. Todd reached over and flipped up the light switch, bathing the room in bright white fluorescent light. The man let out a groan, and the wing that was tucked against the wall, shifted and draped over his face. "Hey." Todd said a little louder. He walked closer, his heart was pounding. He was sure this was probably a really, really stupid idea, but really stupid ideas were kind of his specialty. It was why he was still a minimum wage bellhop living in a shitty studio apartment in his thirties. Todd Brotzman, expert in fucking things up. He swallowed, and took another step closer, his hands twitching at his side. "Are you... dying? Should I call someone? Paramedics or something?"
Apparently, that seemed to work to get the guy somewhat more awake. The wing over his face whipped hard against the wall, pushing him against the side of the bathtub, his eyes open and staring at Todd. He shook his head.
"No. Please... don't. No calls," he said, breathing hard. There was something strange about his voice. Not just the hint of the British accent, or how he sounds like he'd been running miles before ending up in this tub. But something almost inhuman, which probably shouldn't be that surprising considering the definitely not human wings sprouting out of his back. Todd held up his hands and shook his head.
"Okay, okay. I won't call anyone." The man stared at him for another few seconds before his body relaxed and his wing went limp against the wall. Todd wasn't really sure what to do now. "I... uh... I can't just leave you in here. You're technically trespassing." He felt incredibly stupid saying that to this weird bird man creature, like if you came across Bigfoot taking shit from Wal-mart, would you go up and accuse him of shoplifting? Apparently Todd would. The man cocked up a tired eyebrow at him.
"Technically, I don't really want to be in this stupid bathtub, but I can't exactly go wandering out on the street like this right now," he said like Todd was the dumbest person alive because who wouldn't know that. Todd frowned, feeling a bit offended.
"Okay, well that's not really my problem. How the hell did you even get in here if you weren't just walking the streets like this?" The man rolled his eyes.
"I don't always look this way. Unfortunately, as you might be able to see, I had a bit of an... accident, and until I heal a little more, I won't be able to make myself... not look like this. You wouldn't happen to have like... a lot of bandages and antibacterial ointment, would you?" Todd glanced back at the wings. In the light, he could see the dark shadows were actually blood soaked feathers matted against the thin stretched skin underneath, and he wasn't an expert in wing anatomy, but he could tell some of the bones didn't seem to be the right direction, angled in uncomfortable ways like someone had snapped them out of the sockets. Todd frowned again.
"What happened?" The man didn't answer for a moment, looking carefully at Todd.
"I had a bad fall trying to get away from some... dangerous people. I think it looks worse than it is, it's really not that bad now, though that's probably the... the thing... that people say when you get hurt badly... I'm that, probably."
"Shock?" Todd offered and the man nodded in excited relief.
"Yes! Oh my gosh, I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out that word for ages. Shock. I'm probably in shock." Todd pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes.
"I mean, if you think you're in shock, we probably should call the paramedics. I think that means your organs are shutting down or something... right?" The man frowned, furrowing his brow, confused and thinking.
"Uh... well... no, I mean I'm in shock because I'm... shocked by what happened. That's why people say that after accidents. Something you didn't expect happened, so they say, 'wow, you're in shock about that shocking thing that just happened to you.'" The man raised his eyebrows, leaning over the edge of the bathtub. Todd shook his head.
"I really don't think that's why they say that. Shock is like... a medical... thing, like a term they say for like your body shutting down or whatever." The man sighed and waved his hand.
"Agree to disagree or whatever. Are you going to help me with this or not?" He cocked his head towards his injured wings. Todd's eyes widened, and he pointed to himself.
"Me? You want me to...? No. Look, dude, I can give you like five minutes, but I'm not like... a vet or doctor or whatever you need to deal with all this." The man dropped his shoulders, disappointed and exasperated.
"Oh, come on. It'll make it go much quicker. And honestly, do you think your boss would be more upset about you taking a few more minutes to help with a guest's very important needs or have a bloody, winged, shirtless, and very handsome man wandering barefoot through the lobby of his fancy hotel?" Todd frowned, pressing his lips together. He knew the man was right. Mr. Palacios would throw an absolute shit fit if this guy started walking through the halls, and Todd really didn't want to have to immediately get back to work dealing with actual stupid work things. He sighed and pointed a finger firmly at the man.
"You aren't a guest. You're a breaker and enterer... but," he shook his head, and the man looked at him hopefully. "I guess I can try and give you a hand so you can get out of here quicker." He rolled his eyes as the man broke into a big grin, his wings twitching excitedly behind him. He winced slightly at the movement.
"Really?! Oh, thank you! Honestly, that's wonderful," he said and started pushing himself up in the bathtub, and raised his foot to step out. Todd noticed his foot was caught on top of one of his wings, and opened his mouth to say something, when he slipped, falling forward. Todd instinctively grabbed him as he fell, but he was heavier than he seemed, and they both collapsed to the ground, the man's wings flapping wildly and knocking the towels off of the rack above the toilet. A huff of air pushed out of Todd's lungs when they landed and he groaned at the ache where he'd hit his head on the floor. "Sorry," the man said sheepishly. He wiggled, adjusting on top of Todd, trying to get his knees under him to get up, and Todd realized that his hands were still loosely wrapped around the man's back, pressing up against the base of his wings that protruded from his skin across almost the entirety of his back. He released him immediately, swallowed thickly and the man finally got his knees to the right spot and shifted himself off of Todd. Todd pushed himself up and then scooted over, leaning up against the cabinets under the sink.
"You okay?" Todd asked, even though the man didn't seem too phased by the fall, definitely less so than Todd felt. The man raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, yeah. I mean, no worse than before, I suppose. Are you alright? Did you hit your head? I thought I heard a thunk." Todd rubbed his sore scalp. He could feel the beginnings of a lump, and winced. The man looked at him concerned, but he shook his head and shrugged.
"I'm fine. I should go grab the first aid kit, though. We probably have something in there to help with... all of this." He waved at the bloody mess of feathers. Todd stood up, and the man nodded, looking down around the floor where he was still kneeling. He looked up as Todd reached the door, eyes widening.
"Oh, wait!" Todd paused, looking back at him. "Uh... what's your name?" Todd raised an eyebrow.
"It's Todd." The man smiled and nodded.
"Todd. Um, well, thank you, Todd. It's nice to meet you, I guess. I probably would have preferred not to have met you in these circumstances, but... that's not really up to me anyways." He let out a heavy sigh. Todd pressed his lips together, wondering what he meant by that. "I'm Dirk, by the way. Dirk Gently," he said softly, smiling again. Todd gave him a stiff nod back.
"Alright. Dirk. I'll... uh... I'll be back." He gave him a tight smile and then pulled open the door to the room, escaping into the hallway. He took a moment to lean back against the door when it shut and drew a deep breath into his lungs, trying to readjust his brain to the insane situation he found himself in.
That happened. That guy had actual, like moving wings on his body, like they were a part of him.
He frowned, and shook his head. He started to walk down the hall, trying to come up with explanations for what just happened.
It couldn't have been real. Maybe someone was pranking him, like one of those weird prank shows, except the only person he knew with any sort of a sense of humor was Amanda, and he didn't really think she had the energy to do something to this scale. Plus there was no way Mr. Palacios would ever agree to something like this. And why a weird winged guy? Like, what kind of a prank is that?
He scanned the hallway, checking for any sort of hidden cameras, or people watching him, but there was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary, not that he had memorized what every one of these practically identical halls looked like. He turned the corner, avoiding the hall that led back to the lobby, knowing that there was a much easier to get to first aid kit in the pool room, which had less of a chance of him being noticed by his eagle eyed boss. He continued thinking and theorizing.
So, if it isn't a prank show, then maybe it's like some cosplayer in town like two months earlier than convention season? Or like... some weirdo with a lot of money that thinks its like sexy and kinky to pretend to be a birdman and fall on top of unsuspecting hotel bellhops? Honestly, with the people he's seen, that actually seemed a lot more likely. He wondered if the weirdo... Dirk... would even still be in the room when he got back. Maybe he'd gotten his fix for whatever reaction he wanted from Todd and then he'd just leave.
That thought made his chest tighten a little, which was confusing because that would definitely be less of a problem in his life if this guy was just some exhibitionist furry... or feathery? What do you call a furry that acts like a bird? Not that he really acted like a bird, apart from the wings, he seemed mostly… well, not really normal, but like a person, at least.
He realized he made it to the pool room when the smell of chlorine and the oppressive humid air pulled him out of his rambling thoughts, and he quickly grabbed the first aid kit and started to make his way back to the room.
Todd tried to stay focused as he walked back, hoping that Mr. Palacios wasn’t waiting around the corner somewhere to interrogate him about the suspicious and noisy contents of the supposed to be vacant room. He made it back unscathed, quickly swiping his keycard and slipping back into the room, going straight for the bathroom.
It was empty, apart from a couple of feathers sticking out of the garbage can. The towels that Dirk had knocked over were in a pile next to the bathtub. Todd frowned. He walked back out of the bathroom, and looked around the room. It was quiet and dark. The curtains, that had been open to the balcony, were pulled closed now, and the scattered feathers, that had been on the floor by the doors, were gone. Maybe he had left. Maybe he was just a weird trespassing cosplayer that decided to try to pull one over on gullible bellhop Todd.
Todd let out a sigh. “Of course. I’m such an idiot.” He shook his head and started to turn back to the door.
“Todd?”
He turned back around to see the tips of Dirk’s wings peeking over the bed closest to the window, followed by Dirk’s face, his expression going from apprehensive to relieved when he saw Todd standing there.
“Oh my god, thank goodness. I thought you were… uh… never mind. You came back!” He said with a grin. Todd shrugged and held up the first aid kit.
“I said I was just going to get this… I was gone for like two minutes?”
Dirk’s eye widened and he shook his head, releasing a whoosh of air from his mouth as he stood up. “A lot can happen in just two minutes, Todd.” He shook out his muscles, stretching his wings out to the sides as much as he could before wincing at the pain. He walked to the bed Todd was closer to and sat down on the corner, letting his wings hang over the other edge, and then turned to Todd, raising his eyebrows. “We should probably get started if you want to get me out of here. Things are probably going to get a little messy if I’m here too long.” Todd frowned, but nodded, and sat the first aid kit down on the bed next to Dirk. He took off his bellhop hat and the uniform shirt that hugged too tightly to his chest and arms for him to be able to maneuver easily, leaving him in his black undershirt. Dirk swallowed, looking quickly away.
“What am I doing again?” Todd took another look over Dirk’s wings. He took a moment to just be in awe of what he was seeing, still not believing that it could be real. He reached out and brushed a finger over one of the feathers and Dirk flinched away, twisting around with a gasp. Todd held up a hand apologetically. “Sorry, did that hurt?” Dirk held his mouth open a second before shaking his head, looking a bit embarrassed.
“No, uh, sorry. They’re just… sensitive. I usually do all this myself, so I’m not really used to…another person touching them…” He swallowed, pressing his lips together. Todd felt his chest tighten.
“I’ll be careful,” Todd said, and he meant it. He couldn’t imagine treating these beautiful wings cruelly, feeling a burn of protectiveness at the sight of the blood staining the white feathers. Dirk blinked at him and nodded, shifting one of his wings so that it was held out to his side. He motioned towards it, pointing out a section of twisting tendons and bones.
“I’ll need you to push those bones back into the right places. I’ll be able to heal them a little once they’re reset, but it hurt too much to try to do it myself.” Todd looked nervously at the fragile looking bones stretching under the feathers and thin skin.
“Are you sure?” Dirk nodded firmly.
“You’ll be able to feel where they need to go,” He said while unbuckling his belt. “Just do it quickly, and it’ll be fine.” He pulled the belt out from the loops and started folding it over on itself.
“What are you doing?” Dirk raised an eyebrow, holding the folded belt up to his mouth.
“It’s not going to feel very nice. Don’t want the entire hotel to think someone is being murdered in here, do we?” He grinned in a way that Todd found a bit inappropriate considering what he was about to do, and Todd rolled his eyes.
Dirk put the belt between his teeth, leaning forward and holding out the wing in front of Todd. It was shaking slightly, and Todd slowly reached out again, brushing his fingers over the silky feathers. Dirk flinched again, but stilled himself, tensing up, and Todd pressed firmer, feeling for the bones with his fingers. He felt the edges, and just like Dirk said, felt where the bone had popped out of the joints. He brought up his other hand, reaching around to the other side, and holding the bone on both sides of the wing. Dirk tensed more.
“Ready?” Todd asked. He wondered if he was more nervous about this than Dirk. He could see Dirk’s eyes were squeezed shut now and he gave a stiff nod. Todd quickly and carefully shifted the bone back into the correct position. Dirk let out a muffled yelp through the belt in his mouth, curling forward. Todd laid his hand gently across an uninjured section of Dirk’s wing, trying to be comforting.
“Keep going,” Dirk gritted out through the belt and his teeth, still leaned forward as the pain worked through his body. Todd looked back, finding the next bone and just like the last, quickly shifted it back into place, Dirk letting out another agonizing groan. Todd could see one more awkwardly twisted section of the wing. He tried shifting it like the last two, but it caught under the skin, pulling and sticking in its broken position and Dirk gasped, his breath wheezing in his throat and spat the belt out into his lap, jumping away from the overwhelming pain.
“Shit, sorry,” Todd apologizing, wincing with Dirk’s pain, as he tried to breathe through the pain, leaned up against the other bed, his wings shuddering on his back. He could barely see him shake his head.
“‘S okay,” he wheezed. He took a couple of moment to catch his breath and then stood back up, his face still tight, and it was obvious by how he was holding himself he was in an immense amount of pain. “Maybe, a little slower with that one.” Todd frowned, clenching his jaw.
“Dirk, maybe you should… I don’t have someone that knows what they’re doing help with this? I don’t want to hurt you.” Dirk gave him a tight smile.
“If you know someone that’s experienced in dealing with this sort of thing, I’m all ears, Todd.” He cocked up an eyebrow. Todd huffed. Dirk noticed his frustration and nervousness and dropped his shoulders, letting out a sigh. “Honestly, Todd. Once it’s back in place, I won’t even be able to feel it that much. I’m unfortunately very good at healing from this sort of thing.” Todd furrowed his brows.
“Why unfortunately? Wouldn’t that be a good thing?” Dirk raised his eyebrows, glancing around the room like he hadn’t been paying attention to the thing he said literally two seconds ago.
“What?”
“You said, unfortunately, you’re very good at healing from this sort of thing. Why would that be bad?” Dirk sighed and shrugged.
“I just mean… it seems like this sort of thing happens… a lot. And sometimes people aren’t as worried about hurting me when they know that I can just… be okay after.” Todd felt his heart sink at the resigned sad look on Dirk’s face when he said that. A look that said that he wasn’t really okay, that there were some things that he couldn’t really heal. Todd nodded stiffly, and looked down at the bed corner.
“Alright, well, sit down again so we can get this over with.” Dirk nodded sharply, stomping down one foot.
“Yes, sir,” he said and then sat back down on the bed. Todd could tell he was still nervous, the muscles in his wings shivering and shaking.
“Relax,” Todd said softly, and grabbed the wing gentle, but firm in his hand. Dirk swallowed thickly and put the belt back into his mouth. Todd worked carefully, pressing over the tight muscles around the injured joint, and slowly massaged until the ligaments seemed to magically untangle under the skin, and the bone slid back into the right spot. Dirk let out a relieved sigh, his shoulders drooping, and wing lowering down to the floor.
“Oh, shit, that is so much better. Thank you.” Todd shrugged, sitting down on the bed, not really feeling like he’d done that much, looking over the bloodied sections of the other wing and frowning.
“What about those? The blood? Is that… something too?” Dirk twisted around, looking to where Todd was pointing, and scrunching his nose up.
“I mean yes, but it’s just a couple bullet holes. They’ll close up in… a couple days… probably.” He let out a tired sigh. “It’s always a pain to get the blood out once it’s dried though. But honestly, you’ve done enough. I’ll be… fine.” Todd frowned.
“Bullet holes? I thought you said you fell?”
“No, I’m pretty sure I said I fell while being chased… or something…? Dangerous people… Something like that. Dangerous people with guns… and bullets, so… bullet holes.” He motioned towards the bloodied wing, like it was incredibly obvious.
“So… if you have wings, couldn’t you just like… fly away? Or did getting shot keep you from being able to fly?” Todd asked, genuinely curious, trying not to sound like a sarcastic asshole. He noticed a flicker of pain in Dirk’s eyes when he asked and regretted saying anything. Dirk opened his mouth to respond. “Sorry, you don’t have to… if that’s a sensitive topic, I mean…” Dirk raised his eyebrows, surprised by Todd’s words and shook his head.
“No… I mean, it is, but… I don’t really mind. I haven’t had anyone to talk to in a while.” He shifted on the bed, turning more towards Todd. He sucked in a breath, and shook his head. “I used to be able to fly actually. It’s been years, but I still remember it.” He twisted his back towards Todd and brought his hand up under the base of his wings, pushing up the feathers there, and Todd could see two black stumps, coming out of his back next to the larger white wings. Todd frowned, leaning closer.
“What are those?” Dirk swallowed.
“The rest of my wings, or rather they were.” Todd looked up at him, confused. “My… kind… species…people, whatever you want to call us, we’re born with two pairs of wings, and we need both to be able to fly… like, butterflies, I guess, but different. Those people that were chasing me, that shot me? They’re the ones that cut them off, leaving me with those two black stumps where my wings should be.” He shook his head, angrily, clenching his jaw.
“Why would they do that?” Dirk pressed his lips together, looking back at Todd. He sighed and shrugged.
“It’s… a long story. And it’s probably better for you if you don’t know. Safer.” Todd nodded. His stomach felt sick, twisting and squeezing at the sight of the black wings on Dirk’s back.
“Are you an angel, Dirk?” Todd asked. Dirk dropped his head, smiling and laughing bitterly. He shook his head.
“Uh, no. I don’t think so. I mean, your guess is as good as mine, but those people seemed to think we were some magic all powerful angel creatures sent by God to help save the United States from terrorists or immigrants or whatever, so I’d prefer the weird bird man to angel if you don’t mind.” Todd smiled, cocking his head to the side.
“Fair enough.” He looked back at the bloodied wing and sighed. “Can I at least help with that before I kick you out of here?”
Dirk raised his eyebrows, surprised again at Todd’s willingness to help him. “If you insist… I won’t say no. You have surprisingly gentle hands.” He smiled. Todd’s forehead wrinkled, confused, and slightly offended.
“What’s that supposed to mean? A man can’t have gentle hands?” Dirk shook his head, leaning back.
“A man can, I’m just saying, you didn’t specifically seem the type to be so… gentle, but now I see you’re just a big softie.” Todd frowned.
“I am not a big softie.” Dirk laughed.
“You are. You just want to run your fingers all through my pretty feathers, don’t you?” Todd’s frown deepened, and he stood up from the bed.
“I can just go, if you want?” Todd said, his heart racing. He didn’t really want to leave, but Dirk acting like he was some… good guy was making him so uncomfortable he wanted to run and never talk to another person again. Dirk shook his head, his smile dropping from his face, and he reached out, pulling Todd back down.
“No, don’t go, Todd. I’m sorry, alright. I’ll stop telling you how gentle and nice your hands are, okay?” Todd rolled his eyes and sighed.
“Whatever.” Dirk smiled, happy that he’d won that argument. Todd started pulling out the cleaning wipes and ointments and antiseptic from the first aid kit. Dirk shifted, trying to find a good position to sit in at the edge of the bed, so Todd could get a good angle on the injured parts of the wing, but he couldn’t seem to find one. Todd shook his head. “Why don’t you lay down on your stomach on the bed?” He said motioning towards the large empty mattress. Dirk blinked, and took a moment to figure out what Todd meant, and then laid out sideways, letting his wing fall flat and drape down over the end of the bed. Todd nodded, satisfied. “See, that’s better.” Dirk huffed, resting his chin on his arms. He twisted to look back at Todd as he maneuvered up onto the mattress, kneeling next to his wing with his first aid supplies next to him.
“I feel like you’re about to give me a back massage or something,” he said, giving Todd a cheeky wink. Todd rolled his eyes.
“That’s not really part of the bellhop services, so that’ll cost you extra.”
“You don’t look much like a bellhop, right now though,” Dirk said, eyeing the way Todd’s short sleeve black shirt hugged to his chest. Todd blushed, rubbing his neck, and then cleared his throat. Dirk looked quickly away, dropping his head over his arms.
Todd got to work on the wounded wing, cleaning as much of the blood out of the feathers as he could, and cleaning out the wounds. They were shot clean through and with all the feathers, Todd wasn’t really sure if band-aids would even do anything at all. Dirk mumbled into his arms to just leave them open, reassuring him they’d close up by themselves. Todd took a few more minutes readjusting and tidying up the feathers that were ruffled across the wing, and shortly after realized that the soft grumbling sounds he was hearing weren’t motorcycles outside the balcony, but Dirk who had fallen asleep while he’d been working. Todd finished, feeling satisfied that he’d done a sufficient job, and took a moment to look over Dirk’s face. He looked so incredibly human, a sad vulnerability in the way he slept, the tension relaxed from his face, his lips parted just slightly as he drew in soft slightly wheezy breaths. Todd couldn’t help, but wonder a million different things about Dirk, about what he was, where he came from, who the heck the people were that did all this to him and why, and on and on and on. He also wondered several questions about himself, and why he was still here, why he’d spent almost forty minutes with this random stranger, getting his fingers all up in his feathers and just (almost) immediately resigning himself to help him.
It’s not like Todd was a good guy. He knew he wasn’t. He knew that he would never deserve to be thought of as a good guy after all the things that he’d done, so doing good things wasn’t really something he typically put himself out there to do for no reason, but there was something about this guy, something about Dirk that made him want to. That made him think for some stupid reason that at some point he could tip the scales back on his karma and shift back into the good side.
He shook his head, trying to shake off that naive thought, and scooted himself off the bed carefully, trying not to jostle Dirk from his sleep. He grabbed the notepad off the dresser and quickly wrote out a note, leaving it on the bed next to Dirk, and then grabbed his bellhop uniform and pulled it back on. He left the first aid kit, figuring Dirk might need something else from it when he woke up, and then quietly walked back out of the room.
“Todd! There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! What happened to your radio?” Mr. Palacios was power walking down the hall. Todd jumped away from the room door into the center of the hall, patting his pockets which he knew didn’t have his radio, which was probably still sitting next to the time clock downstairs.
“Uhhh-“
“You finished checking the room out?” He jabbed a finger towards room 115, raising his eyebrow. Todd nodded.
“Yes, all clear. Was just… the balcony was left open. The guests must have been hearing noise from outside. All good now though.”
“Great. I need you to get up to 619. There’s a check out that needs their bags brought down and then I need you covering front desk until Megan gets in at four, got it?”
“Uhhh-“ Todd said blankly, and then nodded, still processing what Mr. Palacios said, when he was already power walking back the way he came.
“Great, way to be a team player, Todd. And get your radio on you! I don’t want to have to ask again!” And then he was around the corner, and out of sight.
Todd let out a relieved sigh, sparing another glance to Dirk’s room, hoping nobody had booked it for today, and then walked off towards the elevators.
An hour later, he was droning away at the front desk, when he saw a familiar face walk into the lobby from the hallway. Familiar face, with an unfamiliar body, that walked straight towards him, sidling up next to the desk.
“Hi Todd!” Dirk said in an excited whisper. He at least looked a bit better rested, but he was also missing the huge wings that had been sprouting out of his back before. Todd frowned, handing the guest he was finishing up with their room key, before turning to Dirk.
“Dirk? What… happened? Your… you know?” Todd whispered, raising his eyebrows. Dirk smiled, cocking his head to the side.
“They’re still here, Todd, don’t worry. I told you, I didn’t always look like that. You did a really good job fixing me up, so I can hide myself a little better now.” Todd looked him over, noticing the bright yellow leather jacket he hadn’t had before twitch slightly, and ripple of feathers shifted over the surface of his clothes. Todd leaned back, processing what he saw. Dirk just grinned. “Cool, isn’t it? I can make it look however I want, too.” He looked down at his blue tie which had little ice cream cones on it and Todd watched as it changed in less than a blink of an eye to a red tie. Todd raised his eyebrows, properly impressed.
“That is pretty cool,” he said, giving Dirk a small smile. Dirk beamed at the compliment. Todd cleared his throat. “Did you see my note I left you?” Dirk pressed his lips together, his smile dropping a bit.
“Uh, yes. I did want to speak to you about that, Todd, actually. I really appreciate all the help, honestly, I do, and your offer to let me stay at your apartment for a day or two was very generous, but I really can’t.” Todd nodded, and then shook his head.
“No, it’s fine. I just… it was available if you wanted. Or needed. Just a place to crash, but I’m sure you have other places, friends, or family or whatever to get to. Just… wanted to offer. To be nice, or whatever,” he scolded himself internally for even getting his hopes up for some reason. He didn’t even want Dirk there anyways, like why would he? He’d just be an inconvenience, so it was fine that he didn’t want to stay with him. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Dirk resting his hand on top of his.
“Todd, it’s not that, really. I wish I had other friends, or any family to go to, but I don’t really have anywhere, and for good reason. I just… I would just put you in danger. You’ve been too kind already, so I should just… go before you get any trouble brought onto you because of me.” Todd felt his heart drop.
“Oh.” Dirk pressed his lips into a thin smile.
“But, really. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. What you did, it’s the nicest thing anyone’s done for me in quite a long time.”
“You’re welcome, Dirk. And just… my door’s open. If you need a couch to crash on and you change your mind.”
Dirk gave him a soft smile and nodded. He moved his hand off of Todd’s both of them feeling the loss of connection and then walked out of the lobby, Todd not able to take his eyes off of him until he was out of sight. His chest was tight the rest of the day, hoping Dirk was alright, realizing that he probably wouldn’t ever see him again and that he’d probably never know what happened to him.
He made it home later after an exhausting day, pushing open his apartment door to find wings sprawled across the room and Dirk popping his head up on the couch and grinning widely at him.
“I changed my mind, Todd!”