Chapter Text
“Why do your wings look like they’re balding?” Is the first thing Luz says to him as he walks into class.
He stares blankly at her.
“What.”
Luz gesticulates at him wildly, waving her arms around vaguely. “You’re literally missing feathers. It’s like you’re balding.”
Hunter wrinkles his nose, cautiously extending one wing so he can inspect it. To his horror, Luz is right. There are patches where his feathers are thin enough that he can see the skin underneath, and in other areas, there aren’t any feathers at all.
“I am not balding, Luz.”
Flapjack twitters from their perch on his shoulder. Girl right. Feathers falling.
She raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Wait - look!”
He glances down, watching as another golden feather falls to the ground. Hunter looks behind him. There is a scattered trail of feathers. Hunter sweeps several of them aside with his tail, only to note that patches of feathers are gone from there as well.
“Are you sure you’re okay? I know hair falls out when people get too stressed. Is it the same for feathers?”
Hunter crosses his arms and slides into his seat, turning up his nose haughtily. “Well, it’s not like I’ve had anything to stress over lately. I don’t see how that would affect my feathers.”
Luz doesn’t give up, settling down in the seat in front of him and twisting around. “Maybe it’s from back when you were a coven head and the Golden Guard.” She says casually, waving her hand at him to emphasize his point. Flapjack lets out a chirp of agreement but nuzzles his cheek gently.
He feels his feathers puff up at the mention, and he can see several of their classmates not so subtly averting their eyes. Hunter whacks Luz with his tail, scowling at her. “That was over a year ago. I don’t see how that’s relevant. Besides, technically I’m still both of those things. My status was never revoked, and I do still attend the meetings.”
She opens her mouth, clearly ready to argue back. Hunter is saved when Amity walks in, even though he gags a little as Luz immediately turns around, beaming.
“ Batata ! You’re looking good today.”
He watches as Amity flushes red, unimpressed.
“‘Sup,” Hunter greets casually, curling his lips into a smile that shows most of his teeth.
Amity scowls, though it’s not exactly hostile , mostly bordering on exasperation, and returns his greeting with a simple “hey” before turning her attention back to Luz.
The door swings open as Professor Hermonculus enters, carried by his abomination. Hunter feels his toothy-smile turn into more of a hostile grimace. It’d been several weeks since he’d joined the abominations track, and the tension between him and Hermonculus had only gotten worse.
They lock eyes for a moment, and he tries to school his expression into something more neutral. It works. Mostly. And Hermonculus is taking his place at the front of the desk, clearing his throat.
Luz glances back at him with a long-suffering expression, and Amity looks like she’s already signed her will. Hunter, already deflating in his seat, resigns himself to a long, long lecture.
He also ignores the persistent itch in his wings, resisting the urge to scratch at it.
The others are sitting next to him, eating their lunches. Hunter , however, is trying to clean off abomination goo from his feathers and the hem of his shirt. Flapjack helps as best they can, a rag in their beak as they wipe at his cheek.
“I just don’t get why he always picks on you.” Luz half shouts, chewing furiously on her sandwich.
Hunter doesn’t bother looking up, squinting in concentration as he picks at the bits of goo stuck to his pants. “Don’t talk while you chew,” he says mildly, utterly unperturbed.
Amity rolls her eyes at him, but takes a more thoughtful bite out of her food. Thankfully, she has the manners to at least swallow the bite. “She’s right, though. He gives you the hardest assignments. Plus, he’s always talking down on you.”
“That’s why I transferred out of the track. Seems like you have it way,
way
worse, though,” Willow mutters, picking apart her sandwich absentmindedly. Next to her, Gus nods in agreement.
“I don’t think anyone likes him, really. His class is hard to get in and hard to stay in. Mostly because he’s just… him .” Gus shudders. Then he goes back to eating.
“How’d you get in, anyway? I thought he rejected you,” Amity asks after a moment.
Hunter hums then offers her a half smile. “Darius told Bump. I’m pretty sure he threatened Hermonculus afterward, too. I didn’t really expect him to do that, but I think getting to hang out with you guys there is pretty worth it.”
Luz coos. “I knew it! You do like us! Ha- ha ! Take that, bad but sad boy.”
“I said I think !” Hunter retorts, temporarily abandoning his attempts at preening his feathers to smack her in the head with one of his hands. Flapjack takes to the air as his sudden movement jostles them, hovering next to Hunter’s head.
Luz swats his arms away, opening her mouth to likely tease him. She pauses when she looks at him.
“Hunter. What’s happening to your wings?”
“ What ?”
The others turn to stare at him, and Hunter tries not to look uncomfortable as he does the same.
“Oh my Titan,” Willow breathes, and Amity freezes. His feathers are raggedy, more than they were in the morning, and there are patches of irritated skin showing through. His breath catches in his throat. There is something so familiar about the familiar itch crawling under his skin and the pain tingling along his wings.
His breathing picks up, turning into something ragged and desperate. There’s a deep sense of unease tearing through him. Hunter feels vulnerable, and just from looking at his wings he already knows he won’t be able to fly properly. He hadn’t been able to for a while, not when his wings were clipped, but he’d at least been able to lift himself off the ground.
Now he doubted he could even get a foot into the air.
Gus is immediately at his side. “Hunter? Hunter, breathe with me.”
He counts up to four, then back down. Hunter tries his best to imitate Gus’ breathing, but he’s practically gasping for air. They’re talking, but all that he can hear are muffled voices, as if he were listening from underwater.
Someone puts a hand on his shoulder and he tries his best not to flinch. He’s pulled to his feet gently and guided down the hall. Hunter buries his head in the palms of his hands, tearing at his hair with clawed fingers. Someone is talking to him the entire time, voice pitched soothingly.
Their trip is relatively short, and he’s led to a chair and pushed into it carefully. Hunter looks up. Oh. This is Bump’s office. The change in scenery is enough to shake him out of his panic, at least.
Luz appears from the corner of his vision, smiling hesitantly. “You back with us?”
Hunter nods slowly, dropping his hands back into his lap. “Yeah. Sorry.” His voice is croaky.
She shakes her head, patting his shoulder and pulling out the chair next to him, and plopping down on it. “Nah, don’t be. ‘S not your fault.”
He raises an eyebrow.
She mirrors her expression, sticking her tongue out at him. “Anyway, we called Darius. He should be here to pick you up soon.”
Hunter feels a tidal wave of guilt wash into him. He remembers the numerous meetings Darius had scheduled today with the new officials, trying to build a new government system. And here he was, taking away from that time with something as stupid as a meltdown. And over what? Losing a few feathers?
Flapjack pulls on his hair.
“ Ow, ow, ow !” He screeches, holding his hand out for Flapjack to perch on. Hunter huffs, scratching the cardinal under their chin. “Yeah, yeah. I get it, Flap.”
Luz pats his shoulder, “I’m sure he’d understand. Besides, if this is something new, he’d probably want to know.”
Hunter bites his lips, then sighs. “You’re right. I still shouldn’t have melted down like that.”
She rolls her eyes at him, knocking their heads together. “It’s a panic attack, not a meltdown. You’re allowed to have those without feeling bad, Hunter. You’re already pretty emotionally repressed. You gotta get these outta your system.”
The door all but slams open as Darius stalks in, immediately running to where he is and cupping Hunter’s face in his gloved hands. “Hunter? Are you alright? Luz called me telling me to come and pick you up.”
Then his eyes drift to Hunter’s wings, and Hunter winces at the horror present on Darius’ face. He squirms slightly, and Darius immediately releases him. “What happened, Sundrop? Did you pick at them? Is it something else?”
Hunter can only shake his head helplessly. “I don’t know. It’s happened before, but rarely. Usually Uncle -” He pauses, flinching slightly, hands curling into fists as he continues. “Belos had something that reduced the effects, but I never knew what they were and it always made my wings hurt after I used it.”
Darius’ expression darkens slightly at the mention of Belos. “Well, that’s off the table then. For multiple reasons. But I think it’s best if we get you home, yes?”
Shedding . Flapjack supplies helpfully. Shedding. Feathers too damaged. Feathers old, chance for regrowth. Shedding, shedding, shedding.
“Oh. Flapjack says I’m ‘shedding’.”
Darius blinks. Then nods. “We should still get you home, though. I don’t know if this is how it’s supposed to look, but I’m not taking any chances.”
Hunter purses his lips but nods in agreement and stands. He glances at Luz, who’s been surprisingly silent the entire time. “Um. Thank you, by the way.”
She beams at him, giving him a thumbs up. “I’ll let Bump know you already left. Last I heard, someone blew up the bathroom and he went over to check. You just go and get some rest, Hunter. You look like you need it.”
He flushes at the mention, feeling the tips of his ears heat up. Darius chuckles, placing a hand on his shoulder and steering him toward the doors. “Thank you, Luz. Titan knows he won’t tell me anything unless it’s lethal. I’m glad his friends are looking out for him.”
Luz gives them a solemn salute, though the twinkle in her eyes betrays her serious posture. He gives her one back, then obediently follows Darius out of the office.
By the time they make it home, Hunter feels like complete and absolute garbage . His wings and tail are both itchy, and he wants nothing more than to scratch at it. Every time he reaches out, though, Flapjack is quick to nip at his fingers.
“Alright, sit on the couch. I’m going to call Camila,” Darius instructs, shooing him from the doorway. Hunter rolls his eyes but does what he’s told. He watches as Darius frantically opens his phone, dialing Camila’s number.
“Yes? Yes, Camila. No, no. It’s not an emergency - er, not exactly, anyway. Mhm,” Darius murmurs into the phone, one hand on his hip. “Yeah. Well, his feathers are falling out? It’s pretty patchy. Yhm. Well, looking at it…”
Darius trails off, walking over and gesturing for Hunter to fan his wings out, which he does.
“Yes, yeah. Most of his secondaries are gone, and so are the primaries. Yeah, I didn’t think so. He’s lost a few feathers before but never this many. Yeah, it’s pretty sudden, I know. There weren’t any signs last night, so it must’ve started this morning. He says it’s really itchy. Mhm, I’d appreciate it. Thank you, Camila. See you tomorrow.”
Hunter squints. “Why’d you call Camila? Isn’t she an animal doctor?”
Darius looks unimpressed. “You’re part bird. I think this calls for an animal doctor.” He sighs, pinching his brow with one hand. Suddenly, Hunter feels very small. And guilty.
“Sorry.”
“For what?”
He shifts uncomfortably. Hunter doesn’t know why. He just feels that it was right for him to say sorry. It was probably his fault anyway.
Why sorry? My boy? Flapjack cocks their head, pecking at him curiously.
Darius shakes his head. “There’s nothing to apologize for. I’m glad you told me, Sundrop. Does it hurt?”
Hunter nods, pinching his thumb and index finger together. “It’s more like pins and needles.”
“Alright… Can I touch it?” Darius asks, worrying his lips with his teeth. Hunter nods jerkily, holding his breath as the older man runs his hands along his wings gently. Despite the gentle touch, Hunter still flinches away as pinpricks of pain shoot through his wings, mostly in areas where feathers used to be.
The abomination witch lets out a noise of concern and withdraws his hands. “I’ll tell Eberwolf to come home and watch you so I can go shopping for groceries. Some food would do you good right now.”
Darius scrolls on his phone, tapping on the screen a few times before slipping it back into his pocket. “He said he’s on his way.”
Hunter groans. The last thing he wants is to be babied.
“Why don’t you go upstairs and get some sleep?” Darius suggests, hovering over him, one hand outstretched.
Sleep good. Should sleep. Flapjack tweets, hopping along his forearm. Hunter rolls his eyes, using one hand to deposit the cardinal on his shoulder and accepting Darius’ hand gratefully. “That sounds good. Thanks, Darius.”
Darius smiles and ruffles his hair. “Go get some shut-eye, kid.”
Hunter returns his smile, bumping his head against Darius’ shoulder and turning to go up the stairs.
Hunter regrets waking up. He cracks open an eye blearily, groaning as nausea makes his head spin. Hunter rolls onto his side, letting his wings rest on one of the many pillows he has. Strangely enough, even the gentlest of touches stings against tender skin, and he tries not to wince when the tip of his wing snags on the blanket. It’s cold here.
He lets himself lay there for a moment before forcing himself to sit up.
It turns out to be a mistake. His vision blurs and bile tries to force its way up his throat. Hunter sways for a moment, then falls forward and crashes to the ground with a pained yelp. He ends up dragging the blankets off the bed, the fabric ending up pressing against his wings uncomfortably.
Flapjack is at his side immediately, chirping in distress. He lets out a miserable moan, trying and failing to push himself up on his arms. He feels like he’s going to puke. Flapjack zips out the door, slipping through the crack and disappearing from sight. Hunter looks on helplessly as spots dance in his eyes.
He presses a hand to his forehead. He’s always run hot, something about selkidomus biology and the boiling seas they tended to live in, but even now he feels dangerously warm, more so than usual. No wonder he felt so cold.
Hurried footsteps pound down the hall and Hunter lets out a weak warble that quickly turns into several loud and short calls of distress. He can’t help it; the noises start pouring out of him as his anxiety mounts.
Relief washes over him as the door swings open, both Darius and Eberwolf rushing in. Hunter’s limbs feel like lead, and he lets Darius wrap an arm around his bicep and torso and deposit him back on the bed. He shivers, and Darius sits next to him. Flapjack, who had previously been perched on Darius’ shoulder, hops onto the bed, allowing Hunter to pick them up in his hands.
He cups his fingers around the cardinal protectively. Hunter glances at the alarm clock, wincing at the time. It’s nearly five PM now.
“Sorry.” Is what he ends up saying.
Darius looks bewildered.
“ Why is pup sorry ?” Eber chimes in, cocking their head to the side. Hunter shifts uncomfortably.
“Eber is right, Sundrop. You don’t need to apologize for whatever happened.” Darius ruffles his hair gently, his expression quickly turning concerned. “Do you have a fever?”
Hunter nods hesitantly, and Darius purses his lips.
“ Pup is hurting, ” Eber notes gently, settling down on Hunter’s other side. “ Feathers falling out .”
All three of them turn to look at the many golden feathers scattered near the center of the bed. He winces. Only the outermost layers of his feathers are left.
Darius turns to face Eber. “Eber, do you know how to help? I… I’ve been trying to do research, but most of the bird books Camila bought don’t mention feathers falling out.”
Eber shakes their head. “ Not enough to help. Most demons don’t have feathers .”
“Okay, okay. That’s fine. Eber, can you get me my phone from downstairs? And a bag, please.” Darius is already starting to pick up discarded feathers, sweeping them into a pile. Hunter watches as the demon hops down, scampering out of the room and down the hall.
Flapjack tweets at him, and Hunter manages a weak smile as he scratches the bird under the beak, making sure he doesn’t apply too much pressure with his claws.
“Hey, Sundrop, mind moving your tail for a moment?” Darius asks, and Hunter quickly pulls it into his lap. He grimaces at the sight. By now, it’s mostly devoid of feathers. Only a thin layer of soft, golden fur covers it. It reminds him of a ratworm. He doesn’t like the thought one bit.
He glances back up as Eberwolf comes back, Darius’ phone held in one hand and toting a plastic bag with another. Eber hands the bag to Darius dutifully.
“Thanks, Eber. Could you text Camilla? Tell her to come in earlier tomorrow if she can. And you, young man, are staying home from school until this is over.” Darius says, rather pointedly, to Hunter.
Hunter can only gape for a moment before letting out an agitated hiss, “ What ? Darius, I have an abominations exam tomorrow! I can’t miss that. You know how Hermonculus is. He’ll probably fail me! He’s going to - Ow, ow, ow . Flapjack let go!”
The cardinal stares at him. He knows those judgemental eyes. Hunter sticks his tongue out, his scalp stinging from his hair being pulled. Sick. My boy is sick. Stay home.
Darius sighs, and Hunter feels himself shrink back physically.
“I know how you feel, Sundrop. But you’re clearly not feeling well - you can barely stand and you’re running a fever. Rest assured, though, I’ll personally see to it that you get to take that test when you’re feeling better.”
Hunter wilts, staring forlornly at his hands. Flapjack cuddles close to him.
“Did Camila respond yet?” Darius turns to look at Eber.
“ Yes. She says ‘Ok. I’ll come tomorrow at noon. Here are some things you should buy for Hunter: infection medication, kiddie pool, and plenty of nutritious foods. Keep me updated on what’s going on.’ ” Eber recites carefully.
Darius lets out a relieved sigh. “I’ll just order those things online. The stores in Bonesborough deliver, right?”
Eber nods.
“Okay. Good. In the meantime, I made some griffon eggs and… er, pancakes . They’re still warm, if you want any.”
Hunter grins. “You didn’t burn them this time?”
Darius rolls his eyes. “And may I remind you who turned the heat up all the way when I said not to?”
He just sticks his tongue out, blowing a raspberry.
Still, he accepts Darius’ outstretched hand, pulling himself up from the bed gingerly. His muscles twinge with discomfort, and Hunter tries not to wince. Darius seems to notice anyway.
“We’ll get you some painkillers. Or a potion if you’d like. Do you want me to carry you?”
Hunter averts his gaze, trying to swallow his pride. He probably can’t walk at the moment, anyway. So he nods slowly, biting his lip. He hates being useless. He hates being so vulnerable.
Darius’ eyes soften, but he turns around with his back to Hunter. “Let’s get you something to eat, Sundrop.”
Hunter shifts, wrapping his arms around Darius’ neck as Flapjack takes to the air, hovering by the door. His tail curls around Darius’ calf as an anchor. He jolts as they start moving, each step sending tremors through his body. His limbs feel stretched and sore.
He’s actively holding in whimpers by the time they go down the stairs, squeezing his eyes shut.
“I know, I’m sorry, Sundrop. We’re almost there.”
It’s a blessing that the lights are dim. The living room is dark enough that he can open his eyes, though Hunter still has to squint. Darius deposits him carefully on the loveseat. Hunter immediately lies flat on his stomach, tucking a pillow under his chin and watching as Darius moves around the kitchen.
By the time the older man comes back to the living room, Hunter is trying not to doze off.
Darius chuckles, setting down a plate of food. “Eat first, then you can go back to sleep.”
Hunter turns his head aside with a weak ‘hmp’. It takes all of five seconds for him to give in with a sigh, lifting his head so he can obediently bite the piece of pancake that Darius had cut out for him. He chews, and then fully admits defeat.
“It’s really good.”
Darius raises an eyebrow. “I don’t think I quite caught that, Sundrop.”
Hunter feels his face flush bright red. Titan-damnit. His pride won’t allow him to say anymore than that. He scowls. “I said it tastes really bad.”
Darius laughs and ruffles his hair.
“Eat up, Sundrop. Then I’ll carry you back to bed.”
Hunter sniffs disdainfully, but lets the edges of his lips curl into a smile. He can’t help it, really. Not when Darius is looking at him like
that
, eyes crinkled with smile lines and openly beaming.
“Okay, Dad.”