Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ashe hated the rain. The sound was nice, sure, but sometimes it got too loud and would keep him awake at night when he was so desperately wanting to fall asleep. It made everything wet and annoying to deal with, especially when he had forgotten to bring things inside during the day so they got entirely soaked by the time morning had come.

He hated it because he didn’t really like the way that the sky would darken and it would make the entire world seem so much darker than it actually was. Especially during the middle of the day, it was particularly annoying. Ashe was fine with it at night, he could deal with it then. But daytime rain was annoying, it just stopped whatever plans he had.

Not that Ashe really had plans… ever.

But it was the fact that if he did have plans, the rain would have ruined them because then he wouldn’t have been able to go out. 

He didn’t like getting wet either, he hated the feeling of wet hair against his face or the back of his neck. Anytime he took a shower, almost immediately afterward he was blow drying his hair and trying to get as much moisture out as possible. Maybe that messed up his curls, but that didn’t really matter to him that much, for a good part of his life he didn’t even need to worry about physical appearance.

So whenever it would rain, and if Ashe got stuck outside when the downpour started, his hair would get all wet, and his clothes would get wet and stick to his skin. And the feeling of something sticking to his skin nearly made him gag. He hated getting wet. Especially in clothes, it was so uncomfortable all the time.

And it was worse when his wings got wet. Ashe figured that might be the worst sensation he would ever have to go through in the entire world. And he was reluctant that he had to experience at least a mild version of it whenever he tried to take a bath or shower (although it wasn’t nearly as bad, it was pretty similar to his hair).

Considering his wings were… relatively waterproof, it shouldn’t even be an issue. Most of the time, little bits of water would slide off because of oils or something. Ashe didn’t actually know, that’s what he figured by doing the most bare minimum research on birds and stuff. He wasn’t a bird, so he had no idea what parts applied to him and what parts didn’t, but he could use his closest bet.

So normally, it took a lot for his wings to get soaked all the way through. And a lot either meant fully submerged or a long time in the shower.

Or heavy rain.

Ashe really hated the rain. A lot. He hated it a lot.

He trudged down the street, following William and Dakota (equally complaining about the weather) with his jacket pulled up over his head. He tried to keep as much rain off of him as possible, but with the way that the wind pelted the droplets from every direction possible, it was hard.

And his wings were absolutely soaked by now. He had done his best to tuck them as close as he could to his body, not really wanting to be seen in public and doing his best to hide his wings. His coat did a pretty good job at hiding his wings when he didn’t want them to be seen (but they were so big that it was hard to really keep them a secret).  

However, with the storm, Ashe was trying to use his coat as some sort of barrier from the rain. Wrapping it around himself had barely done much since it immediately got soaked through, so he tried to use it as a makeshift umbrella, holding it up above his head as he sped after the two of them.  

Vyncent was just behind Ashe, occasionally running into the other boy whenever he stepped too close. He chittered and made small chirping noises, occasionally reaching out to try and grab Ashe’s arm before ultimately curling back in on himself whenever Ashe would flinch away.

Ashe would have been more than willing to let Vyncent grab onto him. But he was wet and his clothes were sticking to his skin and his hair was plastered to his face. And his wings were absolutely soaked through with rain, making his feathers flatten and the entire limbs seeming like they now weighed a hundred pounds each. It was hard to keep them pulled up against his shoulders and the urge to drag them across the ground was only satiated by the fact that it would be incredibly dirty. So he suffered.

William had grabbed onto Dakota, keeping him from wandering off in the wrong direction as Dakota looked back and forth to make sure that Ashe and Vyncent were still following. He tried to say something but his voice was lost to the sounds of pounding rain as it splattered against the pavement and hit already overflowing puddles.

The only humor of the situation was that Dakota looked a little silly with his normally spiky and stuck-up hair completely flattened against his face, looking more maroon than raspberry colored. He blew hair out of his face and spit out a mouthful of water, his hands twitching from around William’s forearm from where they were holding onto each other.  

Ashe moved one arm so that he could shield his eyes, doing his best to see in front of him. The rain came down so hard that it was difficult to see where they were going. And Ashe hadn’t been in the city very often, only a couple times with the others on select occasions that Ashe actually had the courage to show up in public. So he didn’t know where he was or how to get back to the base, he had to blindly trust that William (not Dakota since he was really bad with directions) would know where to lead them.

Thinking maybe that he could offer some solace (since it didn’t matter to him anyway if his feathers were a sopping wet mass and there wouldn’t be a single other person out in this weather), Ashe stepped closer to Vyncent, allowing the boy to match his stride. He held up one wing behind Vyncent, trying to shield both of them from the oncoming storm, and was utterly surprised when it actually seemed to work, slightly.

But the feeling of Rain pattering against his wings was almost enough to make him gag. He wanted to just get someplace dry, get out of all his wet clothes, and sit in front of the heater for the next three years. It was cold and wet and Ashe hated when his clothes stuck to him.

Vyncent chittered and looked over, not saying anything except for the obviously worried noises that continued to spill from his lips. He looked pale, face white as a sheet like he had seen some sort of ghost. Vyncent’s pupils were dilated wide, almost his entire eyes being consumed by the black pools, and he almost seemed to be shaking more than Ashe was.

He looked terrified but slightly grateful as Ashe extended his wing above them. Ashe nodded and tried to sweep water out of his eyes, picking up the pace to make sure that they kept up with William and Dakota. Of all the days that they had picked to go out on a day trip, it had to be the one that it would start raining.

Ashe had done so good at avoiding bad weather, not wanting to get caught in a situation like this. The itchiness from the water on his skin and the way that fabric was pressed against him in all the wrong ways made him want to claw at his arms and torso. He shivered and shook out his wings, feathers puffing up to nearly twice their size as they continued walking at a near-running pace.

The base shouldn’t be that from here. They had managed to get out of the winding and confusing streets of the city, peeling out in the direction of the woods where trees and leaves also helped with shielding the rain. But they could only do so much with this type of downpour.

Mud splashed against his pants, getting into his primary feathers as Ashe was beginning to falter at being able to hold his wings up. His muscles were not that strong, and he definitely did not use his wings as much as he should. Keeping them tense in one position, especially with the added water weight from everything else was exceptionally hard. Along with the fact that they were practically running through the forest.

Ashe wanted to collapse, lungs heaving in his chest and each breath seeming like he couldn’t get enough oxygen in his lungs. He had to drop his wing from around Vyncent just because he couldn’t keep it up for that much longer while trying to consciously remain on pace with the other. Vyncent didn’t say anything, chirping and clicking in the way that Ashe had to stop himself from trying to replicate. Not now, they needed to get home first, then he could do that.

Dakota was still saying something to them, Ashe could see his mouth moving and the way that he was gesturing back and forth between Ashe and William. He pointed to something in the distance, seeming much too joyful about this entire situation considering that it was pouring. Of course, Dakota would be the one to be optimistic about this, his never-ending energy once again never-ending. Ashe continued to be unable to hear him over the rain and their splashing footsteps but he pretended as he did.

As he looked in the direction of where Dakota was pointing, Ashe could barely make out the form of a tall black building sticking up from the expanses of trees. It was hard to see through the darkness and the already weeping sky, but it seemed like the form of their base.

A bit of relief washed over Ashe as he realized that meant they were almost home. He could get changed into something dry and could sleep the rest of the day away without having to worry about anything else. There was no way that he was going to go outside anytime soon in the next few days. He was going to lay in bed and sleep and pray that he would be able to get anywhere near all the water out of his wings.

They were soaked practically to the bone. Ashe tried to shake out his wings and shiver but it did nothing against the onslaught. It didn’t help that he was getting too tired to keep his primaries up off the ground, lamenting at the fact that he was accidentally dragging through the mud. But he was unable to lift them up anymore. He was so tired and his wings were so heavy.

Vyncent grabbed onto his arm and this time Ashe didn’t pull away. He realized that he had begun to lag behind and Vyncent was just making sure that he didn’t get lost or anything because he could barely keep up. It was better that way, easier not to get lost due to some unforeseen circumstances.

But Ashe still had to fight back the urge to flinch away or gag, he didn’t like the way that Vyncent’s palms pressed against his arms and stuck his shirt sleeves even harder against his skin. He didn’t want the sensation of someone or something touching him anymore, he just wanted to be able to sit comfortably without being hyper-aware of something pressing against him.

Ashe ducked his head and squeezed his eyes shut, mostly letting Vyncent pull him in the correct direction, trusting that he would be able to follow William and Dakota and be able to lead Ashe in the right direction. He didn’t want to pay attention, Ashe had already gotten too much water in his eyes for one night and he really didn’t want to have to empty out his eye sockets or something due to all the water. 

That was really what it felt like. He would have to be ringing out his hair for an entire week just to get all the water out, and his wings would surely be in a much sorrier state, especially with the mud that he was getting stained in the silver feathers.   

Vyncent’s grip tightened and then they were stopping. Ashe looked up to see that William was struggling to yank open a very familiar door. Dakota nudged him to the side and pulled it open easily, practically shoving William inside.

They stumbled into the “abandoned” warehouse and practically collapsed against the mostly dry concrete floor. Ashe panted and coughed, barely able to keep a breath in his lungs before it was back wheezing past his lips. His chest ached something fierce and he could feel his heart  pounding  against his ribcage.

Vyncent wasn’t doing much better, he trembled like a shaken puppy and curled both arms around his torso. He whipped his tail back and forth, causing a spray of water in every direction from the fluff at the end of it. His ears were pinned back against his skull and he was beginning to shake himself off, tired chirps worming out of his throat.

Ashe nearly collapsed, swaying dangerously and leaning over his knees for support. He dropped his wings almost fully, allowing them to drag against the floor now that they were out of most of the mud. But he still felt and probably looked a mess, everything that could possibly soak up water plastered to his skin and making him feel like a wet dog. He wheezed and let his hair fall in front of his face, squeezing his eyes shut and doing his best not to pass out. They were so close.  

A near-desperate chirp practically tore from his throat the moment that they were back in the mostly safe confines of the entrance of their base. It almost hurt his throat with the pitch, another just as strangled one spilling afterward. And then Vyncent chirped back which caused Ashe to respond with a similar tone, unable to even stop himself.

“Okay,” William muttered, leaning against Dakota’s side and causing Ashe to jolt out of the back and forth that he had fallen into with Vyncent. He flinched and pulled his head up, seeing stars for a moment with his legs shaking so badly that he was afraid that he wouldn’t even be able to make it to the elevator. There was no way that he was going to be walking tomorrow.

“Okay?” Ashe wheezed.

“Are we… Are we all okay? Okay?” William stuttered out the question a few more times like a broken record before shaking his head and shutting his mouth entirely. He coughed and allowed himself a few seconds to breathe, his head twitching a few times.

“Wet,” Dakota was the only one who had actually sat down on the ground. He let his legs sprawl out in front of himself and stared up at William through half-lidded eyes, “I’m really wet.”

“I’m wet too,” Ashe chirped again, clenching his jaw as tight as he possibly could to keep himself from repeating after Vyncent did it again.

William nodded, he didn’t say anything else but the next course of action was practically a given. Dakota pulled himself up from the floor and began tiredly shuffling in the direction of the elevator. The rest followed and Ashe let his wings drag against the floor, trailing a long stream of water behind him.

The elevator was painfully stuffy, wet, and slightly humid from all the rain. It reeked of mud and sweat and Ashe merely leaned against the wall with his head pressed against the cold metal, eyes occasionally slipping shut. He was so tired, he just wanted to go to sleep.

They piled out of the elevator like tired puppies, trailing water and mud through the tile floors and doing their best to avoid anything fabric that would stain from the mud. As much as Ashe wanted to collapse right onto the couch, he figured that he probably should dry off first before doing that. William groaned and wiped his face with the back of his hand, it was equally as wet so it didn’t really do much, that fact which he also bemoaned about.

Dakota had already peeled off his shirt and Ashe could see his barely resisted urge to also take off his sports bra as well by the way that his hands twitched. But he left it on for now due to decency reasons, shaking out his hair and already taking his pants off. He didn’t even wait to get to his room or anything, stripping down to his damp underwear, tan skin glistening from the droplets of water.

He nearly slipped as he was trying to pull his shoes off, forgetting to undo the laces before he did so. But he got them off and peeled off his soaked socks, a puddle of water immediately pouring out of his shoe when he dumped it over. He got the other one off and immediately stomped off down the hallway, droplets of water spilling off his form and muscles rippling whenever he moved.

Ashe wasn’t staring. He forced himself to look away and shucked his jacket in the vague direction of the pile of wet clothes that Dakota had made. William removed his sweatshirt and another shirt that Ashe didn’t even know he had been wearing, dropping it into the pile as well.  

He somehow was still left in a tank top and his jeans, shivering like he had just been dumped into the middle of a freezing winter. His teeth chattered pathetically and he wrapped his arms around himself, hooking his fingers underneath the edge of his binder and trying to peel it away from his skin.

“Get that off,” Ashe muttered tiredly, catching William’s attention. He didn’t need to specify, William knew, but he was looking vaguely uncomfortable, trying to strip down into whatever layers he was actually comfortable with being in right now. He took off his shoes and socks and even removed his jeans, a dark flush spreading across his face. So Ashe looked away just to be polite.

It was hard for him to really get out of his shirt with the way that the fabric clung to his skin and his wings were hard to remove. He chirped and chittered, Vyncent coming to his rescue after a few seconds of struggling. He helped Ashe get his shirt over his head and get his wings unstuck from the holes that he had cut into his clothes himself.  

Vyncent’s fingers were cold as he brushed his hands against Ashe’s bare skin while he assisted Ashe. Ashe shivered and didn’t even flinch away, too focused on getting out of his wet clothes than really focusing on the contact. He nodded appreciatively when his shirt was safely unhooked from the confines of his soaking-wet feathers.

Again, Vyncent shook out his head and whipped his tail back and forth just to spray out most of the water from his hair. He pulled his boots off and an unfortunately large amount of water immediately spilled out of them as Vyncent tilted them upside down. He grimaced and pulled the other one off, paws barely slipping against the floor as he tried to get off the multiple layers that he wore.

Dakota returned from wherever he had disappeared to with an armful of fluffy towels. He continued to mumble something under his breath, one of the towels already placed over his head and wrapped around his waist. He distributed them to everyone else and realized that he had probably grabbed too many before dumping them on the back of the couch.

“I’m so tired,” William grumbled, repeating the last word a few times before shaking himself out of it. He grabbed a second towel from where Dakota had placed them and began making his way down the hallway, “I’m going to go change.”

“That was fun,” Dakota piped up, toweling off his hair and shaking like a wet dog. He snorted and scrubbed at his face, “I thought that was fun.”

Ashe trembled from where he stood without a shirt on, ashamed of the situation but ultimately wanting to get as much water as possible off of him in the entranceway before he tracked it everywhere else in the base. It would be easier to clean up one room rather than the entire base from them tracking a ton of mud around. But he really just wanted to go lay in bed and sleep, not even caring about the wetness until he would inevitably wake up in the morning damp and hating his past self.

“What about your wings?” Vyncent muttered the first understandable sentence that he had spoken since the rain had started coming down hard. He swallowed down another chirp and tilted his head to the side, placing a hand on Ashe’s shoulder.

“They’re going to have to dry,” Ashe muttered, wrapping the towel around his shoulder and shuffling away from Vyncent, “it’ll be fine.”

They would probably take ages to dry, even if Ashe sat trying to blow dry them, they were way too big for him to properly reach some places. And all the mud that had caked onto his feathers was uncomfortable, making it hard for him to readjust his feathers. It was gross and it hurt a little bit when the weight tugged on his feathers in the wrong way. 

It was times like these that Ashe really wished that he didn’t have wings. He wanted them gone so badly so he didn’t have to deal with the horrible situation of them being wet.

“They’re all dirty,” Dakota added, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

“I’ll clean them off,” Ashe didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t really want to talk at all, in fact. He was exhausted, still slightly out of breath, and embarrassed from needing help getting his shirt off because the fabric was too wet for him to do it himself. “Really. It’s fine.”

Same as William, Ashe took another towel, barely managing to pull his wings up to press against his back before he was shuffling down the hallway, “do you mind if I take the bathroom for a bit?”

“Go ahead,” Dakota called after.

Ashe shuffled into the bathroom, closed the door behind him, and was glad that he had taken another towel. Dakota had completely raided the cabinets of all the extra towels that they had (the colored ones that had been put out on the rack having been left alone).  

Ashe didn’t even want to look in the mirror, but he managed a look at his own reflection and saw that he somehow had managed to get mud all over his face as well. It stuck in his hair and across his cheeks, pale skin accented by dark eyebags and dirt. His hair had leaves and twigs in it and so did his feathers as he barely managed to stretch out his sopping wet wings to see. They were covered in mud and sticks and looked just as bad as Ashe felt.

He didn’t want to take a shower right now, he would probably end up taking a bath after everyone else had showered and gotten cleaned off. He really needed to get his wings taken care of before he went to bed, otherwise, the mud was going to dry and he was going to wake up uncomfortable and barely able to move them.

But Ashe did step into the shower, the cramped space barely big enough for him to stretch out his wings (it made him a little claustrophobic). He shut the shower curtain and shook out his wings as best he could, trying to get the mass of the water off of his feathers so that he could hopefully towel them off and get them to just be damp. He shivered and felt splatters of mud hit against his back and the back of his legs.

He shook out the excess water from his wings, stepped out of the shower, and resigned himself to the fate of cleaning up later. He just wanted to dry himself off and get into something cozier.

At least his wings weren’t dripping as badly as they were before. He could probably make it to his room without leaving a trail of muddy water.

Satisfied for now with that, Ashe stripped out of his pants and underwear and toweled off his body the best he could. He wrapped the towel around his waist and unlocked the bathroom door. The extra towel was still mostly dry, so Ashe remembered to grab that before stepping back out into the hallway.

He shouted to Vyncent and Dakota wherever they were that the bathroom was free, and immediately made a beeline to his bedroom, the only thing wrapped around his waist being the towel.

Once the door was shut behind him, Ashe continued to try and dry himself off with the towels that he had, shuffling towards his closet where he could hopefully find something more comfortable to wear for the time being until he got his wings sorted out. He was going to put another pair of pants on and then realized that he didn’t want to deal with the restrictive nature. His skin was still sticky from the rain and he really just wanted to get comfortable.

So Ashe chose one of his longer skirts that he had, getting dressed the best he could while trying not to get everything wet from his wings. He held them out away from his body for as long as he could. His skirt swished against his ankles as he paced back towards his closet, realizing with a pit of dread that he wouldn’t even be able to put a shirt back on with the state that his wings were in. He didn’t have anything that he would be able to slip on easily while still trying to accommodate his wings.

He had a couple shirts that buttoned up in the back with a large enough gap for his wings, but nothing that he could sit in comfortably. Nothing that he could lounge in. Not like the sweaters that he had painstakingly adapted so that he could shimmy his wings through the large opening that he had cut. Ashe resigned himself to having to sit shirtless for a while until his wings dried.

He curled his arms around himself and trembled, already uncomfortable with the situation and he wasn’t even outside his room yet. It’s not like he really  needed  to leave, he could just sit here until the others were done with their showers and had gotten comfortable before he took over to clean his wings. But they were still so wet after he had shaken them off, and there was a heater in the living room that he could sit in front of to help them dry. It didn’t work as effectively as a blow dryer since it wasn’t actually intended for blowing, but it covered more surface area.

Hesitantly, Ashe crept out of his room, looking back and forth down the hallway with a slightly damp but still drier than the other towel wrapped in his arms, held up to his chest as he hid himself. He expected all three of the others to have dispersed throughout the base to try and dry off and get changed, but unfortunately, Dakota was sitting in the living room when Ashe walked in.

At least it was just Dakota.

Dakota looked up when Ashe approached, he had sprawled himself on the couch and was sitting in a clean pair of shorts and just a sports bra. He wasn’t even wearing a shirt. Ashe looked away with a hint of a blush spreading across his face.

“Your wings are still dirty,” Dakota commented, genuine concern in his tone. Ashe slid his tongue over his lips and plucked a new dry towel from their pile. He curled one of his wings in front of himself with his back facing Dakota and made an attempt to wipe down the mud.

“I’ll wait for you guys to take showers and everything before I do,” Ashe said, voice shaking slightly from how he was shivering, “because I’m probably gonna take a while.”

Dakota hummed softly and sighed, “I already took a shower, William is in one now.”

“Where’s Vyncent?” Ashe carefully walked around the side of the couch so that he could sit himself in front of the heater in the corner of the room. He was hyper-aware of Dakota’s eyes tracing across his form, and he continued to hold the towel up to his chest as he sat down.

“I think he’s still in his room,” Dakota shrugged and stretched his arms above his head. His hair was still slightly damp but was beginning to curl up in the warm dryness of the room. It stuck to his forehead and frizzed when he shook his head too hard.

“Oh,” Ashe sat down on the floor and fiddled with the settings on the heater, self-consciously spreading his wings behind him. He adjusted himself so that he could sit in front of it and let the warm air blow against his feathers, hopefully drying them off for now.

“Don’t you ever get too hot sitting there?” Dakota asked casually, stretching his legs out. He had put both leg braces on as well in the time that Ashe had spent drying himself off and searching for something to wear. He adjusted the one on his left knee and pulled the strap a little tighter, making sure that it sat right. And when he leaned back against the cushion of the couch, Ashe didn’t miss the way that he tried to hide his wince.

“Not really, it feels nice,” Ashe shrugged, feathers pulling with the sudden action. He pulled his knees up to his chest and leaned his chin on them, barely managing to keep his eyes open. The warm air chased away the chill pretty well, and it felt nice against his wings.  

If Ashe held perfectly still, he could ignore the mud that was caked onto his feathers and pretend that he was just drying them off after a shower or bath, ignoring that he felt gross and uncomfortable. It was hard not to squirm when the clean skirt that he had put on rubbed against his legs uncomfortably whenever he moved. And he didn’t really like sitting in the living room with Dakota when he didn’t even have a shirt on to try and hide.

Ashe was sure that Dakota didn’t care, obviously, since he wasn’t even wearing a shirt himself. But that didn’t stop him from still feeling self-conscious about it.

Vyncent shuffled out of his room tiredly as William seemed to finish with his shower. They traded places and William popped into the living room wearing a different but still way too big hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. He flopped down onto the couch next to Dakota and buried his face into one of the pillows. His hair was wet and barely beginning to curl up as he let out a long sigh.

“I think my everything hurts,” William grumbled into the pillow, wheezing painfully from where he was situated. Ashe looked over at him with a little bit of concern, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Well when Ashe and Vynce are cleaned off we can just make a nest in the living room and go to bed,” Dakota said, “actually when Vyn is done he can just do that.”

William grumbled an incoherent answer and gave a thumbs up, relaxing against Dakota with his legs slightly sprawled over his lap. Ashe watched them carefully, wings twitching. If he weren’t still wet and uncomfortable he would have loved to join them, but he was damp and his wings ached.

Vyncent soon got out of the shower and then it was Ashe’s turn. He didn’t even hear the negotiations that Dakota tried to make about their sleeping arrangements before he was pushing himself up to his feet with a small grunt. His shoulders and wings were stiff as he tried to move them, cracks of mud that had dried on his feathers crumbled when he moved and Ashe winced.

“Do you want me to help wash your wings?” Dakota asked, suddenly turning to Ashe in the middle of his previous conversation as Ashe began to walk by.  

Ashe startled and looked over through half-lidded eyes. He was so tired.

He wanted to say no, he wanted to just get it over with himself and sleep for the rest of the night. But his wings were massive and if Ashe were being completely honest, he didn’t want to do it at all. He just wanted to sleep and let future Ashe deal with the issue.

But he could handle it himself. Even if his wings were big, he had lasted a long time making sure they were clean and slightly less than uncomfortable. Ashe had never truly preened his wings by himself (his arms were nowhere near long enough to be able to do that) and he didn’t really care much to take care of his wings. But he was sure that he would be able to wash the mud out of his primaries since that was where most of the dirt had gathered.

So as Ashe was about to deny Dakota’s offer and insist that he would be able to do it himself, what actually came out of his mouth when he opened it to respond was a tired and desperate, “please.”

Dakota’s eyes widened like he had expected Ashe to decline (Ashe had been intending on denying the offer but his mouth had betrayed him), but he immediately shot to his feet. William startled slightly, waking up from his half-asleep state as Dakota had to maneuver out from underneath his legs.

He trailed after Ashe towards the bathroom. Ashe’s eyelids drooped and it was beginning to get harder to keep himself awake after he had sat in front of the warm heater for so long. His head lolled forward and he leaned against the edge of the bathtub for a second to catch his bearings. The mirror was completely steamed up and impossible to see through, the visible signs of all three of their previous showers visible in the dampness of the entire room.

Ashe removed his skirt but kept his underwear on, he could handle one more set of wet clothes for a little bit. There was no way that he was going to get naked in front of Dakota, absolutely not. As much as he loved Dakota that was still never going to happen.

“Do you want me to just wash your wings?” Dakota asked, rocking back and forth as he stared at Ashe’s back.

“Yeah, I think that’s all I was gonna do,” Ashe mumbled, stepping into the shower and fiddling with the faucet.

Dakota grabbed the showerhead down and instructed Ashe to sit on the floor of the bathtub. He did as he was told but they had a bit of a struggle to try and maneuver around the area. The shower was barely big enough for Ashe and his wings, let alone Ashe, his wings, and Dakota all in one spot. There was not nearly enough room, but after a lot of shifting, they managed to make it work so that Ashe could at least extend one wing for Dakota to work on. They would have to shift again when he was done, but that was a task for later.

“Let me know if the temperature is too hot or something,” Dakota muttered, putting his hand on the wrist of Ashe’s wing and spraying it gently with the shower head. He stood behind Ashe as he sat in the bathtub with his head slightly leaned forward and barely held up by his hands.

The warm water felt nice. It was nothing like the cold rainwater that had previously been pelting down on all four of them. It was almost gentle, enough that Ashe had to force himself awake, peeling his eyelids open and staring at the tile in front of him. Dakota moved his wing as he needed, hands gentle as Ashe allowed himself to be moved. He was practically limp at this point, barely held up by the slipping but conscious effort and the fact that Dakota was also slightly holding him up.

“Can I use soap?” Dakota asked, tapping Ashe on the shoulder to wake him up when he had begun to drift off.

“Huh?” Ashe asked, tilting his head to the side slightly to glance up at Dakota, the warmth was getting to him, “Yeah… you can use soap.”

“Okay,” Dakota practically mouthed, shifting slightly as he continued to rinse off Ashe’s feathers. He sprayed the small downy feathers in the center of his back, running his hand up and down them, practically petting the feathers. Ashe chirped softly when he sighed, a constant chittering noise rumbling in his throat.

“Can you hand me the shampoo?” Dakota asked, and Ashe did, holding the bottle up over his head so Dakota could grab it. Dakota turned the water off for a little bit so that he could lather his hands with shampoo, placing his palms on the back of Ashe’s wings. He scrubbed the mud from Ashe’s wings, making sure to lather up his feathers with the shampoo to clean off as much of the dirt and grime that he wouldn’t be able to normally wipe down. 

He made sure to stick to mostly his primaries where most of the mud had been. Ashe figured that it hadn’t come off when he had been rinsing, so he had to use more serious measures—soap. Dakota massaged gently, using a conscious effort to not work too hard on Ashe’s delicate wings. He scrubbed and used one hand to keep Ashe’s wing upright, moving it in whatever direction he needed so that he could get better access to it. He did so easily with no resistance from Ashe who continued to chirp softly.

It didn’t feel the same as whenever one of them would preen his wings, but it did feel good to get the mud and grime off. Dakota hummed softly from deep within his chest, hands warm and calloused. Ashe was beginning to shiver from the air conditioning in the bathroom, the feathers on his back puffing up despite the water that flattened them to his back.

This went on for a few minutes as Dakota scrubbed and scrubbed, doing his best to be careful but also being meticulous in that odd way that Dakota was sometimes. He picked out twigs and leaves and dropped them somewhere off to the side. Ashe yawned, a deep breath causing his shoulders to rise and fall largely before he drooped his head forward.

“I’m gonna turn the water back on,” Dakota said, tapping Ashe again on the shoulder to make sure that he heard what he was being told. Ashe nodded and made a noise from the back of his throat, the feeling of water hitting against his wing making him flinch. He sighed and closed his eyes, allowing the warmth to wash over him.

Sitting in front of the heater was certainly better, but Ashe didn’t think that he would be able to complain about warm water. It felt nice running down his wing, the gurgling of the drain barely being able to be heard over the spray of the showerhead.  

Dakota rinsed the shampoo from Ashe’s wing, hosing him down and spraying his back again. Dakota even sprayed a bit of his hair, leaning forward to cup his hand at Ashe’s hairline to once again wet his hair.

As he finished rinsing off Ashe’s wing, instead of trying to get Ashe to shift once more so he could clean the other wing, he apparently decided to let that wing drip off for a little bit. For the time being, Dakota once again lathered his hands with shampoo, beginning to scrub his hands through Ashe’s now freshly damp hair.

His nails lightly dragged across Ashe’s scalp as he pulled his fingers through the silvery strands, scrubbing as gently as he could. Suds puffed up around Ashe’s face and he barely blinked his eyes back open, tracing the pattern of the tile with his eyes as he melted at the sensation of Dakota’s hands in his hair. He hummed again from deep within his chest and felt another few chirps unwillingly pulling from his throat.

Dakota chuckled quietly and ran his fingers down the length of Ashe’s long hair, making sure to lather all the strands with shampoo, cleaning the dirt, mud, and rainwater as well as picking out the leaves and sticks. He treated Ashe gently like he was something delicate that deserved this type of softness, working consciously and carefully with his strength.

Any tangle that he might have caught his finger on, Dakota was careful not to tug too hard, untangling the knot and resuming his attempt at pulling his fingers through.

After a bit of that, he turned the water back on and rinsed off Ashe’s hair, keeping one hand at his hairline to keep the soap out of his face. Ashe tilted his head back slightly, chin pointing up towards the ceiling as Dakota held his hair and rinsed the silver strands. He continued to card his fingers through, making sure to get all the soap out.

“Can you give me the conditioner?” Dakota asked, tapping Ashe on the top of the head this time to get his attention, “I’ll let it sit for a bit while I do your other wing.”

Ashe hummed in confirmation and fumbled with the other bottles in the bottom of the bathtub. He squinted at the labels and handed Dakota what he was pretty sure was the conditioner. And since Dakota didn’t offer any protests or corrections, Ashe assumed that he had picked the right one.

Dakota slid the conditioner through Ashe’s hair, pulling out the tangles and holding one hand on the top of Ashe’s head to keep from pulling his hair too hard. He lathered up the strands and made sure to cover everywhere so that it could sit for a while. He pulled his fingers through the silver strands and bundled it up in his palms, his soft wheezes spilling from his lips. Ashe sighed and slipped his eyes shut, knowing that he was going to have to get up soon but he wanted to enjoy this while he could.

Dakota continued to scratch at his scalp for a little bit, pulling his fingers through Ashe’s bangs and smoothing them away from Ashe’s face. Ashe tried his hardest not to melt on the spot, it felt so good, almost the same feeling as when he would preen his wings. It satiated some long-repressed urge that Ashe tried so hard to keep down.

He was chirping freely now, not trying to hide it and merely allowing the sounds to spill from his lips, too tired to really care. If Ashe were more conscious and more like himself, he would probably be embarrassed, but he had already reached his limits a while ago.

Dakota wiped off his hands on a washcloth and jostled Ashe’s shoulders just a little bit to try and wake him up. Ashe blinked and sniffled, looking up suddenly and not entirely sure when he had actually dropped his head to his knees.

“You gotta move so I can get access to your other wing,” Dakota said a little regretfully.

Ashe sighed through his nose, accepting Dakota’s hand and assistance in shifting around in the small confined space. He curled his wing close to his back and turned around as best he could so that his other wing which had drooped sadly would be able to be cleaned as well. He was now facing the rest of the bathroom, he could stare at the closed door and the stickers that had been placed all over the back of it and the cabinet.

The mirror was still steamed up but droplets were beginning to roll down the surface and leave trails of clarity, little dregs that showed the rest of the room. Dakota put his hand on Ashe’s shoulder, sat down on the edge of the bathtub, and got himself in a comfortable position. He let out a slow breath through his nose and smiled gently at Ashe, who gave a weak attempt at a smile back. He was so exhausted he could barely even pull his lips up into a show of gratitude.

“Alright,” Dakota began the same process of rinsing off Ashe’s wing first with warm water. He worked on the inside of Ashe’s wing first before doing his best to curl it inward so that he could spray the feathers on the back. Ashe tried not to shiver at the sensation, the urge to shake out his wings strong in his tired state. But he resisted, he didn’t want to get Dakota any wetter than he already was from the task.

He went through the same gentle motions as before. Except now, Ashe could tiredly look at Dakota and what he was doing, trying not to lean his back against the wall of the shower so that it wouldn’t make Dakota’s job any harder than it already was. Ashe had to sit sideways in the bathtub just so that he would be able to slightly spread his wings.

He couldn’t stop himself from staring as he watched Dakota lather his primary and secondary feathers with shampoo to get out all the mud. Dakota’s face was scrunched up in a look of concentration, occasionally glancing over at Ashe to make sure that he was alright. His eyebrows were knitted together intensely and he poked his tongue out between his two lips with his focus.

Dakota kept one hand holding up Ashe’s wing, the other running through his feathers and causing suds to fluff up against his wings to attack the dirt. His muscles pulsed slightly every time he moved his arms and Ashe let out a slow, deliberate sigh. He didn’t even think to try and look away from his blatant staring, tracing his eyes up and down Dakota’s form and taking him in.

He was too tired to care. Normally he would blush and look away every time that Dakota caught him staring. But not now, not when his head was a little fuzzy from all the gentle attention and he could barely decipher his thoughts from the exhaustion.

It was so rare that Ashe really ever looked at Dakota, any of them really if he were being honest. He was embarrassed to stare and didn’t really like looking at people in case it would cause trouble. What he didn’t look at wouldn’t hurt him.

But Dakota was so beautiful it was hard not to stare at the moment. His red hair was mostly dry now, curling up around his face and sticking in places that gravity probably shouldn’t allow. At the moment it was more curl than frizz for once, showing off the delicate ringlets that would frame Dakota’s features like a perfect marble statue.

The way that his jaw curved, or the jut of his cheekbones. The soft freckles dotted across his skin, making a range of constellations all across his body. He was perfect, absolutely perfect. Even with the collection of bumpy raised scars that littered his skin, telling stories and traces of all the things that had happened to him. He was still beautiful.

As Dakota scrubbed at Ashe’s wings, the muscles of his shoulders rippled, tan skin practically glowing in the warm light of the bathroom. A little bit of water slid down his form from where he had gotten sprayed with the showerhead. Ashe could barely take his eyes off of him, eyelids drooping and head slightly lolling forward.

He was so beautiful, so kind, so gentle. So absolutely amazing and everything that Ashe never would have thought he would have been able to deserve in a million years. He didn’t deserve Dakota, perfect, beautiful, Dakota.

When he was so focused on the task at hand, his hands were gentle and kind as he tried so hard not to accidentally hurt Ashe (his wings were very easy to mess up). Ashe didn’t remember the last time someone had treated him gently like this, enough to take the time to try and wash his wings.

He didn’t think that he had ever had someone do that for him. The preening had been a leap in the dark and they were slowly working their way to making that a more regular occasion. But Ashe didn’t often wash his wings. If he did, he would do it himself with what he could. Or if his wings were particularly dirty after a few weeks of neglect, Dakota or William or Vyncent would take a warm rag to run down his feathers to clean them off. Never like this.

“You’re staring,” Dakota finally commented with a small bit of amusement causing him to chuckle. He began to rinse the soap out of Ashe’s wing and Ashe let his head thump against the tiled wall.

“You’re so beautiful,” Ashe practically breathed the words, another string of chirps spilling from his lips and he couldn’t stop his feathers from fluffing up. He shivered at the cold wall behind him and wrapped his arms around himself, continuing to look Dakota up and down like this was the first time he had ever seen him. He drank it all up like a man dying of thirst and let out a slow sigh.

His words got Dakota to blush, a streak of crimson spreading across his face and he laughed lightly like the comment had caught him off guard, “thank you.”

“I love you,” Ashe continued, needing to get it out before it killed him. Dakota’s eyes widened slightly, but his expression gently shifted into a calm smile.

“I love you too, so much,” Dakota responded, but he didn’t really need to say it. With his hands on Ashe’s wings and the gentle care that he was showing, it told Ashe well enough. But… hearing it was still nice.

Ashe chirped again, desperate this time, then again, and again, and again. He chirped because he didn’t know how to contain his emotions in any other way, needing to get them out before they festered in his throat and came out at all the right moments. He chittered and chirped and could feel a few straggling tears slip from between his closed eyelids.

“I think you’re gorgeous,” Dakota said in that gruff awkward way like there was more that he wanted to say but that was the only way that he was able to get it out. Ashe let out a slow breath and couldn’t stop another chirp. A few more tears ran down his face and then he was hiccuping.

Unwilling sobs tore from Ashe’s throat and he brought his hands up to his face to paw at his eyes, his breaths getting caught in his throat. He coughed and hiccuped, weeping pathetically in the bathroom because Dakota had called him gorgeous.

“Hey, don’t cry,” Dakota said gently, shutting the water off and scooting closer. He cupped Ashe’s face in both his hands, they were still wet and warm. Ashe leaned into the touch, all his emotions running way too wild for him to be able to reel back. He was exhausted and all the mud in his wings had been uncomfortable and it didn’t help that Dakota was showing him so much kindness, taking care of his already sensitive wings. It was messing with everything in Ashe’s head.

He couldn’t help the tears. Everything was just so overwhelming, he was so overwhelmed with the love that he had, and how grateful he was for Dakota and the others. How much he loved them all.

“I love you,” Ashe whispered, reaching out to grab Dakota’s wrists and holding his hands there, “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

“Hey, I love you too,” Dakota said, dragging his thumb underneath Ashe’s eye, “you don’t need to cry.”

“I can’t help it,” Ashe hiccuped and gently peeled his eyes open. His vision was blurry with tears but Dakota was looking at him with love and concern in his expression. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Ashe’s lips, hesitating as he pulled back like he was unsure if that was okay or not.

Ashe nodded at his curious expression and threw his arms around Dakota’s shoulder. He gave Dakota another kiss on the lips, peppering his face with sleepy kisses everywhere that he could, his cheeks, his nose, his forehead, the corners of his eyes, his eyebrow. He kissed Dakota’s jaw and his temple, holding Dakota as tightly as his exhausted body would allow.

And Ashe pressed his face against Dakota’s shoulder, breathing in the familiar soap that they all used. He curled his shaking arms around Dakota’s back and held him there for a few seconds as Dakota leaned forward. Ashe’s wings were still wet, and he was cold and there were tears running down his face still making his cheeks heat up with both embarrassment and every other emotion that was causing his brain to short-circuit.

Ashe sat there and wept for a few moments, trembling in Dakota’s arms in the soaking-wet bathroom. He cried until he didn’t have any tears left, and then he merely sniffled and pulled away enough so that he could wipe his face.

“Can I rinse the conditioner out of your hair?” Dakota asked, holding his palm against Ashe’s cheek and staring into his eyes, “and then we can get you dried off and go join the others?”

Ashe chirped and nodded, he wanted the others too. He wanted to settle against William and Vyncent. He wanted to be able to cuddle against them, tucked as tightly as he could between them, and huddle them underneath his wings. He wanted it so badly. He wanted his lovers.

“Okay,” Dakota then cupped Ashe’s face with both hands and pressed a soft, tender kiss to Ashe’s forehead.

Ashe shivered and whined at the lack of contact once Dakota had to pull away so that he could rinse off Ashe’s hair. But the feeling was just as nice as before with warm water running down his back, the taste of Dakota’s lips on his, and the blossoming of warmth curling around his chest.

He felt better being able to get out some of his emotions. But his head was still swirling and it was so hard to think with the exhaustion that clouded most of his coherent and filtered thoughts. He was so tired. Exhausted from everything that they had done today and wanted to go to sleep so badly.

Dakota carded his fingers through Ashe’s hair and let out a slow, gentle breath. 

“There, let's get you dried off,” Dakota muttered, giving Ashe one last rinse before he placed the showerhead back where it was supposed to go. He yawned and stepped out of the bathtub first before reaching down to help Ashe up.

Ashe stumbled out of the bath with shaking knees like this was his first time walking. Dakota helped him balance, used to making sure that William could remain standing, and toweled Ashe off, petting his hair with the last colored towel remaining on the rack. It was a delicate lavender color, similar to Vyncent’s but lighter in shade with little swirls of blue and pink.

Dakota wiped down Ashe’s face and back and gently patted his feathers. He occasionally would press a kiss to Ashe’s shoulder or the back of his neck as he worked, sneaking a small kiss to the corners of his lips. Never fully on his lips, those were reserved for special occasions.

He blew dried Ashe’s hair until it was slightly less than damp but no longer dripping, and he spent a little bit of time trying to blow dry Ashe’s wings as well, smoothing down the feathers while he worked and making sure they were laying flat. But that ultimately was going to take a long time, so he only did as much as he could while making it so that his wings wouldn’t be dripping by the time that they got back to the others.

So when Ashe was dry enough, he had to stumble back to his room to pick out a second dry pair of clothes. Dakota stayed just outside Ashe’s closed door, not wanting to invade his privacy, but wanting to wait there for Ashe (who was ultimately close to tears at the distance again).

He got dressed in the third clean pair of underwear for the night, a different skirt this time, and he managed to put on an oversized fluffy sweater that he could let the sleeves cover his hands and the hem to bunch at his waist. Ashe rubbed the gentle wool over his face and inhaled deeply. It smelled clean and fresh and it felt good against his skin.

Dakota was still there (as he promised) when Ashe came back out, and he took Ashe’s hand gently to lead him back towards the living room.

William and Vyncent had already gotten set up with a nest of pillows and blankets in the middle of the living room. The TV was on and playing quietly even though they were all probably going to be out by the time they settled, and William had his head against Vyncent’s chest.

Vyncent was purring softly, his eyes closed but his ears twitching back and forth occasionally, showing that he was still awake. William was snoring.

Ashe nearly wept upon seeing them cuddled up together. He brought his other hand to his face and pressed closer against Dakota, his wing wrapping around the other’s shoulder and pulling him close. He let out a small, trying to be quiet but ultimately failing, chirp and Vyncent perked up.

He peeked his eyes open, glowing silver staring over at where Ashe and Vyncent were approaching. His ear twitched in their direction and Ashe saw the way that his tail began to wag back and forth from where it had been curled around William’s leg. A small smile pulled at the corners of his lips like he was trying to hide it but was ultimately fighting a losing battle.

“You guys better make room,” Dakota warned, plopping down on the other side of William, petting his head gently for a second. William didn’t stir, continuing to snore against Vyncent’s chest.

Ashe practically collapsed inside the nest, the collection of pillows and blankets so familiar and comfortable. He sniffled and chirped, knowing that Vyncent would understand.

He did. He chirped back and chittered, a low rumble echoing in his chest. Ashe cuddled up against Vyncent’s side, pressing his face against his neck. Vyncent purred even louder, content noises spilling from his lips as he curled one arm around Ashe’s shoulders and held him just as close.

William snorted slightly at the shifting around as Dakota saddled up next to him and Vyncent tried to accommodate Ashe. He sniffled and stopped snoring, slowly blinking his eyes open to blearily look around.

“Hm?” he muttered, voice slightly hoarse from sleep, “Ashe?”

Ashe pulled his face away from Vyncent’s neck to look over at William. His hair was beginning to get frizzy now that it was dry, black curls poofing up all around his face from where he had been nuzzling against Vyncent’s chest and Vyncent had probably been running his fingers through his hair. There was a red mark on his face in the shape of the wrinkles on Vyncent’s shirt and a little bit of drool on his face.

Ashe loved him so much.

They shifted around a little bit with William making the occasional noise of confusion, still half asleep and trying to figure out what was going on. But eventually, Ashe was able to settle in the middle between the three of them with his wings slightly damp still but fluffed up in contentment.

William wrapped his arms around Ashe’s waist and cuddled close, they hugged each other tightly, pressed against each other with William’s face buried against Ashe’s shoulder. Ashe could feel the uneven thrumming of William’s heartbeat and each wheezing breath that he took, but he gently traced his fingers along the exposed skin underneath his hoodie when he had been shifting around.  

Ashe stretched one wing over Dakota, doing his best to pull the other boy a bit closer so that he could cuddle against them. Dakota huffed out a small breath, reaching over to hold Ashe’s hand, tangling their legs together and pressing his face against the center of William’s back.

Vyncent resumed purring when Ashe curled his wing around him, the slightly damp but fluffy weight grounding as he was unconsciously pulled closer. Ashe could feel Vyncent’s tail weaving around his bicep, the tuft at the end of it flicking back and forth with contentment as Vyncent chirped. The sound went straight to the exhausted part of Ashe’s mind that screamed closeness, that screamed to have his lovers nearby and to not leave until the fuzzy feeling went away. He didn’t want to get up, he didn’t want to leave. He would lay here for the rest of his life if he could, cuddled up in his lover's arms and chirping back and forth with Vyncent.

Ashe loved them so much, he pressed a small kiss to the side of William’s head and let out a soft sigh, accented by a gentle chitter. The exhaustion that previously made it hard for him to think was beginning to take over again, and Ashe could barely lift his hand to squeeze Dakota’s. But he did, and Dakota squeezed back. William was back to snoring against his shoulder.

They were tangled impossibly close together, the soft sounds of the TV filling the room as it continued to play softly and flicker gentle light over the nest. And with the others pressed as close as possible, his wings draped over them for protection, Ashe finally managed to drift off, the exhaustion and comfort quickly pulling him under.