Work Text:
Grian weaved effortlessly between the buildings, gilding through the city with his colorful macaw wings. He was making his commute home from the Traffic City Hero Agency where he worked as a therapist for heroes and other powered individuals underneath the hero agency’s jurisdiction.
His job was just like any other therapist's job, just with a lot more responsibility and oath to secrecy. It could be a lot to deal with, sure, but it paid well and kept him entertained. The clients he worked with had interesting lives, to say the least. It was much better than helping people through the same issues over and over. He knew there was value in that line of work, but he just couldn’t find himself feeling fulfilled by it. Working with who he had now left him very satisfied, leading him to being a better therapist, one that his clients deserve.
While his job could be great, the best part of his day was coming home to his husband and their cat-daughter, Jellie. With a glance at his watch for the time, he knew that Scar should be back to their apartment by now. Scar wasn’t always the most punctual, but coming home on time was one of those things he was rarely late for.
Jellie got her dinner of this fancy cat food Scar liked getting her right when Scar was supposed to arrive home. The feline was very important to Scar (he had even named his animal shelter partly after her), so he forced himself into that routine to make sure she was happy and content. Plus, they didn’t own a car, so they had gotten an apartment extremely close to Jellie and Scar’s Temporary Home for Your Future Pets so Scar could walk or wheel himself there.
Void, that was a mouthful of a business name.
Grian perched on the edge of the balcony railing, crouched down and easily stable as he stood. He very rarely used the front door when he wasn’t walking in with Scar or someone else. Grian jumped down so he was properly on the balcony before straightening out his clothes and cross-body messenger bag. He needed to make sure everything was sitting in place after a flight through the city.
Once content with his appearance, he approached the door that would allow him inside. There was a lock on it (better safe than sorry), but Grian easily bypassed it by inputting a code he could punch in blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back.
“Grian!” Scar greeted him from the living room where Jellie was sitting on his lap. “How was work?”
“Same as always,” Grian started to dismiss, both of them knowing full well he couldn’t say much about his job. Before he changed the conversation onto Scar’s day, he paused, recalling what was in his messenger bag. He flipped open the flap and dug around inside.
“Whatcha looking for?” Scar inquired, curiously studying him.
“This.” Grian pulled out a knitted scarlet macaw parrot plush, the yarn used almost identical in color to Grian’s wings. It wasn’t the highest quality item, but it was perfect in Grian’s eyes. “I encouraged one of my clients to get into hobbies such as knitting and she gifted me this at the end of our session.”
“Well, hello there, little guy!” Scar gasped in delight, instantly wheeling himself closer so he could get a better look. Jellie sat up, but stayed on Scar’s lap. She was well used to traveling around on Scar. “Look at that! It’s a-may-zing!”
Jellie reached forward with a paw and bapped the parrot plush. Grian gasped, vaguely offended as he pulled the plush away while Scar laughed. “Aw, c’mon, Grian! She’s just playing.”
“Just playing?” Grian squawked, hugging the parrot to his chest in an overly dramatic way. “Scar, your daughter just tried to kill our son!”
“Queen Jellie would never!” Scar came to Jellie’s defense, scratching his finger lovingly against Jellie’s chin as he started to coo at her. After babbling everlasting love and affection towards his darling cat, he raised his voice enough for Grian to hear, “Funny how she’s only my daughter when she’s in trouble.”
“Aha!” Grian cradled the bird plush like he would a human baby. “So you admit what Jellie has done is worthy of being in trouble!”
“I admit to no such thing.” Scar lifted his chin, claiming complete innocence even as Jellie wiggled her haunches in preparation to pounce. “Pesky Bird and Jellie are best of friends.”
“Did you really name our son ‘Pesky Bird’?” Grian lifted an eyebrow, stifling his amusement. The comment properly distracted him, leaving a perfect window of time for Jellie to leap into Grian’s arms to try and get the plush. “Jellie! No!”
Scar burst out in a fit of giggles, hugging his arms to his stomach as he laughed so hard it hurt. He wiped a tear from his eye as Grian tried to pry the plush away from Jellie’s claws. “Welcome to the family, Pesky Bird! You’re fitting right in already!”
It was for Pesky Bird’s best interest to bring him back to work the next day. Grian wasn’t sure Pesky Bird would survive another day in their house with wild predator Jellie on the loose. Scar gave him the most adorable pout and puppy dog eyes when Grian took their son away, but Grian managed to make it better with some kisses and promises to send pictures of Pesky Bird having a blast sitting on Grian’s desk.
The parrot plush very quickly became a staple that Grian couldn’t ever imagine getting rid of. In fact, by the time the next week rolled around, Grian had nearly forgotten it hadn't always been there.
Grian’s session with Gem had just started, both of them sitting in their respective chairs across from each other. He was about to make an opening comment, but Gem got to it first. “You still have it on your desk.”
He followed her gaze to see what she was referring to, his black eyes falling upon the very plush Gem had knitted for him the week prior. He chuckled fondly, shifting his attention back to his client. “That I do. It’s for his own safety, I assure you.”
“What do you mean by that?” Gem tilted her head, green eyes wide and dear ears flicked up curiously. She didn’t tend to think of herself very highly, but Grian thought she was rather clever with an innate desire to explore. It was his job to help her come to realize how wonderful she actually was, along with a whole load of other things, but that was for another day.
“I made the mistake of bringing him home and he almost didn’t make it out alive!” Grian dramatized the situation in a joking way, hoping he properly conveyed that the gift was appreciated. “My husband was going to let our cat-daughter use it as a chew toy and I simply could not allow such a thing! Pesky Bird is way too important to me for that. That’s his name, by the way.”
“That’s, wow,” Gem snorted, covering her hand over her mouth to hide her expression, “that’s an epic name for him, honestly. I love that for him.”
As much as Grian would love to ramble on about Pesky Bird, Jellie, and Scar, they weren’t here for him. He changed the topic back onto Gem, referring to his notes to try and finish what they had been discussing the week before.
Another week had come and gone, and Grian was so excited to go home to Scar and Jellie, more so than usual because he had a surprise. He couldn’t take credit for it, no, but he was the one who got to present it to him. “Scar! Where on earth are you?”
“The bedroom!” Scar called loudly. “It’s been a bad pain day. Can you come to me?”
Grian frowned at that, but he didn’t hesitate to make long strides towards the bedroom. When he entered, he asked, “Why didn’t you contact me? I could have come home to help.”
“You were at work.” Scar shrugged, unbothered and well used to his varied mobility. “I was just going to rest anyway, and I got Jellie to keep me company.”
“Did you at least eat today?” Grian checked in. “And take your meds? If you didn’t take your meds, I swear, I’m going to drag your-”
“I ate! I took meds!” Scar interrupted, waving off Grian’s concerns. “As you can see, I am a-okay! You say Joel mother hens, but you do it just as much, you silly goose.”
“Oh, I do not!” Grian scoffed, though he wasn’t offended.
“Do too!” Scar insisted with a laugh. “Just admit I’m right and come cuddle with me. I want to be cocooned. Cocoon me, Grian!”
“Void, you’re needy, aren’t you?” Grian rolled his eyes as if he were annoyed, but he wasn’t. He didn’t often admit it, but he enjoyed wrapping Scar in his wings and holding him close.
“So are you,” Scar stated confidently as Grian climbed into bed with him. Grian chose not to justify his statement with a response.
Before he got them situated and all tangled up in a way that would be difficult to remove themselves from, Grian retrieved a knitted mouse plush from his bag. “Scar, look what my client made Jellie.”
Scar gasped loudly when he spotted the cat toy, eyes going all glassy with what Grian assumed were tears of joy. “I know I can’t meet your clients, but, void, do I want to!”
“I told her about Pesky Bird and Jellie two sessions ago, and she showed up with this little guy today.” Grian held the knitted mouse up by its tail for Jellie, who swatted experimentally at it. “Hey, check it out. She loves it.”
Scar babbled a long string of sounds that Grian wasn’t even sure he could describe as words. With a sudden jolt, Scar pushed himself up as he tried to climb out of bed. “I got to thank her somehow! I gotta make her something! Would she like cookies? I could make her cookies- oh! Maybe brownies? Or even a cake? Perhaps some pie? What kind of pie do you think she would like?”
“Scar, don’t you dare,” Grian scolded his husband, pulling him back to bed. With the surprise now revealed, he let Jellie have at it, leaving his hands free. He pulled Scar close and curled his wings around their bodies, trapping them together. “You said it yourself that you’re having a bad pain day. As your husband, I cannot let you push through it and make it worse. That will only prolong the pain.”
Scar jutted out his lip in a pout, a whine escaping his lips. “But Grian…”
“But nothing,” Grian denied, burying his head against Scar’s chest. “Now shut up and cuddle me.”
“On it,” Scar accepted it like an order, putting on the voice and everything, “shutting up.”
That wasn’t exactly shutting up, but Grian allowed it, content to spend the rest of the evening just like this… cuddled in their nest of a bed with his wings protective around the man he loved. Honestly, he couldn’t picture a better way to spend his time.