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Trevor has lived at the Hughes lake house every summer since he was 10. He was best friends with Jack, they did everything together. Trevor stayed in a room painted an ugly green color, because nobody else wanted it but it was too sentimental to get rid of. He was 23 now.
He sat on the doc with Jack who was grooming his own wings, they were the same as his brothers, cardinal wings, though not nearly as vibrant as Luke’s. “When’s your next nest?” Trevor asked. A nest was when you gave into your instincts, acted like an avian for a bit.
“I don’t really know” Jack shrugged. “Q keeps track for me and Luke” Quinn was Jack and Luke’s oldest brother.
He was untouchable to Trevor, always cool and mysterious. “Mines coming up” Trevor added. “Good for you, bad for us” Trevor was crazy in his nesting, his bird side was even more clingy and annoying than his human one, he usually ended up annoying the hell out of Quinn. “It’s not my fault!” Trevor whined. “Yeah yeah, I know” Jack laughed. “What’s Quinn like in his nests?”
Jack paused at the question. “I don’t really know, he locks himself in his room and never comes out, he doesn’t even do it very often.” “That can’t be healthy” “It probably isn’t, but you know how Quinn gets.” From that moment Trevor made it his mission to get Quinn to let him in his nest.
“Quinnifer~” Trevor called out, barging into the living room. “What.” Quinn replied, setting down his book.
“When’s your next nest?”
“Why do you care”
“Because I wanna nest with you!”
“No.” Quinn picked back up his book.
“Please? I haven’t nested with anybody since Jamie left!”
“So?”
“Come on, everyone knows it’s not healthy to go that long without nesting with someone!” Trevor whined.
Quinn just gave him a look. “I’ve never nested with someone.”
Trevor looked dumbstruck. That wasn’t healthy- like really not healthy. He’d always assumed Quinn snuck somebody in when he locked himself away to nest- but he’d just been alone..? Trevor hadn’t even been in Quinn room, but he was kinda scared what it would be.
“Why do you look weirder than normal..?”
“That’s not healthy Quinn!” Trevor yelled.
Quinn’s wings fluttered slightly, they’d always been a dull pinky grey, Trevor had assumed it was because he was born with them, but not he was dreading how unhealthy his feathers must be. “
Next you’re going to tell me you don’t preen with other people or something”
“I preen other people” Quinn shrugged.
“Oh good.”
“I just don’t let them preen me.”
“Quinn!” Trevor yelped.
“That’s like- so unhealthy!”
“I’m doing fine.”
Trevor let out a distressed squawk. Quinn just rolled his eyes, going back to his book.
Quinn started his nest about two weeks later, and while both Luke and Jack had told him not to, Trevor barged into Quinn’s room. It was a mess.
Quinn might be the neatest person Trevor knew, but his room was awful, claw marks all of the walls, torn up sheets, broken items, his nest was just a mess of blankets.
The sight distressed Trevor’s bird, and he squawked unhappily. He shut the door behind him and stepped inside. Quinn turned to look at him, his wings were a mess, knotted and messy.
Trevor stepped forward, holding out a hand to Quinn. He narrowed his eyes before launching at Trevor, dragging him into the nest.
He chirped unhappily, and started to preen Trevor’s feathers. Hypocrite. Not letting someone preen him but getting all worked up at Trevor’s mess.
He reached up, untangling a knot in Quinn’s wing, and he relaxed into it, leaning into Trevor with a soft trill. Trevor worked through the feathers, brushing them and smoothing them out.
Trevor tried to get up, but Quinn shoved him back down, continuing to build his nest around him. Once he was satisfied he laid down onto Trevor, tucking his wings around him.