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Since Stolas was banished and had his powers taken from him, he had a hard time taking care of himself. Blitz was more than happy to deal with Stolas’s feathers because it was a small thing, but it really helped Stolas out. Blitz was willing to do whatever he had to in order to lighten Stolas’s load.
Because, well… he loved him.
Stolas was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, criss-crossed between Blitz’s legs, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth when Blitz started pressing small kisses onto his head as he gently combed through his plumage.
For a little while, it was calm.
About ten minutes in, Blitz was still gently brushing through Stolas’s pale, blue feathers with one hand when something caught his eye.
A tiny little quill-looking thing poked out from the base of Stolas’s scalp. At first, he thought it was maybe a plastic wrapper stuck in his feathers. But upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn’t.
He brushed it slightly with his finger. It felt waxy and smooth, a little firm. It was whitish and slightly translucent. Most definitely not trash.
He began to gently rub his fingers against it, trying to tease it out. Stolas let out a soft, tired coo and began to melt, leaning fully against Blitz’s right thigh and pulling it closer to him.
Blitz started to rub his hand up and down Stolas’s back as the owl gently hooted, tightening his grip around Blitz’s leg.
As he moved and worked through the owl’s feathers, he began to find more of these little bits of keratin. Some of them were more tightly secured to his scalp, and Stolas slightly hitched his breath when Blitz tugged on those. So he left them alone, opting instead to help remove the looser ones, carefully massaging them all out.
Blitz inched closer to Stolas, now sitting more on the edge of the couch.
Stolas started to trace lazy patterns with his talons up and down Blitz’s calf, closing his eyes and leaning his head back onto Blitz’s stomach.
“All done, Stols,” Blitz said, repositioning himself to fully lie down on the couch.
Stolas crept up next to him, wrapping his arms around Blitz’s waist and nuzzling his head into the crook of Blitz’s neck, mumbling words of gratitude and affection, caressing his horn.
“I love you birdie“
“I love you too darling”…