Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hermann twitches awake, wings fluttering—

His feathers feel wrong, air dragging over them like cold syrup.

His hair's sticky, too.

From the doorway, Karla snickers.

Hermann flings himself off his bed—„KARLA!“—stumbles to the washroom—„What did you do to me?!“

Giggles from all his siblings now, from the front room.

He staggers to a halt in front of the mirror and whines.

His hair is the shade that usually means 'blue', which is bad, but the bedraggled state of his feathers makes his stomach roll.

„Why did you dye me?!“ Hermann wails—hating how weak and upset he sounds—as Karla, still laughing, steps up behind him.

„Blue's a good color on you, Manny,“ she giggles. „Now you're a cute little bluebird instead of a boring little brownbird.“

„Kaaaaarlaaaaa ....“

She huffs, „It's only spray-on color and'll wash right out.“

„Father's going to be mad at you.“ Hermann fiddles with his bangs, notices his fingers come away glittery.

„Oh, I doubt it.“ Karla smirks. „He's going to be mad at you for letting this happen.“

Hermann protests—slumps, heart sinking.

Father's footsteps sound in the hallway.

Karla eeps, ducks out of the room.

„Stay there,“ Father commands after a single look. He stomps off to the pantry, mumbling under his breath.

Hermann sits on the edge of the bathtub and fidgets, wings twitching nervously.

Father hands him a bottle. „Use this to clean yourself up.“

Hermann reads the instructions, wrinkles his nose at the chemical scent coming from the soap.

„You mustn't let you sister abuse you like this,“ says Father. „Once you have a reputation for weakness, everyone will look to exploit it. “

„Father, Karla is twenty-five centimeters taller than I and twenty kilos heavier. I can't fight her without hurting myself.“ Adds quietly, „I was also asleep when she did this.“

„You need to learn to defend yourself. You won't be able to trust anyone else to do so. Do you understand?“

Hermann nods sadly.

Father turns on his heel, calls, „Karla! Help your brother!“, and strides out.

Karla slinks in, takes the soap—

Hermann turns on the shower, tests the temperature, steps into the spray after taking a deep breath. His wings quickly sag under the weight of the water they absorb and he leans forward to keep his balance as he twists off the faucet.

Karla works the soap into his feathers from their bases out, while Hermann concentrates on their tips and his hair.

„I'll be back in twenty minutes to help you rinse,“ Karla mumbles as she wanders out.

Hermann sighs and sits down heavily on the edge of the tub, wings dripping, passes the time drumming his heels against its side.

Karla returns an eternity later and they wash soap and dye from Hermann's feathers without a word.

He wraps his wings in towels, heads for—

„Wait a minute, Manny,“ says Dee, nudging him back toward the tub. „I've got an idea about how to get you dry faster.“

Hermann perches as Dee's top half vanishes into the cabinet under the sink.

„Tadah!“ Dee brandishes a hair dryer.

Hermann perks up a bit.

„Put your feet in the tub so I can reach you with this. The cord's kinda short.“

Hermann spins around, drops his towels on the floor.

The dryer whirs to life and a warm breeze immediately ruffles the feathers on his spine, tickling their roots.

Hermann melts.

„Feels good, huh?“

„'s really niiiiiice.“

„That's good,“ laughs Dee, „because this is going to take a while.“

Hermann sighs, content.

„Can I help?“

„Of course! Get over here!“

„Yes, sir!“ chirps Bastien.

Hermann shuffles his wings.

„You see where the dryer is fluffing Manny's feathers?“

„Uh huh!“

„Why don't you use your hands to help them poof?“

„Alright!“

Hermann shivers under Bastien's gentle little fingers.

„Does that feel good?“ asks Bastien, cautiously.

„Very. Keep going please.“

„You like it when someone scratches, too, right, Manny?“

Hermann hums an affirmative.

„Here that, Bunny?“

„Got it!“ And he scritches away with vigor.

Hermann leans into the touch and purrs.