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Ze had been staring at the ceiling for hours now. The wings that had made themselves home on his back had grown to about two feet now, taking a toll on many aspects of his life. For example, sleep. He’d tried everything, even sleeping like Moe. Couldn’t even get himself to balance for half a second, mainly due to the new fifteen pounds added to his weight. Ze’s shoulder bones paid the biggest price of all though. They always ached in an annoying way where there’s nothing anyone can do about it.
That’s why Ze was up now. He’d always had deep, almost purple eye bags. No one thought they could get any worse.
But bone deformation and growth of external tissue does some shit to you.
After about two hours of tossing uselessly, Ze finally sat up, throwing his sheets off in frustration. He lazily pulled himself out of his not-so-comfy-anymore bed and slugged out of his room. Across the hall and down the staircase, the faint kitchen light dimly lit his way. Someone else must be up now. Why, though? He softly avoided creaking tiles, the cold tile sending a shiver through his bones. Including his new ones.
When he finally made it to the top of the staircase, the living room and kitchen came into view. One single cabinet was left open, Doritos missing from the shelf. Ze took a single step down, and lo and behold, Regect was looking right at him from the couch, a bag of empty calories cradled in his arms protectively.
“You fucking fatass,” was all he could manage. Even then it was just a grumble.
“Oh, come on. It’s a Friday, I can eat chips at 2am.” Regect excused. It was that late at night? It felt like 12am on a pathetic Tuesday.
“Those two things don’t even corre-whatever dude.” Ze gave up. He climbed down the rest of the stairs like a zombie, wings dragging and shuttering from the cold again behind him.
“I hope you know,” Regect paused, “you look like absolute dog shit. And cat shit. Combined.”
“Stop saying shit.”
“Since when do you care about cussing? You practically cuss every other sentence.” He pointed a claw at Ze.
“It wasn’t about cussing, dumbass. No wonder you always forget you can fly, you’re just an idiot.” Ze approached Regect and snatched the chips out of his claws.
“Wha-hey! You could’ve asked!” He whined.
“Shut that shit up, you’ve eaten half the bag already. It’s family sized.” Ze pointed to the bold, blue letters that clearly said FAMILY SIZE! like Regect was a child. Anyone else who’d never met him would say he’s a six-year-old with a voice changer.
“It's not that much..” He muttered under his breath. Moe had started to think the other day that he was an actual child trapped in an entity’s body.
Ze shoved the chips back in its place and quietly shut the cabinet door, much to Regect’s dissatisfaction. He sulked while Ze made his way to sit next to him. To be fair, it was the corner part of the couch, the comfiest spot. Regect liked the center part for whatever reason. Ze curled his knees up close and leaned his head on the elbow of his wing. That was basically the only benefit of the new growth.
Regect eyed his company curiously, really looking this time. He had already begun his attempt at rest, shoulders slowly rising and falling at an evened pace. His messy, thick hair framed his face in an upside-down U, fixed curls never shifting. He was wearing a tank-top, holes cut for his wings, and old college sweats. Old bruises and cuts were sprinkled across his upper body, most likely from fights or boot camp.
Ze shifted just a bit, but Regect jumped like a startled cat. Luckily, his company didn't notice. After a few moments, Regect concluded that Ze wasn't quite asleep yet, so he filled the everliving awkward silence.
“Why are you still here?” He spoke into the air.
The response was immediate. “Can’t sleep in my own bed.”
“Oh. That’s uh…nice.”
“Mmn.”
The two fell into silence again. A bit more uncomfortable than before. Ze could tell, even in his exhausted state, that sleeping here wasn’t going to work. A small grunt escaped his throat as he pushed himself up and toward the staircase.
“Well, g’night. Cya tomorrow. Or later, I don’t-“
“Wait!”
Regect froze. He had a major issue with blurting out what he wants. Ze paused and turned with as much curiosity he could muster on his face.
“I…didn’t mean-you can-“
Ze had fully turned around at this point. Emotions have long since stopped registering through his foggy mind. Words made no sense.
“I mean, sure. I guess. I was plannin’ to sleep on the floor, but I can try the couch again.” He said with a slight slur of laziness.
“Uh-“
Before Regect could say anything, he was already tracking his steps back to the cozy corner of the couch. But instead of leaning on himself again, he nestled his head in between Regect’s invisible mass of a head and his shoulder. Surprisingly, it felt like warm velvet, contrasting harshly with his icy skin.
“Wha-dude?” He tensed up at the sudden physical touch.
“Mmnh?” A small, questioning sound. If Regect wasn’t as flustered or clueless as he was now, he’d even call it pathetic.
“I-never mind.” He relaxed a bit. Despite the contact being sudden, Regect had kinda fantasized about this. He’d come to terms with how he felt, but never knew how to express himself. Therefor, had come up with his own personal world, where he had everything he wanted.
Ze’s arm wrapped around Regect’s neck and rested there, a pillow of flesh. A small “you’re freezing” escaped the entity’s mouth, with a reply of “n’ you’re warm.”
While Ze leaned closer, too overcome by pain medicine and exhaustion, Regect thought about how this’ll affect the future.
He’s too tired. He won’t remember this, one part of him said.
But I will, another replied. Just for tonight.
He rested his head on Ze’s soft, feather-like hair and accepted that whatever will happen, will happen. Maybe nothing will matter tomorrow. Nothing matters now. That’s it. That’s all it’ll ever be.
Regect let his tension ease slowly, unnoticeably. Ze leaned into the newly relaxed shoulder of the other, pushing more of the new weight on. He probably needed a break from how much of a physical toll this is taking, Regect thought.
“Alright, man…” He muttered as he adjusted both of them. The wings were a complication, but he got it to work. After a few seconds, Ze rested his head on Regect’s collarbone, arms wrapped around his neck. One wing sat between the back of the couch and the pair, the other hanging off to the ground. Their legs tangled close together as a soft, cat-like purr vibrated from Regect’s chest, deep and soothing. It was like a lullaby, guiding Ze to a deep sleep in just minutes.
Regect’s hand curled on his cheek, delicate. Like this could end with one wrong move. His thumb drew shapes across the deep bags dragging his eyes down. As Ze’s last seconds of consciousness arrived, a slurred version of Regect’s name escaped his lips.
“Rhegect..?”
“Yeah, I’m here,” He replied quietly, like he was trying to not disturb something. Ze nuzzled deeper into his warm, velvet skin, muttering a fraction of a sentence.
“…I lov…”
All Ze knew before finally succumbing to sleep was that Regect agreed to whatever he tried to say.