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Abolish had never particularly enjoyed the rain in the first place, even while he was alive. There were always things to do and having to squint to see anything, ducking under awnings and praying his clothes wouldn't get too soaked, only made that harder. That had not gone away after he'd been revived, only it was a whole lot worse now.
The water stung his skin and sizzled as he raced back to his forge, Pyro close behind him, Its usual alliances - which weren't all too important regardless, if it were being honest - didn't particularly matter when it felt like it was being boiled alive and Pyro was too far from their own home to make it back without risking hypothermia. A voice in gthe back of its head had come up with the observation that anyone getting sick or that badly injured would be a waste, especially in the arena, and it gladly took the excuse.
It easily walked over the magma in front of its door, then turned to help Pyro inside. The younger man stumbled as he stepped over, trying to avoid getting too close to the burning coals, blunt nails digging hard into its shoulders. Within a few seconds, the door was shut and he was holding the other against his much broader chest, attempting to rub circles into the back of his neck to ease the poor thing's shivering.
"Let me grab some extra blankets," Abolish said after a minute or so of standing there, slowly pulling away from Pyro. "Take your armor off so we can get you dried and warm."
He turned away to search through his storage for something to warm them up with, but not before he caught the flicker of fear that appeared on their face for a split second. He strode over to a chest, trying to keep his tone neutral as he pointed out, "I'm not going to randomly attack you, or anything. If you were worried about that."
"Ah, no, it's not… that. Apologies." It glanced back, unable to keep itself from raising an eyebrow as it watched the young man take off his helmet, shaking his head as a long braid fell all the way to his waist. He kept his eyes away from it as he slipped off the rest of his armor, setting it aside. Abolish noted that he was even skinnier than it'd thought and wondered if that was what he was so nervous about.
Pulling out a couple blankets, it walked over to the couch and set them down, waving Pyro over. He shrugged off the last of his armor and stepped up to the couch, hesitating for a moment before sitting down, only for Abolish to immediately wrap a thick blanket around him. A soft chirping sound slipped out of him, something it didn't think much of until its hand brushed a couple soaked feathers poking out the top of his clothes.
Abolish fell still. On one hand, Pyro had never mentioned having wings before and the last thing he wanted to do was make them panic right now. On the other, if they were binding their wings, that could easily lead to them getting a rash of some kind from the probably soaked fabric, not to mention that he had no idea how dangerous binding appendages like that could be. Although he'd certainly not been born as a typical man, he'd never needed to hide his chest, but his logic told him that compressing one's lungs wasn't the best idea.
"Do you have wings?" he asked finally, trying to stay as casual as possible as he pushed himself up to go grab something for them both to eat. Pyro stared at him with wide golden eyes, pressing himself further into the blankets like he was trying to hide.
As Abolish made its way over to the kitchen, Pyro forced out a quiet yeah. It hummed a bit, grabbing a bowl of berries it'd collected earlier. Out of the corner of its eye, it could see his wings twitching just slightly under the fabric - definitely tied down somehow.
"You should let your wings out so they don't get injured." He walked back over, leaning against Pyro's side where they were still snuggled up in the blankets. They seemed to be shaking even more now, although he had a feeling it wasn't entirely because of the cold. "I'm not gonna freak out or anything. I'll help you dry them off."
"It's not…" Pyro started, then trailed off, pulling the blanket tighter against themself. Abolish waited a few moments, trying to see if they were going to continue, then held out the bowl of berries and spoke up itself instead.
"Are you hungry?" Their gaze flicked up, seeming to search its expression. "Might help you warm up a bit."
He drew in a slow, deep breath, reaching out a trembling hand to take a berry. After chewing and swallowing quickly, he murmured, "Thank you, Abolish, I… I apologize for being so… cagey. I haven't even shared any of this with most of the other feather holders."
He let out a quiet laugh, snuggling up against Abolish, and it realized with a start that there were tears glistening in his eyes. Fumbling for something to say, it pointed out, "You- you don't have to do anything."
"I understand." They sighed softly, brushing their hair out of their eyes. "I just… I- I might as well say it, I… am bandaging my wings, to keep them hidden, as they aren't large enough to fly anyway. But I also need to, uh… keep my chest flat."
Abolish rested his cheek on top of Pyro's head, ignoring how soaked their hair still was; it felt oddly nice to finally feel taller than them, even if this was hardly the happiest of situations. It made… sense, now that he thought about it, and with a soft hum, he replied, "I mean, that's probably not great for you either, but uh- I get it, kind of."
He felt them tense, then after a moment, they questioned, "You… get it? But you-"
"Yeah, kind of." Unsure how exactly to explain, it paused for a few moments, then hummed, "I… don't exactly have a, uh, typical man's body. I've never had to… flatten my chest, but uh- I've definitely had to hide things. So I understand, sort of."
Pyro was silent for a bit, but it felt him slowly relax against it, tucking his head under its chin. One of his hands slid over to pick up another berry, before he murmured, "Would you… mind, helping me uh- preen my wings? I've tried previously, but it's quite difficult to reach back there."
"Yeah, of course I can." Abolish set the bowl aside, helping tug the blankets away from the younger man's body, giving a little hum as he pulled their closes aside a bit, just enough to access their wings. His hands were as gentle and careful as possible as he pulled the bandages away, making sure not to hurt them. The fabric fell away easily; it was old, presumably, which made him a little worried about just how long they'd been binding their chest like this.
But it wasn't going to tease them too much. It carefully held their wings and helped lift them out over the neckline of their clothes, tilting its head to inspect their feathers. They were still soaked, stuck together and messy in a way that registered as honestly very cute, and it couldn't help but make a little comment about it. "It's not… that bad, I guess. At least you're not going to get hypothermia now."
Pyro let out a slow breath, and he could feel them shudder under his hands; he figured that they were just freezing and his natural warmth was a bit jarring. As they spoke, he continued to run his fingers through their dripping wet feathers. "That is… a fair point, yes."
Silence filled the room for a while, save for the rain still pounding against the walls just outside. If the mere sound of it didn't make his stomach turn, it would've almost been peaceful, sitting there preening the boy's wings and drying them off with a blanket, feeling him slowly melt under its touch. Maybe it was a little too relaxed because, without it even realizing what it was saying, words tumbled out of it all on their own.
"Your wings are cute," it murmured, immediately freezing up the second it said that. Its own statement came as a shock to even itself, Pyro freezing up under its hands, and it fumbled for anything to say to him to distract from that. Its voice came out a bit shaky as it said, "I, uh- they're nice. My god didn't… give me any, um, physical things like that."
Pyro tilted his head, trying to look back at it even with his back facing it, pretty gold eyes blown wide with shock. Even in the dim light, it could see just how flushed his face was now, almost entirely red - at least he was probably warmer now? He opened his mouth like he was going to make some comment about Abolish's earlier statement, then paused, glancing away and asking, "You've… always looked like that, then? The uh- The teeth, and eyes."
"Yeah?" Abolish took a deep breath, returning to his task of preening his wings. "I mean, it's… probably one of the reasons why I was so popular. Because I don't look… human, exactly."
Pyro hummed a bit, wings fluttering as they stretched them out, giving Abolish better access to all their feathers. For a split second, he had the temptation to shove his face in their wings, but the thought was gone as soon as it came. "I see. But you… are human, yes?"
"As far as I know." He trailed his hands down toward the bases of their wings, pulling the blanket up to dry the rainwater trickling down their back. His fingers brushed against faint scars, but he didn't comment on any of it, simply drying them off and then continuing to straighten out their messy feathers.
Pyro gave him a hum of acknowledgment, then went quiet, leaning just slightly into his touch. When he brushed his hand a bit too close to the base of one of his wings, a little chirping sound escaped him, followed immediately by an apology - even though all his noises were the cutest things Abolish had ever heard.
Part of it was a little tempted to compliment him again, and eventually, it gave in, although it cycled through several comments that all sounded far too intense before settling on murmuring, "Your wings really are… nice. They suit you."
Its hand brushed along the top of one of his wings and earned a soft crooning sound, and it leaned over slightly to see him somehow blushing even redder. "I… thank you, Abolish. For- for everything."
"Mhm." The slightest of smiles tugged at its lips as it finally leaned forward to rest against him, sliding its arms around his waist. "We should… rest. It's getting a bit late."
Pyro shifted and leaned forward, one of his hands resting on its arm as he laid down on the couch. Abolish ended up on top of them, limbs tangled together and feathers in its face, not that it minded in the slightest. They let out a few soft chirps as they settled into the cushions, eyes fluttering closed where they were mostly hidden by their wavy bangs; he took a moment to reach out and tuck some of their hair behind their ear so he could look at them properly. Gorgeous.
He really hoped he wouldn't be feeling any of this in the morning. It was entirely antithetical to winning if he got attached to anyone, something he'd been mostly successful at not doing so far. But… maybe a small part of him hoped his feelings wouldn't go away. Maybe things would be fine.