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It's a well known fact that avians nest. It's a compulsory behavior left over from their more bird-like ancestors, this being said, modern day avians don't use sticks and grass for their nest but rather large amounts of pillows, blankets and other soft furnishings. The humanoid body of Avians combined with the wings, tail and head wings make for complicated sleeping arrangements that often need readjustment though the night. The nest provides this for the avians, loose cushioning can be arranged to support the back or shoulders need be while keeping the wings free.
Due to this complicated situation most avians won't share a nest with someone purely for convenience, unless a deep emotional bond is present.
Scar heard his communicator buzz against his belt. Except for this was the gentler buzz of someone whispering a message to him. After offloading the boxes in his arms Scar saw that it was from Grian.
Grian whispered to you: hey
You whisper to Grian: Hey, what's up
Grian whispered to you: …
Grian whispered to you: I can't sleep
Scar looked out the window of his office, the sky was quite dark and rain slapped against the window. He had been working for a long time and hadn't even realized night had fallen. He really should take some time to rest, maybe even with his favorite bird.
You whisper to Grian: OMW
Scar shrugged on his Elitra, concentrated Vex energy trapped in a small container provided wings strong enough to carry him practically anywhere. It had been especially designed by Cub and was one of Scar's prized possessions.
The rain was intense, it came down in thick heavy droplets that felt mildly painful to stand in. It was only a short flight between Scar's base and Grain's docks; he could make it, but he would be soaked when he did.
When Scar landed at Grian's base, he was sopping wet, his bangs were plastered to his face and the cold night made chills run up his spine. He opened the door and headed inside and warm air rushed over him. Inside was a usual base set up, Chests, furnises, a fireplace, a few rough interior pieces; including Grian’s nest, and The man himself.
Grian was leaning lazily on a window frame, gazing at the storm outside, he turned around when the door opened to look at Scar, his black eyes were ringed with dark circles and his hair was extremely tousled. The Avian looked like a wreck, and if the phantoms screeching outside, where any indication, hadn’t slept in days. The tired look disappeared briefly, replaced by a smile and a greeting.
Grian sighed happily and made his way across the room, wingtips dragging slightly behind him. “Hi Scar,”
“Hey SongBird,”
The avian chuckled at the nickname, whether it was from the sappyness of it, or that fact Grian had what was probably the worst singing voice known to man was up for interspersion. Scar watched his eyes dip down, firstly to drag across the other man's chest, then to the water pooling on the floor.
He laughed slightly “You’re drenched,”
“Yeah well,” Scar peeled the wet fabric of his shirt away from his skin, “Somebody asked me to fly over in the pouring rain.”
“You didn’t have to come,”
“Yeah I know, but I wanted to,” He pulled his shirt off over his head, “Got somewhere I can hang this?”
Grian walked to a nearby chest, absolutely not taking a brief moment to look Scar up and down. “Yeah, just a second,”
After some rummaging he pulled out a pair of blue checkered pajama pants, and a grey t-shirt. Scar stayed in the foyer, dripping water on the floor and shivering slightly until Grian brought him the new clothes. The pants fit just fine, almost as if they were made for him, they probably were but grain would never admit that. The shirt on the other hand was far too small, and thusly abandoned, Scar's old clothes were hung by the fire, and they both settled down in the nest, The sound of the rain made a wonderful lullaby as they laid in each other's arms.
“Did you spend all day fishing again?” Scar asked running his thumb threw the feathers on the side of Grian’s head.
If birds could purr, Grian would be, he hummed in Confirmation pulling closer to Scar. He dropped his hand to the avian's waist, slipping it under the red jumper and watching his wingfeathers slowly puff up in response to the Touch “Any luck today?”
Grian shook his head, running one sharp claw over the marks on the other man's chest. Many of the scars were made from Grain himself, others were from Mobs, and others were Inflicted by his fellow hermits, each one, a death story that he carried with honor. Poc-marks covered his back and stomach, his forearms were subject to many slashes where he blocked sword attacks. His Favorite Though was on his back, it started around his waist and blossomed upward towards his shoulders like some sort of gory flower made of twisted skin and burnmarks.
It was, of course, from The Creeper explosion that killed him in third life, the thing that tied him and Grian together all those years ago.
Scar traced small loops over the avian's waist, “Well, there's always tomorrow I guess"
“Im still mad at you for that,” Grian looked up at him through the blond Fringe that fell over his forehead “for fishing up the book before me,”
Scar laughed, it echoed slightly around the mostly empty room, filling the space “Will I ever be forgiven?”
“Hmmm, Probably not,”
“ Drat,” Scar huffed “Well if you’re still mad then madey I should just go,”
He made a motion like he was going to stand up and lifted himself slightly off the amalgamation of cushions beneath them. But before he could go far Grian grabbed his waist and pulled him back in with a Startling strong grip.
“Nuh-uh,” he taunted “You’re staying right here,”
“Whatever you say Pretty bird,”
Grian flushed at the nickname, redness spreading across his cheeks. “Don’t call me that,”
“Call you what?”
“Pretty bird,” Grian pulled his headwings in to partly cover his face but the blush spread further, creeping up the bridge of his nose,
Scar took his claws, wrapped their hands together leaning over the other man slightly, “Why? It’s true,”
“Yes but-” He was cut off, Scar had dipped down to press their lips together, softly pushing Grian into the pillows beneath him. Grian barely had time to react, before Scar pulled back, still keeping one hand pinned to the cushions beside them. Grian's feathers were completely fluffed from being caught off guard.
Scar smiled down and him, “Fine, I won't call you PrettyBird, no matter how true it is,”
Grian covered his mouth and looked away, hiding a smile. Scar settled himself back down beside the Avian untangling their hands and admiring the redness in his checks.
“Your really cute when you blush you know,” Scar teased,
Grian rolled over so that his back was to Scar, and spread his wings slightly to cover him. Scar let his fingers glide through the bright feathers of his friend's back, sliding out a long yellow one that sat loosely in the aray.
“And your feathers are so vibrant,” he continued “Of all the Avians I’ve met none have had as gorgeous plumage as you,”
“Scar, Stop this,” he muttered, obviously too flustered and tired, to think of anything else to say
“Why? It's true,” He asked echoing his words from earlier,
“Why are you like this?”
Scar faind innocence “Like what?"
Grian sat up facing him and stretched. He spread his wings out to their full extent, a nearly twelve foot diameter taking up most of the room. He stifled a yawn and fixed his dark eyes on Scar, an exasperated look painted across his tired face. He picked up a nearby pillow and chucked it at him halfheartedly. “You know exactly what I'm talking about”
“What? Tousled? Rugged?” He gave his damp hair a dramatic little flip, “Everything you wanted and more?”
Scar sat up to smile slyly at the Avian, and Grian rolled his eyes.
“Come on, why do you hide from my affection?” Scar moved to sit closer, and brushed some of the loose hair out of his face.
Grian closed the gap, wrapping his arms around Scar's strong shoulders and gently pressing their lips together. Scar's hands ended up rubbing circles into the Avian’s thighs. His mind slowed to a stop, putting his full focus into the man before him.
“I- I try not to,” Grian mumbled between kisses “I just don't know how to handle it, I don't know how to handle, You”
Grian smelled of ceder wood and salt spray from the endless hours at the docks and Scar loved it. Part of him wanted to stay like this forever, to freeze the world where it was just so that he could stay with Grian, in his nest, by the warmth of the fire with the Thundurus sound of rain in the background. He would do anything to completely dissolve into the others arms.
Scar let one hand slip up into Grian's hair, spinning the soft curls between his fingers and the other came to rest at the small of his back. “Like you're not equally a handful,”
Grian tilted his head slightly tracing the line of Scar jaw with his thumb and letting the other man bend him backwards as the kiss deeped. It was a beautiful harmony, just the two of them and the sound of the heavy rain.
After a while, and it was a while indeed, Grian pulled away and buried his head into the crook of Scars neck. His heavy breaths were hot against Scars bare chest. Could any moment be as perfect as this? Could anything rival having someone so close to you like this?
A crack of thunder shook the base, causing them both to jump. Grian's house was on stilts built into the side of the mountain, so when thunder struck the house didn't just shake, but the very foundation trembled. Grian instinctively grabbed onto Scars arms digging his sharp claws into the man's biceps.
“Grian…” Scar choked out,
“What?”
“Your hurting me,”
Grian quickly pulled his arms back stammering out an apology.
“It's fine, you've done worse,”
Grian drew one finger down Scars chest, the sharp nail made a small noise as it dragged across the skin. “Yeah, and I'm sorry about that,”
“You don't have a bone in your sorry body,” Scar retorted, calling Grian on the blatant lie.
There was a pause, the sound of rain surrounding the two of them, and then Grian started to laugh. It wasn't gentle in any regard, It was loud and shrill, but filled the space beautifully. When you can make somebody laugh genuinely with their whole chest like Grian does it becomes hard to not find it endearing. Grian pushed his Wait onto Scar dragging them both down to fall heavily on the cushions beneath them. They ended up laying face to face with their legs tangled together,
He reshuffled his feathers so that they lay flat against his back. The Avian gazed sleepily at him, and Scar took this moment to appreciate his eyes.
His irises were completely black, to the point where they were nearly impossible to differentiate from the pupils. But if you looked closely enough, and the sun hit them just right, purple flecks could be found in the otherwise soulless void. The purple always reminded Scar of obsidian, the shade was nearly identical.
“ Scar, Im- I'm pretty sure,” he took a moment to compose himself after another fit of giggles “ I'm pretty sure it's Sorry bone in your body, not bone In your sorry body,”
“ Oh well,” Scar shrugged and grabbed a nearby blanket “I wouldn't know”
The fabric in his hands felt familiar, it was a simple, slightly scratchy square with white and black triangles. He took a moment to study it, running it across his palms so that scraggly wool caught on his calluses. With a spark of realization he turned back to Grian.
The Avian was staring at him sleepily, head cradled in his arms, and a look of pure adoration sparkling in his dark eyes.
Scar held up the blanket, trying not to laugh,
“Grian, where did you get this?”
“I dunno,”
Liar,
Grian was lying, maybe he didn't realize it, but he was. Scar knew it because he had woven this blanket himself at the beginning of the season and it had gone missing a few months later. He had assumed it got lost in the many chest monsters around his base, but here it was, in Grian's nest.
Scar leaned closer, doing his best to be intimidating,
“You sure?”
He watched the Avian’s eyes drift to the blanket, then to Scar, then to the blanket once more. Then he smiled that mischievous little grin that only happened to show up when he was planning something or, in this case, caught.
“I was… hoping you wouldn't notice that,”
“Well I did, what makes you think that you can just steal my stuff, huh?” Scar pressed closer, only half joking
“Umm, I'm pretty and you love me?”
Scar dropped the blanket so that it covered the other man's head and rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling. “You are so ridiculous,”
There was only the sound of rain to accompany him. No snarky remark or biteback, just quiet. It was unnerving.
Scar Glanced back over, Grian was still there, laying with his arms under his head and his head under the blanket that was dropped there. His chest rose and fell at a steady pace, almost although…. But he couldn't be-…. No…..not really.
Scar picked up a corner of the fabric and lifted it slightly, just enough to duck down and get a good look at his face. Sure enough, Grian had fallen asleep. This- had to be a coincidence… there was no way he could actually…
Scar carefully dragged the blanket off of his head, ruffling his hair and impossibly more, and sure enough, Grian’s dark eyes fluttered open. Scar laughed and pressed a small kiss into his blonde hair, “Go to sleep Birdbrain,”
The fire had died out a few minutes ago and the temperature of the room was steadily dropping. Rather than get up and place a new log in the hearth Scar grabbed a particularly large and fluffy comforter and wrapped it over the both of them.
“Im not a Birdbrain,” Grian protested, although his eyes had already been dragged shut by sleep and the end of that sentence slurred considerably.
Scar pulled Grian in tight to his chest, basking in the warmth That radiated off of the Avians skin, “Whatever you say G”
The last light faded out from the fire, leaving only a lantern in the far side of the room. As the two drifted off together, The phantoms circling the house quickly dispersed, in search for a new victim. And the two stay that way until late until the next morning. Late enough that if anyone saw Scar leave then it wouldn't be suspicious