Roll with the Wind

4

As Lovino's leg healed, he started to walk freely around the house without support, and by the end of the summer it was almost completely better.
Antonio had had to move all the ornaments and paintings from wing height so Lovino didn't knock them all off and break them with his enormous wing-and-a-half.

Lovino loved to run but he wasn't allowed outside for fear of being hunted and executed, so he had to run inside. However, Antonio's house was very small and only had one room (the toilet was a hole in a tiny wooden shack out the back of the house), so there was hardly any room for him to run. He knew there was a clearing in the middle of the woods just opposite the house where he could run and stretch his cramped wings, but Antonio would probably be too scared to let him go. Still, worth a shot asking.

"Hey, bastard?"
"Yes, Lovi?"
"There's a clearing in the woods just near here. A big green."
"You want to go there, right? I'm really sorry but you have to stay inside until your wing heals, or you'll be killed."
Lovino scowled.
"What the fuck is your problem, huh? I just want to go out and stretch my wings and walk around a bit. Is that too much to ask?" He huffed irritably.
"I care about you and I don't want you killed." Antonio said, feeling horribly guilty for not letting Lovino out the house.

As a response, Lovino extended his wings as high as they would go, breaking a vase Antonio had put on the top shelf so it wouldn't get knocked off. He sighed.
"I really am sorry, Lovi."
"Whatever, bastard. And don't call me that!"
He got into bed and curled up in a ball of misery and boredom under the sheets.
"What, are you sulking now?"
Lovino didn't reply.
"Sulking really isn't an attractive thing to do, you know."
"Maybe I'm trying to be unattractive." He said.
'Well then you're doing a pretty terrible job...' Antonio thought, too scared to say it out loud.

Antonio noticed how the bottom half of Lovino's non-amputated wing stuck out the end of the sheets. He reached out tentatively to touch the soft, shiny feathers, stroking them from top to bottom. Lovino froze. The touch of Antonio's soft hands was so soothing and relaxing that he didn't want it to stop, but he also didn't want to admit that it felt nice. Too late. Lovino unintentionally pressed his wing into Antonio's hand and he smiled.
"I didn't think you'd let me touch your wings, Lovi! They're so soft!"
Lovino tried to tug his wing away but his body wouldn't let him; it was so theraputic.
"Fuck off." Lovino mumbled.

When Lovino finally tucked his wing away under the sheets, Antonio got up to get some food. After all, he'd been too busy looking after Lovino to feed himself. He sought after a loaf of bread or some fruit, but found nothing in the cupboards. As he started to search in one of the top cabinets, he dislodged something that fell onto the floor. Antonio bent down to pick it up and his eyes widened. He thought he'd lost it years ago!

"Lovino! Lovi Lovi Lovi!" He cried, dashing back over to the bed.
Lovino opened his eyes slowly.
"What the hell do you want?"
"Look what I found!"
Antonio sat on the bed and put his arm around Lovino's shoulder.
"Why are you showing me a shitty old notebook?"
Antonio opened the small but thick leather notebook and turned to the first page.

There was a pencil drawing of a tall, muscular young man (who rather resembled Lovino facially) with enormous, feathered wings. Next to the drawing were the words:

'The research and findings of
Samuel Fernandez-García'

"My grandfather's notebook," Antonio explained, a huge smile on his face, "He left it to me when I was little. I read it all the time but I grew out of it and I thought I lost it."
Lovino said nothing. His eyes were fixed on the drawing.
"Let me see that," He requested gently, the most softly Antonio had ever heard him speak.

Antonio passed the notebook over and Lovino peered closely at the drawing.
"What is it?" Antonio asked.
"It looks just like..." Lovino spotted two small words written underneath the picture, "What does that say? It's too small, I can't read it." Lovino said shakily.
Antonio squinted at the slightly smudged writing.
"R... Roma... Var... gas? Roma Vargas? What is that, Latin?"
Lovino shook his head in disbelief and swallowed hard against the lump in his throat, unsure of wether he felt unbelievably happy or terribly sad.

"That's... my grandpa." He said quietly, tears spilling from his eyes. He gently ran his fingers over the drawing, wishing desperately he could bring it to life. A single teardrop landed on the page and Lovino quickly wiped his eyes. "Sorry." He muttered.
"It's okay." Antonio whispered, gently wrapping his arms around Lovino. To his surprise, Lovino didn't push him away or yell at him. In fact, he hugged back, holding Antonio tightly and enclosing the pair of them in a sort of feathery cocoon. He buried his soggy face in Antonio's shoulder and cried into his shirt.

Antonio smiled softly and comforted Lovino until he had composed himself and stopped crying. Antonio didn't mind his soggy shoulder. It was worth it for a hug from Lovino. They broke apart and Lovino leant on Antonio's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I just miss him so much."
"It's okay. You'll be home soon, it'll be fine. You'll see him again soon."
This was of no comfort whatsoever to Lovino, but he knew Antonio was trying to be kind so he didn't say anything.

"So my grandfather's studies were based off your grandpa!" Antonio said cheerily. "I grew up thinking it was just a story."
Lovino smiled (a rarity) and turned the page. There were pages and pages that they read together, all about the avian's diet and sleeping patterns and like and dislikes.

Antonio fetched a pencil so both of them could make corrections and add extra notes where necessary. For example:
"Wait, 'often likes to rise early in the mornings'?! Oh fuck no, that's just grandpa."
Antonio added the list of berries Lovino liked to the diet section, and crossed out 'warm bread'.

They carried on like that for hours until it was dark outside and Lovino could barely keep his eyes open. Antonio left him to sleep and sat on the small wooden stool at the other end of the room. He felt like he should probably go to sleep but he was too absorbed in the notebook to do so. He read to the end, uncovering the section on nests and winter hibernation. Hibernation?! He didn't know Lovino was going to hibernate!

He imagined a strange sort of nest that Lovino had built with his grandpa up in the mountains where Antonio assumed they lived. He imagined Lovino flying back home for the winter so he could hibernate with his family. Antonio felt an unfamiliar sinking feeling in his chest when he imagined Lovino going back home. Obviously he wanted Lovino to be with his own kind, but he didn't want to leave him. He was too fond of him now to let him go without being heartbroken. It would all be too painful.

Antonio sighed. He needn't fret. It would be a while yet before Lovino was healed enough to go home, and winter was nowhere near. It was only summer. What if Lovino didn't heal in time for winter? What if he had to hibernate in Antonio's bed instead of a nest? He told himself it didn't matter. They'd find a way. Antonio was sure of it.