Half a broken Wing - 3. Chapter 3

~Riley~

With near-zero enthusiasm, Riley tossed his chosen attire- fashionably washed-out black jeans and a gray shirt with three-quarter length sleeves- onto his sofa bed and headed for the bathroom.

The bathrooms here at the Thistle were tiny. When you sat on the toilet, you had the sink right in front of the chest, and how the shower was supposed to be used with the strange angle of the shower head was a mystery to him. But well, he didn't know anything about showers. His wings could withstand a few raindrops, but too much water would wash away the protective layer and that could be fatal.

But hey, the Thistle was designed as a workers' settlement, mainly for ants and other wingless. The fact that the industrial area for which the Thistle had been intended was never built in the end was another matter. But the apartment units all had a shower, which many of the residents never used.

With a sigh, Riley scrutinized himself in the mirror above the sink, which had already been cracked when he had moved in. The royal blue of his wings was a little darker than his skin or feathery antennae, but was reflected in his eyes. His thick fur covering his torso and upper arms was cold black, just like the wide fringe of fur on his wings, and seemed to soak up the light. In contrast to his hair, which was also jet black, but shimmered blue in the light.

As such, he liked his hair and the blue tinge in it. With his fingers running through it, it fell softly and smoothly back into place. Nothing about fashionably cheeky disheveled. Too long, they were, though. It bothered him a little how they kept falling into his eyes, but they were long enough at the nape of his neck to cover the silvery, glittering markings there. He hated the glitter, really. Of all things, he must have gotten that from his father. The glitter on the back of his neck, two parallel stripes on the lower halves of his wings and a double V from his chin to his ears. Well, he'd gotten the short, stocky figure from his dad too, but he could live with that.

What he would actually have liked to have from his dad was the beige markings around his eyes. This was where he had gotten his mom's pale lilac-purple. And even if he and Wayne were otherwise identical at first glance, the eye markings were their major visual difference. But what they didn't have from either mom or dad was the triangle-within-a-triangle marking on the upper halves of their wings, because their mom didn't have this marking at all and their dad had only worn a shapeless blob of pale blue.

Again, Riley ran his fingers through his hair and then wiped a loose lash from his cheek before running his fingertips over the three red, thumbnail-sized dots that sat slightly off to the side under his eyes. His wings twitched uncomfortably. Because those red dots told everyone that he was a blood moth.

Like Wayne and Eric, he had inherited this from his mom. However, since blood moths were about as popular as athlete's foot, he covered the circles with make-up. Wayne usually didn't care about much more than himself, but the knowledge of make-up Riley at least owed to him.

He applied it carefully before taking a critical look at himself in the mirror. His hair was actually a disaster. The fact that it had such a crappy length somehow emphasized the fact that his antennae were so short. For a moment, he heard the derisive laughter of his classmates again: “Short antennae, short dick.”

With a growl, he shook his head and turned away. If his blind date didn't like his looks, then the guy was probably no big loss. Anyway, he should have asked Danny what he was actually going on a date with, if it meant going out at dusk.

He glanced at his phone and cursed. Thanks to his non-existent sense of time, he was late again.

~Cedric~

Contemplating, Cedric ran his fingers over the clothes in his open closet. Something simple and appealing. Bright and friendly. This shirt, for example, tight-fitting and in the same pale pastel blue adorning the top and bottom corners of his wings, radiating fan-like from the wing roots into the wing surface. A little darker, more of a sky blue, it colored the five small dots below his eyes.

And the pants? He wasn't a fan of jeans and their robust look, although he did own a few. Slacks were definitely too classy for the fair. The 7/8 chinos in beige? At least they emphasized the pale yellow of his skin in a pleasant way. And his bottom.

He ran two hands over his butt and used the other two to get the trousers and then the shirt out of the wardrobe before taking dark blue loafers and invisible matching socks out of their compartments. The question of underwear arose. Comfortable boxer briefs? Or rather a promising slip?

He hesitated, then decided against the slip. If the date ended in bed, he didn't want to give the wrong impression. With a little giggle, he pulled pale gray boxer briefs out of their drawer and tossed them on the bed, a pair of hands closing the closet. And then he faced his reflection in the mirror.

He liked the way his pale yellow skin emphasized the pure white of his fur and vice versa. One hand ran through his chest fluff - unusually abundant for a diurnal butterfly - and another through his hair, which was white like his fur but shimmered golden in the light. Although many said he was kissed by the Sun, he could have done without the shimmer, as well as the fact that his hair stubbornly refused to be tamed.

He simply liked the color white and therefore regretted a little that his wings were streaked with thick, decorative-looking yellow veins. So he opened them, spreading them wide in the room in all their full size, with their lower tips almost touching the floor. Pure white wings with delicate blue details and an iridescent shimmering green fringe? That would have been a dream, but no, those yellow veins had to spoil it...

With a sigh, he folded the wings back up. Ran again his fingers through the chest fluff, which became very thin and fine at the lower pair of arms and then disappeared. Brushed over the thin happy trail which merged further down into almost insultingly rough pubic hair. Grazed his cock, which had been half hard in joyful anticipation since waking up in the morning.

He shuddered slightly. His fingers closed around the warm flesh as if of their own accord, his thumb caressing it with gentle pressure. He was horny. And in this state, he certainly shouldn't go on a date.

He sucked his lower lip between his teeth and then bit it. Without having made a conscious decision to do so, he slowly began to jerk off and watched himself in the mirror.

Josh was out with classmates for some school thing and Nate was with their grandparents, so he had the place to himself. He was allowed to be loud.

Smiling, he was just that. Running the other three hands over his body, playing with his balls, his hole. But no matter how hard he tried, the orgasm didn't come.

He just wanted a quick release, to ease the pressure, to clear his head so he could concentrate on the other man. But nothing happened. Frustration and slight despair slowly rose in him, because stopping was not an option, not anymore.

A soft curse escaped his lips and then another as he heard the apartment door slam shut.

"Cedric? Are you still there?" Nate. Fantastic. Just what he needed right now. His little brother, walking in on him. "Ced?"

Cedric gasped. "Second!" Worst timing ever, it went through his mind as his hand continued to work frantically. Of course, Nate was old enough to masturbate as well, but after the thoroughly embarrassing "The Talk" Cedric had no intention of ever discussing the subject with his brothers again. Unless, of course, Cyril forced such a conversation on him once again.

Suddenly the climax hit him so unexpectedly hard that he lost his breath. Only a soft whimper escaped his throat and then his knees went weak.

"Cedric?" Nate knocked. "Didn't you say you had plans?"

"Yeah, I- I..." Cedric was still struggling for breath. With awkward movements, he slipped two arms into his robe, hid his cum-stained hand in it and then opened the door. Nate would be able to smell it, but his sweet little brother, who always seemed incredibly innocent, would make no comment.

"You said dusk," Nate remarked critically, stepping away from the door. His antennae twitched slightly.

"I know." Cedric tried for a smile and failed miserably. He really needed to wash up. "I lost track of time a bit over picking out clothes."

From Nate came an approving sound.

"Why are you here already?" Cedric wanted to know in turn and pushed past Nate to go to the bathroom.

"Grandpa's not well."

Out of the corner of his eye, Cedric saw Nate additionally shrug in a helpless manner. It wasn't good news, but there was really nothing he could do about it. Besides, Dolen was right and he needed to think about something else for five minutes. Before he could do more than nod, Nate continued:

"Grandma says she wants to talk to you."

That, in turn, elicited a sigh from Cedric. "When we go to the temple tomorrow, we'll surely get the opportunity."

"Hmmm," Nate said neutrally.

Suppressing another sigh, Cedric closed the bathroom door behind him. No doubt Nate would find some excuse not to come to the service. Josh as well. But those were worries for tomorrow. Now he had to hurry so as not to be late for his date.

~Riley~

Punctually with the fine chime announcing the beginning of the twilight, Riley landed in front of the entrance gate to the fairground. Places like this were no-fly zones. Politely, he nodded to one of the two security guards - beetles which looked ponderous but could fly damn fast - and then entered the grounds.

"Ya meet at the popcorn cart, right by the main entrance," Danny had said. "He's got a hyacinth, ya'll bring a sunflower."

Said sunflower- a palm-sized plastic thing- Riley was twirling a little nervously in his fingers. The sweet smell of popcorn was strong here, but the aromas of all the other food stalls wafted in as well, thankfully overpowering the stench of metal and grease and sweat.

Amidst the gravel lay popcorn, a few scraps of paper bouncing around. One was a lottery ticket with PALOOKA written in big letters. It seemed like a bad omen.

Despite his nervousness, Riley sighed softly and dodged a brightly shimmering family of dragonflies. The world was clearly too colorful. How was he supposed to find a hyacinth like this?

Wings with familiar markings appeared in his field of vision. While he was still contemplating the pale blue of the wing roots, the tall, slender butterfly half turned around. A ray of light caught on a brooch on the butterfly's breast and made it sparkle - it was a hyacinth.

Riley's fingers tightened around the sunflower. And almost dropped it when he let his gaze slide to the man's face. What his subconscious had already told him when he saw the wings was confirmed: Cedric Cartwright.

"Oh shit..." he mumbled, taken by surprise. What had Danny been thinking? Or, to put it another way, had Danny been thinking at all?

He was about to retreat, let the sunflower disappear inconspicuously into his trouser pocket, but then Cedric turned his head and looked straight at him.

"Riley." he said surprised and then added an "oh", one hand twitching towards the hyacinth brooch.

Making the sunflower disappear was probably unnecessary now.

"Cedric." Riley cleared his throat, but then didn't know what to say. Moon have mercy, this was embarrassing.

"I wasn't expecting that," Cedric admitted shyly, his antennae twitching and curling slightly.

Riley felt his antennae do the same. "I didn't think you, uh, liked men." The last words were a barely intelligible mumble, but Cedric waved it off.

"Oh, I already knew that about you, you mentioned it at some point, but... um, yeah. This comes as a surprise."

"It's a misunderstanding," Riley blurted out. Or at least he hoped so. For the sake of Danny's health.

"Um..." Cedric shrugged uncertainly.

But Riley shook his head. "You're my boss. Double boss. That's..." Searching for words and a little helpless, he raised two hands.

"That's... right." Cedric made a face as if he had completely forgotten this fact.

Riley nodded. Now he just had to manage a polite farewell.

"But while we're here," said Cedric at that moment, "we could also visit the fair. Or not?" His antennae curled back up a good bit, trembling.

Riley blinked. His antennae twitched. The plastic sunflower dug into his hand. "With all due respect, Cedric, Mr. Cartwright, I don't think that's a good idea," he returned gravely after a moment.

"Why? Strolling around the fair, eating popcorn, talking..." Cedric's smile seemed forced and Riley frowned.

"This is not-" He interrupted himself as a bumblebee child darted between them. "All of this is not- I mean... This is a misunderstanding. I should go now."

"If you don't like it here," Cedric said hurriedly, taking a step towards him, "then we can go somewhere else." His smile still didn't seem entirely genuine, but the rest of his expression, his whole demeanor, explained his intentions quite well.

Everything about Riley stiffened with annoyance and frost tinged his voice. "With all due respect, sir, you're an attractive man, but I'm certainly not here for this. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to enjoy my weekend off."

From Cedric came a strange sound, but Riley had already turned away and was walking quickly back to the entrance.

Merciful Moon, this was a disaster.

"Riley, wait! I'm sorry. That came out differently than I intended."

A hand settled on his shoulder and he jerked forward, away from the touch. "Don't touch me!" he snapped. Instinctively, his wings wrapped around him protectively.

"I'm sorry!" With his antennae shaking violently, Cedric raised all four hands and actually leaned away from Riley. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Riley forced his wings to relax and stormed on. Now he had to hope Cedric didn't fire him.

A mixed group of flies stood in front of the entrance to the fair, shouting in typical teenage fashion ridiculous nonsense.

Angrily, Riley pushed past them until he had enough room to spread his wings and take to the air. When he reached a good height, he pulled on the safety cord connecting his phone to his belt said phone out of his pocket and called Danny.

"Yo, Riles, he late?" Danny answered with his mouth audibly full.

"Do you bastard have any idea who I was supposed to be meeting?" snapped Riley. His hand hurt and he realized grumpily that he was still holding the stupid plastic flower - he stuffed it angrily into a trouser pocket.

Danny coughed, apparently he had swallowed wrong. "What?" he choked out.

"I'm just saying. A murderer? A trainee priest? Maybe my boss?" The last words Riley literally yelled and he was immediately sorry, but now was not the time to apologize.

"Ya... ya boss?" Danny coughed again. "Wait, what?"

"My boss, Danny. Cedric Cartwright. Didn't you even ask for a name, you moron?"

"There's a whole lot o' Cedrics inne world!" Danny protested and Riley grunted snidely. But then the message finally seemed to get through to Danny, because he let out an "ugh" that was barely audible over the flight wind. "Ugh, the Cedric."

"Yeah. And the Cedric had nothing better to say than 'let's go somewhere else, wink, wink'." Riley was still far too loud and he was actually flying far too fast for having his full attention on Danny.

"Ugh." Danny made again, this time very clearly meek. "Sorry, Riles. My buddy, ya know, said his bestie was lookin' for a boyfriend and I thought of ya. I trust him, 'kay, man, how am I s'posed to know... Riles, man, I'm sorry."

Riley growled into the phone. "You're not thinking, Danny. And if you are, you'll stop halfway through."

"I'm sorry, Riley!" Danny exclaimed whining, causing Riley to sigh deeply. Before he could say anything, however, Danny asked quietly, "Do ya still lomme?"

Riley sighed again. "Yes. Yes, I do love you. But you fucked it up."

"I do more. I'm sorry." Danny sniffled.

"Impossible. Whatever. You owe me."

"Ya could come over and we could cook together."

"Hmmm. Start chopping the vegetables." Riley hung up and took a deep, deep breath. He needed to apologize to Danny, he didn't deserve to be yelled at like that.

But when Riley lifted his phone again, a text from Danny had already arrived.

Danny: Do you really love me? 😢

Oh Merciful Moon, he had nailed it. This time it was his fault that Danny slipped into one of his existential crises.

Me: Yeah, I love you. It's hard not to after everything we've been through. You're my best friend, okay? 20 years behind us, 20 years ahead of us. And then another 20 years and another.

Me: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you like that.

He added an orange heart and got a crying fit emoji back, then a dark blue heart. He sent the orange heart again, then slipped the phone back into his pocket. With two hands he rubbed his face, with two he brushed over his antennae.

Eating with Danny sounded much more pleasant than the fair.

~Cedric~

Silently, Cedric watched Riley storm away, eventually spotting the dark blue wings in the air. He saw the glint of the silver stripes on them and with a groan covered his face with all four hands.

Warming Sun, what had just happened? What kind of behavior had he presented?

He shook his head at himself in bewilderment, ran his hands through his hair and over his antennae. At the last moment, he remembered that he was in a no-fly zone and hurriedly left the fairground before taking to the air.

Had he really brain-afk and basically cock-driven Riley - Riley, his household help - "invited somewhere else"?

Yes.

Warming Sun... He could only hope that Riley didn't just quit because of this embarrassment.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the safety cord was properly hooked to his belt, then called Dolen.

"Hey, what's going on? Didn't he show up?" Dolen wanted to know without saying hello and Cedric sighed.

"He sure was there..."

"Wait... wait, Ced, what do you mean? The date's over already?" Dolen sounded incredulous, then gave a cry of pain and a curse.

"Yes. You sent me my employee on a blind date," Cedric complained.

"Warming Sun, do you know how many employees Cartwright Pharmaceuticals has?" Dolen grumbled back.

"I said 'my', Dolen." Cedric sighed. "My personal employee in the sense of household help. Riley."

"Oh.", Dolen made puzzled, and then again, "Oh... Um... I guess that explains why the name rang a bell. Goswick, right, like the corrupt mafia cop?"

Cedric sighed again and rubbed his forehead. "That's because he is the son of said corrupt mafia cop. Thanks. I hope he doesn't quit."

"Why? What did you do?" Dolen wanted to know.

A little offended by this insinuation, Cedric snorted. "What makes you think this is my fault? I'm his boss, that was his first comment."

"I know you, Ced," Dolen replied dryly. "Your tone just now says enough, plus, you really don't have any small talk skills."

Cedric didn't manage to suppress a small growl, but when Dolen grunted in amusement, he sighed- admittedly a little dramatically- and relayed the conversation.

After that, it was Dolen who sighed. "And now, please tell me who in this world wouldn't read that invitation ambiguously."

"But I-"

"Cedric. Really. As a loser when it comes to small talk and being under-fucked, you let your dick do the talking at times like this. I warned you. There's a reason why you keep leaving your money with Rico."

That was unpleasantly the truth, but Cedric wouldn't admit that out loud. So he kept quiet.

"All right you offended diva. Will you come over and we'll make some unhealthy frustration food?" Dolen sounded conciliatory, but Cedric was offended. And frustrated. And ashamed of himself. But of course he didn't say that. Firstly because he was too proud to and secondly because Dolen knew it anyway.

"No. My grandmother wants to discuss something important tomorrow after the service. I'd rather sleep in." He heard for himself how snotty he sounded.

"All right, then. Hear you."

Cedric just grumbled and hung up. He was actually in the perfect mood to spend some time with Rico and forget everything around him for a while, but he didn't really want to actively admit that either.

Therefore, after a frustrated groan, he headed home.