Half a broken Wing - 6. Chapter 6

~Riley~

Pineapple Cove was the capital of the Blueberry Hills region and thus the base of the regional government. Two years ago, the city council had given the administration a new building. It was located outside the main town, right by the sea, and it was a box of shiny glass and polished steel. Danny's appearance was in line with the setting. His shoes were polished, his slacks had a sharp ironed edge, his dress shirt was crisp white, and his orange hair was slicked into shape.

“Yo, Riles, lookin’ lost outta he’. But let's go ‘fore ma bitch-boss comes up with more nas'y shit.” Well, from Danny's words it was pretty clearly audible he was originally from the gutter.

“Still the same dragonfly pretending to be diurnal?” Riley asked. Not that he really knew the woman.

Danny made a choking sound and nodded before taking to the air. "C’mon, they've built a new station for the flights."

"I-"

“No tellin’ ya flew here.”

“No.” Riley rolled his eyes. He liked to fly and flew a lot, but getting out here was too far for him if he just wanted to pick Danny up. “Ground carriage.”

Danny choked again. “Can't stand ‘em. Before ya protest an’ more, I'll pay for the flight.”

“Danny-”

“Nope.”

“I'll pay for the food.”

“Only if ya let ma pick.”

Again, Riley rolled his eyes. This was going to be an expensive affair, but at least he would eat well and enough, Danny would see to that. “Please, you pick the food.”

Danny grinned with satisfaction.

Danny's little one-bedroom apartment was as perfect and shiny as his polished shoes. Riley hardly dared to leave the small anteroom hallway in his shoes to put the bags with the food on the table.

“Don't make such a fuss,” Danny said, but at the same time folded his shoelaces into his shoes so that no crumbs of dirt from the shoe mat could get caught on them.

“I don't want to-”

“I'm cleaning anyway.”

Riley shut his mouth and put the food on the table before taking off his shoes and washing his hands. Maybe he should just give up addressing Danny's obsession with cleanliness altogether. The trauma of growing up in a completely filthy home was just too deeply ingrained in his friend.

They opened all the food containers and took some of everything. Curry rice with cashews and broccoli, potato stew with green peppers and crocodile meat, baked spider eggs in soy sauce and flatbread filled with red lentils. Riley thought the curry rice was fantastic and grimaced as Danny very clearly slipped him pieces of the crocodile meat.

“Ya must eat, Riles.” As if to set a good example, Danny shoved a piece into his own mouth. He wasn't one of those who depended on animal proteins and the like, as Riley did as a blood moth - he just liked it. But it would have been strange if nothing of his unofficial foster family's eating habits had stuck either.

With a disgruntled grunt, Riley speared the meat onto his fork.

“Veggy blood moths ain't existin’,” Danny said admonishingly, sounding just like Riley's grandma.

“Yes, sir.” Riley pulled an extra disgusted face and Danny grinned. It fell off his face, though, as his phone lit up vibrating.

Mother Riley read on the display before Danny also muted the vibration alarm and pushed the phone far to the side. “She's out?” Riley then asked quietly.

Pain and disgust flitted across Danny's face. “A few weeks now. Stayin’ a’the rehabilitation center as usual and will probs go straighta back to brig from there.”

Slowly, Riley nodded. Drug excesses and violence. When they'd met in The Hospital, they'd only been six, kids, and neither he nor Danny had been able to put their finger on it, but he'd instinctively sensed something was wrong with Danny, and Danny had known his life couldn't be normal.

“And she's been callin’ every nigh’ since. Sev’ times.”

Nodding again, Riley now shoved the piece of meat into his mouth. Someone else would probably have suggested that Danny just get the conversation over with, but he knew better.

Every time Danny's parents had been out of prison long enough, he'd had to go back to them. Every time he'd run away. Not that the official foster families he'd been placed with had been any better. Often enough he had run away from them too or they had declared they could no longer take such a boy. He’d had to threaten to commit suicide before the youth welfare office allowed him to stay with the Goswicks permanently.

Their appetites were much more subdued now, but Riley's stomach was protesting about the quantity anyway. Finally, he pushed his plate away.

As if he'd been waiting for it, Danny did the same. “We'll split the rest. Moon’n’Stars, tha’ wassa lot...”

“I told you,” Riley returned around a burp.

Danny grinned, but it faded rather quickly as he took two medicine containers from a small decorative bowl on the table.

To match, Riley pulled one of his click boxes out of a pants pocket.

“Blood pills?”

“Later.” The pill he clicked into his hand looked exactly like one of Danny's two. They washed them down with iced tea, which was far too sweet in Riley's eyes.

“An’ the other one?” Danny then asked as he put his packs back in the bowl.

“You can ask every day, buddy, but nothing changes.” Riley shook his head. “Yours don't work on me as a blood moth and my variant is currently unaffordable. And we're too small, too unimportant a minority to be granted drug research.”

“Cheers to the fucked-up immune system of ya blood moths.” Danny raised his glass in a mocking salute, but Riley just rolled his eyes. Whether fucked up was the right word... well, that was debatable. At least he'd never get wing rot, even if he had inherited his dad's gene set.

“So, man, whassup with Cedric?” Danny then wanted to know.

With one pair of hands, Riley stroked his antennae, with the other he rubbed his face. “Well, the date...” he began, not leaving out a single detail until he'd arrived at his call to Danny. Danny might often be impulsive, but he could listen and ask the right questions and that was exactly what Riley needed.

“I ain’t getting’ ya problem, Riles,” Danny remarked critically as soon as Riley had finished and was taking a breath. “Jus’ say yes.”

That wasn't what Riley had expected, and he blinked, taken aback. “My problem?” His antennae quivered a little and he brushed over them slowly. “I'm not a commodity you can shop for. On offer today: potential husbands! Especially low priced because of money worries.” He shook his head and then narrowly managed to dodge as Danny reached across the table to slap him. “Hey!”

“Ya actually listenin’ to yaself, man?”

“What-”

“Okay, now take a sober look.” Danny's orange eyebrows had furrowed so low in his frown that together with his red-orange eyes, his face was positively glowing.

Riley, who had hurt himself on the edge of the chair when he flinched, screwed up his face and rose, rubbing the sore spot. “This is about me, Daniel.”

Danny stood up as well. On his perfect pants was a less than perfect sauce stain. “This clearly ain’t just about ya, Riley Goswick.” Hands planted into his sides, he looked at Riley, who turned away. “If ya say no, what happens?”

“Nothing,” Riley replied and stepped to the window, pulling aside the heavy curtains. Of course, nothing wasn't a real answer. It would go on as before. It would get worse.

Danny exhaled a hard breath.

He didn't really look out, holding onto the curtain more than anything else. “Nothing.” he repeated quietly and stubbornly.

“All right, let's talk this out.” Danny huffed uncomfortably close behind him. “If ya say no, ya'll never in ya life get ‘nough money ‘gether for Troy. The wing rot will spread, he'll die. Probs still this year, right?”

Riley bit his lower lip.

“Who's gonna care for ya mom then? Ya gramma is only bein’ hel’up by sheer force of will. Ya gonna move in there in Troy's place? Ya gonna do ya job, ta’care of the Cartwrights, play nurse for ya mom and pretend ya gotta a life onne side? Who's gonna care of the debt? Eric? Wayne? Ya nephs and nieces?”

“Stop it.” Riley could only whisper. He knew all this, of course, but hearing it was different from thinking it.

For a moment, Danny was silent. “Riles, by the time Troy dies, ya'll hate yaself for sayin’ no,” he remarked quietly.

With a sigh, Riley leaned his head against the cool window pane.

“Ya'll have a nice home, ‘nough to eat, decent clothes, no’to mention ya meds...”

Very carefully, fingertips touched Riley's shoulder. He flinched, but it was Danny, and Danny's touch was okay.

“Ya needin’ meds, Riles,” Danny whispered, ”ya cannot live like this. ‘specially no’together with someone.”

“What if he wants sex?” It was silly, but the thought alone made everything inside Riley clench. And it wasn't because he was infectious without medication.

“Then ya sayin’ no.” Danny's voice was soft and soothing, his hands brushing over Riley's shoulders, light as a feather. “The days when law says spous’ can demand regular sex are over. It's a win-win, Riles. Like an employment contract. Food ‘n lodging ‘n amenities included.”

Riley opened his eyes and really looked out now. The neighborhood where Danny lived was pretty drab, but he soaked up the sight anyway. The houses with the old-fashioned facades, the night and position lights, a few moving carriages.

“When you put it like that, it sounds really good,” he murmured and Danny chuckled.

“Sometimes I gotta way with words, ma friend.”

Riley nodded slowly. It still felt like he was being sold, but Danny's almost euphoric support helped him see the facts.

“Ya mostly bothered by havin’ to play the happy couple, ain't ya?” Danny finally asked, and Riley shrugged.

“Possibly.” He couldn't kiss Cedric without risking infecting him, and his aversion to physical contact wasn't helping either. Slowly, he turned to Danny, who let his hands slide and rest again on his shoulders. “He has no idea what a wreck he's invited.”

Again Danny giggled. “Normally that's ma part. The being a wreck.”

First Riley slapped him on the chest, which he accepted with another chuckle, then he hugged him. Firmly.

“Whew,” Danny squeaked exaggeratedly. “Wha’ did I do to deserve this?” Despite his playful tone, he sounded a little surprised.

“I need you, Danny.” It was the truth. Without Danny around, Riley probably wouldn't get through this. Not if he had to play the perfectly happy husband.

“I'm here, Riles. Always. I love ya.” Danny replied, only now returning the hug carefully.

“I love you too,” Riley murmured against Danny's neck. Maybe the Moon had an eye on him after all and had at least given him this wonderful best friend.

~Cedric~

The mental to-do list was getting longer and longer. It didn't help much that Carl, Nolan's personal assistant, was now officially working for Cedric. Because first of all Cedric had to get things in order and for that he needed time and capacities and peace and quiet and somehow he had none of that.

The wind on the flight home should have helped clear his head, but thanks to the annual cleaning and maintenance work in the sewers before the great monsoon, a pungent stench hung in the air. And of course, his phone rang.

Baffled, he read the name Taby as the caller. His best friend had made herself scarce since becoming a mother two years ago. “Hey...” he greeted a little hesitantly.

“Cedric!” it chimed out to him euphorically. “Oh Sun, how are you?”

“Fine. Stressed. And you?” He had missed her. Apart from a few trivial messages, he hadn't heard from her in the last few months and because his own attempts at communication had come to nothing, he hadn't tried any further. He knew from painful experience how exhausting children could be.

“Tessa goes to nursery now and my mom has a lot of time thanks to early retirement and I can go back to work and get a bit of my life back. Oh Cedric, we really must hang out! What do you say?”

“Sounds-”

“Harry's been promoted and hardly has to travel anymore, he misses it, but it's good to have him home, and Tessa loves it and he can take the evening for her with ease, so we can go out for a night on the town again.”

“I-”

“How are your brothers?”

“Fine. Josh is-”

“And oh Warming Sun! Cedric! Have you heard from Stephanie? Or Mattia? Or, oh-oh-oh, about Nina?”

Completely caught off guard and overwhelmed by her torrent of words, Cedric tried for a moment to put the names to faces, but by the time he had finally remembered their classmates, she was already three topics ahead.

“And please tell me you've heard what's going on with Ben and Nadja!”

“Taby, I-”

“Have you met Domenico's wife?”

“Taby, could you-”

“And have you heard from Emmett?”

“Tabathea, stop!” He had to raise his voice to counter her, but it worked. Silence fell on the other end. “My goodness, Taby...” Unconsciously, he had slowed down and now he stopped fully, rubbing his eyes. “I have no idea if I know even half the people you mentioned, but I don't want to know them. I already have enough to deal with in my own life, so I'm rarely interested in anyone else's. If you're just calling to get rid of your gossip...”

“What? No!”, she immediately rebuffed. “But I-”

“And it's that little but that bothers me,” he interrupted her gently and started moving again. At school, he had often found it difficult to maintain their friendship because she was almost obsessed with gossip. When she had started to create rumors to make the boring school day more interesting, they had actually fallen out. At the time, he had only reconciled with her because their fathers were best friends and Frederick had pressured him. Between Dolen and Taby, however, an ugly scar had remained.

“I'm sorry,” she said contritely. “I'm really sorry. I just don't have anyone to talk to, can you imagine?” Her short laugh had a hysterical edge to it.

“Then let's see about finding time to meet up, shall we?” Cedric could see his own landing platform by now.

“Okay, I- Oh Warming Sun, this kid doesn't sleep for half an hour at a time either. I'll text you, okay?”

“Sure. And good luck.” He couldn't tell if she'd heard the last part. As he shoved his phone back in his pocket, memories of Baby-Nate, who was the sweetest baby in the world during the day, only to scream at night like he was impaled, came flooding back. It didn't stop until he started crawling at nine months.

“Hey...” he greeted with little enthusiasm as he closed the door behind him.

“Hey.” It came back, however, and Nate peeked around a corner.

“Are you all right?” Cedric forced a smile, which faltered when Nate looked at him critically.

“Yeah. Is everything okay between you and Riley? Apart from the argument...”

Glad to be able to look at the shoes, Cedric replied, “Yes, why?”

“He looked pretty beat up. He's asleep on the couch now. Should I wake him?”

“No.” Cedric shook his head and then stumbled straight over the shoes he had just taken off. Far from graceful and with a curse on his lips, he staggered a step, further unbalanced by the briefcase at his side, and bumped his shoulder painfully against the wall. Way to start the after-work hours.

Nate sighed, “You look just as beat up as he does.”

How fitting, since we’re probably pondering the same problem.

“Thanks,” Cedric replied dryly. Then he went and took a look in the living room. Wrapped into his wings, Riley was lying there on the couch and Cedric regretted having to wake him up in a moment.

When he returned a few minutes later in comfortable clothes, however, Riley was awake. Groggily, he blinked up at Cedric.

“Washing machine done?” he mumbled.

“Your timing is perfect, I just heard the beep.” Cedric got a nod and felt a little more sorry for Riley. But money was a good motivator to make it through the day as a nocturnal. If Riley said yes, though, that burden would be lifted.

On impulse, Cedric followed him straight to the utility room and closed the door behind him. Briefly, he wondered what Nate would think if he saw this, but he put the thought aside for later.

Riley had immediately set about emptying the washing machine and now looked up questioningly.

“Since you're here, I assume you've made up your mind,” Cedric said cautiously.

Agreeing, Riley tilted his head.

Something clanked metallically in the washing machine.

Cedric felt incredibly stupid. Even when he'd visited Riley and they had that awkward conversation, he'd felt like an idiot. The comforting thing was that Riley also seemed tense, but his hands and antennae were still shaking a little as he took a breath and then repeated the question which traditionally should only be asked or heard once in a lifetime: “Will you marry me?”

It seemed a bit of a topsy-turvy world, the way the questioning Cedric stood and Riley knelt in front of the washing machine. This was probably why Riley rose, straightened his shoulders and looked at Cedric seriously. His antennae were also trembling slightly. “Yes.”

A relieved grin cracked across Cedric's face. “Good, that's good.” He swallowed a silly thank you.

Riley, on the other hand, looked rather embarrassed and his smile faltered.

They stood there, looking at each other silently. Cedric didn't know what to say, how to start, what to expect from Riley or-

“What kind of papers do you need from me?” Riley broke through Cedric's thoughts and with his foot pushed the laundry basket a little to the side.

“Oh, uh, a copy of your ID. The registry office will take care of everything else.”

“Okay.” Nodding, Riley began sorting through the wet laundry; some to be put on the line, some for the dryer.

“Um, since we're nocturnal and diurnal, we'll need two groomsmen each. Do you have two? If not, there are other registrars available as witnesses.” Matching facts and details was calming Cedric a bit.

“I'll have to check. Comes rather sudden, after all.” The last part had a slight bite to it, but Cedric didn't take offense. Instead, he suggested:

“Josh isn't here and Nate's leaving soon. Then we can talk details, what do you say?”

“Okay.” Riley nodded, looked up and then held up a lace thong. “Just out of curiosity, whose is this?”

Embarrassed, Cedric's antennae curled in, to keep from fumbling around, he intertwined his fingers. “They're mine.”

Puzzled, Riley's brows twitched up, but then he simply said, “Okay,” and tossed the thong into a hamper.

That wasn't quite what Cedric had expected. Sure, Riley was tight-lipped and pragmatic, but did that apply to everything? “Dolen encouraged me to be more myself,” he began to explain. “And there's a store that adapts those kinds of clothes to male bodies.”

Riley merely hummed.

“Does it bother you?”

“I don't really care what you wear underneath.”

That was kind of disappointing, Cedric realized. “Now that we're engaged...” He stumbled a little over the word and his antennae and wings twitched as Riley looked up.

“I'm sorry, that wasn't meant to sound so harsh,” he apologized, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “As long as you like it and it makes you feel good...” A small shrug. “Wear what you want.” He punctuated the words with a smile and a nod, and Cedric's mood lifted instantly.

“A supportive husband.” he stated and Riley's smile took on an air of shame, but at the same time it seemed more genuine. “Okay, then we'll talk later.” After a nod from Riley, he left the utility room and took a deep breath.

He said yes!

A silly giggle escaped him. He wanted an engagement ring. And while he was looking for it, he could search straight for pretty wedding rings. But the registry office had priority, they needed an appointment urgently. What should he wear? Traditional clothes?

“Ced?” Nate burst into his thoughts and field of vision, clipping a bag to his belt.

“Yeah?”

“I'm going to Kendra's for homework.”

“Okay, don't be back too late.”

“Sure.”

Cedric listened until he heard the door and then couldn't stop another giggle. He would do his best to make the most of this fake marriage.