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Jay has had a long day. She had the last watch last night and the ship pulled into port just as the sun was rising, so she’s been awake since far too early. The town they were visiting today was extremely congested, becoming increasingly difficult to navigate as the day continued. She also had to stuff her wings under her jacket, best not to draw too much attention, what with the whole being wanted thing. It was the middle of summer, too, so it was terribly warm. It was around noon when her, Chip, and Gill finally made their way into the center of town to stock up on supplies and maybe find a spot to sleep in a real bed for a night. It was busy, which made it impossible for Jay to be properly aware of her surroundings and she had to make sure that Gill didn’t get lost, they didn’t need that happening again. The sun was high and blinding that day, seeming aware of Jay’s grumpiness and only wanting to make it worse. Her wings weren’t as used to being hidden, one of the downsides to becoming more comfortable on the ship, so they were aching already after only a few hours of being pinned to her back.
“Ok, I think me and Gill should focus on finding supplies while Jay finds us an inn for the night.” Chip said, always taking the lead on these sort of expeditions. Jay just nodded absently, trying not to look as bad as she felt. She couldn’t tell if Chip noticed, she knew Gill probably didn’t. He wasn’t the most observant. As soon as she saw signs of an inn, Jay peeled off from the group without much of a goodbye, she just needed to get to somewhere where she could catch her breath.
As Jay walked through the crowded streets, she pulled her jacket tighter around her, hoping maybe some air could flow through it. It didn’t work very well. At least she remembered to put her hair up before leaving the ship, another change in appearance from her wanted poster, but it was starting to really benefit her. She looked around again, there were no buildings that looked like they could’ve been inns, she could’ve swore there would be one over here. Jay just sighed, turned on her heel, and began to search in a new part of town.
After far too long, Jay had finally found an inn. It was smaller, tucked in one of the many winding streets of the unfamiliar town. At the counter, a tall human lady was sorting some papers, humming a song Jay had heard earlier in the center of town. Jay had done this routine plenty of times before, asking if they had a bathtub, if they did, two rooms, if not, three rooms. Gill preferred to sleep in water, so they saved a bit of gold by having him sleep in the bathroom of Chip’s room. They did have bathtubs and 2 open rooms, so Jay paid whatever price the lady gave and took the keys up to the rooms. She can find Chip and Gill in a little bit, for now she needed to stretch her wings.
Jay unlocked one of the rooms and walked in, it was alright for some random inn. The bed was made and there were no mystery stains in the sheets, but it was no 5 star hotel. She preferred rooms like this anyway, simple but comfortable. Jay wasted no time pulling her jacket off and stretching her wings out. They popped and creaked as she shook them out, getting red and brown feathers all over the floor. While her wings were never in great condition, she didn’t really have time to properly preen them, they felt especially icky after being messed up under her jacket. Feathers stuck out every which way and she could feel each one, itchy and uncomfortable. She knew she didn’t have time to worry about that now, though, so she hurriedly put her jacket back on, messing up more feathers, and made her way out the inn to find Chip and Gill.
It didn’t take very long to find them, both yelling with some shopkeeper very loudly about something Jay did not have the patience to deal with today.
“I got us rooms, are you guys done stocking up?” She asked without greeting the boys, causing Gill to flinch a little and Chip to full on jump.
“Jeez, Jay, it’d be nice if you didn’t scare us like that,” Chip complained, turning away from the shopkeeper, “Gill could’ve, uhh I don’t know, hit you or something?”
“Chip, I think you were the one who was scared.” Gill cut in, Jay chuckled a bit at his response.
“Jay, it’s not funny!” Chip was full on whining now, which just made Jay laugh harder. They made their way together to the inn Jay had found for them, Gill and Chip walking behind her and continuing to talk about nothing really important. The pain was beginning to set into Jay’s wings again and she was really starting to be over this whole being a wanted criminal thing. She had to constantly check her surroundings, wonder whether people would recognize her and how they’d react if they did. Finally, though, the trio made it to the inn. Jay passed Chip the key to his and Gill’s room and slipped into her own room across the hall.
It was darker now, but the room looked the same as she left it. Jay sat on the bed and threw her jacket off, letting her wings free for the second time that day. She spent a few minutes reaching around her primaries, straightening and cleaning whatever she could reach. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. After doing all she could, she laid down on top of the covers of the still made bed, turning away from the door and trying to let go of the stress of the day.
She had been doing a pretty good job at it too, until she heard a knock at her door. Jay groaned as she pulled herself from the bed and opened the door.
“What do you want, Chip?” She asked as she saw who it was, it was always Chip bothering her.
“Gill took over the bathroom before I got the chance to brush my teeth and stuff. Can I use yours?” He replied, the usual mischievous edge to his voice missing, he must be tired too, Jay thought to herself. She didn’t bother responding vocally, just opening the door the rest of the way and moving out the way. Chip got the message and went straight to the bathroom. Jay closed the door behind him and went back to sitting on the bed. Her wings were a little irritated again with all the movement, so she decided to try and fix the ones she could reach again. Hunched over, with her arms stretched as far as they could go around her back, she fumbled with the messed up feathers.
She must’ve looked pretty frustrated because Chip called out from the bathroom, “You, uh alright, Jay?” She looked up and Chip was facing away from her, looking at her in the mirror above the sink.
Jay dropped her arms and straightened back out, “I’m fine, just trying to fix my wings.” He quirked up an eyebrow, a silent ‘it doesn’t look like you're fine.’ “It’s just been a long day,” she admitted.
“I can, uh,” Chip was walking back into the bedroom now, wiping his hands on the front of his pants, “well only if your comfortable, I mean, Drey used to, uh-”
“Spit it out, Chip.”
“I know how to preen wings, Drey taught me,” Chip looked anywhere but at Jay, seemingly embarrassed to even offer, for reasons Jay wasn’t entirely sure on, “I could preen yours, if you’d like.” The room went tense for a moment as Jay rolled the idea around in her mind, but the shudder that shook her entire body from the uncomfortable ache that was settled into her wings decided for her.
“That’d be nice.” She turned to catch his eye, the tension releasing. Vulnerability was not something that came very easily for either of them, but if Chip was trying, Jay would, too.
“Okay! Here, wait a sec, let me grab something real quick.” Chip replied, already out the door before Jay could ask any questions. He was gone for less than a minute, giving Jay barely enough time to situate herself before he was back. “Drey gave me a bottle of this stuff a while ago, it’s supposed to be good for the, uh, feathers or something.” Chip showed Jay a small bottle of some sort of wing oil, it smelled nice.
“I think I remember my mom using that sort of thing on me when I was little,” Jay said quietly, scooting forward on the bed to give Chip some room to sit behind her, “Not sure, though.” Chip just hummed in response, settling behind her near the headboard. Jay pulled her hair over her shoulders, trying to relax as much as she could. Chip’s hand was warm against her back and Jay had to fight down a flinch. Gently, he pulled one wing to spread out fully, running his fingers through the feathers as he went. Jay dropped the other wing onto the bed as she felt her shoulders relax under Chip’s touch. Working from her primaries inward, he started with the feathers that were already mostly correct, massaging the oil into her skin and feathers.
It was soothing the ache in Jay’s wings already, bringing out memories she’d long forgotten. The smell was comforting and familiar, and Chip was being the most gentle Jay’d ever seen him. She felt herself let the full weight of her wing go into Chip’s hands, completely relaxing it with the other one. Slowly, Chip made his way to the parts Jay couldn’t reach when she preened herself. He was even more careful with this new section and Jay was grateful, the roughed up feathers and dry skin made that part extremely sensitive. As Chip continued, Jay could feel chirps and other miscellaneous bird noises bubble up in response, like the bird part of her was suddenly activated. She tried, at first, to stuff them back down, mostly out of fear that Chip would tease her over them. Quickly, she learned that she could not repress all of them and accidently let out a quiet chirp! Chip’s hands stilled on her wing and pulled back slightly until she let out another, more urgent, chirp. He just continued like nothing had happened, of course he understood what she meant, he always seemed to.
Jay could feel her consciousness slipping away from her now, tucking her knees under her chin and leaning her weight forward. With each fixed feather or pin feather cleaned, cheeps and chirps flowed freely from somewhere in her throat out past her lips. Chip started humming now too, some song he had learned before they had ever met and it was just putting Jay to sleep even more. She couldn’t even tell exactly where Chip’s hands were anymore, her wings buzzing everywhere he had touched. The relief of all the discomfort being pulled out of her made Jay want to cry, it had been too long since the last time her wings were properly taken care of.
“Querida,” Chip’s voice was soft as he poked Jay gently on the cheek, “I’m done now, you okay?” He leaned over one of her shoulders to try to see her face.
“Very okay,” Jay mumbled into her knees, “Tired, though.” Instead of waiting for a response, Jay took the opportunity of Chip’s hands being off of her wings to lean back into his chest. A muttered “Sleep time,” from Jay was all the convincing it took for Chip to lean back into the pillows and hesitantly wrap his arms around her. Tomorrow would probably be the most embarrassed Jay’s felt in a while, but she’d deal with that then. Right now, she was comfortable and relaxed and thoroughly exhausted.