Bird in the Bathroom Pt 1
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1,452 words | Original Work: Bird in a Box
Content | BBU (adjacent), recovery whump, winged whump, nonhuman whumpee, past abuse/torture implied, bruises & other markings, disassociation, profanity
Xe picked up the glass of water—then, thinking of the mess shattered glass might make, xe switched it for a bit of pepperoni. Xe placed it in the Pet's hand.
"You have permission to eat," Lemon said softly, looking hopefully at the bird person's face, cradling their hand. Please, isn't there any life in you? Somewhere beneath it all?
Their fingers twitched. Lemon started, looking down. Their fingers slowly curled around the pepperoni. Lemon breathed out, not daring to speak. The hand closed all the way, and then they stopped.
"Okay," xe said softly, setting the hand back down, hoping xe could take that as a sign that they had some will to live. "I don't think I have any straws, so..." Xe picked up the glass, bringing a hand under their chin as xe lightly pressed it to their lips. "I'm going to tilt your head back so the water goes down alright." Here's to hoping I don't drown them.
Lemon lifted the person's chin. Their mouth parted slightly—whether involuntarily or not, xe weren't sure, but xe let a slow trickle of water out of the cup. When water escaped and slid down their chin, xe murmured, "Sorry, sorry."
But they drank, eyes lidding halfway. It was a huge weight off Lemon's chest. If they were trying to die, they wouldn't have drank, right?
Lemon eased the cup away, not wanting to overwhelm them and unsure whether they wanted more. "Good job," xe said with a smile.
The effect of the words was slight but immediate. Their eyes dropped close and their fingers went limp.
Lemon winced, a ball of guilt in xir chest. Shit. The Box Boy industry was big on punishment and praise for 'training,' wasn't it? The person probably had a litany of triggers from words and phrases alone. Xe set the cup down and sat down all the way, considering the Pet in xir bathroom.
"I understand if you're afraid of me," Lemon said softly. "I'm big and kind of scary, and of course you can't trust a stranger. Though, I actually thought you were some kind of bird of prey when I first saw these—" Xe found xemself reaching to touch their feathers and stopped short, letting xir hand fall. A bit like touching somebody's hair, isn't it, xe scolded xemself. "Your feathers. I know a wildlife rehabilitation center in the area, though both the owls I've brought in have..." Lemon paused awkwardly. Where had xe even been going with this? "Sorry, it's not a very happy ending."
But when xe looked up at the bird person's face again, their eyes were open. Still not focused on anything, but open. Lemon's heart stuttered and xe stumbled over xemself to continue.
"I-I guess I'm trying to say I'm a bit of a bleeding heart. And I don't know how much you understand of everything happening right now, but I'm very—" Upset, xe wanted to say, but caught xemself. "I want to help."
The person's eyes remained open. Lemon breathed out slowly. It wasn't a perfect or even great form of communication, but it seemed that they were... somewhat present when they were calm. If they closed their eyes all the way, they were retreating. Some kind of severe disassociation, maybe?
"If that's alright," Lemon said gently, watching them closely for any reaction, "I'll help get you cleaned up and then get you settled to sleep. I promise I have nicer places to sleep on than the bathroom floor."
Their eyes were still open. Containing a thrill of relief, Lemon nodded and then got up. "I'm going to fill the tub with some warm water," xe said. "It's going to be a little loud."
Xe carefully took a step over the person's body, and tried avoiding their left wing while bending down to plug the tub, then get the water running.
"Had to look pretty hard for an affordable apartment that also had a bathtub," Lemon said, hoping the sound of xir voice would bring some comfort. "Showers are nice but every once in a while you need a good warm soak. Though, uh, I don't really fit in the tub all the way. Too tall." Xe glanced back at them. Their wings definitely would not fit in the tub, and probably would barely be contained while showering. A pool would probably be the most efficient way for them to bathe.
For now, Lemon stuck to wetting a towel and squeezing a bit of body wash on it. Xe turned around in the narrow space, sitting against the tub with the toilet to xir left and the bird person to the right.
"I'm going to start with your arm. Wet but nice and warm," xe told them before setting the rag against their arm. Hopefully xe were gentle enough as xe moved from the shoulder to the elbow, removing dirt and grime and—
Water squeezed out from the rag as Lemon's fist clenched around it. Pitted circular scars littered their neck and shoulders. Xe had never seen this kind of damage on a person but xe was willing to bet these were cigarette burns.
As if sensing anger, the person's eyes had gone shut. Lemon sat back and took deep breaths, hanging the dripping rag over the tub.
"I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry," xe said quietly. Two seconds in and xe'd already messed up, but fuck. Treating somebody like an ashtray—Xe felt xir rage building up again and closed xir eyes to let it go with practiced breaths. This wasn't the time and place, righteous as xir anger might be.
When xe spoke again, xir voice was level and evenly paced. Hopefully soothing. "I'm angry at whoever hurt you like this, not at you. I'm going to keep washing." Xe twisted to clean out the rag, a cloud of dirt and soap puffing up from it. When xe had wrung it out and turned back, the person's eyes were halfway open again.
Xe picked up their limp arm, cleaning. The landscape of their skin was riddled with different scars of varying age, many Lemon hadn't noticed from further away. The oldest ones were a shade or two darker than their skin. Lemon's jaw twitched as xe daubed dirt away, but xe managed to keep xir breathing steady with each new uncovered abuse. There were no open wounds on this arm, but their bicep had fading bruises.
Their palm had been cut open recently. Lemon stared down at three scabbed-over lines, sucking in a shuttering breath, keeping xir rage tightly clamped down. Though it was impossible, xe tried not to think about how they had gotten these.
"These must hurt, huh," was all xe said softly before getting the first aid kit out from beneath the sink and wrapping some white gauze around their hand before continuing. Xe tried to keep up a narration of what xe were doing and where xe were touching, but it was getting pretty late and xe wasn't sure they were doing a great job.
Their feet were badly bruised with lacerations in the worst of them. Lemon was hesitant to even touch xem for fear of the pain it would cause, even though the person had no discernible reaction when xe touched their bruises. Xe swabbed their feet clean as gently as possible before wrapping them too.
When the pressure cooker beeped from the kitchen, xe used it as an opportunity to go get some painkillers. Xe weren't sure about the person's swallowing capabilities, so xe crushed the pills up with the handle of a butter knife and mixed the powder in with a bit of juice. Xe coaxed it into the birdman patiently, then resumed cleaning.
When their front was as clean as xe could manage, Lemon changed out the murky water.
"Alright, um... gotta flip you over," xe said, looking at the wings. Maybe if xe pushed the couch into the kitchen there was would be enough space in the living room to lie their wings out.
Their head tilted slightly, and Lemon turned xir attention to their face, making eye contact. Xe felt a thrill of victory, then started as the person's wings began moving. They took a noticeably deeper breath, maybe collecting strength before slowly sitting forward and folding their wings in, looking like they were trying to get onto their knees.
Relief and pride burst in Lemon's chest at the show of trust. Xe wanted to shout with excitement over the development, praise them for it, but any wrong movement or word could send them back to their near-vegetable state. So xe nodded in acknowledgment and moved forward to help.
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