Yeah. Derek was a bird. That much was known by this point.
Avery had been fine with it right from the start. He’d actually liked the feathery aspect to Derek’s skin, as it made cuddles & back-rubs just a little more special. Derek was happy with the situation too, having finally found someone that didn’t immediately shy away from his bare black-feathered skin upon sight.
By now, Hastur had long since become obsolete. Derek & Avery were living their best lives, together of course—Avery had invited Derek to live in his house right from the start, & now they shared a room. Neither quite minded, even when Derek’s clingy bird instincts got wild in the middle of the night.
Springtime rolled around.
Derek remained acting fairly just as usual, despite Avery’s prediction that this was just around the time that birds began to mate &, well, breed. Avery checked up on Derek constantly, asking if he was alright, if his wings felt itchy or aching or anything—but every time he asked, he got the same response. A smile, & a chuckle of “I’m doing just fine as I was five minutes ago, Avery.”
However…
Late one afternoon, while Avery was out battling at some skywars tournament (Derek hadn’t been able to attend due to his sore throat), he began to feel very…
Off.
Yeah. Now his bird instincts decided to act up & start laying a damn egg, because why the hell wouldn’t it happen when Avery wasn’t here?!
Nevertheless, Derek—simply being unable to wait for Avery to return from the competition—started to let his bird instincts do what they did best & rummaged around his & Avery’s shared bedroom until he built somewhat of a makeshift nest.
By the time Avery had arrived from the tournament, calling Derek’s name in worry as he approached the bedroom, Derek had already absolutely ransacked the bedroom—the bed was overturned, lying on its side, with Derek curled up in on himself on the strewn pillows as he’d dragged multiple blankets across the floor & over himself to replicate the warmth of a nest. Even one of Avery’s old polo shirts he’d left behind was a part of the mess; it was the thing that Derek had hugged & smelled in the absence of the real man for at least a sliver more of comfort.
He breathed a little shakily to himself in relief as he heard Avery’s voice echo down the halls, but couldn’t really get up at all as his whole damn body was aching, with, well…
The aftermath of just laying an egg.