"Hi, dude."
Felix just stared at me, looking mildly constipated, mouth tight like he was trying to hold back from spewing or popping out a big load of shit into a porcelain throne. Fully expecting him to cuss me out as per normal, I was surprised and mildly chuffed when he balled his fists together tightly, gritting out a reluctant "Hi."
Milo jerked in surprise at his brother's greeting, and I smiled happily, unable to hold back my elation that, yes, this grumpy little shit had finally, finally said hello to me like a normal, socially-competent human being. Nice work, Black Dove.
Felix noticed my mega-watt smile, grimacing a bit before awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, mumbling something about 'having maths and physics study to do'. It took him all but two seconds to turn in a swift semi-circle and make a bee-line to his room, shutting the door behind him.
"What did you do to him?" Milo asked, giving me a probing look.
"Hm? I don't know what you mean," I hummed teasingly, dodging Milo's questioning gaze as I skipped to his room, flopping onto the bed before rummaging through my bag to pull out my laptop. Milo settled himself next to me, leaning back against his headboard, gathering me into his side as I opened up Netflix for us to continue working through my doctor's recommendations.
"Don't play coy," Milo scoffed, winding an arm around my shoulders, squeezing my arm softly. "I know you saw him the night of the... attack."
"Worried I was having a hot illicit affair with your brother?" I giggled, Milo rolling his eyes.
"Hilarious," Milo said dryly, barely paying attention to the movie playing on the laptop propped up on my thighs. "Did you say something to him?"
"I told him that I - as in Black Dove - had a very wonderful boyfriend," I said, the small frown on Milo's face faltering. "And I also advised him to try and be nicer to the boyfriend of aforementioned boyfriend, who he didn't actually know was the boy advising him at the time. Heh, whoever wrote this plot line has been watching too many soap operas."
"So you told him to be nicer to you, and it worked because he doesn't know that it was you," Milo summarised, chuckling. "Well, I'm honestly surprised that your method worked, but I'm glad they did. The fact that my brother was crushing on my boyfriend was just... ugh. He still probably likes Black Dove, but I'd like to think that he'll get over it knowing that you're taken. If my kid brother turns into someone who goes after people already in relationships..."
I just laughed as Milo shivered beside me, craning my head to rope him into a kiss, not having to try very hard when he eagerly returned the gesture. I breathed out a giggle into Milo's mouth as he pushed my laptop closed without detaching his lips from mine, moving the device out of the danger zone before nudging me down onto my back.
"Not enjoying the movie?" I asked, slipping my hands under Milo's top, the boy's abdominal muscles tensing. I didn't move to remove his shirt or creep up any further than his stomach, just savouring the feel of him under my fingertips. I slid my hands around his sides, before resting my hands at the slope of his lower back, fingers running up and down the smooth indent over his spine.
"Hardly," Milo replied, hovering over me on his arms, one hand knotted in my hair. "You?"
"Oh, thoroughly. I mean, Chris Hemsworth shirtless, mm, that really gets me going," I said, before collapsing into peals of laughter as Milo thunked his forehead against mine, hurting himself more than he hurt me. "Kidding, baby. Kidding. Kind of - he is ridiculously hot. And I'm sure he has a huge-"
"Just shut up," Milo grumbled, effectively doing so when he sealed his mouth over my own again. We just kissed languidly for what could have been hours, our touches not delving into scandalous territory, more just relishing the feel of each other just because we could. Plus, considering Felix was in the next room over, I knew that he would be more than eager to go back to openly hating me if we subjected him to our sex sounds.
The afternoon was spent kissing, teasing, talking about nothing, and Milo showing me some of the gadgets he had been working on for Black Dove before the whole superhero thing was shelved.
Milo sat as his desk, turning an unfinished mask prototype in his hands as I loomed behind him, arms slung over his shoulders.
"Too bad I won't get to use it," I sighed, reaching down to run my finger along a winged ridge that Milo had sculpted into the new goggles. Milo just shook his head, putting down the unfinished goggles, getting up from his seat.
"It's safer for you this way," Milo said sternly, kissing my forehead. "Come on, let's go grab some snacks, and try to finish that damned movie."
"Hah! I knew it! You were totally keen on checking out Chris Hemsworth's abs too!" I accused chirpily, Milo rolling his eyes but otherwise remaining impassive, leading me into the kitchen. When we got there, we found Felix absent-mindedly stirring sugar into a cup of coffee that looked like it had cooled considerably already, clearly signifying that he had been standing there for a while. He was frowning down at his phone, and I slid against the counter beside him, taking a peek at what he was looking at.
It was a subreddit dedicated to me, opened onto a particularly long essay with the title 'Where is Black Dove?'. Sensing me looking, Felix flipped his phone over on the counter, shooting me a dirty look. He quickly pulled his teaspoon out from his coffee, licked it clean before throwing it into the sink, moving to exit my presence.
"Didn't know you were a fan of him. Black Dove," I said suddenly, Felix faltering, before turning. Milo froze from where he was rummaging through the pantry, giving me a raised brow.
"Who said I was a fan?" Felix huffed, cheeks colouring slightly.
"Oh, I just assumed, considering how deeply you were staring at that essay on him," I grinned, shrugging.
"I was not staring," Felix replied hotly, his face twisting up in what looked like anger, but felt more like embarrassment. "And I'm not a fan, I just-"
"No need to be embarrassed. I mean, I'm also a huge fan of him. Love the guy. Milo loves him too, don't you, baby?" I said, giving Milo a secretive smile, which he returned with an exasperated 'are you kidding me?' look, before mumbling under his breath as he turned back to the pantry, his words lost between the bags of chips and biscuits. At least, lost to Felix, but I could just pick up the soft words, which made me melt.
"No one loves him more than me."
Okaaaay. Someone is getting on their knees later tonight, Felix in the next room be damned.
"You? A fan of Black Dove?" Felix asked, almost amused.
"Duh. Haven't you seen his ass?" I said, Felix growing even redder before spluttering.
"That's- Not- What- Of course you- I should have known- He's more than just his ass!" Felix said, crossing his arms over his chest, making me blink at the defensive expression on his face. "He's... He's... A hero. A real one. Lots of people just... talk about his ass, and his costume, but he's more than that. I know he's more than that. He's just a good person, through and through. I've seen it. And now he's disappeared after that fight, and he might be dead and it's just..."
"Oh," was all I could manage, my throat growing tight for some reason as I processed Felix's words, which trembled with passion, and anger, and fear. "I, uh, didn't... realise you liked him so much. You must be really worried, huh."
Felix didn't respond, but conceded with a small, almost imperceivable nod. I felt warm, glancing at Milo, who was leaning against the closed door of the pantry with a soft look.
"Well, I wouldn't worry too much. If he died, a dead body with wings would make headlines. I'm sure he's doing just fine," I said, coughing to clear my throat. Felix looked at me, a mixture of apprehension and pre-prepared denial on his face.
"Right, because you know him so well," Felix said, rolling his eyes in the trademark Schultz style, though his shoulders relaxed slightly.
"Of course I do - I'm his number two fan," I said, Milo smothering a laugh into a bag of chips, eyes looking at me over them with mirth. "And Milo here is his number one fan. So, you can take lucky spot number three." I grinned as I wiggled three of my fingers, Felix freezing. He gave me an odd look, as if he was trying to remember something but the thought was eluding him. I just peered back at him, now the one confused, before shrugging.
"Anyway, Milo and I are going back to his room. I suggest turning up your music really loud, because, uh, we might be loud," I said, wiggling my brow as Felix opened his mouth to curse me out, Milo just mortified and dragging me back to his room, looking like he wanted to teach me a lesson.
I was never a great student, but if I had a really good teacher, I guess I could make an exception.
***
I looked at the mass email sent from Harriet, saying that the lecture we had scheduled was cancelled, frowning. Harriet was never one to be eager to cancel classes, particularly when the topic was avian-related, so this was odd. In fact, she had been odd for a while now; always a little jumpy, her nerves on edge. While she still smiled and assured me that everything was fine, I could tell that she was stressed.
Sighing, I pocketed my phone and crossed the campus from the lecture halls to the labs. I found Harriet hunched over a metal table in the lab at the end of a hall dimly lit by stark white fluorescent lights, the older woman jumping when the door clunked against the wall.
"Oh! Culver! What are you doing here?" Harriet asked, getting up from her chair in a hurry, surprised yet happy smile on her face. Pulling me into a brief hug, Harriet pushed her glasses onto the crown of her head, smoothing her wayward greying hair from her drawn expression.
"I just wanted to check in on you, since you cancelled class," I said, shrugging. Harriet gave me a warm look, rubbing the top of my head softly. "Is everything okay?"
"In all honesty, yes and no," Harriet said, tapping my back to guide me to her desk, before gesturing and flicking through the papers there. On the desk were about five (assumedly empty) thermos cups that smelled of strong coffee, and I figured that Harriet had been holed up here for some time.
"Is the research not going too well?" I asked, Harriet nodding.
"Well, it's not so much the research that's not going well. It's more like we've just hit a momentary snag, Trevor and I," Harriet said, rolling her eyes at the mention of my other professor's name. "Let's just say that... we disagree on the methods of our research, and the direction we want to go in. Plus, there's the issue with funding... but don't even get me started on that."
"Right, Prof. Brakel has been kind of off in his lectures lately. Really snappy," I said, huffing under my breath. "You know, he made one of my classmates cry the other week? She just asked a question, and let's just say Prof. Brakel isn't one of those people that believes that 'there are no such things as silly questions'."
"Well, hopefully I can make some headway in our research to appease him. He is an impatient as his mind is brilliant, unfortunately," Harriet said, chuckling for a brief moment before brightening. "But hey, while you're here, do you want to take a look at what we've been working on?"
"Like the clones and stuff?" I asked curiously, Harriet nodding. "Sure, why not."
"Fantastic!" Harriet grabbed some lab coats off a hanging rack, throwing one to me. Leading me behind another set of doors that required swipe card access, I was met with a room filled with cages and strong plastic barriers. There were birds of all kinds of species held inside them, most docile and seemingly asleep.
In the centre of the room on a metal table were two cages, each holding magpies that looked exactly the same - their arrangement of feathers, their white splotches. The only difference between them was that... one was eerily quiet, and the other squawking rabidly, wings thrashing against the metal rungs of the cage, beak snapping. Its beady red eyes darted around wildly, its shrill cries only heightening when it noticed Harriet and I.
"You did mention before that the magpies were, uh, rebellious," I said, plugging my ears a little as the magpie screamed, the metal clang of the cage rattling violently.
"Yes. This was our first successful magpie cloning. Unfortunately, the clone's condition deteriorated a few days after, as you can see. The donor is still alive and well, though."
"Maybe too alive, from the looks of it," I said, watching the bird thrash around. It reminded me of the magpie that had swooped me a few months ago, especially when it started body-slamming head first into its metal prison.
Walking towards it, I bent downwards to peer at it through the slats in the cage. Locking eyes with the bird, it suddenly seemed to still, beak clacking open and closed as its red eyes seared mine. It tilted its head to the side as mine instinctively followed its movement.
'Same,' was what my mind whispered to me, the bird seeming to recognise the same thing as it bent its head down, almost in a bow.
"How curious," Harriet said, sidling up to me to look at the bird that had begun to calm. Harriet placed her hand on my shoulder gently, but the movement made the bird screech loudly, slamming head-first into the cage. I jumped at the heavy thud it made against the cage, before the bird slumped down. A little red began to pool around its crown, red eyes staring at me before it died.
"What the hell...?" I whispered, the hairs on my neck standing to attention, a headache building at the base of my skull.
"Oh, bloody hell. Not again. That's our fifth magpie this month," Harriet tutted, rubbing her nose bridge. "Anyway, Culver. You can see that we've made some progress, but there is more work to do. Your visit has made me realise that I really need a break, though. How about I shout you lunch, and we can talk about things that aren't work related. Like your boyfriend, and how Lark has been doing."
"Sounds good," I said, Harriet tugging me from the cage, though I turned my head back to look at the dead magpie, something unsettling washing over me as its blood oozed out slowly, like a message.
Same.
A/N: Just an update - the bonus chapter I'm writing in Milo's POV has turned into two bonus chapters because it got really long. So, yay for lots of young(er) and dumb(er) Milo and Culver. As always though, thanks for reading! x