Ryan's POV
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I sprang awake, drenched in sweat and tears. The large t-shirt clung to my body. My breathing was heavy and fast paced.
Nightmares again.
I pressed my face into my hands and tried calming my hyperventilating.
"Cages...needles....ngh..." I softly recall all the terrors that visited me in my sleep world.
I throw my legs off the bed and sit there a moment before finally standing and stretching my sore limbs.
Then, I headed to the living room, where I found Alfred sleeping. He was faced down in his pillow, left arm and leg hanging off the couch, drooling. I contained my laughter the best I could and plopped right next to him, waiting until he would wake.
Alfred's POV
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"Oh mighty burger lord! I wish to be by your side for all time!" I bowed towards the king.
He simply shook his hamburger head and sent all his guardians after me. Mustard and ketchup was squirted towards my direction as I tried to draw my pickle sword.
Then, a growl.
No, not an animal growl. A stomach growl.
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My eyes opened slowly, hearing the growl again, along with a grunt and whine.
Ryan was sitting and holding her stomach. She was hungry.
I internally grinned and shifted a bit. "Mmmm...morning Ryan."
Her head snapped up and she looked embarrassed as if she woke me. Well, she sorta did. "Good morning."
"I can hear that you want something to eat." I leaned down and ruffled her hair as she blushed.
"M-Maybe...." Ryan plays with the hem of my burger shirt. "..I'm....sorry I woke you."
A laugh escapes my lips. "It's okay. It wasn't a good dream or anything."
I lied. It was.
I got up and quickly threw two bowls of cereal together before heading back to Ryan, who was surprisingly sitting on the couch, petting my tabby.
"What's his name?" She asked quietly, face buried in the cat's orangish fur.
"Captain. Like Captain America." I placed her bowl on the table, which she reaches over and pulled into her lap with the feline and proceeded to eat.
I tapped my finger against my knee, watching the girl chow down. "....If you don't mind me asking-"
"It's about my wings, isn't it?"
My eyes widened and I waved my hands, trying to deny it. "N-No! I wasn't going to ask-"
"I know you were. I can read your mind like a book, Alfred." She took another bite of Cheerios.
She can read minds? Shit. "..Alright, I was." I cleared my throat. ."..why do you have them...? And where do you live...?"
Ryan suddenly fell silent, holding the bowl with quivering hands. She looked like she was going to puke. "...I was an experiment in a lab and they made me like this. They tried to make a man-made angel from an infant fresh from the womb...."
I felt my face pale.
She continued. "I was kept in a cage like a damn animal my entire life and injected with random needles every day." A shift from her. "...then they swapped 2% of my DNA with a bird's..."
I reached over gently pushed one of her black curls behind her ear. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have asked..."
She shaked her head slightly. "It's okay...I would be curious too..."
Now I feel like an asshole.
I scooted closer and pulled her close in an embrace. Her whimpers become audible and she set the bowl down and wept into my chest.
My fingers stroked through her soft curls as she cries. I couldn't imagine what she was going through right now. In a cage for her entire life? Jesus...
She held me closer, wanting all my attention. "P-Please don't let them get me, Al..."
My eyes softened and I buried my nose in her ringlets, whispering. "I won't let them take you, my little angel friend...~"
