A Misadventure's Fortune [REED900]

3: Smell the Sea and Feel the Sky

Song Of The Chapter:
The Hunger In Your Haunt - Crywolf

Gavin had gotten a good night's sleep, surprisingly. With the decreased amount of pain it was a lot better, which was a relief.
In the morning he slowly unraveled from the shelter of his wings and he yawned, stretching them out, surprised in feeling a simple ache, but nothing severely agonizing.
Huh..... the avian looked at his pinions, moving them to test them before flapping them as hard as he could and getting off the ground, blowing sand everywhere.
God- but the fucking palm trees. They were everywhere, getting in his way, keeping him in place in the air. Gavin let out loud a few frustrated screeches into the air.

Nines was startled by the squawks of sound coming from the air. He sat up, swimming back up and observing what was happening. Well... it seemed the herbs helped... but shit, he shouldn't be trying to strain himself so quickly!
"You're going to regret that!" Nines called, watching the avian.

Gavin growled harshly and began to just punch through all the palm leaves, busting through them until some vines managed to tangle around his wings, making his freeze and look at them in panic, pulling and tugging on them harshly with a loud squawk of alarm, using his teeth and biting through them.
God he was a dumbass, realizing a second too late that that was a bad idea because he immediately fell out of the air, flapping to try to catch the wind, before hitting the sand roughly with a loud groan. He realized a few feet further he would've landed in the water.
He laid there motionlessly, the throb returning in an instant, a low shaky whine leaving his body then as he lay there in the sand in front of the water's edge.

Facepalming, Nines swam over, before propelling himself up onto land before inching over until he was incredibly close to Gavin, face merely a foot away from Gavin's.
"The bird has been grounded," Nines grinned, resting a hand against his palm. "You probably should give your back time to heal, y'know. Just because the herbs helped doesn't mean you're magically cured." He traced a finger in the sand.
The bird groaned lowly on the ground, not getting up or moving.
"No... shit Sherlock," he groaned, his voice muffled since his face was pressed into one of his arms. His wings were fanned out, displaying their impressive width.
Nines continued to grin while reaching over to gently run a hand against Gavin's wing.
"You have really soft wings," he mused. "It's a weird texture compared to anything in the ocean." He probably should've asked to touch Gavin's wing, but oh well. They were too soft not to.
"Do you want me to catch you another fish?"
The avian flinched at the touch on his wing, focusing on it and freezing where he was.
Why did that feel so good....?
He grunted and tried to pretend he didn't like it, pulling his wing away and folding it back against his back as he slowly sat up in the sand, wincing harshly at the steadily returning pain.
"Sure," he muttered, now realizing how close the merman was to him. He tensed but stood his ground, slowly calming down now. He was hungry, and he needed the protein and nutrients to heal properly.
Nines propped his head with his palm again, still unwavering from his close proximity to Gavin. He let his gaze lock with Gavin's for a moment, his signature grin still capturing his lips.
"Tell me," he began, "The herbs helped, didn't they?"
His eyes shifted to the scar on Gavin's nose, then traveled down to his lips for a quick moment, before darting back up to his eyes.
The avian glared back at the merman in slight alarm but then looked away. "Maybe..." he softly growled, no real all bite to it. He caught sight of the merman staring at him and his scar, his wings shifting uncomfortably as he quickly looked away so he couldn't look at his scar.
"Yes they helped. it doesn't hurt as bad," he admitted with a low groan.
Was Gavin flustered? Nines wanted to pursue that, but he decided to spare the bird for now.
"Told you so," Nines said, feeling a sense of triumph. "I'll go get your fish now," he said, the twisted around and began pulling himself back toward the water. Curse the sand and rocks, he could feel it scraping his underside. He'd have to apply ointment on himself if he kept this up. Gritting his teeth, he finally made it to the rocks, where he slid back into the water and swam off to find a decent fish for Gavin.