When Martin finally caught Andrew in the corridor, he asked, "Do you want to get a burger?"
Andrew jumped out of his way and croaked.
"No, thanks. I… I'm busy and need to go," he said.
Martin held his arm. "You have missed swimming team practice three times. What's happened? We're all worried about you."
Andrew bit his lips and looked away from him. "Everything's fine. Turns out that I'm.. not into swimming anymore. "
Liar, Martin thought. Andrew loved swimming and beamed up during team practice. They have known each other since they were kids. It wasn't normal behavior for Andrew.
Recently, Andrew had withdrawn from everyone despite Martin's attempt to catch up. He looked exhausted with black circles under his eyes. He hunched over while walking, as if carrying invisible weight on his back.
When people started staring at them. Andrew looked more nervous and Martin let him go now.
With careful planning, Martin cornered Andrew in an alley where there were only two of them. Andrew looked like a sparrow trapped in a snare with his back to the wall.
"What's wrong? You didn't go swimming anymore and avoided everyone. You can trust me. Let me help" Martin said.
Andrew waved his arms frantically. "Nothing's wrong."
Martin patted his shoulder. "You're hurting."
Andrew looked up. "You can't help me."
"Remember the time we dyed your home red?"
Andrew laughed. Then he looked around while biting his lips. "Can you keep a secret for me?"
"Of course, you're my best friend "
Then Andrew pulled off his shirt.
At first, Martin saw his bandaged back and lost a heartbeat. When did Andrew get hurt? Why haven't I done anything -
His thoughts halted when Andrew took off the bandage. Andrew had a pair of small black feathery wings on his back.
"How did it happen?" Martin asked. The wings weren't there last time they went swimming, not that he had checked Andrew out.
"I don't know. I woke up with back pain three weeks ago. Then I saw them in a mirror." Andrew's shoulders slumped.
Martin struggled not to stare at the curved and tapered wings. "Do your parents know?"
Andrew laughed bitterly. "Sure I would tell them I was a bird boy now. They'd be so proud that I got more freaky."
"You're not a freak," Martin replied
Andrew's parents had a lot of specific expectations about him, leading to a bitter relationship. Martin regretted asking.
When his eyes drifted to the wings against his will, he noticed how tattered they were. "Do they hurt?"
Andrew sighed. "They itch a lot. I can't sleep on my back nor carry my backpack any more."
"What about going to a doctor?" Martin suggested. These wings were not normal and affected Andrew's life. Who knew what harm they would bring?
Andrew's wings flapped. Martin tried not to notice how cute it was.
"I don't want to end up being strapped in a lab."
Andrew looked so lost and vulnerable that Martin hugged him, careful to avoid the wings.
Andrew buried his face against Martin's neck and sobbed. Martin massaged his shoulders and whispered soothing words.
Then Andrew sneezed and froze.His face reddened.
"Bless you!" Martin kept his tone light not to embarrass Andrew anymore.
He kicked himself inside. The weather was warm, but he should have remembered that Andrew was shirtless. He released Andrew from the hug and handed him a tissue.
Andrew bound his wings and put on his shirt. He stared at Martin. "Are we still friends?"
"Of course," Martin said. Winged or not, Andrew was his best friend. Trying to cheer Andrew up, he said,"Let's go to my home. We can play the racing game together."
"All right. Let me kick your ass," Andrew said with some of his old confidence back.
Martin replied, "You won't."
He was glad that Andrew looked more relaxed. He wasn't sure how to fix this yet, but he would support his friend.
When Martin brought Andrew to his room, he asked, "Would you let me check you up?"
Martin wasn't sure about the actual biology of these wings, but they were in a sorry state. Andrew also took shorter strides differently and panted after a slow walk.
Andrew bit his lips. Martin poured a glass of water for him and waited, letting him make his decision.
"Sure, why not? I know I'll be in good hands." Andrew shrugged.
Martin helped undress him and gently removed the bandage wrap around his wings. Then he checked up on Andrew.
Andrew was thinner now. His feathers also had stress lines, showing the intense stress and pain he lived through.
Martin wished he could be with him earlier.
Andrew's feather wings grew out of his shoulders and looked inseparable. Martin checked them thoroughly.
When he lifted up the feathers, he checked the skin underneath for cuts, bruises, lump and other issues. There were reddening and shallow cut on Andrew's skin, so Martin bandaged the wounds.
Andrew shivered underneath his hands, so Martin quickened his pace.
He extended Andrew's wings slowly to check for any signs of injury. Then he touched along the wings to check for swelling or broken bones. Luckily they seemed to be intact.
His fingers lingered on the wings, surprised by the intensity of his feeling. He loved birds, but he would have never expected the impact of grooming Andrew's wings to him. In fact, He would have considered it impossible before today.
"Do you want me to carry on?"
Andrew blushed. "Go on. You may as well finish this."
Martin scritched his wings and rolled the feathers between his fingers. He paid careful attention to Andrew's expression to see whether he caused any pain.
Once he accidentally touched a tender feather, which made Andrew yelp. He quickly withdrew his hands and comforted him until Andrew calmed down.
At the end Andrew fell asleep and lay his head by Martin's shoulders. He must have had a lot of trouble from itchy feathers. Martin held him in his arms and let him sleep.
When Andrew woke up, Martin asked, "Do you want to play the game?"
"Surely. I'll beat you."
Martin smiled at the return of some normalcy.
Several months later, they still couldn't find a safe and secret way to remove the wings, so they were resigned that the wings would stay.
Andrew's wounds healed under Martin's care. Martin also made sure Andrew ate a lot of protein and energy food for his needs and recovery. He also did muscle building exercises with him. When Andrew strengthened his chest and back muscle, his back improved.
Andrew was less bothered by them now. He even looked up information about birds with Martin.
Wild birds got less wary about Martin. Perhaps he proved that he could take care of a winged individual.
Now Andrew only remained friends with Martin. Some of his other friends have asked Martin about it, so Martin made excuses to cover up for him. Martin was also more reluctant to hang out with others. Andrew's secret bonded them together. Martin felt that it would be unfair for him to stay with others and risk letting the secret slip.
Andrew was running out of clothing because of his wings. Martin cut and sewed his old shirts to be open back. Then he shared them with Andrew.
When summer was coming, Andrew's wings started to molt.
"Why do I have so many feathers?" He asked. Another feather fell to the heap on his bedroom floor. "Can I at least use them as pillow stuffing?"
Martin collected his feathers in a bag. "We can use the down feathers, but we won't get enough."
Martin imagined sleeping on a pillow stuffed with Andrew's feathers. It was distracting.
"So they'll be useless," Andrew said. "Summer couldn't go soon enough."
Andrew quitted the swimming team because he would expose his wings. He told Martin that he didn't want to talk about it, so Martin never brought that up from then on.
When everyone talked about the swimming team's coming competition, Martin invited Andrew to go camping.
Andrew saw through his ploy but agreed without fuss.
Unfortunately, the summer heatwave hit the town early. When Martin and Andrew set up the camp, Martin's shirt and trousers were drenched with sweat. He put off his shirt and swiped his forehead with a towel.
Andrew looked miserable. He probably felt worse due to the wing binding.
Martin looked around their surroundings to ensure that they were safe, Then he suggested, "There's only us. Do you want to go swimming in the lake together?"
Andrew bit his lips and stared at the lake. Then he took off his clothes.
Martin busied himself with stripping off the rest of his clothes, but his eyes drifted to Andrew.
Andrew's wings grew further than before. His wings were dark with white underside like that of an American black duck. To support the wings, Andrew's back was stronger than before.
Martin looked away. Andrew had always been good looking, but he was even a bigger attraction now.
He jumped into the lake and swam. The water was refreshing. He hoped that it would wash away his inappropriate thoughts.
He dived into the lake and let the water washed through his hair.
He turned back as he heard a splashing sound. Andrew was swimming like a natural, holding back his wings like a water bird.
At least it confirmed Martin's theory, he thought half jokingly.
"Let's race to the other end!" He shouted at Andrew.
Martin tried his best, but Andrew was faster. Andrew landed on the shore and shook his wings. He looked at Martin with anticipation.
It was now routine for Martin to preen Andrew's wings. It was gratifying how Andrew trusted him with doing that.
"Let's return to our camp," Martin said.
When they arrived at the camp, Martin cradled a towel around Andrew's wet wings.
Then Andrew rolled his fingers through Martin's wet hair, pulling and untangling his hair.
Martin remained quiet and leaned into his hands, because he didn't want to break the moment. He felt their bond strengthened.
From then on, Martin often showed up to Andrew with wet washed hair. It felt good when Andrew preened him.
When the weather got colder, Martin and Andrew took a road trip together in a sedan.
They traveled to the coastside. Andrew spent as much time around marshes, lakes and forest as possible. making reedy raspy calls at other ducks. He would take off his clothing and shoes to frolic in meadows as long as nobody else was watching.
"It's so nice," he said with a laugh. "Catch me if you can!"
Martin chased after him in the meadows, while Andrew leapt into midair and flew. He looked so carefree and happy that the joy infected Martin.
Andrew once admitted that he felt more free from restraint. As he raised himself to the sky, he could cut loose tethers of worry. Martin felt that it was a silver lining and took things as well as he could along the way to support him.
The winged Andrew often featured in his erotic dream. Martin frequently noticed his wings and strong muscles.
He focused his energy on cooking hearty dinner. Andrew destroyed the waffles with maple syrup in a big gulp and asked for refilling. Flying demanded a lot of a bird, not to mention that Andrew had to maintain a human sized body.
It was fortunate that Andrew's bones retained their strength, unlike the alien in the novel "The Man Who Fell to Earth". It would endanger Andrew in human society.
It also meant that he wouldn't fly barring a miracle.
The next morning, Martin saw a swallow-tailed kite in the sky. It flew on the stream of air and claimed the sky.
Martin hoped that Andrew was safe, but he wished Andrew could choose to enjoy this freedom.
Unfortunately, Andrew's classmates found stray feathers in the classroom. It became a hot topic in chat. A photo of Andrew's feathers was captioned "Invasion of Duck Man"
"What can we do?" Andrew asked while pinching his hands.
Martin was panicking inside, but he had to keep a calm face for them all.
"We have to distract them with something big. Then no one'll remember this."
"What's your plan?" Andrew asked.
The next week, Martin and Andrew sneaked into the school through an open window at night. Then they went straight to the teacher's room.
The school PA system was connected through the phone line. Martin and Andrew bought a phone splitter and receiver to hack into it.
"Someone is coming!" Andrew stopped and pulled Martin down under the desk.
They hid under the desk while they heard footsteps outside. The space under the desk was small so they had to press close together. Martin could feel Andrew's body heat through his clothing.
His heart beat so loud that Martin feared others would hear him.
Then Andrew leaned over and preen his neck hair, licking and kissing his skin.
Martin felt like burning.
The footsteps disappeared. Martin and Andrew crawled out from the deak and finished their task. Martin had lots of questions but didn't find it a good time to ask.
When they returned home, Martin asked, "Do you want to get together with me as a couple?"
Andrew bobbed their heads together and smiled. "Of course."
Martin hugged and kissed him.
The next day during the assembly, Martin played the Beatles' Blackbird over the PA system. Everyone talked about it but no one suspected them. The crisis was over.
This year's winter was wet. Andrew fidgeted and couldn't sit still. He told Martin that he felt the pull to move south.
Martin said, "Why not?"
Andrew was a migrating bird. He couldn't clip Andrew's wings.
They moved into a saloon and drove south, finding odd jobs on their way. Andrew spent as much time in nature as possible, catching fish and collecting seeds. He was much happier living away from humans.
When it was deeper at night, they watched stars together. Andrew drew shapes in the night sky and made up constellations and told stories with Martin.
They also discussed their future. Andrew was happier away from human society, so Martin was learning and planning how to live offgrid.
"We can adopt ducks and be duck parents together." Andrew grinned.
Martin smiled when he imagined Andrew followed by a string of ducks.
"If we do that, we take care of our eggs in turn. Don't think of flying off."
"Of course I will," Andrew said, feigning indignation. Then he couldn't help but laugh.
"I'll help you build the best nest. It'll be the most comfortable in the world."
Martin believed him as Andrew was good at craft making. He had amazing hands and made a lot of delightful projects. The feather art as a gift from Andrew was masterpiece.
At night, they slept together while Andrew wrapped them up with his wings. Martin listened to his heartbeat and felt safe.
Today it was raining. Andrew put off his clothing to enjoy the rain while Martin watched him. Then Andrew bobbed his head, whistled and showed off the inner side of his wings.
It was the mating season. Blood was running south as Martin witnessed the mating display.
He put off his clothing. "Come here."
Andrew ran towards him and humped him against his thighs. His cock was now corkscrew shaped, which was both impressive and intimidating.
When Andrew tried to climb on his back, wing stretching to cover them, Martin rolled over to press them face to face.
"Let me," Martin said as he fondled Andrew's cock. It excited him to fondle the intimate part of him. It was so unique and wonderful. He loved hearing Andrew's breathy sounds and sexy moans.
He pressed and rubbed their cock together. Andrew's cock was long. It was rough against his cock, but Martin actually liked a bit of pain.
When they came together, Martin's vision went white.
When his muscle was still relaxed from his orgasm, Andrew popped open the lube and stretched his hole. Martin squirmed a bit due to the overstimulation.
Andrew fucked him slowly. The unusual shape of his penis made the sensation more intense and unpredictable. Martin's pleasure bordered on pain. The combination pushed him over again and wrung his second orgasm out of his body.
"Fuck," he moaned, not really knowing what he was actually saying. He has reached too deep and sank to the deep sea floor of passion.
"We should do it again," Andrew said.
Martin raised an eyebrow, but too lazy to move.
Later they had a picnic together. They both had bread, cheese and nuts. Andrew ate much more food than him and stole his nuts.
Martin fed an almond to him by hand.
Life was good, Martin thought.