Wiedehopf 2, Chapter 8/8
In which Fabi is a kitten and Jo and Mäx make the world's worst rescue team.
“You are going to look ninety by the time you’re thirty,” Mäx said, massaging the back of Jo’s neck. Jo had woken up next to Fabi, took one look at his lack of clothes, and decided to ditch the brotherly bedsharing before he really scarred Fabi. Kid just couldn’t take all of Jo’s awesomeness.
Jo hummed, arching his neck and enjoying the contact. He was leaning into Mäx, clean for the first time in days, and pretty damn happy to be able to stay in one place with his mate and his brother nearby. Life was awesome.
“Gray hairs everywhere,” Mäx continued. “Laugh lines. Cataracts.”
“I’ll still look better than you when you turn thirty.” Jo wasn’t too concerned about the aging. He didn’t actually go hoopoe as often as Mäx thought; he just ended up doing it by accident in Mäx’s bed, giving Mäx the impression that he did. If Mäx couldn’t figure out why he was changing then and that Jo couldn’t really control it, well, Mäx could go on thinking he’d have a wrinkly bedmate. Besides, it wasn’t like he looked any older.
“True,” Mäx conceded softly, spinning small circles on the back of Jo’s neck. Jo shifted, letting out a soft sigh. If someone offered, in that moment, for all the craziness in Jo’s life to go away, all the Wiedehopfs and the changing, all the business with the medallion and birds trying to kidnap him to be gone and to never have happened, he would have said no. Partly because being able to change into anything he wanted was awesome but also because he’d probably have never gotten Mäx otherwise. No one had ever called Jo a coward or shy, or anything that would prohibit him from jumping anyone’s bones, but Mäx had always been off limits to Jo, always that one person he wouldn’t try for because it might mean the end of what they had. Jo could live without his best friend, but life without Mäx…would be like a life without part of his soul. It wouldn’t be worth living. It would be like life without Fabi. Empty. Pointless.
That didn’t mean Jo expected them to stay together forever. He just wanted them to. Wiedehopfs didn’t mate for life. They might stay together a few seasons, then find another bird to chase after. Mate, Jo had realized, wasn’t short for ‘soulmate’; it was just his family’s weirdass way of saying ‘boyfriend’. Mäx still seemed so confused by it, asking Jo whether there were implications to the word that he wasn’t aware of, like if the Wiedehopfs could ‘feel’ or ‘smell’ their connection. It’s not a big thing, Jo wanted to say, but then there was the medallion and why would the medallion work if they didn’t have a connection? A boyfriend was a passing thing. There could be feelings one day and none the next. But the medallion hadn’t suddenly stopped working…
Jo’s eyes widened and he sat up, turning to point a finger at Mäx in shocked accusation.
“You,” he accused, “You’re in love with me.”
Mäx sucked in a breath, and then let it out in a rush. He rolled his eyes. “No shit.”
“No, I’m serious. You love me, like, really love me.”
“Again, no fucking shit.”
“What do you mean, no shit?”
“I mean, no shit, Jo.” Mäx moved forward and kissed the corner of Jo’s mouth. “I followed you halfway around the country to find your family, got my ass pounded a couple times for it, and now we’re in a room, sharing a bed. I think that was pretty obvious.”
“Oh,” Jo said, because thinking smart things to say didn’t seem to be on his side right then. “I think I’m in love with you, too.”
“Yeah?” Mäx asked, settling his hands on Jo’s sides, the weight familiar and comforting. Jo would know the feel of Mäx’s hands anywhere. “When’d you get that idea?”
Jo toyed with the guitarist’s scarf. God, he loved those scarves almost as much as he hated them. They were hideous but so very useful. He tugged on one end, pulling Mäx closer, pressing their foreheads together.
“I’ve had it for a while.”
The bathroom door slammed suddenly with a very aggrieved sigh from the other side.
“You don’t like listening to us, Fabi?” Jo cooed.
“Fuck no!” came the muffled reply.
“You think we should apologize?” Mäx asked.
“Nope,” Jo answered. “He’s just being ornery. We saved his ass. He owes us.” Mäx was pretty sure things had happened differently but dramatic retelling and all that. “Hey, do you think if we’re quiet enough he won’t be able to hear us through the walls?”
“Can you be quiet enough?”
Jo pursed his lips in thought, then grinned hugely.
“I can try.”
ØØØ
Mäx was going to smack them, both of them, at the same time. Just because.
He’d known from the start Fabikitten was a bad idea, but he hadn’t guessed that this would be the reason, this stupid, stupid fighting. Jobird was swooping down on Fabikitten, just screeching his happiness at getting close enough to maul his little brother, and Fabikitten’s loving every second of it, yowling his head off.
Fabikitten skidded across the floor, sliding into the stove with a bonk! He shook his stupid head, then got back up and jumped onto the counter in one go to swat at Jobird. There was jumping and gallivanting, and horrible yowling, and it went on and on every single day because they weren’t actually trying to kill each other. Mäx kind of wished they would.
Benni thought Mäx had bought a weird collection of pets the last time he came over unannounced. Everyone else considered Fabikitten the road cat that randomly appeared and disappeared.
Only Mäx got the pleasure of listening to them go at it every other day. He groaned and put his head down on the table, arms over his head to block out the sound.
“I hate you both.”
Previous
“You are going to look ninety by the time you’re thirty,” Mäx said, massaging the back of Jo’s neck. Jo had woken up next to Fabi, took one look at his lack of clothes, and decided to ditch the brotherly bedsharing before he really scarred Fabi. Kid just couldn’t take all of Jo’s awesomeness.
Jo hummed, arching his neck and enjoying the contact. He was leaning into Mäx, clean for the first time in days, and pretty damn happy to be able to stay in one place with his mate and his brother nearby. Life was awesome.
“Gray hairs everywhere,” Mäx continued. “Laugh lines. Cataracts.”
“I’ll still look better than you when you turn thirty.” Jo wasn’t too concerned about the aging. He didn’t actually go hoopoe as often as Mäx thought; he just ended up doing it by accident in Mäx’s bed, giving Mäx the impression that he did. If Mäx couldn’t figure out why he was changing then and that Jo couldn’t really control it, well, Mäx could go on thinking he’d have a wrinkly bedmate. Besides, it wasn’t like he looked any older.
“True,” Mäx conceded softly, spinning small circles on the back of Jo’s neck. Jo shifted, letting out a soft sigh. If someone offered, in that moment, for all the craziness in Jo’s life to go away, all the Wiedehopfs and the changing, all the business with the medallion and birds trying to kidnap him to be gone and to never have happened, he would have said no. Partly because being able to change into anything he wanted was awesome but also because he’d probably have never gotten Mäx otherwise. No one had ever called Jo a coward or shy, or anything that would prohibit him from jumping anyone’s bones, but Mäx had always been off limits to Jo, always that one person he wouldn’t try for because it might mean the end of what they had. Jo could live without his best friend, but life without Mäx…would be like a life without part of his soul. It wouldn’t be worth living. It would be like life without Fabi. Empty. Pointless.
That didn’t mean Jo expected them to stay together forever. He just wanted them to. Wiedehopfs didn’t mate for life. They might stay together a few seasons, then find another bird to chase after. Mate, Jo had realized, wasn’t short for ‘soulmate’; it was just his family’s weirdass way of saying ‘boyfriend’. Mäx still seemed so confused by it, asking Jo whether there were implications to the word that he wasn’t aware of, like if the Wiedehopfs could ‘feel’ or ‘smell’ their connection. It’s not a big thing, Jo wanted to say, but then there was the medallion and why would the medallion work if they didn’t have a connection? A boyfriend was a passing thing. There could be feelings one day and none the next. But the medallion hadn’t suddenly stopped working…
Jo’s eyes widened and he sat up, turning to point a finger at Mäx in shocked accusation.
“You,” he accused, “You’re in love with me.”
Mäx sucked in a breath, and then let it out in a rush. He rolled his eyes. “No shit.”
“No, I’m serious. You love me, like, really love me.”
“Again, no fucking shit.”
“What do you mean, no shit?”
“I mean, no shit, Jo.” Mäx moved forward and kissed the corner of Jo’s mouth. “I followed you halfway around the country to find your family, got my ass pounded a couple times for it, and now we’re in a room, sharing a bed. I think that was pretty obvious.”
“Oh,” Jo said, because thinking smart things to say didn’t seem to be on his side right then. “I think I’m in love with you, too.”
“Yeah?” Mäx asked, settling his hands on Jo’s sides, the weight familiar and comforting. Jo would know the feel of Mäx’s hands anywhere. “When’d you get that idea?”
Jo toyed with the guitarist’s scarf. God, he loved those scarves almost as much as he hated them. They were hideous but so very useful. He tugged on one end, pulling Mäx closer, pressing their foreheads together.
“I’ve had it for a while.”
The bathroom door slammed suddenly with a very aggrieved sigh from the other side.
“You don’t like listening to us, Fabi?” Jo cooed.
“Fuck no!” came the muffled reply.
“You think we should apologize?” Mäx asked.
“Nope,” Jo answered. “He’s just being ornery. We saved his ass. He owes us.” Mäx was pretty sure things had happened differently but dramatic retelling and all that. “Hey, do you think if we’re quiet enough he won’t be able to hear us through the walls?”
“Can you be quiet enough?”
Jo pursed his lips in thought, then grinned hugely.
“I can try.”
ØØØ
Mäx was going to smack them, both of them, at the same time. Just because.
He’d known from the start Fabikitten was a bad idea, but he hadn’t guessed that this would be the reason, this stupid, stupid fighting. Jobird was swooping down on Fabikitten, just screeching his happiness at getting close enough to maul his little brother, and Fabikitten’s loving every second of it, yowling his head off.
Fabikitten skidded across the floor, sliding into the stove with a bonk! He shook his stupid head, then got back up and jumped onto the counter in one go to swat at Jobird. There was jumping and gallivanting, and horrible yowling, and it went on and on every single day because they weren’t actually trying to kill each other. Mäx kind of wished they would.
Benni thought Mäx had bought a weird collection of pets the last time he came over unannounced. Everyone else considered Fabikitten the road cat that randomly appeared and disappeared.
Only Mäx got the pleasure of listening to them go at it every other day. He groaned and put his head down on the table, arms over his head to block out the sound.
“I hate you both.”
Previous