Disclaimer: The usual.

A/N: I'm really torn about whether Simon keeps his wings and tail or not, but this chapter wanted to be written, so.

BAZ

The first time I saw Snow with wings and a tail, I couldn't quite believe my eyes. He looked like a cartoon devil, and I couldn't imagine what kind of god or fate or power was playing a trick on us. But that's turning out to be nothing to how it is to see him without wings and a tail.

It's like this: after a year and a half of having his magickal appendages, and after completing his first year of uni, Snow decides he wants his wings and tail removed. I think I make the decision harder, honestly, since I enjoy playing with his tail and stroking his wings. But even I can see that Snow's decision makes sense. Bunce or I have to hide Snow's extra appendages every morning, and sometimes the spells wear off. Besides, tucking everything in makes Snow's clothes fit funny, while leaving everything loose threatens to expose him if people somehow feel his wings or tail, like if they run into him from behind.

Even though it's a sensible decision, and also his choice, Snow asks my permission to have his wings and tail removed, like I should have a say. I reply, "Do what you want, Snow. It's your body."

"Come on, I thought you were calling me Simon now," Snow whines, rather than reacting to the rest of what I said.

I huff. "Simon. You can make your own decisions. You don't need my permission."

Snow smiles when I say his name, but then he says, "But will you mind? I know you like my tail . . . and my wings . . ."

"I'll be fine. You get to do what you want to do with your body."

"Are you sure?" he asks.

I roll my eyes. "Yes."

So, when the time comes, I accompany him to Dr Wellbelove's office. Dr Wellbelove explains the procedure to both of us and then takes Snow back into the operating room to perform the actual surgery. The procedure takes hours, and I suppose I could leave and come back, but that would feel like I was betraying Snow, so instead I stay and read the entirety of Wuthering Heights. I see more of myself in Heathcliff than I want to, though I figure Snow would cast me as Linton on account of my bloodline. Merlin and Morgana, Snow would probably think of himself as Heathcliff and me as Linton. Wellbelove is nothing like Catherine, though.

I lean back so that my head rests against the wall behind my chair and remind myself that people in real life don't need to correspond with people in books. We get to be ourselves, without the comparisons.

I've been scrolling through my BBC app for a while by the time Dr Wellbelove pokes his head out of the operating room. "He's waking up now, Basil," the doctor says.

I hold Snow's hand as he blinks himself into consciousness. "Hey, Baz," he whispers, slurring the greeting a bit, once his eyes are fully open.

"Hey, Simon," I reply, using his first name without being asked for once.

We don't say much then, mostly because Snow is too drugged to really hold a conversation. But when he's released from Dr Wellbelove's care a few days later and I wake up next to him for the first time since the operation, I can't help but recoil in surprise before I remember what happened. It's the first time I've ever slept over at Simon's and not woken up with a faceful of wing or a tail curled around me, and, for a moment, I wonder, Oh my God, who did I just share a bed with?

Then Simon opens his blue eyes and I remember exactly what happened, and I know it's nothing to worry about.