Birds of a Feather Collection

Lights Out

— Things happen in the dark. And maybe not the things you expected.

"…fuuuuckkk…"

The word lingered long after you stopped saying it and it mingled with darkness that now engulfed your apartment. An outage. It was just your luck too. You hadn't planned on going out despite the many invites that had been sent your way—Christmas parties, dinners, etc. Sure, it was Christmas Eve but with no family close by nor any friends you were super close to that you would spend the night with, you decided that the best way to spend the night would be alone. Mind made up, you had just changed into something comfortable to watch movies and play video games when the lights went out. Grumbling under your breath, you put on a jacket and venture out of the haven that is your apartment onto the hallway with only the light of your phone to guide the way.

Your place was a luxury you could afford to have. One of the few honestly. You liked living in comfort even when it meant working a bit harder than others for it. It was well worth it though. Great security, amazing neighbors (that weren't nosy as hell, by the by) and unbelievable service. Though you supposed that that wasn't really applicable right at this very moment.

"Is that you, tweetie?"

The familiar name caught you off guard and you turn only to have the bright light of a flashlight beam right in your face.

"God, could you lower that?" you grumbled.

Your neighbor chuckled before clicking off the light he had and letting only your phone light the hallway that you two now stood in. Now that you could actually see him, you glared peeved at the No.2 hero that just so happened to share a floor with you in your complex. His enormous wings, too big for the hall, linger behind him, tucked away for safety, but bristled as he laughed.

"Bit grumpy there, tweetie." Hawks asked while lowering his flashlight and clicking it on for the light to hit the floor instead of blinding you like before. "What? Did the power go out before you could save?"

Your cheeks puffed in irritation at the reminder. Hawks instantly chortled at your reaction and you felt oh so tempted to throw you phone at him. But before you can even try, a chill runs down your spine as the temperature from outside finally seems to catch onto you. Oh right. The whole building, including your apartment, had been heated because of how cold it was outside. Without power, the heater was off. And your pjs and light jacket weren't doing you any favors.

"It's kinda cold out here." Suddenly, a small push from your back makes you jump a bit until Hawks carefully extends his wing forward as if to coax her forward. Pointing his thumb towards his apartment, Hawks grinned, "Luckily, I had some coffee made just before it went dark. Want a cup?"

It was sensible to decline, but the next chill that made you shiver told you otherwise.

"F-F-Fine."

Without much more prompting you led the way into his place and followed afterwards after him as he led you into living room. Motioning with one of his wings to the sofa, he made his way to the kitchen while some of his feathers, sparkling in the moonlight that poured through the windows, flew away to god knew where.

"Make yourself comfortable. I'll get you that coffee on the double."

"I-I-Is my cup you borrowed still here?"

"Serving you on it as we speak." As you snuggled into the corner of the sofa, you could hear him pouring the coffee into two mugs. "You still like your coffee with honey?"

"Yes, please!"

By then, you had begun to blow hot air into your cupped hands as the cold began to seep into your body. Just as you were about to huddle closer to yourself, you felt soft cotton fall over your shoulders. Glancing behind you was enough to catch the feathers that had dropped the blanket on you. You thank them under your breath and smile when you hear Hawks coming back from the kitchen with a couple of mugs in his hand while his feathers helped him light the way.

He stopped in front you and bent forward with the light angled for you to see what he was doing as he passed you your mug. As you reach for it with both hands, he smiles and say, "Careful, tweetie. It's hot."

Blowing a few times on it for it to cool proved futile when you tasted it and it remained hot as it'd been. He shakes his head at your stubbornness but chuckles to himself as he takes a seat on the other side of the sofa you sat on. He picks out his phone as he does and turns it on before turning it over for you to see the screen.

"Looks like the whole of our neighborhood is completely blacked out."

Finally tepid enough, you take a small sip. Though the honey clashed with the coffee it was an acquired taste that you loved. Those big eyes of yours look up at him at the news, "No kidding. Wonder what caused it."

"Probably some nut messing around and getting the electric wires as collateral."

"Sounds too good for a hunch."

Hawks scrolled further down on the feed he was on before turning it back towards you. Clear as day on the page was the news of a villain attack having damaged the electric company's main tower in Kyushu. Great, just your luck.

"What luck, huh?" you say.

"Ain't it?"

Silence came over you both then. As your drank your coffee in silence, you wondered how the No.2 hero could be alone in his apartment on Christmas Eve. Certainly there should be some extravagant party that he got invited to. Goodness knew that you didn't see him that often as it was. Ever since he moved in and introduced himself to you two years ago now, you saw him sparsely. But being quite friendly yourself, despite appearances that made say otherwise, you welcomed him as your neighbor readily. The few hellos and good mornings you exchanged during certain days eased you both into it and after a few times of catching each other in the elevator, you began to notice that he wasn't quite the chatterbox that he seemed to be in TV. Yes, he liked talking but not quite wasting unnecessary breath in idle chatter. And you, being quite down to earth about him being a hero, understood that. It's why you only ever said your pleasantries when you saw it fit. If he seemed in a good mood, you trudged forward with a little conversation. If not, you left it at hello and goodbye.

Hawks seemed to appreciate this. Oftentimes he came to you when he had extra tickets to an event or gifts that had been given to him but weren't quite his taste that he thought you might enjoy better. Little things that brought you closer as neighbors made you thick as thieves after two years of sharing the same floor.

Now it was like having a good friend living next door. You two knew stuff about each other that you surely wouldn't share with other outside of close friends or family. And though it bothered you that somehow couldn't help feel something for him that wasn't neighborly, you decided to not pay it any attention. You knew it'd be better that way. It certainly wasn't easy but once you repeated to yourself that it wouldn't happen for the umpteenth time, you began to believe it. Your feelings finally settled down to what amounted to a mere infatuation.

It was there, you knew it. You acknowledged it. But it wouldn't move past that.

"You weren't planning on going out tonight, tweetie?"

His sudden question caught you off guard, your cup fumbling a bit in your grip, but you held your ground as you replied. "Not really. Christmas isn't really a favorite time of year for me."

"Really?" One of his eyebrows quirked up at that as he leaned a bit forward, curious. "How come?"

"Too many people that like to party and get shitfaced drunk kinda ruin the festivity for me." Your nose scrunched up at the thought, "I enjoy the festive food in the comfort of my home though. That's pretty much what I look forward to this time of year." With another sip of her coffee, she decided to let it sit a while longer between her hands to cool. "And you? No fancy parties to attend?"

"Plenty," he says with mild amusement. Though you can't see his face very in the dark, you do catch a glimpse of his lips upturning to a grin. "But it's too much of a hassle so I don't."

"Isn't that, like, bad press or something?"

Hawks scoffed taking a long swig of his coffee. "Not with the PR team I have, it isn't. They'll deal with the backlash of that. Besides, it's not like heroes can't have holidays anyway. That I use them as they think I do is a whole other story though."

You scoffed back at what you came to know as his usual antics. Finally starting to feel comfortable without that nagging feeling pushing around, you try to take another sip of your mug while at the same time trying to sit up and adjust yourself. Bad idea.

The moment you tried to maneuver yourself without light made you stumble a bit around as you tried not to fall off the couch, but just as you're trying to avoid a sure facepalm onto the floor below, you lose your grip on your mug. It crashed against the tile with a resounding crack and sent your heart spiraling into a frenzy at your clumsiness.

"I-I'll get it!"

"No, don't!"

It was a tangled mess. Hawks, in his attempts to keep you from accidentally cutting yourself with the pieces of ceramic, hauled you properly onto the sofa and lost his own bearings a little. His reflexes didn't fail him completely though, and he somehow managed to keep himself from falling on top of you by bracing himself with his arms.

You were safe. He was fine.

It just so happened that now he had you pinned down beneath him.

For a moment, your breath hitched as you both stared into each other's eyes. Not a sound came out of either of you. Only silence and a hair's breadth separated you two. Those amber eyes seemed to almost devour you in the way they were staring back at you. You simply tried to reason with your mind that this was just an accident. Really, really tried to convince it that this was just a happy little accident that happened at the expense of your favorite mug.

But you couldn't. Your heart raced unbelievably fast. You swore he would be able to hear your heartbeats from how close he was, practically on top of you. And your mind couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful his amber eyes looked in this light.

…

Wait.

Light?

"…the light's back on."

You had no idea what possessed you to break the silence that had encapsulated the two of you. But you did with those simple words, bringing the matter of his now lit apartment to his attention. Hawks slowly back away from you and took his seat back on the sofa. Oddly enough, though, he remained still as could be as his expression remained pensive for a moment. As is snapping himself out of his own thoughts a second later though, Hawks blinked a couple of times before the realization dawned on him. Wings you hadn't noticed had been sprawled out behind him drooped a little as a sad smile came to his lips.

"That it is."

Everything went a little too fast for your liking after that. He carefully got you over the sofa so as to avoid your broken mug all the while telling you that he'd replace it with another one some other time, before guiding out of his apartment, down the hall and to your front door.

"Well," he said with a meek grin, hands shoved into the pockets of his sweatpants. "Guess you can go back to playing now." Hawks turned his body sideways, wings neatly tucked behind him. "Good luck beating those levels, tweetie."

Something had to be wrong with you that night. There had to be. Otherwise you wouldn't have let the words that escape you do so when you saw his receding back.

"Want to spend the night with me?"

A loud smack startled you into your mind again when Hawks' wings suddenly spread out without warning. He quickly smacked them back into place as if forgetting her could control them, and when it didn't work all that well, he simply burrowed a little hole between his bristled feathers to peak from behind them.

"I didn't know you were that forward, tweetie."

All at once, embarrassment rained down on you turning your cheeks crimson. But you quickly swallowed that down and corrected your words. "N-N-N-Not like that, you big dodo!" Clearing your throat and glaring a bit at him, you pointed back to your apartment door with your thumb, cheeks still flushed as could be. "I was gonna order some take-out and binge the sweets I have. What I meant to say is…wanna play video games and watch sappy Christmas movies with me?" With a nonchalant shrug, you ended it with, "It's not like you have anything better to do, right?"

That statement took him by surprise and got him cackling. Once his laughter died down, his wings seemed to settle down as he tucked them back behind him as he turned towards you.

"You know what? That actually sounds like my kind of night." Hawks gave you one of his signature smirks, yet somehow it was more genuine that you'd ever seen it. "Can I pick the movie?"

You chuckled a little before opening your door and leaving it open for him to follow. "Only if it's a Christmas movie."

Hawks laughed as he followed behind you and closed the door.

"Die Hard it is."