An unexpected trip Pt. 03
Arthur woke to one of Digitalis's blue feathers stuck to his face with his own drool. He sat up, peeling it away from his cheek. Next to him, his movement woke Digitalis.
"What time is it?" yawned Digitalis.
The small digital alarm clock was on Arthur's side of the bed, and he noted two things when he turned over to look at it: the sky outside was dark, and he had a massive erection, straining against his pajama pants as he shifted. "It's four forty-five in the morning."
Digitalis sat up. "If it was summer I would go out for a run."
"You are a strange, sexy man," said Arthur. He turned back over, looking up at Digitalis. Digitalis's eyes were amber yellow, had no pupils, and reflected subtly in the dark, glinting like muted flames from faraway lanterns. Like Arthur, he had a large set of birdlike wings; they were colored like a bluejay's, though in the scant light only the white stripe across his wing stood out. Digitalis's hair was blue, several shades lighter than his feathers, short, and wavy. He slid the blankets off himself and swung his legs off the bed.
"Thanks," snorted Digitalis, leaning down to kiss Arthur. "I try."
"Where are you going?" asked Arthur.
"I'm gonna make some instant coffee and check out what's on cable at this hour."
"How are you going to heat up the water though?" asked Arthur. There were no pots, pans, or kettles in the kitchen; Arthur had never known his father to cook anything that wasn't microwaveable.
"I have a long history with instant coffee," said Digitalis. "Hot tap water should work."
Arthur got up and followed Digitalis to the kitchen, stowing his erection in the waistband of his pants and grabbing a bathrobe. Ten minutes later, they were cuddled up on the couch under a blanket, finishing their second round of instant coffee. The only programs on the air were infomercials and the local weather channel, and they drank the coffee quickly out of boredom. Arthur started really needing to pee after the first cup, but his persistent morning wood was handily keeping him from letting any out anytime soon. He couldn't decide whether he liked it or not, and admired Digitalis's butt when he hurried off to the kitchen, returning with a third cup of coffee for each of them.
"So what'd I miss?" asked Digitalis as he sat down.
"More snow in the weather forecast," said Arthur. "It's supposed to melt later though."
Digitalis sighed. "Wonderful. We were only knee-deep in it yesterday. I'm a little scared to look outside."
Arthur and Digitalis were currently staying in Arthur's father's former residence, a small mother-in-law house in Arthur's brother's backyard, for the upcoming funeral. It was cozy and hadn't been used in the months since their father had gone into hospice care. Arthur's brother Fox and his partner Caspia had cleaned it from top to bottom for the occasion.
"Maybe they'll just cancel the funeral and we'll get to go home." yawned Arthur.
"The snow would have to clear up before we could go anywhere," said Digitalis, kissing Arthur on the forehead. It made Arthur's stubborn erection throb, hidden under the blanket. "Maybe I should go out and shovel the walkway before breakfast...does your brother own a snow shovel?"
Arthur leaned on Digitalis's shoulder. Even at rest, he seemed to radiate heat. "I have no idea, Digit."
"I just want to get my heart pumping somehow," sighed Digitalis. "I guess I could do some pushups on the floor-"
"Or if you like," said Arthur, sitting up. "Maybe I could help out?"
Digitalis stared at Arthur for a long moment, then turned pink. "Oh? What do you have in mind?"
Arthur sat up. "Well...a couple weeks ago I went to resupply on condoms, and I bought a-" Arthur paused, surprised to feel himself blushing. "I bought a...an um...an erotic novel. For us to read."
"Did you bring it with us?" asked Digitalis.
Arthur nodded. "It's in the front pocket of my backpack."
Digitalis got up and disappeared into the bedroom to retrieve the book. Arthur hadn't expected to feel this embarrassed about it, and thought he'd acted very cool and normal buying the book. He preened at his black-feathered wings nervously and smoothed back the dark strands of hair escaping from his waist-length nighttime braid. The previous day, though uneventful, had been oddly draining. The funeral home had postponed their appointment due to the weather, and they'd spent the day indoors, playing board games with Arthur's family. Meanwhile, the wind howled outside and the snow piled up.
"Seventeen Shades of Sensuality: An Anthology," Digitalis read off the cover, emerging from the hallway. As he sat down he flipped through it. "No table of contents?"
"Not that I saw," said Arthur, taking a slow drink of his coffee. It was awful, and almost distracted him while Digitalis surveyed the first pages.
"'I sucked on the clitoris of'..." he read aloud, stopping to read ahead a little. "Bear, did you read this before you bought it?"
Arthur gulped. "No. It was just sitting there next to a display of cock rings and I just kind of...picked it up on the way to the counter. Why?"
Digitalis snorted, flipping through more of the book. "These are all...uh...written by the same guy."
"That doesn't sound so bad," said Arthur. "It has an okay start."
Digitalis cleared his throat and read: "...on the clitoris of her thoughts, until she moaned prosperity. I gripped her from behind and slow grind my fully erected sound mind against her childhood traumas-"
Forgetting that he was still holding his coffee mug to his lips, Arthur inhaled a large amount of instant coffee, spitting it in a fine spray all over the blanket and himself. The tap water was just hot enough to scald the back of his throat. Arthur breathed in to laugh and choked on the last of the coffee.
