Welcome back! It's time we rejoin Amara as she continues her journey into discovering how many limbs she's supposed to have. How will her wings complicate things? Keep reading and you might find out!
(Content Warning: This chapter contains realistic portrayals of violence and alcoholism.)
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Amara kicked off her covers as she yawned, stretching her arms over her head. Before she could finish, a loud thud caught her attention, and she groaned with frustration. Looking at her nightstand, she saw that her left wing now sat where her phone had previously been charging.
She pocketed her phone before moving to the middle of the room, where she stretched open her wings. When she flexed them, her wings had just enough space to open, so long as she didn't face the short wall, and she did her best to avoid breaking anything else.
Thankfully, she'd figured out how to dress herself, but only if the clothing accommodated her wings. Racerback tanks were the most comfortable, and she'd already ordered a new set online.
Pushing out into the hallway, she carefully made her way to the living room. The walls were covered with fresh scratches, and a stack of partially broken frames sat on the floor. She walked at an angle, eyes darting between the walls and the ceiling, and she counted at least four new gouges before she cleared the hall.
"So long security deposit..." Amara mumbled.
Her living room was fairly open, and it combined with the kitchen to make the largest room in the house. There was a small breakfast counter between the two spaces, technically, but Amara didn't feel like it counted. She started making her morning coffee as she checked her messages.
Her wings had appeared late Saturday night, and Nick had stayed with her Sunday in hopes of finding a way to hide them. After hours of research, including a quick fuck, they'd decided it was no longer feasible for Amara to go to class.
Setting her coffee on the counter, she set up her laptop and emailed all her professors for the week. As replies slowly filtered in, she gave Nick a list of teachers that he needed to visit to get her homework. He was planning to swing by later this afternoon, and it looked like Tessa was planning to bring lunch over.
With nothing to do, Amara briefly considered taking a shower, but the memory of yesterday's attempt still haunted her. Hopefully the new shower curtain would be here soon.
Maybe I could sneak into a locker room? Who am I kidding, I can't sneak anywhere with these.
Amara hopped onto her couch and turned the TV on, wondering what she could do with her sudden vacation.
The next few hours passed slowly. At first the downtime had been nice, but before long she was itching to do something. She frequently found herself staring out the window, up at the sky, wondering what flying out there would feel like.
When Tessa showed up with bags of fast food, Amara was ecstatic for the distraction. She opened the door, hiding behind it to stay out of sight.
"Alright, let's see these bad boys! I'm used to people lying about their size, so don't let me down." Tessa smirked as she kicked the door closed, and her eyes went wide when she saw Amara. "Fucking hell, Amara, you weren't kidding."
'Right? Hang on, let me open them up!" Amara moved to the center of the living room, then extended her wings to let Tessa inspect them.
"And you can actually fly? What's a girl gotta do to go for a ride?" Tessa walked slowly around her.
"I'll do it for free if you can guarantee no one sees us, but until then I get to be a hermit."
"I think you're worth a lot more than free, but you do you." Tessa laughed as she finished her circle. Her eyes darted from Amara's wings, to her tail, to her horns, and Amara was surprised to see her friend's aura pulse slightly.
The two sat down, eagerly digging into their food as Amara shared all the details from her adventure in the gymnastics building. She was thrilled that the tension had vanished between them, and their lunch felt just as natural as always.
Tessa also shared updates about her magic side project. She had more theories she wanted to test, and the two agreed that Amara would make a great bodyguard should anything strange happen. They had started to think that these strange occurrences might not be natural, and running into other mages might be inevitable.
They agreed to meet up again Saturday, then Tessa had to leave for classes. Hugging goodbye, Amara wrapped Tessa up in her wings and her tail, and she caught another pulse in her aura, which made her smirk.
The day dragged on, and Amara grew more restless with each passing hour. When Nick arrived with her homework, he caught her in the middle of trying different YouTube exercise routines. They spent a good chunk of the afternoon together, doing homework and making food, but he sadly had other plans for the evening.
The rest of the week continued in a similar fashion. Amara spent quite a bit of time trying to stay caught up with her classes, and thankfully many of her professors were kind enough to offer brief summaries of the week's syllabus. She supplemented her schoolwork with more demon research, but most of what she found was hypothetical.
Before she knew it, Friday evening had descended, and she was no closer to finding a way to hide her wings. Nick had just arrived with food, and she opened the door to let him in.
"Niiiick I'm so bored!" Amara groaned.
"Oh, hi Nick! It's so good to see you! How was your day?" Nick walked inside, closing the door behind him as he mocked Amara. "It was great! I'm so glad you asked."
"Yeah? Should I ask about the weather too?"
"Hey, maybe I just want to feel appreciated sometimes." He set down his backpack before joining Amara at the counter.
"Appreciated? Is the constant sex not enough anymore? I knew it! You only like me for my personality!"
They stared at each other for a moment before breaking out into laughter. They started eating dinner, and Nick handed over her homework while catching her up on his day.
Unfortunately, Nick's research into her wings had also hit a dead end. The few theories he had were starting to pull from fiction, and Amara stopped caring at that point.
"I finally find the silver lining to this transformation, and immediately have to hide myself away. This sucks." Amara groaned as she pushed her empty plates away.
"Hey, we'll figure it out. Just the other day you were complaining about not being able to fly, but look at you now!"
"You're probably right... doesn't make the waiting easier though."
"Well, speaking of change, I've got something I kinda wanted to talk to you about?" Nick moved to the couch and gestured for Amara to join him.
"Should I be nervous?"
"Um, nothing has happened yet, I'm just trying to stay on top of things."
Amara got up and joined him, taking care not to hit him with her wings. "Alright, I'm a big girl, lay it on me."
Nick leaned forward, and Amara realized that he was more nervous than she'd initially realized. "So... I asked Vee out."
"AAH! Nick! Fucking finally!" She threw herself at Nick, squeezing him tight. "I thought you'd never do it! Tell me everything!"