Angelo knocked on the door of Ares House, though he should've known no one would hear him. Thankfully, the door seemed to creek open like a cheesy horror movie. He sneaked inside, closing it behind himself. Professor Eckerström was overseeing some students at the kitchen table as they worked on a science project. It's never a good idea to be anywhere near him and potential explosives.

"Angelo!" The Professor called out, startling him, "What a pleasant surprise. How may we help you?"

"Um, hi." He muttered, "I'm looking for Chris."

"In his room. Upstairs, last door on the left." He replied.

Angelo smiled gently, "Thank you."

That was, thankfully, uneventful. Just as Angelo reached the top of the steps, he heard some yelling downstairs followed by crackling and the sound of a fire extinguisher. Well, it could always be worse. He continued on through the mad house until he reached the end of the long hall, where he found a door decorated with a Misfits poster.

Since no one seems to be paying attention around here anyways, he didn't bother knocking this time. Inside, he found Chris sat on his bed with his headphones in and a journal in his lap. This back room was small enough that he wasn't forced to share it with anyone. He quickly pulled out his earbuds when he saw one of his closest friends enter.

"Sorry I let myself in." Angelo said.

"It's okay. I don't mind." Chris replied, "What're you doing here?"

"Mr. Sandelin is taking a few of us with wings on a small trip to the coast. I wanted to see if you wanted to join us. Um, I text you about it this morning but you didn't answer."

Chris unlocked his phone and opened his messages to see there was, in fact, an unread text from him. "I'm sorry, I didn't see it. Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm going to stay in."

Angelo went quiet for a moment as he thought. Then he softly sighed, mustering up the courage to address the elephant in the room. "I don't mean to be mean or anything, but... Is there a reason you don't ever go into your animal form? I've never even seen you in it once."

He diverted his eyes, getting that nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach like he was going to throw up. Chris never did well with confrontation. He didn't have the heart for it. "I'm just not comfortable like that. That's all."

Ange wasn't going to push him. He responded, "It's nothing to be ashamed of. There's a lot of humans that wish they could be like us, to know what it feels like to fly, to see the world from a bird's eye view. Don't take it for granted. Anyways, if you ever change your mind, I'm sure any of the avian instructors would take you out whenever you wanted. You are a total teacher's pet."

Chris snickered, "Thanks, Ange. Have a good time. I'll see you in class Monday."

"Yeah, see you then." He mumbled before slipping out the door.

Once he was gone, Chris released a trapped breath. He pulled his knees to his chest and tried his best to keep it together. The others might have the confidence to run around in their animal forms, care free, but he's never understood how they manage it. How exactly do they keep themselves from feeling like they're freaks of nature? Like they don't belong in this world?

He glanced out the window briefly to catch a glimpse of a small flock of birds taking off—A cardinal, a snow owl, and a few others. Chris felt his face begin to heat up. He didn't want to cry. Swallowing down his pain the best he could, he quickly collected his things and forced himself out into the hall. If he was around other people, his fear of public humiliation would override his breakdown and keep him from sobbing.

Journeying downstairs, he found Professor Eckerström helping his students clean up their mess. As crazy as he was, he acted like a leader should. He always worked alongside his students, instead of ordering them around. Chris lost himself in a daze as he stood at the end of the stairs, observing and waiting. He felt something fluffy brush past him. Glancing down, he saw Ryan in animal form trotting into the kitchen. The little fennec fox hopped up on a chair, then onto the table.

"Professor, can Ricky and I sleep over at the Stargazer building tonight?" Ryan asked, "Miss Courtney's letting some of her students and she said we could join if we wanted."

"Will Miss Courtney be providing you with dinner, as well?" He questioned.

The fox gave a nod, "Yup."

"Then, you have my permission. Please let me know when you're leaving."

"Thanks." Ryan hopped back onto the floor and pranced back upstairs.

As he passed by Chris, the Professor took note of the crow standing by awkwardly with a look of dismay on his face. Professor Eckerström set down the cleaning rag in his hand and walked over to him. "Chris, is there something you need?"

"Um, yeah... But it can wait. You look busy." He said.

His teacher glanced back at the kitchen, seeing everything nearly put away. "Actually, I'm free as a bird. Pun intended." He grinned, "How may I help?"

"The Headmaster has this whole rule that I can't go see him unless a teacher escorts me." He murmured.

"Of course. I can take you now. We'll be walking, I assume?" Professor Eckerström asked he opened the front door.

Chris hesitantly nodded, "I hope that's okay."

"One should never complain about exercise!" He happily remarked, jumping off the porch. It was fair to say he was pretty much the Joker minus the criminally insane part. Full on chaotic good. Professor Eckerström thought briefly, adding, "I retract that statement. One should never complain about exercise, unless it's gym class with Katya."

Chris didn't know anything about that, considering he's managed to get out of P.E. by being Kuza's assistant. Though, if the Professor was acting like someone was crazy, it had to have been bad. Over their walk, he educated Chris by sharing stories of the Russian's absurd stunts. It was nothing deadly, but certainly sadistic.

He was rather grateful that Professor Eckerström did the majority of the talking because he was not in the mood to. Even saying small words of acknowledgment like "oh" and "wow" made him feel sick to his stomach. Despite how it may seem on the surface, the Professor could see his student was on the verge of a breakdown. That's why he'd chose to drop everything to take Chris to the Headmaster, and why he filled the walk with conversation. He also knew what was going on between his student and his boss, but he felt there were many things in this world best left unsaid.

Finally, they reached the top of the mountain. When Professor Eckerström knocked loudly, it took a brief moment for Kuza to answer. However, he wasn't surprised at what he found. He'd picked up their scents long before they'd arrived. The Professor gave a comical bow, then took off. In a flash of light, he transformed into an eagle and began flying back home.

"Hey, Sweetie. This is a pleasant surprise." Kuza placed his hand along Chris' cheek, lifting his head. "What's wrong?"

"I, just-" He got choked up on his words. The tears he'd been fighting off over the last half hour finally broke free. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Shh, shh, it's okay." Kuza instantly pulled him into the house, wrapping his arms around him. "I'm right here. What's wrong, baby?"

"I-It's so stupid." He sniffled, "I, just- I don't-"

"It's okay. We don't have to talk about it." He pulled back briefly and placed a loving kiss on Chris' forehead. "Go lay down in my bed and get comfortable. I'll be there in just a minute. Okay?"

Chris nodded, his vision still blurred by a flood of tears. He slumped on upstairs to the loft, removing his shoes and jacket and cuddling into Kuza's bed. All the blankets smelled like him, which was incredibly comforting. Downstairs, Kuza first made sure to lock up the door. He had a fairly modern house for an ancient dragon. With the push of a button, the shades all drew themselves shut and the house went dark.

Kuza grabbed a glass from the kitchen, filling it with cranberry-cherry juice. He didn't think he would get food down Chris just yet and decided to hold off on cooking anything. As he entered the loft, he set the glass down on the nightstand.

"It's perfectly okay to cry, baby, but make sure you stay hydrated, or else you'll get a headache." He said.

With shaky hands, Chris picked up the glass. "Thank you." He muttered, taking a small sip.

Kuza was already in sweats, since it was a Saturday. He disregarded his shirt and climbed into bed next to his crying crow. Chris snuggled into his chest and continued to let out all his pent up pain. Though the Headmaster didn't know exactly what this was all about, he had his guesses. Chris was at that age where anything can make you breakdown. Plus, he was the sensitive type.

Eventually, after fifteen minutes of cuddling and comforting, the truth finally came out. Chris explained how his insecurities over his animal traits was affecting his relationships with his friends and how they viewed him. He felt like everyone disliked him or took pity on him for the way he was. Kuza tried his best to reassure him that he was gorgeous and people didn't judge him like he thought, but he knew it was a waste of breath.

The best he could do was show Chris how much he loved him. So, he cooked them a meal, and told him he could stay the night. Following the fiasco a few weeks ago with the shadow break in, he wasn't able to sleep over then. This would be the first time he would be staying overnight, and that gift alone was enough to wipe away all his sorrow.

—
a/n

hi guys! I just wanted to say thank you so much for being so active in the comments on this one. Active comments makes me want to write a story more bc it makes me happy when you guys are enjoying it <3

I already asked this on IG, but I'll ask again for anyone who doesn't follow me there! Any band members you'd like to see make an appearance? What animals should they be?