So... I got this headcannon that Aphmau, after transforming for the first time in MCD struggles with her wings... taking place a short while before they find Lilith.

Aphmau pressed her back against the cold wall of the ships hold, it was the only thing she found that even slightly relived the irritation and pain that was her wings begging to be set free from the thier confines beneath her skin.

She hated her own body, and she hated more that the wings she had obtained from Irene's relic were a permanent part of her body even if they couldn't always be seen.

They writhed underneath her skin, it wasn't constant, some days she could barely feel them, a barely there itch that could be ignored with enough distractions, and she usually had plenty of those.

But this was a bad day, a very bad day where they writhed and pushed and burned, they wanted to be free from the confines of her skin, and it terrified her.

Because what was once just a transformation, a being of power she transformed into when only absolutely necessary just became... her.

Like it was always her.

And that implication was terrifying, so she never let her wings out for any reason except the most desperate of times, and as such, they continued to irritate her until she transformed again or accepted the fact that she just had wings now.

They were sailing towards the island, and tensions were running high with how long they'd been at sea without finding anything at all. And she had hidden herself behind boxes in the cargo hold so that no one could see her pressing her bare back against the wall.

She knew deep down that none of her freinds would care that she had wings, but she cared, she knew that having them wasn't normal and that people would ask questions she couldn't answer, or didn't want to know the answer to.

So here she was, rubbing her back slowly against the wooden hull, leaching off whatever heat she could from her.

"What the hell are you doing?" She jumped out of her skin, immediately pulling her shirt down to cover herself and turning to the voice, her face alighting with the brightest blush that had ever graced her face.

Aaron stood there, his hood and mask absent, leaning against some of the boxes with his arms crossed, she couldn't tell how long he'd been there from expression alone.

"Errrm, I... I was...." She trailed off in embarrassment, unsure how to explain to him that her wings were bothering her.

"You're in pain." He said simply, pointing out the grimace on her face as her wings throbbed uncomfortably, she nodded, face still a vibrant red.

"Your back? The only reason I could think of for doing what you were is if it's overheated." Aphmau always admired Aaron's observations, but right now she was cursing him for being so astute.

"I-it's my w-wings." She admitted after holding his gaze for a moment, he raised an eyebrow at her inquisitively, encouraging her to explain.

"Ever since my first transformation, I can always feel my wings underneath my skin, most of the time it's bearable..."

"But today they bother you?" He finished for her, his gaze was the same unreadable expression, but Aphmau could see... something flicker behind his dark eyes.

He stepped closer, looking her up and down for a moment.

"Yes, I can't even think straight right now." She admitted, looking away from him and sighing a long suffering sigh.

"If it's your wings, why don't you let them out? He suggested, and she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

"It's fine. I just have to get through the day, they'll calm down after I get some sleep." She ran a finger through her raven hair and went to walk past him, only for a hand to grip her shoulder, making her wings shift painfully.

"Why would you deny yourself such simple relief? No one on this boat would judge you for them." Aaron's voice did not betray any emotion that he may have been feeling, but Aphmau could still somehow feel his concern.

"I judge me." She said simply, shrugging off his hand and walking up to the deck, trying to distract herself from the irritation growing more restless than ever before.

                           :Several Hours Later:

She couldn't sleep, every single touch against her back was too much, her wings ached to be set free from her body, and now her eyes stung with the magical power she was forcefully reigning in.

She lept up out of bed and climbed up into the crows nest, taking in the sea breeze and gritting her teeth.

She was so caught up in the wave of stinging irritation she barely noticed when someone put a hand on her shoulder.

She met the dark gaze of the former lord, her eyes betrayed her, almost pleading for help even as her own expression morphed into displeasure.

"Why are you awake?" She asked irritability, she noticed he had yet to remove his hand, but said nothing to mention it.

"I could ask you that, but I have a feeling I already know." In the next moment, her breath hitched in agony as his hand ever so slightly grazed under her shoulder blade, where her wings would normally sprout.

"Don't force yourself to endure this. It's plain to see you are in agony." She closed her eyes, tears threatening to fall from her face and over the crows nest railing.

"They're unnatural." She said softly, only loud enough for him to barely hear, but he gently leaned forward until he was almost touching her, she felt herself blush slightly.

"If your body is in this much pain, than the wings are natural for you. Please, don't make me watch you suffer." She locked eyes with him, for once the concern in his face was clear, she groaned. And let go.

She had to bite her hand to stop the very embarrassing sound that threatened to erupt from her mouth the second the wings violently sprung from her back, Aaron quickly had to back away to avoid being hit by the feathery appendages.

"Wow." She blushed heavily, she'd never had her wings outside her transformation, and his approval, however small, was very welcome.

Her breath slowed as she finally felt the cool breeze flow gently through her feathers, all the irritation had immediately melted away, she sighed, now dejected at the realization that she was permanently going to have wings.

Aaron gently stood beside her, taking in the same view she was, Aphmau looked over at him, the moon reflecting off his dark eyes like it was still pools of water.

"Thank you." She said slowly, her wings gave off the smallest amount of silver light, making her seem all the more angelic, something that made her all the more upset.

"No problem." He replied, very little more in words passed between them after that, in a way, it made her feel better, he'd acknowledged the fact that she did indeed have wings, but then just stood and watched the waves with her, just like if she hadn't just let her wings go.

She tested each wing out, flapping and stretching them slowly, she'd never thought about them much more past them being a constant irritant, and a reminder that she wasn't quite human anymore, but she could probably learn to fly, her wings were certainly big enough.

"If it makes you feel better, they look angelic." He commented, he hadn't turned to look at her but he could feel the movement of her wings behind him.

"That's why I don't like them. I don't want to be an angel." Now Aaron turned to face her, his eyebrow raised again, questioning her silently.

"I don't want to be compared to Irene, or called an angel, or be seen as anything other than me. Aphmau." She said her own name with a fierce dignation, and it made him smile a moment.

"These wings are a constant reminder that I will never be normal." She finished, he turned, not looking at her but instead studying her wings.

"Well, you aren't wrong." He said simply, making her head snap to his attention in offense, but it was clear he wasn't done speaking.

"But hiding them, and forcing them away will never change the fact that they are a part of you." He finished, she blushed lightly as he seemed to be drawn into them, he lifted his hand to touch them, but stopped, his hand hovering just before it made contact.

"You can touch them." Aphmau surprised herself, she'd not yet accepted her wings and here she was inviting someone to touch them. Even Aaron himself looked relatively surprised.

He slowly made contact with the surface of her wing, ruffling the iridescent feathers, at his touch, their light grew a little brighter.

It was a strange feeling, having anyone touch her wings, she was disconnected enough from them that this didn't feel like an intimate moment, but at the same time she felt as if it should have felt more intimate.

No tingling sensation went down her spine, no new ground was really being broken, but the look of wonder that unabashedly crossed his face as he pushed up her feathers made her blush, especially considering Aaron was rarely emotional.

"Do you even feel that?" He asked, realizing that he was being studied, he went around the tip of one of her wings, running his hand on the stiff ridge that went across the tip.

"Not really? I mean, I know you're touching them, but it's not sensitive or anything." Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, he reached to where her wings met her back, as he wrapped one hand around the base of her wing, she suddenly couldn't breath.

Maybe it had been the agony from earlier stemming from where his hand now was, or perhaps it was because it was the closest part of her wing to her body, but either way it made the nerves there alight, and she jerked forward, eyes sqeezed shut.

Aaron quickly snapped his hand away, watching guiltily as a hiss made its way through her gritted teeth.

"Except there?" He asked after a moment, and Aphmau turned her head slightly, nodding.

"Except there."