Fic: Monsters In The Closet 1/1 Horatio Hornblower
Title: Monsters in the Closet Author: Lopaka Tanu Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Horatio Hornblower. Characters: Horatio, Archie. Wordcount: 778 Prompt: 4 Wings Fandom: Horatio Hornblower Pairing: Pre- Horatio/Archie Rating: General Warnings: None Summary: How Cyclops met Angel. Author's Note: X-men Fusion. ______________________________________
Eyes closed, the first sign that Horatio Hornblower had that anything was wrong was the change in air currents blowing against his hair. Shortly afterwards, the sun he had felt previously against his skin disappeared. He shivered. Raising his head towards the object that blocked the path of the sun, he realized that whatever it was was far off the ground. Despite the need to see what it was, he kept his eyes closed.
He didn't have long to wait before the object dropped lower and the sun returned. For a moment he considered it a fluke, but something heavy dropped on to the end of his beach chair. The weight of it up ended his chair, tossing all three of them on to the ground. Horatio tried to sit up, but something soft slammed him back flat.
Instinctively, he reached out to grab it. His hands and arms came in contact with what felt like a large wing, startling the owner. It didn't sound like any bird he had heard before. He slid his fingers up the feathers seeking the bird in an attempt to push it away from him. A bird with wings that large would do him serious damage. Instead, his searching digits encountered warm flesh, eliciting another startled cry.
Horatio drew back with a shout. Scooting backwards away from it, his eyes tried to open to see what it was, but remained closed. After four years, the muscles had atrophied. A part of his mind wondered on this even as the rest focused on getting out from under the wing and away from the creature. He lost the battle to get away when he was clobbered by the wing again, repeatedly. He raised his hands to protect himself, but the wing had disappeared by the time he did.
Low levels of horse hissing filled his hearing range. He knew that sound, the ostriches on the discovery channel made similar noises. The creature was trying to warn him away. Trying to make himself small, Horatio brought his knees up to his chest and crossed his arms. If the creature stopped perceiving him as a threat, it would go away.
It didn't work.
The next thing Horatio knew, stick thin appendages were roving his sides. He knew the creature was trying to slash him open from stem to stern, but they had the opposite effect. The first giggle escaped his lips and Horatio clenched his jaw to stop. More scrabbling spread to his stomach, hips, and under arms. Much to his shock, he realized they were fingers and he was not being attacked.
Too stunned to mount much of a defense, Horatio shrieked in a very unmanly manner under the assault. When his breath was gone and his heart racing, the attack ceased. By this time, he was thoroughly confused and any hope of making any sense was gone. He lay flat on his back in his swimming trunks, chest heaving waiting for the next attack.
When the wings returned, he was too worn to do much. To his surprise, a warm body accompanied them. Laying across Horatio's left side, the muscular form draped a wing over him. "It tickles when you touch them."
The absurdity of the statement caused him to grin. Whatever this creature was, it obviously found nothing strange about their situation. He had no other choice but to play along if he wanted to keep from fitting in with his roommates. "Do you drop in unexpectedly very often?"
"Sorry about that. A peregrine falcon thought I was too close to her nest and dive bombed me." The wing raised off him and back in a shrug even as the owner's fingers came to rest upon his chest. Lowering his head, the other boy's wild mess of hair spread out over Horatio's shoulder. "I think I'll just rest here for a while, if you don't mind."
"Why should I mind?" He had thought his voice reflected the affront to his dignity, but the boy didn't take the hint. Instead, Horatio found himself wrapping his arms around the winged boy's body. Much to his surprise, the wings were really coming from his shoulders. When he tried to examine them, the wing over his body swatted him in irritation and he let go. A short time later, he felt the boy's breathing even out.
Resigning him to his fate, Horatio placed an arm under his head and decided to try and finish his sun bathing. And when the orderlies found him covered by a bird boy? Well, then at least he wouldn't be the strangest thing around the juvenile ward at Justinian Mental Health Facility.