Beasts Of A Feather
 

Corinne hurried towards home. Every so often, she glanced around warily, as if expecting someone to jump out and attack her. It wasn't quite dark, not yet, but it was getting there and that made her even more wary.

Calliope was already home, curled up in an armchair with a book. She did keep glancing at the clock, then at the door. Corinne was supposed to be home soon, and Callie wanted to make sure everything was fine.

Corinne came inside about ten minutes later, locking the door behind her.

"Hey," she said once the door was locked. "Did you get home okay today? I saw some mages milling about."

"Yeah, I got home fine. What about you? No problems?" Callie looked her over just in case, out of habit.

"My walk home was alright," Corinne replied. "Bus ride was a little tense, since there was a mage on the bus, but it was alright enough."

"Good." Callie got up. "I made some soup, it should be about done. I've checked all the windows, so those are all good."

"Alright," Corinne said, slowly relaxing and settling in. The trip home was always a little tense, and it was good to be home and safe.

Callie made sure that Corinne had some dinner, and that they both had a chance to relax before bed. She turned on the TV, keeping the volume down. It was just a mindless show, after all.

Corinne settled in, curling up on the couch. The quiet was nice after being out and about all day.

Callie checked everything to make sure everything was locked before she went to bed. It was a routine; every morning, she checked, and when she got back from work, and before bed. She was doing everything she could think of to keep them both safe and out of the mages' hands.

"We could move," she commented over breakfast the next morning. "There are more mages here now than there were when we arrived."

"Did you have somewhere in mind?" Corinne asked. They had moved before because of mages, and she wasn't overly attached to their current apartment.

"Not yet," Callie said, shaking her head. "It was a thought. Perhaps I could look at other cities today."

"Take a look," Corrine said, nodding. "Never hurts to be ready to leave." She stretched a bit. "It's getting close to molting time, too."

"We'll have to be careful," Callie agreed. "Well. More careful, anyway." She shrugged a bit. "Perhaps you can check our supplies today, and I will check about apartments in other cities?"

Corinne nodded.

"Sure," she said. She didn't move immediately, though, just enjoying being sprawled on the couch.

Callie got up first to go get her laptop and start searching. She wasn't too worried yet; they still had about a week before molting, and she already had time off arranged. Mostly she just wanted to be sure the mages weren't going to get them, or get anywhere near them.

Corrine also had the time off for molting. Getting up, she checked to make sure the apartment was stocked enough that they could hole up for a week or so without needing to leave for anything. That was very important.

The next week passed in a mix of slow hours and hours that whizzed by like minutes. Callie was both grateful for and dreading time off for molting. Because molting always made them a little more vulnerable, and if they ran out of anything, they couldn't leave the apartment. So she wanted to be sure they were all set.

"I've checked all of our stores," Corinne said one more time as their molting got close. She was already feeling the early itching that signaled the molt. "We should be okay."

"Alright. Good." Callie shook herself. She could feel the itching, too. "Okay. We'll just need to make sure everything is locked, then, and we should be ready."

"I'll check the windows," Corinne volunteered, going around to make sure the windows were closed, locked, and covered.

Callie checked the doors and let out a little sigh when she found them all locked up tight.

"We should be set," she murmured. "Just have to wait through it."

Corinne nodded and began to strip out of her clothes. She already had a space set up for the majority of her molting, and she couldn't change form with her clothes on, anyways, without ruining them. She released her human form and shifted into her true form. She shook herself as soon as the change settled, and a few golden feathers fell to the floor.

Callie shivered a little as she stripped and set her clothes aside. The change came smoothly to her, and she shook her wings a bit to settle them, sending grayish-brown feathers settling around her.

Corinne settled in and began the first of many, many preenings, pulling out what feathers she could and taking care of all of the itches she could reach.