“Um… Nathaniel? Here it’s not legal to allow children under the age of 21 to consume any alcohol. Wine included,” Zedd told the angel, remembering to hand the boy the last piece of bread as well. The more and more Nathaniel revealed about Heaven, the more fucked up it sounded. Since he was of age now, the wine thing didn’t sound too terrible, but he couldn’t imagine little Nathaniel enjoying a nice glass of chardonnay.
"Oh… that's weird. I mean, obviously really little kids and babies don't get wine, but most of us drink it pretty often." Nathaniel hummed softly to himself as he dipped the bread. "I was never a huge fan of it, but there were a couple nice ones. Lloyd always got in my case for not holding the glass right or something, and I was just like, 'I have tiny hands and this thing is heavy, I need two hands so I don't spill it!'" Nathaniel laughed a bit.
Zedd was happy to see Nathaniel laugh again, but he still had an issue with how the boy was allowed to have wine in the first place. Only a few months back he would have been in trouble as well seeing as he was underaged too.
"Are we almost done with breakfast, dad?" Nathaniel asked, flushing when his stomach growled. "I'm pretty hungry." He pulled one of his wings in front of himself to try and preen the crumpled feathers, but they wouldn't get organized the way he liked and he couldn't reach the base of his wings at all.
“Mm hm. Last piece to cook, and then we can eat,” Zedd reassured. He would have reached over to rustle Nathaniel’s hair, but his hands were also covered in the egg mixture. He noted the angel fiddling with his wings, and realized they probably needed to be preened. “Nathaniel, I can help you after we eat if you’d like,” he offered politely.
Nathaniel flushed again as he looked up at Zedd. "R-Really? I… I-I mean, I really don't want to be any trouble, but I… um…" He stammered nervously, letting go of his wing. He shifted them around again, clearly uncomfortable but trying to pretend he wasn't.
“I wouldn’t offer if it was too much. Also, mind you, I have to deal with the same thing. Times two,” Zedd replied, giving a small flutter from both pairs of wings. As soon as the last piece of french toast was finished, he set two pieces on their own plates. Then he grabbed two glasses from the cabinet, before remembering to grab another for Nathaniel. Getting the milk and juice, he filled two glasses with the orange juice, and the other with milk. Putting them back, he also grabbed the chocolate syrup and mixed it into the milk. Lastly, he handed a plate to Nathaniel. “Can you go set that where you wanna sit, I gotta get the syrup out too.”
"O-Okay…" Nathaniel still seemed a bit nervous, but he didn't argue further. He accepted the plate when it was given to him and sat down in the nearest chair to start eating his French toast. "Mm~… it's really good, dad!" He smiled brightly and started eating more quickly, clearly hungry.
“Nathaniel, wait a moment so I can get you some syrup and a fork please,” he said, smiling lightly. He set Nathaniel’s drinks by his plate first before getting his own drink and food, as well as the syrup and forks. “Here, try it with the syrup before you eat it all,” he said with a laugh, drizzling a light amount over the top. Sitting down next to Nathaniel, Zedd began to cut apart his own french toast after putting syrup on as well.
"Okay, okay…" Nathaniel purred contentedly when he tried the French toast with syrup on it. It was extra sugary now, which Nathaniel obviously enjoyed. He soon finished his food and started drinking his juice and chocolate milk, both of which he seemed to enjoy greatly. When he was done, he brought his dishes over to the sink and climbed onto the counter to wash his hands.
Zedd set his fork down only to come around the counter and hold Nathaniel by the waist. “Ask me to help next time. I don’t want you falling,” he cautioned, keeping his tone even. He didn’t want Nathaniel to think he was angry. It hurt so much to see the angel cry because it was his own fault.
"Oh, okay… sorry, dad. I didn't wanna bother you." Nathaniel hugged Zedd when he was finished washing his hand, nuzzling against the man affectionately. "I promise I'll ask you next time… are you almost done with your breakfast?" He asked softly.
“It’s okay. Maybe we can go out and get you a stool for the kitchen soon,” Zedd hummed, thinking out loud. “I’m almost done, yes. Then, I’ll help you with your wings, alright?”
Zedd set Nathaniel down and returned to his seat to finish the last few bites of the french toast. The man then took the dishes and set them in the sink. He noticed there was still the cup from last night he had to wash still.
Since it wasn’t much to clean, Zedd quickly washed the cups and plates before turning back to Nathaniel. “Go and take a seat wherever you want.”
Nathaniel nodded and went to go and get himself settled on the couch, sitting sideways so that Zedd could sit behind him. "Is this okay with you, dad?" He asked. "Or should I sit somewhere else? I'm really fine with anything, to be honest…" He fidgeted a bit and looked down at the couch shyly, clearly still a bit nervous and tense.
Zeddicus hummed in agreement before clarifying. “This is fine. As long as your comfortable,” he said. Zedd moved his hands and began to gently preen Nathaniel’s wings. He frowned lightly as he worked, feeling that the boy probably needed a bath soon. “Your wings are a bit dirty,” he commented. “If you like, we can get you cleaned up and your feathers fixed as well. It has to happen sometime…”
Nathaniel purred softly when Zedd touched his wings and looked up when the man started talking. "Oh! Um… yeah, sure. That's fine. Should I go and do that now, or…?" He fidgeted nervously, his wings fluttering a little in Zedd's grasp.
“If you’re up for it. I can add the bubbles I mentioned?” Zedd suggested, already standing. Seeing as Nathaniel was quite embarrassed about last time he suggested staying, he thought he could just wait outside the door. He would have to come in eventually though and get the base of Nathaniel’s wings.
Nathaniel nodded a bit and got to his feet, following Zedd into the bathroom. He fiddled with the tub for a bit until he figured out how to turn it on, and then how to make the water hot. He couldn't stand cold water. Once the tub was full, he turned off the water and looked into the tub with a soft sigh.
Zedd had taken a pink plastic bottle from a shelf and squirted a decent drizzle in the tub. The water’s surface began to form soap bubbles that smelt like flowers. Zedd also brought over the soap and shampoo. There was also a specific soap for his wings that helped keep them soft. “Are you good by yourself, or do you want me to stay with my back turned?”
"U-Um… you can stay, I guess… but don't look!" Nathaniel made sure that Zedd had turned away before quickly stripping and getting into the tub. The bubbles almost covered up his head and he huffed indignantly, pushing them away so that he could breathe properly. He hesitated before shampooing his hair and starting to lather it up.
“I’m not gonna look,” Zedd grumbled as he sat down on the rug in the middle of the floor. He decided he should preen his own feathers while he waited. Taking one of the top ones, he began messing with the arrangement a bit, making sure they were straight and neat.
Nathaniel washed his hair and smoothed it back so that it wouldn't be in his way. He did his best to clean his wings, rubbing them to get the dirt to go away. It didn't take him long to get clean, but he lingered in the bath for a while to enjoy the hot water.
“Did you need help reaching the base of your wings?” Zedd suddenly thought to ask. He noticed that Nathaniel hadn’t been able to reach to preen them earlier. “I promise I won’t look lower than that if you need help,” he added for extra measure. And even if he did see anything, they were both male. It wasn’t anything he didn’t have himself.
Nathaniel flushed again and considered for a few seconds. "U-Um… sure…" He turned around so that his back was facing Zedd. He'd gotten his wings mostly clean, but as Zedd had mentioned, he was having trouble reaching the base of his wings. His arms were pretty short after all, and the way his wings were crumpled made it even more difficult.
Zedd gave Nathaniel a few seconds after he heard the water stop splashing as he moved, before standing. He knelt by the tub, rolled up his sleeves and put some soap on his hands. He lathered up the soap a bit before gently massaging it in. By the looks of things, Nathaniel’s wings needed it after living on his own for so long. It wasn’t a whole lot to do as the angel’s wings were smaller. After about a minute, Zedd rinsed his hands off and turned back around. “Alright, you can rinse.”