The group of people that had arrived on the beach was far off when Digitalis and Arthur stepped out onto the sunny beach. Their vehicles were parked in a cluster away from Digitalis's van, and that was just as well, in Digitalis's opinion. He and Arthur gathered up their towels, and the group in the waves - a mixed group of renoige, humans, and hamans - didn't even seem to notice them.
Digitalis unlocked the driver's side door with the key from his swim trunk pocket, and folded back his large, bluejay-like wings to get in. He unlocked the passenger side with a button and Arthur climbed into the van, folding his wings in much the same way to get into his seat. Arthur's clothes were soaked with piss; Digitalis had just "marked" him, a practice that was common among romantic partners on the world where Arthur had grown up.
Arthur was half a head taller than Digitalis and thin. He was an andyne with large black-feathered wings, long curly dark hair, a slightly olive skin tone punctuated with a spray of freckles across his face and shoulders, and bright blue-green eyes. Today there were dark half-circles under his eyes, his feathers were disheveled, and his normal warrior ponytail had been traded for a lazy braid, trailing a little over halfway down his back.
Digitalis himself was only half andyne - his father had been human - but he had a set of blunt-feathered wings the same color as a bluejay's. He had a slightly paler blue hue to his short wavy hair, and wore a blue and white swim shirt with a matching pair of swim trunks. His pale skin was scorched pink around his scalp, the hems of his shirt collar and sleeves, and the edges of his shorts. Contrasting his new sunburns were his eyes; they were the color of amber, clear and pupilless. People normally found Digitalis's eyes a little unsettling when they first met him, but Arthur, who was currently reaching into the glove box for his phone, had never seemed to be put off by them.
"Who ya gonna call?" asked Digitalis, turning the key in the ignition.
"Somebody with food," said Arthur, smiling widely despite his soaked clothes - or more likely because of them. Digitalis shifted the van into drive and listened while Arthur placed their order. From the sound of the order, Digitalis could tell that Arthur which restaurant Arthur was ordering from. Arthur hung up as the van's tires trundled onto the bumpy dirt road.
"And you said you'd get out of the car for it, Digit?"
"That's the deal, Bear," said Digitalis, glancing over at Arthur. Arthur's stomach rumbled beneath his soaked clothes.
Digitalis hurried into the restaurant, a small Renoige place called "Dakine Cafe." He was a regular, and the food Arthur had ordered was already on the counter, bagged with the words "ARTHUR/EXTRA SPICE" scrawled across the front.
Arthur was still noticeably damp when they pulled up at Digitalis's apartment building. Carrying the food, they skirted the building: it was the faculty apartments of a college campus, but it was the middle of the day in summer and the walkways and common areas were deserted. They slipped inside through an unlocked side door and hurried into the hallway. The elevator was within sight of the sign-in desk, but the person there, an Amphibious man with a shaved head, had his nose in a book and didn't notice them.
The air conditioner in the building was on, and as the elevator ascended, Digitalis noticed that Arthur had goosebumps on his arms.
"Are you cold, Bear?" asked Digitalis.
Arthur nodded. "Yeah, a bit. I'll be warmer once I get into some dry clothes...unless you need to pee again?"
"Here?" asked Digitalis.
"Only if you need to," said Arthur, shrugging. There was a small but wicked smirk on his face. He pushed the "stop elevator" button on the control panel, and it halted halfway up the third floor.
Digitalis felt himself blushing: he knew that if the elevator was stopped for more than a minute, the security desk would be notified. He'd had a lot of water and juice boxes that morning though, and his bladder had been slowly refilling since he'd released it all over Arthur at the beach. Without hesitation, his free hand dropped to the waistband of his swim shorts and pulled them out of the way. He stepped closer to Arthur, holding the bag of food off to the side at arm's length, and let go.
