Book One – Chapter 19

With the drain opened, the water vanished into some unseen channel. Yu had no idea where it led. Probably outside the guild. It did not matter. In the end, the dirty water went away, and that was all he needed. Unfortunately, there was a shitload of feathers in the murky mix, a whole sodden flock that circled the drain. Yu watched the drain swallow all but two, which came as an immense relief. For a moment there, he had been certain they would clog the opening. The last pair, though, clung stubbornly to the stone.

Yu considered just leaving them there.
But everyone would know they were his.

He considered refilling the basin and waiting for them to float.
But they were burnt and torn things, so they would stay at the bottom.

He considered using the ladle to scoop them out.
Naturally, he dropped the ladle into the basin.

At that point, Yu accepted that he would have to climb in.

He stepped onto the toilet cover to get onto the edge of the basin from there, but of course the fucking toilet was all slick from the towel-wringing, so the moment he put his weight on it, he slipped, flailed and fell forwards. Reflexively, he braced with his wings. His chest slammed flat against the stone rim. His burnt left wing, caught in between, hit the edge with full weight and full agony. It was the absolute wrong moment for his sense of pain to return. It did not so much come back as to explode — sharp, sickening, and immediate. The burn flared, and all Yu could do was lie there, sprawled over the stone, breath hitching and tears swelling.

It took a while of suffocated crying, but eventually, Yu moved again. Though, he stayed where he was. With his chest on the edge and head hanging into the basin, he twisted his body just enough to swing his right leg over and in. His talons scraped stone the as he slid himself in; defeated, aching, furious — and still, somehow, intent on cleaning.