It got embarrassing sometimes.

A lot of people seem to forget that love does not equal sex, but that doesn't stop them from associating growth with virginity. It does come as a shock sometimes when Martin spots children as young as five with full grown wings, but then has to remind himself children are just as capable of falling in love as any adult on the planet.

And can just as easily fall out of love.

It would make sense for a woman like Carolyn to have beautiful grown wings at her age. Hers have gotten grey over the years, but molted rather badly from heartbreak. With her newfound relationship with Hercules, her wings have grown new feathers, and were looking sharper with each new day.

Douglas has been married three times already, and despite the divorces, his wings were unnaturally huge. There has been recent damage to Douglas' secondary feathers from his recent breakup with Helena, yet Douglas wore the scar with pride. "There are always more fish in the sea," he said to Martin one day, shaking his feathers like a maraca.

Arthur was… an anomaly. It was understandable at his age, his growth would flux like the tides of the ocean, but it never did. His grown wings have stayed the same size, color, and condition since the very first day Martin had met him. He knew Arthur occasionally went on dates, had girlfriends, and broken up with them, but the young man's wings have always stayed the same, no matter what.

"It's because he never fell out of love," Carolyn finally explained to Martin after many months of employment. He felt rather secure in his position to ask this slightly personal question and hoped it didn't sound like prying.

"But he's not dating anyone."

Carolyn leveled him with a, you-are-stupid look. "You don't have to fall out of love to date, Martin."

"Then why isn't he with her?" Martin said, looking at Arthur through the glass windows of MJN's office. The young man was currently playing Connect Four with Douglas and losing every round. Martin then flinched, realizing the insensitivity of his question. "I-I mean… unless it wasn't reciprocated."

Another flinch. He may as well have asked if Arthur was a crazy person for loving someone who didn't want him.

"No," said Carolyn, sighing deeply. Her wings fluttered softly as she glanced over to Arthur. She smiled sadly. "It was reciprocated. Cassie was Arthur's true mate since he met her at sixteen."

"I-I don't understand… then why…?"

"Arthur still loves her to this day. It doesn't matter breast cancer took her away at the tender age of eighteen." Carolyn doesn't break, though her tone does. "Arthur's wings, I believe, will always look like that. No matter what."

There are many theories of how growth actually occurs. Some believe only true love can cause growth. Others believe it can be as simple as feeling your heart pound when that special someone smiles at you. And on the rarest of occasions, like Arthur, you may actually find your true mate, and spend the rest of your life with unblemished wings.

The truth though, no one really knows. No one knows why a child can have full grown wings while those twice the age do not. No one knows if it was possible to move past a true mate, or if it was truly possible to recognize it for what it was.

Just as Martin doesn't know why, at the age of thirty-two, his wings haven't grown not one. Damn. Inch.