⎇ angel with a shotgun by the cab
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ECHO MISSES
THE WEIGHT

Wings.

Joon has wings now. Echo likes them, she does, but she misses her own. The familiar weight on her back is long gone, and the blistering sensation that climbs up the old scars still prevent her from sleeping on her back.

He's making breakfast for them both of them now. Morning air slips through the cracks of the window, but it's not quite cold enough that she's worried. The house is still warm; heavy with the scent of blueberry waffles. Echo likes blueberry waffles.

Her eyes traced his bare back, where the phoenix tattoo was now marred by twin wing scars, still healing from their first appearence. It hasn't hurt as much, is what Joon said. Only because of the adrenaline. At least, that's what he told her. Echo can't help but think maybe she has a low pain tolerance compared to the others. None of them seemed to struggle with their wings as much as she did with hers. Of course, her wings were a little different sometimes. Her magic was a little different. Wild and petulant. It still scares her, especially knowing how rapidly it consumed her not too long ago.

It's such a pretty tattoo, even with the mirroring scars that hang against the inked wings. His wings, his real ones, are pretty too. Snow Owl wings. Sharp and agile. She thought it matched his persona a lot. Smart. Cunning. Quick. Heaven forbid she tell that to him, he probably already said it to himself in the mirror this morning.

Echo almost smiles at her internal joke, eyes dancing back towards the window as she lifts a cup of cider to sip. The trees are pretty outside, tall and dense, masking their home from the views of the others. It was private, not so far from the beach, but farther than some of the other houses. Joon's house had always been the closest to hers anyway. The Isle of Elysian must have known.

Warmth sinks down her throat, the cuddly sensation of pear cider settling deep into her stomach. It's so pretty, Autumn is. The sky is clear, and fresh, rolling air floods her lungs. It would have been a really nice day for a flight, wouldn't it?

I want them back.

Echo knows. She knows she doesn't have anything in her right now. She might not even have the strength to fly. She's lighter than she's been in a while, spending a month living as the embodiment of fire and all. She doesn't want to be weak any more. Too bad it doesn't work like that.

Biting her inner cheek, she sinks a little more into her chair, trying her best to blink away the thoughts. It's fine. Isn't it? It's fine because it has to be. She can miss her wings all she wants, but they aren't going to come back just by wishing.

"Echo, are you listening?"

Her head snaps back to the sound of an all too familiar voice. In front of her is her soulmate, holding a plate of blueberry waffles out to her. His face is crossed with concern, the glittering amusement from whatever he'd been talking about fading from his eyes.

Shame dances across her cheeks, but before she can nod and dismiss his worry, he sets down the plate in front of her, leaning over the table. "What's wrong?"

God. Fuck Park Ye-Joon and his goddamn observation skills. Instead, Echo offers a weary smile. "It's nothing, what were you saying?"

He looks skeptical at best, leaning back and crossing lean arms over his chest. He's more muscular than he looks sometimes. Not that Echo is complaining. "I just mentioned Chuseok. I was wondering if Cue would let us celebrate it this year instead of thanksgiving. Although there isn't any harm in having both, I thought it could be nice."

"That would be nice." Echo nods, eyes unable to stay locked on Joon's for very long. In her peripheral vision, she sees him narrow his eyes. Anxiety sits in the base of her stomach as he slides into the seat next to her without his own plate. She chooses to focus on the waffles in front of her, picking at them. The silence is thick, and as much as she knows Joon hates it, she hates it more. "Where's your plate?"

"Oh, actually I'm usually not very hungry when my partner is hiding something from me."

Muttering a curse underneath her breath, she hesitantly looks over at him. Echo used to be good at this. Hiding things. She's better at it with the others, but she's so tired now. And Joon knows. He always knows when she's hiding. Joon's face is analyzingly calm. It's different from what he usually looks like. All smart comments and sly smiles. She's sure the others have to see it too. She knows Cordelia has. "I'm-"

"Echo. Don't lie. You're bad at it."

"Well that's just untrue."

"Fine." She watches his mouth twitch at her response, "You're bad at lying to me."

"Ye-Joon, that's not fair."

"Oh, you know what's not fair?" There's the undertone of humor in his voice, gentle and prodding. Echo knows what he's doing, he always does it. Still, she doesn't really mind. It settles the bubbling anxiety in her stomach a little when he leans over and kisses her cheek. "You waking up looking like that." He pulled back, only a little, to press warm affection to the crook of her neck before returning to his chair completely. "This, however, is plenty fair. You don't need to hide from me."

You don't need to hide from me.

Joon had said those same words to her when he found her in her home, alive and exhausted. It presses painful memories back into her body, encircling the scars that now decorated her skin. Echo swallowed thickly, weakly shrugging. His eyes are still on her, but something like shame forces her to pull hers own away again, staring at the rippling liquid of cider in her cup. Still, Ye-Joon waits for her response.

Echo has to give it to him. He's more patient than people give him credit for. Too many times have they mistaken his impulsivity for impatience. "I miss my wings." They don't feel as hard to say as she thought they would be, even if the reminder is agonizing against the twin scars on her back.

"Is that all?"

No.

The word burns the back of her throat. Even when she feels Joon's hand take her own, pressing another kiss against her knuckles, she can't really look at him. The truth is, it's not really her wings that Echo misses. It's the actual flying. As much as she whined about it, she adored flying. Almost more than anything. Of course she doesn't regret giving them up. Of course she wouldn't change what she'd done even if she went back, but a loss is still a loss.

Ye-Joon doesn't prompt her again because he knows her. Knows that she's still hesitant about even admitting it out loud. Echo knows that Joon would understand that she feels trapped suddenly, without the promise of flying hanging off of her back, it still doesn't make it any easier to say.

"You miss flying." Joon's voice is soft, and Echo mentally flips off the universe for gifting him the ability to read her. It's really a bittersweet superpower. She likes that sometimes Joon just knows, but other times, it would be so much easier to hide. Reluctantly she nods, setting down her cup of Cider on one of the nearby coasters.

"It's not even that I need to fly away- or go somewhere, it's just." Echo turned back to face him, swinging her legs around the chair to better face him. Joon is still staring at her. "It's just that for a long time, that was my sense of freedom. I know I can just go wherever I want, but it's just different."

"Echo, you're allowed to miss it."

"I know that, but I don't know how to deal with just missing it." Echo shrugs again, and already she can see the whirring thoughts in Joon's head, rapidly mapping out some kind of solution. He didn't think like solving a puzzle. He didn't like puzzles. But rather, thought it out like it was some kind of adventure. Step by step, with one achievement after the next.

"How about I take you flying, then?"

Oh.

Echo can feel the heat flooding her cheeks. It's such a silly, stupid gesture. So very romantic. So very cliche. And so very, very Joon. She can practically feel the atmosphere around him shift to something much more smug and cocky at her response. His grin was nothing less than feral, eyes alight with adoration. "That's a yes, right?"

"You're so dumb." Echo pulls her hand from his. Despite the flush in her cheeks, she crosses her arms over her own chest. "How do you even know you can carry me?"

"What are you talking about? I'm big and strong." He protests, leaning closer.

"Maybe you should pick up a few smoothies and make sure." Echo sticks her tongue out at him, petunant and playful. Joon has the audacity to look offended.

"Rude, Echo. How come I'm the only one you ever bully?"

"You're the only one that deserves it."

"I don't like you." His grin is bold, outlined with charisma. Echo mirrors the sentiment, leaning closer herself, till she's only inches from his own face.

"Not even a little?"

"Well." Joon presses his mouth against hers, deliciously soft. "Maybe a little." He's so gentle sometimes. Loving and quiet. Echo can't help the sparkle that darts down her spine in lightning bolts.

"Enough to take me flying?"

His eyes light up, brighter than they were before, as if Echo somehow just promised to give him a bottle of stardust. Giddily, he responds as he moves to scoop her from her chair. "Definitely enough for that." Echo holds her hand up, voice smoothing to a teasing scold.

"Ah, breakfast, Ye-Joon. Your waffles are cooking."

Joon pauses, then frowns at her. It's mocking and fake, and Echo can't help that burrowed warmth that soothes the thick burning that had encompassed her back.

Soulmate; a salve for emotional wounds.

"Echo." It's a dramatic whine, but Echo holds her ground. Seeing his theatrics aren't working, he half scowled, scurrying back over the waffle maker and unplugging it before whipping back to her. In another beat she was scooped up into his arms, and his grin was right back where it belonged. "Oh that's so odd, the waffle machine broke or something, oh well, I guess we'll have to have something after our flight."

"Ye-Joon-"

"That's really a shame, it sucks actually, maybe i'll make you rice when we get back."

She doesn't bother fighting her smile when he pushes open to doors, cheerfully carrying her to the off-path meadow where thick grasses were beginning to grow. It was where they were going to hold Cordelia and Cue's wedding. Echo had been right, it was beautiful weather for a flight. The rushing sensation of magic erupted around them, and Echo heard a soft, pained hiss from her partner. Concern breached the barrier of fondness that had settled in her chest. "Joon- you really don't have too."

"I know that. I still want too." Joon rolled out his shoulders, adjusting his hold on Echo. He was still shirtless, not that Echo really minded that either. He was certainly worth looking at. Despite her worry, she watched as he looked back down at her, offering another one of his charming smiles. "Like what you see, huh?"

"Can you shut up already?"

His demeanor couldn't be described as anything but gleeful as he pushed up into the skies, holding her tightly. "You can't make me. So there."

"If you want me to kiss you, just say that." As much as she would like the words to come out sharper, they don't, eyes turning to watch the trees shrink beneath her. Echo can't help but smile, curling more into him as she drops her head against his chest. "..Ye-Joon?"

"I love you too, angel."

His response comes without hesitance, so Echo closes her eyes, letting herself rest against the cool embrace of her beloved, and feel the air rush around them both.

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just trying to get myself back into writing ^^
little dump for you, all my love <33