written by nonisland, sent via askbox
cam wakes up one morning with an unfamiliar ache in his shoulders. he's used to the way sadness weighs him down and worry ties knots under his skin, but this is something more than that, something that vibrates along his bones like the air before a storm. throughout the day he keeps almost forgetting to breathe just at the feel of it, focuses on it when the world around him gets to be too much, until by nightfall he could draw his own shoulderblades like a map.
the next day the skin's hot and tingling and he doesn't know what to do so he asks maya what she thinks, and she brushes her hand over his shoulders and it hurts in the best way possible, like looking into the sun ought to hurt, and says, "it feels like you're trying to become something." he falls asleep on his stomach while she does her homework and wakes up when she shrieks. he tries to sit up and falls over and he wants to freak out because there are wings, he has WINGS.
they're heavy and strange and he falls over when he tries to sit up and then whacks one against the back of the couch and this is terrifying, it's impossible, it's completely unreal, but maya—maya's looking at him, not scared at all anymore, just wide-eyed with awe. "you have wings," she whispers, and cam says, "i guess i do," not sure how any of this is happening, but they move when he thinks about it, and then he's got one wrapped around himself like a hug and the other reaching out to her.
she takes a shaky step closer and then he's hugging them both, the feathers prickling against his skin and catching sweetly on her hair, just the sound of their breathing filling up the space, and it's warm and safe as the dreams he can barely remember.
tbh this is everything i have ever wanted ever in my entire life 100/10 would recommend
