Dropping In (Rory)

[Raphael Starr]

Icarus hadn't been seen out in public much. The lightning had taken a toll on his energy which meant he'd basically had to spend a lot of time at Aegis' headquarters doing physical therapy for his wings. He'd only recently gotten the okay from all five Pillars to return to active duty. But even then he was limited. He was still having trouble keeping his wings formed and out for as long as he used to be able to, and he couldn't hide that from the Pillars. Thankfully they trusted him to make good choices - when frat parties weren't involved - and they knew he knew when to call for backup. Which honestly he'd almost done. He wasn't sure if this was some new face that had popped up while he'd been recovering or if he'd just somehow never ran into the guy before but the fact that he could get picked up and thrown as if he was as light as a bird was uncomfortable to say the least. Thankfully nothing had gotten broken but he'd been tossed against enough cars and walls that a lot felt very bruised. By the time the fight was over and the criminal subdued, his body was throbbing and his breath was heavier than he would've liked. He watched the police take the criminal away before he registered the news cameras pointed at him, turning and soon finding microphones shoved in his face. His feathers ruffled uncomfortably and he was glad his mask hid the grimace on his face. He didn't like doing interviews. Social anxiety made them unbearable. "Uh s-sorry! They need me back at headquarters!" he awkwardly and horribly lied before launching into the air. He managed to get just out of sight of their cameras when his wings vanished, tiredness setting into his muscles as adrenaline faded. He cursed, managing to unfurl his wings and catching himself rather than smacking onto the sidewalk below. This was... Well obviously it wasn't good. He needed to rest but even just perching himself on a rooftop presented dangers. Someone could attack him. But Aegis' headquarters and his own home were too far away. He gently bit down on his lower lip. The college was close by. Shit... He had to. He'd spent time with Rory a few times now as Raphael Starr. He'd even replaced the camera the other man had broken with a shiny expensive one. And he liked to think Raphael was making a good - awkward but good - impression. At least Rory's friends seemed to like him and insist he visited whenever he wanted. He'd overheard something regarding sugar and had just assumed that meant Rory's friends thought he was sweet. That was good, right? He managed to clumsily fly, his wings dissipating as he reached the roof of the frat house, making him fall onto the roof with a thunk rather than gracefully land like he was used to. Ow. He groaned but pushed himself up, remembering where Rory's window was - What? How else did people think he'd left the frat party? Through the front door? Why do that when the window had been closer? He managed to cling to the wall using his strength long enough to open the window - He wasn't sure what was worse: either Rory hadn't bothered to lock his window or the lock was broken. He swung in, attempting for grace and silence but his body protested and he ended up stumbling and colliding with what he thought was either a desk or a dresser, the impact causing his wings to burst back to life, alighting the room. "Ow..." he groaned from his new spot on the floor, rubbing his masked head more out of habit than necessity.

... when you lose your feet, fall down to your knees and your heart's about to break, i will be your saving grace ... icarus Rory Kain costume 622 words n/a

template by rem of WW

[googlefont=Dancing Script]

[Rory Kain]

Rory sat cross legged in his swivel chair in his room. The room was a bit of a mess. His bed, which was just a mattress on the floor in the corner surrounded by tapestries above and fairy lights was a mess. The blankets were strewn about, barely on the bed itself, showing his prior nights fitful night of sleep. He hadn't been good sleep lately. In fact, he was plagued by nightmares, repeating the scene of Icarus being struck by a lightning bolt. In some versions of the dream, Icarus simply passed from the lighting bolt, and others, well.. were more gruesome than he wanted to dwell on. His room was dimly lit and the floor was littered with clothes. Rory himself sat in nothing but checkered boxer shorts and fuzzy black socks, his brown hair a tussled nest as he poured over his computer. His desk was littered with schoolwork, but that wasn't what he was working on. No, he'd procrastinated on that long ago. He'd been following the media coverage earlier but his heart wrenched whenever he saw Icarus, fearful that something bad was going to happen, so he'd quickly stopped following the newds. Next to his laptop was the spot where his beautiful new camera sat, a gift from Raphael. He'd treasured it the moment he got it and cleaned it multiple times a day. In fact, despite his desk being a mess, the spot where the camera had been set was the one clean spot, showing the care he had for his new prized possession.

On his computer was a picture he had taken without Raphael noticing the last time they'd been together. Rory wasn't really sure what their relationship was, but he had fun with the awkward guy. Rory had since came out of his shell after their first night, and had fun teasing the man. Rory had insisted that they walk around a park. It wasn't far from Aegis HQ, so he had some ulterior motives in hopes of seeing his favorite hero wings painting the skies, but had eventually find himself genuinely having a good time in addition. At one point, Rory had fallen behind and snapped a few pictures of Raphael taking in the scenery. Those very pictures lit up his screen as he edited them in photoshop.

Near his bed was a record player that loudly played a record by the group Stealers Wheel, currently blasting the song, "Stuck In The Middle With You." Putting a finishing touch on one of the pictures he cheered, hopping up out of his chair, leaving it spinning in circles as he got up, happy to have gotten the picture as he wanted having just spent the past few hours tweaking it. Grabbing a nearby comb, he used it as a prop microphone, about to belt out the lyrics, "I've got the feeling something ain't right," but only got halfway in when a loud thud scared him, causing his heart to hammer into his throat as he whipped around to the sound. Something- no, someone- had barreled into the nightstand his record player was on, causing the record to skip, repeating itself on "something ain't right," over and over. The window let in a cool breeze that caused his curtains to flow beautifully around the form. Goose bumps rippled across his skin.

Rory gaped with wide doe-eyes, still holding the comb up towards his mouth and in mid dance move. The light of Icarus' wings spread over his face, almost as if a spotlight had been placed on him, recognizing them instantly. A blush crept to his cheeks, realizing he was standing before Icarus in checkered boxers and fuzzy socks. Rory, frozen in embarrassment for one of the few times in his life, was at a loss for words as his jaw hung open in disbelief. The silence stretched on between them, filled only with the skipping track in the background. The room was now fully lit between Rory's still bright computer screen showcasing the pictures he'd been working on and Icarus' beautiful wings. As if sensing the awkwardness, the chair had finally slowed to a stop.

Raphael Starr

[Raphael Starr]

Someone was yelling at him, yelling at him over and over that something wasn't right. "No shit," he quietly mumbled before his eyes, showing as spots of white fabric against his black mask, focused and his head stopped swimming. The first thing he realized was that he wasn't getting yelled at. It was music coming from... He looked up - It was coming from on top of the dresser he'd crashed into. The dresser explained why his back still hurt - Well that and the cars and the walls and... The entire fight earlier. The second thing he realized was that Rory was right there in front of him, staring at him and honestly looking more like a deer caught in headlights than he'd ever seen him before. It wasn't the excited reaction he would have guessed. Why was he so-- Oh. The third thing he realized was Rory's attire or rather lack of attire. He was glad his mask hid his blush, though the fabric over the eyes widened with his raising eyebrows and his own eyes widening. Well this was awkward. Was he just cursed to make things awkward whenever he was around Rory? He was starting to feel like he was cursed. There was an awkward silence that stretched between them but honestly he was just glad it wasn't as painfully awkward as when Rory had first been over to his house. After a moment of awkwardly assessing his situation, he gave a small wave with a hand, still on the ground, back against the dresser, and said, "Uh h-hi?" Raphael used the dresser to help climb to his feet, movements stiff from pain, wings vanishing, darkening the room. He turned the record player off as soon as he was on his feet, knowing how to because the nanny that had raised him had had one. "I uh - Just uh dropping by to see how you are." It was a terrible lie but hopefully Rory wouldn't notice his pain or exhaustion and buy it. He noticed the computer screen and his face suddenly felt hot. Were those pictures of him? When had Rory taken those? Why had he taken those? Didn't he usually just take pictures of Icarus? Which... was technically him but not him him. He moved to take a step but his body protested. He tried to subtly put one arm around himself, grasping at his ribs. They weren't broken - he'd broken them before and it was much more painful than this - but they were certainly bruised. "I'm... I'm just going to sit down," he said quietly, plopping down on the edge of the mattress with a soft oof because of how low to the ground it was. He reached up, sliding his mask up just enough that his mouth and nose were revealed, unaware of the bruise already forming on his chin and another one at the corner of his mouth. The fabric was breathable, yes, but he still didn't always like the feeling of it pressing against his lips and nostrils whenever he breathed in. "Don't uh - Don't mind me," he awkwardly said, slipping his windbreaker off and bunching it on his lap so he wouldn't forget it. "Your bed's just um comfy, yeah..." God, he was bad at this.

... when you lose your feet, fall down to your knees and your heart's about to break, i will be your saving grace ... icarus Rory Kain costume 545 words n/a

template by rem of WW

[googlefont=Dancing Script]

[Rory Kain]

Rory's mouth hung open. The silence that filled the air had no affect on him as he was in his own little world in that moment. His eyes rapidly blinked, like if he blinked fast enough the man with bright ass wings in front of him would vanish into thin air like the tired hallucination that Rory convinced himself he was. When the image of Icarus didn't disappear however, his heart wailed wildly. Even as Icarus lifted himself up off of the floor and finally shut up the skipping record, Rory didn't move. His feet were cemented into the floor. He had daydreamed of this so many times. Of course, that fantasy usually took a rather steamy turn that he figured he wouldn't be that lucky in one night to receive. Rory's mind drifted off into this very fantasy with a far off dreamy look casting in his eyes before being pulled back by Icarus' small wave and adorable hello.

Rory finally snapped out of it. Sure, he was still star struck, but he managed to at least finally close his mouth and toss his makeshift microphone onto his desk.

"Fucking hello," he laughed, a happy disbelief clear in his inflection, showing how wild he thought this visit was as he bashfully rubbed the back of his head. Rory knew he was wearing a dopey grin, visibly pleased at the turn of events. The look quickly turned to one of annoyance as he surveyed his room. He began quickly picking up empty beer cans and throwing them into the trash. Not having the time to put away the clean clothes sprawled on his floor, he did the next best thing and chucked them all in a corner.

All along the walls were various Aegis posters sprinkled in with random pictures of friends and family. There were some prints of his own shots as well of the different Aegis heroes, though Icarus decorated the wall more than other. His shots could use improvement, but did show promise for an eye of photography. Rory's secret passion was writing and photography. He used to be a journalism major, but recently changed to pre-med. His family's funds were low, and he wanted to pursue something that was more likely to provide. His family assumed that was what he was attending school for anyway, and when he found how dire their situation was, he changed it willingly, albeit sadly. Most people didn't know of the photography and writing hobbies and chalked him up to the typical sporty frat boy. His family fell in that category, and didn't realize the sacrifice their son and brother was making. 

Rory let out a sigh as he did his final act of sprucing the place up by tossing his smelly basketball shoes into his closet and slamming the door shut before Icarus could get a whiff. It was the best he could do to make the room look less like a hurricane ran through on such short notice. As far as he knew, considering the last time he was too drunk to remember that Icarus had actually been in here before, this was the first time the hero was in here and he was disappointed in the impression it was likely making. 

"I'm... good.." he said slowly, doing his best to hide the suspicious edge to his voice as he offered a small smile. One of Aegis' superheroes was stopping by his house just to see how he was on a random night? He hated that his heart was beating rapidly with anticipation, hoping for a hidden meaning for the visit.

Rory was about to inquire about what exactly made a hero of Aegis pop by a random civilians place on such short notice but he was distracted. It was hard to tell where Icarus was looking exactly, but Rory's heart halted when he saw his head in the general direction of his computer, still lit up with pictures of Raphael. Rory grew uncomfortable. If he was looking, he didn't want Icarus to assume something was going on with the other man. Raphael was nothing but this acquaintance that he spent some time with. Or maybe they were friends, Rory wasn't sure. What he was sure of was that he didn't want Icarus thinking he was taken. He was so concerned over this that he had no idea of Icarus' pain that he was attempting to conceal. Rory only nodded when Icarus spoke of sitting down and he took long strides over to his computer, minimizing the tabs to reveal an Aegis HQ wallpaper instead. Releasing a shaky breath, he turned back just as Icarus plopped down on his mattress.

Rory could feel the heat in his cheeks as he looked at Icarus on his bed. His. Bed. The heat on his cheeks ramped up as he watched Icarus pull up his mask, just enough to show a small portion of his face. Rory's eyes immediately locked onto the mans lips. They looked even softer than Rory had imagined them. Biting his bottom lip, his gaze lingered on them longer than necessary before he tore his attention away, his brain screaming at him to get a grip and play it cool.

It was only now Rory noticed he was only really in boxers. Normally, he was confident, but in the face of Icarus, he was a weak little insecure puddle. He did his best to appear calm and cool and collected instead of mortified as he walked over to his dresser, fishing out a pair of form fitting black sweatpants and throwing them on and a black tank to match.

Rory turned to face Icarus, leaning back on his dresser as he stowed his sweaty from nerves hands deep into his pockets. He struggled to look at Icarus in the eyes. Or rather, where he expected the man's eyes to be. Biting his lips, he looked shyly as a fierce blush still painted his cheeks rosy, picturing the man underneath. He imagined ocean blue eyes.

It was then that Rory realized his journal was sprawled open right next to Icarus on the bed. Of course with his luck, it was open to a piece that Rory was working on for fun. It was a totally smutty self insert fan fiction of him and Icarus fighting crime together and not so tastefully banging after bagging a bad guy together. It left little to the imagination.

With all the grace of a newborn giraffe, Rory stumbled forward in an attempt to conceal the journal before it was noticed if it hadn't been already, tripping and nearly landing on Icarus. He managed to close the journal, but now found himself mere inches away from the masked mans face, both hands planted on either side of the hero on the mattress, gripping it for dear life.

His breath hitched in his throat, and Rory wanted to die on the spot. He'd had a couple beers tonight, and wanted to shrivel up and die, knowing it was probably apparent on his breath. He could only hope his clean scented aftershave made it a little more pleasant.

"Right... um.." he gulped, finding that his eyes had trailed back down to Icarus' lips, "..comfy. It's.. a sleep number,"

Really? It's a sleep number? His voice mocked him internally and he never hated himself more. Rory willed himself to look into where he anticipated eyes to be looking back at his, his heart thumping so loudly in his chest at their close proximity that he was certain Icarus could hear it. He wanted to move and create some distance, but he found himself rooted in that spot.

Raphael Starr