Gravity

Title: Gravity (1/?)
Genre: F-fantasy? Growing Wings!AU
Pairing: This fic is centered around Kyuhyun, and will eventually have all the suju members in it. There are no pairings yet, but there will ultimately be Qmi and others *bias*
Rating: PG-13 (for swearing and bloody scenes and possible smut)
Summary: Kyuhyun grows wings, literally, and he quickly discovers it is both a blessing and a curse.
A/N: First multi-chaptered fic ever, based on a book I read in middle school and loved. Initially I felt guilty about using it but eeeeeh I've already changed so much :| the only similarities are the growing wings XD Thank you Laura, for giving me Goose Syndrome. This chapter is 2,500 words, enjoy~



Kyuhyun scratched absently at his shoulder while he stared at his calculus book. He'd read approximately two lines when there was a faint knock at his door, and his mother entered carrying a tray of snacks.

She smiled faintly as she set the tray down, "Always studying." She ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Yeah, I have a test tomorrow," he reached around and scratched determinately at his other shoulder blade. The corner of her smile twitched slightly, changed it into something more like a baring of teeth. Kyuhyun blinked and then it was gone.

"Itchy?" she inquired pleasantly.

Kyuhyun nodded. "They've been bugging me all day actually. I think I may have laid down in something," he scratched at both shoulders roughly.

She tsked at him and said, "Let me see". She slipped her hand under his shirt collar to feel the skin over his shoulder blades. Kyuhyun got the most peculiar feeling, like she was trying to sense something deeper than skin. It made goose bumps rise on his arms and the back of his neck prickle.

"I don't feel anything," her eyes narrowed. "Tell me if it's still bothering you in the morning." On her way out she told him not to stay up all night playing video games, like she always does. The feeling of trepidation she left him with was new though.

When the alarm clock buzzed the next morning Kyuhyun flailed in its general direction. After he managed to successfully whack the snooze button he groaned and cursed his general existence. He had, in fact, stayed up half the night playing Starcraft, convincing himself that he wouldn't be able to sleep due to the itching anyways. The itching that still persisted, and was now accompanied by a dull stinging sensation. He gingerly felt the area, and winced at its sensitivity. He must have been scratching all night.

He got out of bed and flipped on the light. He hadn't bothered with a shirt last night, and he gasped as he saw his back in the mirror. His shoulders were almost raw from his scratching. They were red and appeared to be swollen. He had broken the skin in some places. This was out of hand, whatever it was. Maybe some kind of skin fungus? What was ringworm anyways? Could it cause this? He reached his hand up to scratch his shoulder, then caught himself.

What the hell?, he thought. He needed to see a doctor about this, if the itching didn't stop he might really hurt himself. Yet when he went to go downstairs to tell his mother, he paused with his hand on the doorknob. Something about his mother's behavior the night before had sent off an array of mental alarm bells. Being the only child he was used to her always hovering over him, so it wasn't that. He tried to put his finger on it, but couldn't. He was surprised to realize it disturbed him enough to not want to tell her about it. He made a decision, quickly tugging on a shirt to hide the scratch marks, flinching when the fabric chafed his back. He then followed his usual daily routine of trudging down the carpeted stairs, plodding into the kitchen, and plopping into a seat at the table.

His mother was flipping pancakes and smiled brightly at him as he came in. "Morning sweetie, are you hungry?" Kyuhyun made a mmmrrrrgggffff noise of general assent and she placed a plate of pancakes in front of him. Kyuhyun had shoved half a pancake into his mouth when she inquired, "Is your back still itchy?" The edge was there again, and he couldn't figure out why.

"No, it's gone," he gave a one shouldered shrug and shoved the other half of the pancake into his mouth.

She visibly relaxed and said, "Good." She patted him on her way back to the stove, right on the shoulder, and again, it was like she wasn't feeling anything that was really there. Kyuhyun gritted his teeth so he wouldn't flinch.

Kyuhyun hoped she would forget about it, and she did over the next few days. This was most likely due to the fact that his father was returning later in the week after being gone for over a month on a business trip. She was in a tizzy over making sure everything was where it belonged and concocting the perfect welcome home dinner. Kyuhyun was grateful she was so distracted, because if she wasn't she would have noticed him scratching. He tried not to, mainly because after a couple of days his skin was raw and burned all the time as well as itched. During the day it wasn't so bad, if he paid attention he was able to keep himself from scratching. It was when he slept that was the problem. Every morning he woke up in more pain than the last morning. On the third night he had a brainwave and clipped his nails down to the quick, which helped considerably. He tried putting socks over his hands, and gauze over his shoulders, but he always managed to scratch at them.

On the fifth day, unable to think of anyone else to go to, he went to the school nurse about it. When he told her about it, she laughed and said that dry skin can sometimes cause itchiness. He persisted that this wasn't dry skin, and she consented to have a look. The moment he took his shirt off she exclaimed, "Holy sh-- what have you been doing to yourself?" Her face was a mask of dismay.

Kyuhyun muttered miserably, "Well… it itches." Even to his ears it sounded lame. He'd done this to himself over a simple itch? He knew what she was seeing. His whole shoulder blades were red, inflamed, with the center area being a completely open wound since every night he'd scratch the scabs off. It looked extraordinarily unpleasant, also extraordinarily painful.

She cautiously bent to look closer, "Doesn't the pain deter you from scratching?"

Kyuhyun said, "The itchiness overpowers the pain, until I almost can't feel it anymore."

The nurse shook her head, "I don't know what would cause this. You need to see a dermatologist. Quickly. It could be some rare skin disorder I've never heard of." Kyuhyun pulled his shirt on again and thanked her for her time. He didn't know what to do.

He was looking in the mirror the next evening when he thought he saw an odd shadow underneath the scratches. Almost as if they were over a bump. He carefully felt the raw skin, and didn't feel any odd bumps. He deduced it was his imagination, but decided to keep an eye on it, just incase.

On the seventh day his father came home. They had an enjoyable family dinner consisting of lamb chops and steamed cauliflower and other things his father liked. His mother had just brought out the apple pie when his father dropped a bomb. "Dear, I'm sorry to say they're sending me away again. France, this time, and it's rather urgent. I'll leave in four days." His mother paused only a moment, then smiled and reassured him that he needn't worry, and she had everything well in hand at home. His father smiled happily and dug into the pie, clearly pleased to have such an easygoing, perfect wife. Kyuhyun would have to avoid her completely a few days after his father left.

Kyuhyun had a hard time missing his father. He was always holed up in his office when he was home anyways. He was simply the invisible monetary support. On the eleventh day after the itching had started, his father left, shouting a goodbye up the staircase. Kyuhyun had shouted something pleasant back, all the while never taking his eyes off his computer screen. He had been searching, fruitlessly, for possible causes of itchy shoulder blades.

On the twelfth day he had a new symptom to add: An ache that radiated out of his shoulder blades. He hadn't noticed it at first, thinking it was just the pain of the scratches. Eventually it got worse and he realized it wasn't coming from the skin, it was deeper, like it was coming from the bone. It almost felt like growing pains.

On the thirteenth day he realized there were definitely bumps, almost like his shoulder blades each had a tumor. They were odd, lumpy, and hurt if he put too much pressure on them. He began to feel a little afraid. Tumors were definitely not a good sign. Every morning after he looked in the mirror, he knew he needed to see a doctor about it, and would resolve to tell his mother. And every morning he'd get down stairs only to have the words stick in his throat. He couldn't tell her, he just couldn't. And he didn't know why.

Another week went by, the bumps grew, and the itch got worse, if that was even possible. He began wearing only dark shirts, because he had worn a pale gray shirt one day and the blood from his left shoulder had seeped through the fabric. He'd stopped wearing a backpack weeks ago, and got docked points everyday for not bringing all the proper books to class. He got twitchy and irritable, snapping at little things. He still couldn't bring himself to tell his mother, and he thought he might have an inkling why that was. He felt as if he were waiting for something, but what, he didn't know.

It happened on the twenty-first night, he was tossing and turning in his bed, haunted by a dream. His mother was chasing him through a background less void. There was nowhere to run, but it didn't matter, he just had to get away from her. Her face was transformed by a black expression of fury that he had never seen on her face in real life. "Give them to me!" she screeched. Her hands transformed into talons, clawing at his back mercilessly, digging in as if she were trying to wrench something out of his very core.

Kyuhyun woke with a start, panting and sweating, at once clutching and clawing at his own shoulders. He could feel hot blood dripping down his back and arms, staining his sheets. He held his hands out in front of his face and could see that his fingertips looked as if they'd been dipped in red ink, blood congealing under his nails. He stumbled his way to the bathroom, trying to touch as little as possible and still moving quickly in an attempt to not drip on the white carpet.

Kyuhyun locked the bathroom door behind himself, flipping on both the lights. His eyes watered at the sudden brightness, and he stared through stinging eyes at his reflection. He looked like he'd murdered someone, someone who had put up a good fight. His arms had thin rivulets of scarlet running down them, dripping off his fingertips. There was blood smeared on his chest. He grimaced at the gruesome picture he presented. Gingerly he sat on the counter so he could lean in closer to the mirror. He saw that his left shoulder was bleeding, but not nearly as profusely as his right shoulder. The right shoulder had a depression, where he must have dug out a chunk of his skin. Upon closer inspection, it looked like there was something under his skin. Something pinkish, as if it was white but got stained by the blood.

His stomach sank, he couldn't have hit bone, could he? He didn't think so, it was deep, but not that deep. He leaned so close to the mirror that his breath fogged the glass and his neck began to ache from looking backwards. Carefully he probed the wound and his fingertip touched the white thing, whatever it was. It wasn't hard like bone, but neither was it fatty like a tumor would be. It gave slightly under his touch, but not much.

Kyuhyun's hands were trembling from the noxious cocktail of pain and fear. The metallic smell of blood hung in the air making him feel ill. Very slowly, gently, he scraped at the white showing through his tattered skin. It had strands sticking out of it, almost like hair, but the pieces were oddly shaped, not so much like hair, more like… feathers. He blinked at his reflection. Two bumps on his back, aches, itchiness, feathers.

His face went as white as the sterile walls around him. He half slid, half scrambled off the counter and onto the floor. He heaved himself up by the rim of the toilet just in time to retch up his half-digested dinner into it. He stayed there for a while, gasping for breath, clutching at the sides of the toilet for support, thin body wracked by dry heaves.

Eventually he wiped his mouth and dragged himself shakily back onto the counter. He stared at his reflection again, the ebony of his hair setting off the utter lack of color currently in his face. Stared at the tiny piece of white embedded under his skin. Wings, he thought, could they really be wings? He needed to know for sure, he needed to see. After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth then scratched the skin around the feathers. Hard. He had to bite back a scream. Once he got over the initial shock of the pain, he scratched again. And again. And again.

Fresh blood was coursing down his arm and he was working not to sob when there was a soft knock at the door. "Kyuhyun?" His mother's voice floated tentatively through the door, "Honey, are you alright?"

He took a deep breath before he answered, "Yeah, I… I think I have the stomach flu, that's all."

"Can I come in?" she asked. His stomach plummeted as the door knob rattled.

"No!" he said, a touch desperately. God, he needed her to leave. "I'm probably contagious; I don't want you to catch it. Go back to bed, I'll be fine."

After a long pause she said, "Alright. Shout if you need me." He heard her pad down the hall and her door clicked shut. He sighed, this would have to wait until morning. He let himself slip, boneless, back onto the floor in a tangle of limbs. He laid down on his stomach, suddenly exhausted, the cold tile raising goose bumps on his skin.

He wanted answers. He didn't know why he had suddenly sprouted wings, or what it meant, but he did one thing: His mother had answers, of that he was completely certain. For the moment they could wait until the morning though, and he fell asleep with his cheek pressed to the hard tile floor, his blood drying brown on his skin.




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Whew multi-chaptered fics are tiring! I'm already done with chapter 2 and halfway through 3, trying to stay ahead @__@. On a side note, I'm hosting a contest that involves fic with wings, check it out!



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