Here's a really short and stupid drabble where we take some time out of our lives to fully appreciate the magical beauty that is Joshua's wings. I'm not really sure what it is about it, but the fact that Josh has fluffy little angel wings and can fly just makes me love him that much more. And though they aren't really a huge part of my Wonderful Moments-verse, I wanted to try and incorporate them a little... There is no point to this other than, I was drawing Joshua's wings, and I decided "let's write about these babies". And it came out in the form of this. Yeah. Mm'kay...

Oh, and Pen, I've gotten your PMs and I read them both, I just haven't had time to get to them yet :P But I will reply before vacation ends (hopefully before New Years xP)

Characters: Neku, Joshua (Eri, Shiki)

Prompt: "Wings"

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"Is that, or is that not, the most precious thing you've ever seen?" Shiki practically cooed. Neku tried not to roll his eyes, but it was pretty hard to resist.

Joshua was curled up on his bed, sound asleep. Even though he was in the RG, his wings were visible. They were curled protectively over him, like a feathery blanket. His chest rose and fell silently- an odd habit possessed by most of the undead (or unliving, whichever term you preferred), Neku had noticed, was that their bodies never seemed to realize they no longer needed oxygen to "survive"- and he shifted, mumbling something tiredly as he nestled his head against his arm. If Neku didn't know any better, he'd have thought that Joshua actually looked kind of... Innocent, while he was sleeping. Peaceful and vulnerable, like a normal child. Like a human.

In the dim light of the sewer (honestly, why did he stay here? Why?), Josh's wings seemed to give off a faint glow. Neku had never seen real angel wings before. Okay, so technically Josh wasn't an actual "angel", per say, but Neku figured having snowy white wings probably passed as angelic. Which was a riot, because whenever Neku imagined the words 'Joshua' and 'angelic' together, it was as synonyms. Still, he had to admit... They were really pretty. Like dove's wings, or a swan. He'd read somewhere that a swan could break a grown man's bones with one smack from its wings. What sort of damage wings this size could do?

Neku had never gotten to see a bird's wing up close before- and never a wing this freaking huge. Despite all his flaws, Josh tried not to make a habit of showing off his wings to Neku and the others, and Neku had never really bothered asking to see them (and now that he thought about it, it was kind of a weird thing to ask, so why would he?). The few times he had brought them out, he was either too high up for anyone to get a decent look, or he was throttling Neku across the airspace of Shibuya- and it was a little hard to focus on stuff like that when you were being kidnapped and dragged off on a surprise joy ride. Either way, Neku had never really seen Josh's wings.

The feathers started out small at his shoulder blades, fanning out in about a forty-five degree angle, and spreading across the ridge of his wing. As they stretched downward, they got longer and larger- the lowest row consisting of feathers about the length of Neku's forearm, some even longer. He wasn't a biology wiz, but that seemed to make sense- Josh's bones probably weren't hollow like a bird's, so his wings would have to be pretty big and full to get him off the ground.

Did Angels have hollow bones? That was one of the reasons birds could get airborne, right? Angel wings would have to be freaking huge, to carry those bodies. That didn't explain Reapers though- their wings were literally nothing but bone, no feathers to speak of. They seemed to float more than fly though, so maybe the wings were just for show... The Game and everything about it seemed to defy all logic Neku had ever known of though, so biology and science probably didn't apply. At least, not in the ways he'd learned about it in school. He'd have to ask Mr. H later, he'd probably know.

Looking closer, Neku noticed that Josh's wings weren't just plain white. They were sort of pearly- a shiny whitish color that seemed to reflect hues of pink and green. The tiniest feathers at the top seemed to have little flecks of gold buried in them, so small they were hardly there, and the larger feathers had slight hints of violet and silver reflecting off of them. It wasn't anything blaring, like the rainbow wings of a macaw,- it was very subtle, like an opaque kaleidoscope hidden within his feathers. They were very shiny, kind of shimmery, even in the dull glow of Shiki and Eri's phones (and what the heck were they doing- they weren't taking pictures were they? Because that would be really creepy. Unless they were going to use them to blackmail Josh, but Shiki was too nice for that, so that probably wasn't the case...).

They were so downy and fluffy, like a baby chick or something. Which was weird, because Neku was pretty sure birds couldn't fly with downy wings. He was also pretty sure that the last time he'd seen Josh's wings, they'd been stiff like a swan's. Maybe it was like when a cat puffed up its fur- the feathers were all strong and ready to go when Josh needed to fly, but they softened when he'd let his guard down. He was still sleeping soundly, murmuring under his breath. His feathers were soft and almost translucent in places, giving off a faint, ethereal glow. He wouldn't have said this out loud, but if he disregarded the fact that they were attached to Joshua, it was actually kind of beautiful. Supernatural, in a way that felt more calming or soothing than any of the other supernatural things he'd been faced with.

Without really thinking about it, Neku reached out, stroking the downy fluff. It was very soft, much softer than chick down or anything else he'd ever felt. Fingering one of the feathers, it seemed to hum musically against his touch, buzzing faintly in his hand. Like it was made of magic or something.

"Enjoying yourself?"

A groggy voice snapped Neku back into reality, just in time for him to realize that he had a fistful of feathers in his hand. Josh was sitting up, leaning on his arms, his violet eyes dulled with sleep, but still flickering with wry amusement. In the background, Shiki and Eri were giggling, probably thinking of things Neku didn't even want to imagine. Hastily, Neku let go, his arm returning to his side. Josh's familiar smirk was already there, but it quickly split apart as the boy sat up, yawning and stretching. His wings gently unfurled themselves from around him, spreading out across the room. In their full span, the tips just touched the walls. Neku wondered if Josh had positioned his bed just so he could do that. He also wondered if Josh always slept with his wings out, like some sort of magical security blanket or something. He also also wondered why the hell he was wondering this stuff, and if he should say something, because everyone in the room was staring at him now, and it looked like they were expecting him to.

"Eri and Shiki wanted to know if you wanted to go to the Ramen Don with us." He pointed his thumb back toward the girls.

"Why do you even go there, it's not like you eat anything." Josh yawned again, already sliding his legs off the bed and pulling on his shoes. "You are Eri are like toothpicks." He mused, and Eri scoffed, hands placed firmly on her much-too-large-for-her-torso hips.

"You aren't exactly packing on the pounds either," Neku noted.

"At least my head isn't bigger than my waistline," Josh replied pleasantly. His wings had furled back against his back again, and were starting to shimmer out of existence -or back into the UG. Whichever made more sense.

"At least my ego isn't bigger than my wingspan."

"You don't have a wingspan, dear."

"Exactly." Neku grinned. Josh blinked, and then smirked, as though to say 'touche'.

"Alright you two, you can continue this adorable little flirt-fest once we get to the Ramen Don. I'm starving." Eri clapped her hands unceremoniously behind them, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Shiki giggled, as did Josh, and Neku rolled his eyes again, starting his tally back up. That made two eye-rolls so far, and undoubtedly plenty more to come.

"Of course you're starving, look at you. You're almost as bad as Neku." Shiki poked Eri in the ribcage, and she yelped, immediately poking the girl back, and Mr. Mew for good measure. "No! Leave him out of this!" Shiki squealed, dashing off, with Eri giving chase. Josh stood up from the bed, watching as the two vanished around a corner. He shook his head, and Neku thought he saw traces of a genuine smile on his face.

"Girls..." He sighed. Neku snorted, and elbowed the boy in the side.

"Like you're one to talk!" He laughed, and Josh scowled, his smile becoming a pout. "Let's go, before we lose the girls." Neku made his way toward the door, and the eye-roll count went up to three as Joshua walked leisurely after him, taking his time with each step. "Come on, I'll race you." Neku smirked, and Josh's eyes widened with surprise for a second as the boy took off.

"Burn any more calories and there won't be anything left!" Josh called. Neku looked back to see the boy jogging behind him, a competitive grin on his face.

"I've seen corpses run faster than you," Neku sneered.

"Hardy har har!"

"Come on you two, hurry up!" Shiki's voice echoed from up ahead, and Neku picked up the pace.

"Slow down! You know I don't do sweating!" Josh yowled from behind, but Neku only laughed.

He didn't need the supernatural and the paranormal. It was the little things, like racing with his friends and joking around like idiots, that made life worth living.

"Too slow!" A set of hands pushed down on his head, and Neku stumbled, cursing loudly as a set of white wings flapped over him. Josh grinned back at him as he turned the corner, doing a clumsy roll in the air and almost crashing into the wall. Neku wasn't sure whether to be mad or just laugh.

"That's cheating!" He picked himself back up and took after him, muttering under his breath about clipping those wings.

No, he didn't need the supernatural... But hey, it definitely made things more interesting.

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This was more of a "for fun" drabble, not trying to strike anything intense or deep or meaningful. Just a moment in their lives. I'll try and get back to it and spruce up the conversational details and shtuff a bit more...

I'd say I'm sorry about Eri teasing Neku and Josh and being a Shipper on Deck... But I'm really not ;3