Art by ZirconU on twt
*

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks— That's 14 days, also equivalent to 336 hours since you had last been on Air Island. That sole fact was troubling the winged wubbox of the island, as he was pacing back and forth while his metallic wings shuttered anxiously. He muttered his frantic thoughts to himself, "Where are they? Are they mad at me? Did I do something wrong?" He stopped in his tracks suddenly, "Are they hurt?!"

On the other hand, his Common counterpart was irritatedly rubbing the space between his eyes. With a long and annoyed groan, he reassured, "Air, shut up. They're probably dealing with something important on another island right now."

Anxiety spiking, Air whipped around to lash out, "Really? What's so important that they're away for this long?!" His anger was rising steadily, and so was his fear, too. His high regard for you felt as though it weighed his core down, causing his mind to run in circles.

"Are you serious? With how many islands they have to check on, I'm surprised they aren't away for longer." Common stated with a shrug, beginning to walk away from Air's emotional mess.

You had always treated him with respect and kindness, which he was always grateful for. With air being the smallest Wubbox out of the group, he had always been teased about his height, standing at about seven feet, numerous feet short of the others of his kind. He had always guessed that the reason behind this was because of his ability to fly. Even with this ability over the others, he was still always teased about it. You saw the positive side of it, as you felt like you could connect with him more than the other wubboxes as you didn't have to crane your neck as high to speak with him.

But, as of now your absence was the only thing on his mind. The most you'd stay away was a week, and usually you wouldn't. Snapping him out of his thoughts was Common, yet again: "We get that you love her, but would you please control those?" He referred to Air's wings, which, from their nervous jittering, had ruffled a tree's leaves onto the ground, making a new pile. The Air Wubbox cheekily laughed, apologizing. Common, in response, says, "They'll be back, just be patient, for their sake..." he knowingly put a (large) metal hand onto his (equally large) arm, in an attempt to comfort him.

As his older counterpart left Air to contemplate, an idea struck his mind.

'Why not just...leave?' He stopped pacing to turn his goggle-covered gaze to the far-out islands, just being able to make out their overall shape between the clouds. Before Common could leave, he called out to him, "do you know where they even are?"

Unknowingly, he replied, "Pretty sure they're on Earth Island, but take it with a grain of salt." Before the implied context behind the question settled in, Air was already a step off of air island's border. Common, who wasn't about to let this terrible idea slide, yelled out to his younger counterpart, "What do you think you're doing?! You leaving will throw off the balance!"

Rolling his eyes, Air leaped off the island, opening his metallic-spined wings for the first time in years. Thankfully, a comfortable breeze was present in the air, which easily swept beneath the webbed material perfectly, allowing for the Wubbox to ease into a comfortable glide. Flying to him retained like muscle memory; while having not done it in maybe a decade, he still remembered this exact feeling. Back in the day, weather like this would be something to cherish flying in. While coasting over Water island, he briefly caught the gaze of Water Wubbox, and judging by his menacing look, this probably wouldn't blow over well with the rest of them.

Slowing his speed by lifting his wings ever so slightly, almost catching the wind rather than allowing it to sweep beneath them, allowed for a somewhat rusty landing into the ashy ground of Earth Island. Given his size, he wasn't as noticeable and a crowd didn't gather, much in his favor. What was left to do was find you—

"The hell are you doin' here?" A rough, accented and a plagued-by-static voice clashed to his receivers, granting a wince. The Air Wubbox slowly turned to meet his rough-looking counterpart.

"Earth, good to see you..." he forced a chuckle. Now facing the taller, more intimidating version of him, he noticed the very pungent smell of gas and smoke. And for a moment, he thought, 'God, does [Y/N] really prefer to spend their time with this...unwashed hunk of metal?'

Earth, already fed up with his unlikely presence, grunted, "Wish I could say the same," he rolled his eyes, "Why are you even here? 'S not the best time. [Y/N]'s here, and believe me, ya're not gonna wanna hear it from 'em."

Averting his gaze by almost hiding under his leather cap he responded, despondent, "Actually...I'm here to see them."

Air could have sworn he saw Earth's eye twitch. He was completely ready to face the slew of insults and battery he usually faced with the menacing wubbox. But, in his favor, he heard a concerned, familiar voice call out to him, almost in a shock.

Before you could even finish your scolding, you were hoisted upward, face buried into the metallic surface of his chest, minding the scaly-like texture it had. Earth made a disgusted face at your interaction, stomping away to remove himself from the PDA. Muffled, you tried to say "What are you doing here?"

Without putting you down, he retracted so he could be at eye-level with you. Blushing at the closeness, you found it hard to stutter out your previous question, "Air? You're not supposed to be here." Completely ignoring your question, he had held you close again, minding your confused squirming.

"I missed you," he finally sighed out, "I really did. You've been gone for weeks."

"Only two," you corrected, still flustered, "did you fly here? I didn't know your wings actually worked..." you admitted, pretty shocked at the whole situation.

He chuckled lightly, "I haven't flown in years, truthfully. But I really missed you. Please come back to Air Island, it's always so empty without you..." You heard his gears turning as you gazed into his eyes, tinted green from his goggles. Encapsulated, you shyly brought a hand up to his head, padding against the leather cap. He leaned into your smaller hand, smiling solemnly at your affection.

You gulped, "I want to..." his eyes pleaded for your response. "Fine. Just give me some time. The tremors here have worsened—" He shushed you when you felt the earth shift beneath you, feeling your stomach plummet as you were lifted into the air, still in his grasp. In the moment, you dared not to look down because you had already inferred what was happening. You shrieked, "Air! What the hell!?"

He did not respond, a giddy smile still plastered on his face, holding you close. Your chest was pressed up against his larger one, feeling a sense of comfort from the strained gears turning and mechanics whirring. With your hair fluttered against the wind, you hid your face onto his surface, squealing lightly at both the height you were currently at and the situation as a whole. If you weren't sure of your feelings for the Air Wubbox before, you sure were now. Glancing up you felt the heat rise to your cheeks— despite the wind hitting against your skin. He looked so carefree. In the moment, you realized how much you appreciate his attitude. Compared to his counterparts; towering over you constantly, although nice, it never felt like you could really be level with them as much as you were with Air.

As Air Island's shape began to come into sight through the clouds, you held on tighter to the metal arm carrying you. He felt you tense up, and wrapped his free hand around you, securing your form. You shuddered as he landed on the ground, stable, with a thud, drawing the attention of a few habitants.

As you expected for him to allow you to slide out of his grasp, he didn't. You craned your neck up to him, mumbling your question, "Aren't you going to put me down?"

You saw him crack a smirk, shaking his head and begin carrying you away from the general area. Despite your protests, you allowed it to happen without much physical fighting, fake-pouting as he took you.

Now away from other monsters you felt his handle on you loosen, and you were able to sink back and allow him to gaze down at you, lovingly as ever. You were no idiot, and gave him the luxury of returning it.

He caught himself and shook his head, embarrassingly muttering, "Sorry for the whole commotion. I just...need you."

You felt even your ears turn red. You stifled a nervous laugh and reassured him by placing your small hand onto his palm, "Don't worry, it's nothing I haven't expected from you."

Just then, his hand gently closed around yours. It wasn't  gigantic compared to yours, but still pretty shocking out of context. You heard his voice again, but he brought it down to a near-whisper, "Yeah? What else do you expect?"

You cracked him a sarcastic smile, "Well, not this, of course."

He drew you closer, reciprocating a warm smile but it slowly turned suggestive as you felt his other hand sneak up behind you to pull you close again, resulting in you stumbling into his arms once again. This kind of contact you would have expected to be uncomfortable or overwhelming, but he surprisingly gave off warmth. He suddenly spoke again, "Haven't you figured it out yet?"

"Figured out what?"

"That I love you." He blurted out, and your shocked reaction caused him to turn his head away in embarrassment.

You felt a dumb, lovesick smile form on your face and resisted the urge to squeal out of excitement. You felt his hold around you tighten everything so slightly. Jokingly, you replied, "Oh, you didn't leave me with a whole lot of wiggle room on that one."

There was a point you even saw his goggles fog up, but you decided to reassure him, "Air, you know I love you too." The words were sweet and even just saying them felt like you had bit into a ripe apple, leaving your mouth wanting more. Catching him off guard, you stood on your toes to reach his height a bit better, and pecked his lips with yours. It was a short experience, but even you could tell it left an everlasting impact on him. Still starstruck, he looked down at you, almost in permission to lean down and reciprocate what you had just done.

As the sun was setting, the both of you followed suit.