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1
Micheal is four when their dads tear down the cabin and then spend a good two years travelling.
They don't remember it much — hell they dont remember is at all, but they remember flying. They remember wind ruffling their fur and the joy of being on the top of the world. He remembers holding on tight and screaming as one of their dads plunged into a dive.
Sure, there was always the chance of falling, but they never did.
Micheal hasn't been able to take to the skies since.
They made sure to express this very clearly whenever they got the chance. They would mention it at dinner, before bed, and even when their dads were doing Quiet Time.
Which is precisely what they're doing now.
Their legs swing back and forth in the chair as they watch Ranboo push the two menaces that were Tommy and Tubbo out of the kitchen. For the 5th time that week—it was a tradition that they did every day. It started off as a genuine want to fuck sround in the kitchen, but soon they started doing it for the sake of doing it.
Micheal, the seven year old gremlin they are, always takes this chance to steal coco bars from the cabinet. No one notices nor thinks of him as a suspect. It's funny to watch them flounder.
"Daaaad?" they croon.
Ranbok, having returned to the stove, turns to face his child. He smiles. "Yes?"
"I want to go flying."
The man laughs. "Micheal you know you can't-"
Micheal stops kicking their legs. "Why not?"
"You're too small for an elytra, you don't reach the height requirement quite yet, Cricket." Micheal brightens up at the nickname.
A hand ruffles their hair. "Maybe when you're older. Now how about you help dad cook dinner, yeah?"
Micheal immediately brightens, practically flying out their seat to the kitchen counter. He hops and scrambles onto the smooth material.
Ranboo laughs and bowls out a bowl from the cabinets. "Okay, hold this Micheal."
(Five minutes later, a disgruntled ender hybrid is cleaning glass from the floor. Micheal does not disclose that he dropped the bowl on purpose.)
2
Micheal is nine, and watching Tommy tinker with a harness, the Elytra wings it belonged to sitting a few feet away.
"You won't be able to use it 'til you hit a growth spurt, and we'll probably have to resize the harness and mess around a bit with the wings, but you'll be proper flying in a few years—and maybe by the end of summer if you're very lucky!"
Micheal nods, closing their eyes. They can imagine it now; the boom of a firework shooting them forward; screaming as they do loops and dives and pulling up at the last second; being in the clouds and getting to see it all. They would need goggles, big ones that fit snugly over their face and protect their eyes from harsh winds. Like their dads' goggles.
They don't know if they can wait a month—let alone a year.
They wouldn't even be able to fly next month anyway! They've read up a bit, the cold would freeze over the Elytra wings and it would be too cold for a regular mob. Sure, there are enchantments for that—but there was a strict No Enchantment rule, unless they were redoing the enchantments on the perimeter of the… estate?
Was it an estate? Their family owned the land after all, and it stretched pretty far out, it needs too if they want to fit everything in it.
Micheal would say it's more of a farm, or a ranch.
"Micheal?"
They blink—their back in the 'workshop' again. Though, the word workshop should be used lightly.
"Yeah?"
"Don't tell your other dads — but wanna go flying on my back?" Tommy grins and shakes the now out together Elytra.
"Fuck yes!" Micheal whispers.
(Later, they get in trouble for "dangerous acts", but… who cares?
Tubbo did. Tubbo cared. Tubbo very much cared.)
+1
Micheal is 11, at the end of their growth spurt and strapping an Elytra to themself. They clamp the belt around their waist and make sure the firework compartment won't be falling anytime soon. They probably look awkward as fuck—a tall child with thick goggles strapped to their head, hair down and holding the trigger to the Elytra wings like it might activate a nuke. Which, who knew, it could.
Nonetheless, Tommy says they look badass and that he and Tubbo would be watching from the ground.
The ladder goes high, they can see the top but it seems to be more far up then it actually is. Micheal is suddenly glad they skipped breakfast this morning.
They shake their head and continue climbing, their dad following close behind.
"You ready?" Ranboo asks once they get to the top. "I know my first time with an Elytra ended in me throwing up."
"Course it would." Micheal laughs. They look over the edge of the platform. They're feeling a bit queasy—maybe it'll go away once they are in the sky. Tubbo and Tommy wave from down below,
Ranboo claps. "Welp, might as well start off shall we?" the man tugs on his own Elytra harness.
Micheal nods.
"If we're going to get started, you gotta learn how to activate the wings—you probably already guessed, but you press the button right here." his dad holds up a detonator type looking thing connected to the Elytra. Micheal also holds their own up.
They press their own, jumping as the weight on their back lessons and there's light whoosh of wind. A quiet woah escapes them as they look over their shoulder and see the Elytra wings spread out in all their glory—soft fake feathers and all.
"Yeah woah, now close them unless you want to jump off with those open and test your luck with death," Ranboo says. His own Elytra wings, the one situated above his real ones, are yet to be spread out. "So the basic idea is to just jump—"
"WHAT!?" Micheal squacks, a noise they had picked up from Tommy a while ago. "You want me to just jump off this floating platform in the sky?"
"Yes, yes that is what I want you to do—not yet though."
Micheal lets out a dramatic sigh, slouching like a deflated balloon. "You're promoting suicide dad, you are a horrid role model."
"I'd rather not have anyone die, purposely or not." Ranboo mutters. "Now straighten up."
Micheal straightens themself up.
"Okay so, you want to jump and activate the wing—once activated you'll be shot up in the sky, kind of. But you don't want to activate it too soon or too late, that relies on instinct more than anything. I'd say halfway through though. When lending, you should angle your legs in a way that lets you land on your feet and not head first, if not, then make sure you roll." Their dad pauses, and looks them straight in the eyes—something he never does unless he wants to get a point across. "And absolutely no diving or attempting cool Elytra tricks, you're still learning and I don't want my son to die from fall damage."
Oh, Micheal would very much be breaking that rule.
If they could get themself to jump off. They look over the edge again—maybe if he just closes his eyes—
Hands touch their back and then they're falling through the air, screaming as the ground comes closer and closer.
Oh Prime this was a plot for their fathers to murder them via Elytra and oh Prime the grass is coming closer—would they die on impact or slowly bleed out?
They squeeze their eyes shut embracing for impact.
It never comes.
Instead, air wooshes around their ears and they feel themselves being lifted up. They open their eyes and see the world below them—and Prime it's a sight to see. He can see the glass of their dome and the clumps of snow in places the summer couldn't quite melt. They feel like they're on the top of the world, able to smush the large dark trees they've known all their life with a flick of their finger. They're in the air and it is great.
They take everything in for the few seconds they're still in the air. He can see the cattle and golden wheat farms from the start of the dome to his left; the river to his right and clouds all around.
They angle themselves—it almost like they know exactly what to do.
They whoop and holler as they dip into a dive.
Once they get close enough, they move into a position that would make him a kid into a landing.
They kicked up dirt as they hit the ground and twirled around. He falls on his back with a thump—knowing the Elytra wings wouldn't break.
They never want to touch the ground again.
(Later, they get scolded for breaking the 'no diving' rule, but then they point out how Ranboo literally pushed him off the platform much like a mother bird would do to her chicks. That gets Tubbo and Tommy on Micheals side immediately.
They use pillows as the punishment.)