golden wings melt like blue slushies // JJ Maybank

-Take my picture now, shake it 'til you see it-

"Hey dick head!"

JJ looked over, scanning the back garden and spotting the small grey car admis the crowd of tangled fishing nets, hammocks, and an oblivious rooster pecking at the ground. He watched as Icarus waved through the window; mouth full of gum.

"You guys, not everything is a kingpin movie," Kiara huffed, leaning back on the slightly broken couch. The group were crowded around the porch, but JJ was already down the stairs and helping Icarus out of the car and into the wheelchair. She held out a pink bag of chips, salt and vinegar.

"They're my favourite!" He grinned, taking the snack and holding onto the handles of the chair. 

Icarus shrugged, pulling the sleeves of her brown hoodie over her hands, "they were the only ones left in the vending machine."

JJ turned away, pushing Icarus through the broken twigs and discarded pieces of rubbish on the ground. He didn't see Mitchy shaking his head at Icarus with a smirk, and her giving him the finger back, sticking her tongue out.

Mitchy beeped the horn once in goodbye, and pulled out of the drive, probably off to clock in for his shift at the hotel. "Did you take your leg to the hospital?" JJ asked Icarus, looking down at her. She nodded, tugging her blue skirt that he was sure was actually Kiara's down over the stump of her thigh.

"Iggy, you good?" John B asked, his brows furrowed. Pope was leaning against the railing, chewing on his fingernail, and Kiara had her arms crossed opposite him. Icarus moved herself to the bench next to the girl, looking around at the silent group.

"What did I miss?"

"Me and John B went to Lana Grubbs place, and she was getting beaten up by the guys that shot at us, and then they left and she was all a screami-"

JJ was cut off when John B started pacing up and down the porch, fiddling with the bandana around his neck. "They wanted the compass, I don't know why, but they wanted my father's compass."

Icarus handed Kiara a square of pale purple hubba bubba and popped a bubble of her own, thinking for a moment. "Maybe it points somewhere, like- like not north, but somewhere else, that they need to find?"

"That's not even possible, either a compass points north, or its broken," Pope scoffed.

"In Stranger Things, it points towards the magnetic things, right?" Icaurs pondered, fiddling with the end of her hair. "Like, the thing with the strongest pull, so maybe these dudes are trying to find a...a..."

"But they could use any dusty old compass for that," Pope shot back, then turned to John B with a wince, "no offence man, I know it's in your family..."

"My dad. My dad's office. He's always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his royal merchant research." John B looked down at his feet. "We used to laugh at him like he was gonna find it. But now that he's gone, I've just kinda...I've just kept it as he kept it."

"For when he gets back," Kiara assured the boy with a small smile. JJ exchanged a glance with Icarus, in which they both raised their eyebrows. She popped a bubble and grinned. She had a nice smile.

JJ took the handles of her borrowed wheelchair, pushing her along behind their friends into the mess that was the chateau. "If we were in stranger things, who would we be? ... Oh! I'd definitely be Steve, cause he's like, the coolest. And he has the best hair."

Icaurs looked up at him, taking a chip out of the bag he was holding. A crumb fell onto her chin as she spoke, "we'll, your pretty reckless, I'll give you that. Oh, and you can't win a fight! Yeah, that suits you."