Eternity's Dime

Chapter two: Unexpected

Phineas groaned. His arms felt like mincemeat where they had slid across the rough roof and the heavy weight on his back made it difficult to breathe.

On the bright side, he'd stopped hyperventilating.

Whatever was on his back started shaking. A weird sort of shaking followed by snorted laughter.

Phineas' heart sunk. Oh no. Oh please no.

The person—his soulmate?—managed to get off Phineas' back before two hands grabbed him by the shoulders and picked him up.

"Hey!" Phineas kicked at his... his... whatever, but the person set him down on his feet like he hadn't done anything. Ready to complain at the treatment-he could have gotten up on his own just fine without some stranger's hands grabbing at him, thank you very much-he turned to face his soulmate and froze.

One never knew what to expect when meeting their soulmate, Phineas sure didn't, but this was far from anything he had expected.

First off, his soulmate was a guy. Sure, he'd considered that, but Phineas didn't think he was gay. He'd never felt anything towards any man he'd ever met, but he'd never felt anything towards any girl he'd ever met either so maybe that wasn't a good way to judge it? Actually, the only reason why Phineas ever assumed his soulmate would be a girl was because his mom and sister, and even Isabella, always used 'she' when referring to his future soulmate.

Phineas had to try not to groan when he realized he had to look up to meet the guy's eyes. Except he still couldn't because his soulmate wore a pair of tinted goggles that hid his eyes from view. Were all the short soulmate options taken?

The guy also wasn't wearing a shirt. Why? Though judging by how tan the guy's chest was, maybe he didn't wear shirts often. Phineas' blue eyes drifted and then shot wide open as he took in the pair of fluffy white wings on the guy's back.

If his soulmate had literally fallen from heaven, screw it, he was cursing the guy to stay single.

"They're not real."

It took a long moment for the words to sink in and then, Phineas only blinked. What?

"My wings," his soulmate continued. His voice didn't give away any emotion despite being far from monotone. "I've been working on them all week."

"You build things?" All thoughts of soulmates and love and romance vanished from Phineas' mind as he jogged around the other man. "You built these? Can I touch them?" He waited until the man nodded to run his fingers lightly over the feathers. The soft wing twitched under his touch, and he jerked back. "What was that?"

"I apologize. They're hooked up to my nervous system." A small shrug accompanied the explanation. The guy combed his hands through his hair, tugging at the leafy-green strands that appeared to be tangled from his flight.

 Phineas looked over where they attached to the guy's back. But they appeared to fit perfectly against the skin, as if they were as much a part of him as his arms and legs. "You're sure these are fake?"

Another nod. He seemed to have given up on his hair and shoved his hands into his jean pockets instead.

Taking a deep breath, Phineas blathered out, "How do they work? What do you mean they're connected to your nervous system? Why would you connect them to your nervous system? How did you even manage that? What are they made of? They these real feathers? How do they stay attached? Did you cut your back open to attach them? Do they run on a battery or on your own body's energy? Like body heat or-"

"Slow down." That same snorted laugh that sounded like he was trying to not laugh and failing horribly accompanied the words. "One question at a time." The wings shifted, spreading out to their full length, which was at least twenty-two feet, before folding up neatly against the man's back.

Phineas tried to focus on just one question. When one finally came to him, it had nothing to do with the wings. "What's your name?"

The other man turned around to face him, the movement awkward, and his wings adjusted to help compensate for their weight. One hand stretched out towards Phineas. "Ferbs Fletcher."

After a seconds hesitation, Phineas took the hand. He couldn't help but be ever so slightly disappointed when there was no spark at the contact. Any vague hope that maybe his view on soulmates would change once meeting his was dashed in that moment.

Nevertheless, he smiled as he shook the hand. "Phineas Flynn."

Then Ferbs smoothly changed his hold on Phineas' hand, lifting it as he leaned over slightly, lips brushing over Phineas knuckles in a kiss. "It's a pleasure."

Phineas gasped. How the heck was he supposed to react to that? Who even does that anymore?

Perhaps he should just be happy that Ferbs was taking this whole soulmate thing better than him.