Awaiting Termination~ The Truth Is Realized

[100 posts! ]

((Zomg, yay!

So, haha, I'm sorry this isn't a real reply yet. XD But I'm still trying to figure it out. Whilst trying to be an admin, too.))

[Grrrrrr. I came here right before bed, going, 'Yay, I can brainstorm while trying to sleep!' Only to find this. XD]

((Sorry. ^^;

Hahaha, golly gee, I loved that. XD))

-----Poor Stephanie simply wasn't equipped mentally to deal with a toddler's temper tantrum. She felt a sort of distress rising inside her, one that increased with every pound of Angel's feet and hands, and it took all of her strength not to use all of her strength against her.
-----She gritted her teeth and ripped Angel off of her. It wasn't in an aggressive sort of way; she just did it more hastily than she would have under a more casual situation. "Angel, no!" she got out, getting the toddler off of her and onto the bed. "No throwing fits! Amanda's busy right now, she can't come." Or . . . could she? Steph cast a helpless glance towards the door, but the hallway was empty; obviously enough, whatever else was going on was more important than this. All right, so, handle it. You'll be fine.
-----But how could she handle it when she just felt the urge to slap Angel? There was no rationality in her mind; all she knew was that Angel had hurt her, which was definitely bad for even a baby to be doing, and so she needed to be punishment. If only this had happened a few years later, then Stephanie might not have been having such a hard time handling it.
-----"Just shut up!" she tried, not particularly loud - in fact, it was so quiet that only Angel would hear it. But, maybe it would do something to stop her screaming . . . ? Hopefully? Or, no, probably not, but it was too late anyway. She'd just have to hope. Maybe the problem was simply that Stephanie wasn't mature enough to empathize with them. She had her great moments sometimes, but heck, she was still learning about life. There was no sense of knowing what she was doing, in fact, she didn't even know she should have had that sense. All Steph was doing was doing.

-----Gazzy instantly fell silent, a look falling upon his facet that could be described as nothing other than horror. Iggy was . . . being mean? Why? A cold fear gripped at his heart; something really must have been wrong with Iggy.
-----Now, while Gazzy wasn't on the verge of tears, that didn't make the emotions inside the four-year-old any less poignant. Instantly forgetting all about the chips, he scrambled to his feet and went over to Jeb, tugging on the man's sleeve. "Jeb? Is Iggy gonna be okay?" he asked anxiously, eyebrows slanting down in worry. It didn't really occur to him that maybe he was interfering with anything, but then again, he was a four-year-old. Why would something like that occur to him? No, all that mattered right now was that Iggy would be okay. Gazzy didn't like this, not one bit . . . seeing Iggy in so much pain, even if he didn't necessarily know it was pain, just tortured him. Iggy was a 'big boy,' and probably the one human being - or, well, just being - that he looked up to the most. Never had he considered that he could actually be this weakened, so it was a horrifying concept.
-----What if he dies?! Gazzy almost felt then like he was going to be sick. Death was a very sketchy concept for him, but he did know one thing - dying meant a person left, and that would be ten times worse than it was to watch Iggy now. Iggy . . . he couldn't leave! He belonged with the flock, and that was that. "He's not gonna die, is he?!" he pleaded of Jeb, still not letting go of the sleeve clutched in his little hands. His voice must have sounded pathetic, with a small tremble going through it, and tones of fear soaked in. In the mind of Gazzy, this little accident was the worst thing that could ever possibly happen.

-----Fang slowly tilted his head, eyes thoughtful. What do I tell her? he wondered helplessly, not a notion in his mind. Amanda was upset, okay. He could comfort her, okay. But advice . . . ? He seriously doubted he could offer any that she'd find helpful. All the same, he'd try . . . but still. It would very likely not be a pleasant experience for anyone in the end.
-----"Just relax. It'll be fine, and Jeb will help, right?" Fang offered quietly. Despite his inner qualms, the words were coming out rather strong; it would be easy enough for one to believe he knew exactly what he was saying. (Which, in case it's not clear, he didn't.)
-----"And . . ." While he was killing his record of no talking, Fang figured he might as well go on. "You're not alone in this. We're all behind you, Amanda, even if it doesn't always seem like it." And thus he ended his little speech.
-----I hope that's even true, though, he suddenly reflected, letting a grimace make way to his face. It seems like it, I suppose. Nobody's revolting yet, and any mischief is only coming from Nudge and Gazzy and Angel, because they're littler than we are. They'd be goofing off no matter what, wouldn't they?
-----One thing was for sure, though - he wasn't even going to bother mentioning Iggy's little joke. It obviously wasn't true - at least, that's what he thought - so there wasn't any need at all to say anything about it. Hopefully, Amanda would figure the same thing and not pursue the matter.

~~•~~

-----Hrmph, lucky Iggy, Fang found himself thinking sarcastically. Which didn't make any sense to him, at all. Iggy was the one hurt here, wasn't he?! Of course he should be getting special treatment! They needed to make sure he wasn't about to drop dead! Well, okay, so maybe the injury wasn't that bad, even though Gazzy may have been concerned that it was. But still, being hurt was being hurt.
-----Then why was this annoyed expression creeping in?
-----Fang abruptly forced himself to look away, and that's when he realized that Angel was screaming her head off. Oh, great. Well . . . they had enough help here, he should probably go figure out what the heck was going on.
-----"Amanda, I'm going to check on Angel," he said quietly, not bothering to try meeting her eyes before he turned and headed towards the open doorway.

((Stephanie & Angel: I got 319, you got 283. :3
Gazzy: 317 vs 582 = fail. XD
Fang: 401 vs 922 = faaaaail!
So, obviously, you win. XDD Haha, I just really felt I needed to get these perspectives combined, since it's sort of confusing to have roleplays going on with these people at two different moments in time. Not that I really have a problem with it, it just feels better this way.))

"Fang, that's just the point. That's with Jeb doing all he can, you trying your absolute best, and we're all on our best behavior. What happens when I get sick again, and you're by my side 24/7? Or when they get used to this, and start acting crazed again? You don't get it, Fang. Jeb is helping, you're helping, Iggy's trying to help, and this is the way it is. Today's been hectic, crazy, and drama-y, and please don't ask me to explain that because I am not in the mood. We've only been here twelve hours, and I already have a migraine and Iggy and Gazzy have already made something blow up." And that's when I heard the crack, and went to go see what had broken this time. [That was the bone, so this cute Fang- Amanda-comfort talk can be over within the next reply.]

Angel stopped fighting, looking at Stephanie with big blue eyes. "No" was not a concept to the poor little two year old. Being a little baby, she did not understand that sometimes people couldn't come. All that her brain processed was that she wanted Amanda, and Amanda was not here. Amanda should be here, but she wasn't. So what was Angel going to do? What a normal two year old would do- she started crying again, as well as resuming the kicking and screaming.
"No throwing fits! Amanda's busy- she can't come." Another foreign concept to the little baby bird child. Amanda was busy with someone besides herself? Who was more important than she? Though it might seem selfish, that's what most babies thought- well, at least most babies brought up the way Angel had been. Then again, she was probably the only baby brought up that way and who lived besides the rest of the flock, so they didn't exactly know what was normal. "Manda! NOW! Manda Manda Manda Manda Manda Manda Manda Manda Manda NOW!!!!!" Angel squealed at the top of her lungs right in Stephanie's ear*, also trying to bite her ear as well. "MANDA MANDA MANDA," She bit down hard, "MANDA MANDA MANDA NOW!!!!"
"Just shut up!" Stephanie hissed, and Angel's eyes widened, filling with tears. "MANDA! STEPHY SAID SHUT UP TO MEEEEEE!" Angel wailed. Yes, she did have a set of lungs on her, thank you very much. But Amanda still wasn't there. So she kept wailing until her voice broke and she started crying, yet she was still trying to bite Stephanie, a lesson she had learned well from Fang's joking bites at Amanda at the School. The thing Angel didn't understand was that Fang and Amanda were good friends, so Fang was allowed to try and bite Amanda's ear off. However, Angel and Stephanie's relationship wasn't friends or brother-sister, it was more parently/ older-sisterly/ mom-child. When you were an upset two year old, you were not allowed to try and bite off the ten year old sister of your parental figure. But Angel didn't understand this either, so she kept biting Stephanie with all the strength she had.
And then Amanda was there, with her soft golden hair, slightly-pale skin, silvery wings, blue eyes, and wide smile. "Come here, my Angel baby." Amanda gently lifted Angel into her arms, and Angel's wails subsided as she buried her face in Amanda's golden hair. "Shhhh, my sweetheart." Amanda stroked Angel's golden locks gently as she walks towards the door. "You come too, Steph- everyone's up and there except Nudge somehow." She rubbed Angel's back gently as the door opens. "Manda!" Angel giggled, everything right in her world.

Iggy wasn't exactly in the position to answer than question- he was lying on the ground- er, carpet- with Amanda leaning over him, a worried expression on her face. "Ig?" Jeb said quietly, an air of comfort in his voice. "Y-Yeah?" He asked with a stutter as Amanda gripped his unhurt hand gently. Though Iggy was only ten, he was mature for his age, and under normal circumstances, if Amanda started holding his hand for his comfort, he'd laugh and push her off. But right now, he actually did like her hand around his- it reminded him that he wasn't alone in this and that she cared, because he had seen- well, not seen, but... sensed, almost? He didn't know what it was, but he knew that they did it- Amanda do this to Fang and vise versa all the time- even if they didn't know it. "I think it's broken, Ig." Amanda broke the news, gently rubbing the unhurt shoulder. "Jeb can set it, but you're going to have to be in a cast for a week or two, okay?" He gave a small nod, looking up at Amanda's still-worried-for-him expres​sion(again, don't ask how he knew it). "I'll be fine?" He asked, not for his own benefit, but because he knew Amanda was close to breaking and needed to hear some soft of reassurance. "Yeah, in two weeks maximum." Jeb said comfortingly. Iggy could sense that Amanda's expression had calmed by the way her grip loosened on his hand. Though Iggy was usually the sarcastic one that made Amanda want to bite his head off, he still loved the Flock with all his energy and, like Fang, didn't like seeing- or, well, sensing, in his case- Amanda's discomfort.

"Fang, she's calling my name." I said quietly, feeling close to my breaking point. Which, for future reference, my breaking point includes me either bursting into tears or screaming at everybody, neither of which are very pleasant. "Stay here with Iggy." I walked out of the room, and the second I was out of his line of sight, I let the smile drop form my face as I went towards my little Angel. I pulled her into my arms gently, and she stopped screaming and, apparently, trying to bite Steph's ear off. "You too, Steph." I sighed, carrying Angel back to where Iggy was. "Fang, hold Angel." Without waiting for his comment, I handed him the little bird baby and went to go hold Gazzy. "Iggy's not gonna die, Gazzy." I murmured, sitting on Iggy's bed adn gathering him into my lap. "He's not gonna be able to move his arm for a little bit, but he's not gonna die, okay?" I stroke dhis hair gently and held him close to me, my own tears of worry, fear, and a bunch of other emotions I'm not even going to list leaking out as well. I took Angel from Fang, situating her on my lap as well and holding them both close, watching Iggy on the floor, Fang standing on the edge of things, as he always does, and Stephanie, being... well, Stephanie. The only person not here was Nudge. "Fang, go wake up Nudge. She needs to be here." I said, my throat thick with tears. But then I realized that would mean Fang leaving, and, to be honest, I think I needed him in my line of sight or I would start crying again.

"Actually, scratch that- Steph, you go wake her up." I know what a lot of you are thinking right now- that I loved Fang more than Steph, that I was choosing him over my own sister- but that's not true, and Steph knew it wasn't. Times like these where I was abnormally tired, about to start crying, trying to comfort all of the kids and make sure Iggy was okay was the time I needed Fang here or I'd freak. Like, honestly, if he left for three seconds, my tired, delusional mind would make up some crazed story. Whereas, if I need help getting Gazzy in the bath or Nudge into bed, it's Fang I'd send off to do something out of the way, because he's not the best babysitter. I love Fang, I really do, but he's not as good with the little ones as Steph is. I just have the times that I need one or the other, and they both understand that, and this was one of those times that I needed Fang in my line of sight. Or I would, literally, just burst into tears.


[1346 all together.]

((AAAAHHHOMG. <3 Go listen to Inseperable by the Jonas Brothers, and think about Fang while you do. “You know when the sun forgets to shine, I’ll be there to hold you through the night. We’ll be running so fast we can fly . . . tonight. And even when we’re miles and miles apart, you’re still holding all of my heart. I promise it will never be dark; I know we’re inseperable.”

That just had me so thinking of how it’s gonna be when Fang and Amanda are really together. ))

Screaming Angel at this precise moment equaled the worst form of torture. Stephanie’s cheeks flushed, and she glanced desperately around like some help would come at her out of the corner. Gosh, why me? Distress covered her face; at that moment, she very nearly wished they were back in The School, where they wouldn't have to deal with this.

Then Angel turned into a total little monkey, kicking and screaming and trying to tear Stephanie’s ear off with her teeth. Letting out a cry of pathetic helplessness, Stephanie threw her wings out of her back and pushed Angel as far away as she could while still holding onto her. The dark feathers offered her some small measure of reassurance; while it wasn’t as complete as it would’ve been had Angel actually managed to become quiet, even just feeling the airy feathers against her shoulders helped. A little bit. The not-quite-motherly bird-kid swallowed, then mustered her courage and pulled Angel back against her. The biting would probably start again, but at least this way she’d be able to make a decent attempt to make Angel calm.

Gosh, Amanda, just get in here, won’t you? Impatiently closing her eyes, Stephanie tried her best to rock Angel in her arms. “It’s okay, it’s okay Angel,” she whispered. The crying certainly didn’t stop, though. Angel was just completely out of control. What she needed was Amanda.

As Amanda left the room, telling Fang to stay with Iggy, Fang almost smiled. Not quite, though. Not now. Heh . . . so bossy, he thought good-naturedly, rising to his feet and crossing the room to the wall. Honestly, he figured he was sort of useless here; while he didn’t exactly want to leave, he didn’t want to be a nuisance, either. It had to be better just to stand over here.

Really, maybe I should leave the room, he told himself. Not now, sure, after Amanda got back, but still. He wasn’t doing anything to help anyone, and Iggy would clearly be fine, even though Fang’s sense of concern - and curiosity - was trying to convince him otherwise.

After a moment, though, Fang sighed. Who am I kidding? I’m not going anywhere.

It seemed like years before Amanda finally entered the room. A huge sigh of relief escaped Stephanie’s lips as she handed the two-year-old over to her sister. She didn’t even feel jealous as she watched Angel abruptly calm down in Amanda’s arms. Finally she’d shut up, and nobody was mad at Stephanie, and that was relief enough for her.

All the same, though . . . maybe she should feel jealous. What did Amanda have that Stephanie didn’t? Well, really, there’s lots of things. She’s got better hair. There were several choicier examples than this, but Stephanie wasn’t the best at noticing things and putting them into words, so the hair example would have to do. Letting out another sigh, this one nearly silent, she grabbed gently onto some of her dark brown hair while staring at Amanda.

“Thank God it’s over,” she offered, smiling rather sheepishly. Still blushing a little - something about crying babies just made her cheeks light on fire after a while - Stephanie trailed quietly after Amanda into the other room. “But, wait - come where? Why? What happe - oh.” Stephanie halted just inside the threshold of Iggy’s room, eyes widening at the scene before her. What happened here?

Iggy was laying on the floor, apparently in pain; Gazzy’s face was twisted in anxiety; Fang even seemed emotional enough to look concerned, watching Iggy - though he stayed out of the way of Jeb and Amanda. As Amanda headed straight over to Gazzy, Stephanie mimicked Fang a bit by creeping into the corner and watching without interference. Since her wings still remained unfolded, she wrapped them in front of her, clinging against them like a blanket. It was her only protection against the sudden pangs of worry.

Fang’s eyes took it in as Amanda returned. He had to fight against a smile; he much preferred actually having Amanda around. As much as he might want to complain about her telling him what to do, he had to admit that she really was doing a good job running everything here. So what if she got a little too commanding? It was only because she wanted to do her job well.

Maybe I could learn from her, he teased himself.

It took a few moments for him to realize Stephanie, too, had entered the room. Like himself, she was over by the wall, staying out of the way but watching. Poor girl, though . . . she looked so frightened, with her wings wrapped around her and a clear expression of worry on her face. If Fang hadn’t been trying not to bother anyone, he might have gone and tried to reassure her . . . and that was if he’d even be able to think of the right words. Yeah, he was definitely better off against the wall.

All she wanted to ask was what happened and if Iggy was all right. Her moment of horror with Angel didn’t even come close to the strength of her emotions now; she couldn’t stand to see harm come to those she cared about. Whether he was dying or not didn’t matter, really . . . just someone being hurt at all was enough to make her heart pump fright through her veins. It was so hard to resist the questions brewing at her tongue, but already there was chaos enough. It’ll be better if you just shut up. Listen to them and figure it out for yourself.

Amanda’s latest and greatest order brought Fang out of his silent thought process. He didn’t complain as she handed Angel to him. He’d caused her enough grief for one day, apparently. But what was it with girls? Why on earth would you want to just go off and ignore someone, instead of talking it out to actually try and make it better?

As Amanda scooped Gazzy up onto her lap, the little four-year-old made up his mind that he would not cry. So as she spoke, he focused silently on her - but save one sniffle, and eyes rounder than usual, he didn’t show in the slightest how upset he was.

Then again, though . . . at least the rest of the flock wasn’t so weird. Yet. Stephanie showed promise if she wasn’t like that, but you really couldn’t tell anything with Nudge or Angel . . . as if he’d be able to figure it out by looking at her, Fang rested his eyes upon Angel’s face. Geez, I sure hope she doesn’t start another one of those screaming fits, he chuckled to himself, and gave Angel a small smile.

Instantly Stephanie’s eyes went towards Amanda. Gazzy was cradled on her lap now, listening intently to every word from Amanda’s mouth. Stephanie couldn’t help but tune in herself, and when she heard what Amanda said, she felt just a fraction better. So he must have broken his arm, then. That means he’ll be fine. Her shoulders, formerly hunched tensely, slowly dropped, and Stephanie’s wings relaxed a bit.

When Amanda had finished speaking, Gazzy really did feel better. Sniffling once more, he nodded, then glanced over at Iggy - and broke his promise to himself. He started crying.

Really, Gazzy couldn’t help it. Everything had simply overwhelmed him, and now he had to get it out. He didn’t cry noisily, at least, simply sniffled and let the tears stream down his cheeks as he sat with Amanda. However, he didn’t want to draw attention to himself, so he didn’t even wiggle when Angel came to join him.

Although she felt more confident about the situation, she still refrained from speaking or otherwise doing anything that would distract the others from what they were doing. If anyone really needed her to do anything, they’d ask, and there was nothing else she could do that would possibly make things any better.

It was rather relieving to have Amanda take Angel - who knows what could’ve happened while he held her - but Fang honestly felt a little deprived. Why the heck am I even going to be here if I’m not helping out? he grumbled. He was just beginning to convince himself to leave, when Amanda told him to go get Nudge.

While dealing with kids wasn’t really his best line of work, Fang was more than happy to. He pushed off the wall, but glanced over at Amanda’s face. She seemed really . . . upset. It was no wonder, but suddenly he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her alone to deal with this. Alone being a relative term, of course, considering Steph was here. But Stephanie was in no position to deal with anything, either, judging by the look on her face. And heck, Amanda probably needed comfort more than anyone else right now. The tearstains were quite visible on her cheeks, and Amanda just didn’t normally cry so much. It almost made him even more worried than he was over Iggy himself.

Moments traced on by, and nothing much happened. Then Amanda started talking about how they needed Nudge here, too. What . . . why? Can’t we just tell her in the morning or something? Stephanie wondered. Nervertheless, she bit her lip and didn’t argue, not even when Amanda changed from Fang to Stephanie. Go wake her . . . geez, this is gonna be fun. Stephanie left the room just as quietly as she had come in, returning to the bedroom where her horrid nightmare from a few minutes before had taken place.

Fang almost felt irritated when Amanda changed her mind. Yeah, I’m really doing no good here. It was time for a little change, though. Since he was remaining here, he’d make the most of it and try to be of some help. To Amanda.

He quietly made his way over to her, watching her the whole time. It was like she might spontaneously combust if he took his eyes off of her. “Hey, you all right?” he murmured, paying no heed to the happy Angel and crying Gazzy on her lap.

Nudge had always been a heavy sleeper, so Stephanie didn’t waste her time with gentle shakes and murmurs. Instead she shoved Nudge in the shoulders. “Hey, wake up!” After a minute or two of this, Nudge finally rolled over, lifting a sleepy head to gaze at Stephanie. The older avian-human’s eyes suddenly widened . . . Nudge’s hair was really messy.

“Whayya wan?” Nudge mumbled, stifling a yawn.

“Iggy broke his arm, I think. Amanda wants you with us. Sorry, Nudge.” Stephanie put on a sympathetic face while pulling up on Nudge’s arm. Though the dark-skinned bird-person grumbled a bit, she allowed Stephanie to guide her out of bed and into Iggy’s room.

The moment she was there, Nudge planned to curl up on the floor and go back to sleep. But when she saw everyone gathered there, and Iggy on the floor, Stephanie’s words finally took effect.

“Steph . . . ?” she whispered, looking over at her with wide eyes. Her older flockmate offered a small smile, maybe trying to reassure her, but it hardly helped. In an instant, Nudge raced over to her and hugged her, trying to hide from the horrible scene.

”Really, Nudge, it’s okay,” Stephanie reassured her, hoping she was right as she hugged Nudge back. “Iggy’s going to be fine.” Yet she couldn’t keep her voice from shaking.

((1542 for me. I think I liked doing it this way - first I went over and did Stephanie’s perspective for the whole thing, and then I started writing everyone else’s in the middle of that. Do you think it reads better this way, though, or would it do better if everyone’s perspectives were a whole?))