Ebony snuck out of Mallory's room around one-thirty, most of the duck clan
settling down for the evening. She had changed out of her suit, the midriff
the only thing of it she wore. Baggy khakis settled around her hips in
place of the leather. She now was in comfort, not style mode. Worry drove
her tonight, and she couldn't rest until she checked on him.
Creeping down the halls, she snuck by the Duck's rooms, one by one till she got to the one, which was Wildwing's. The doors slid open before her to expose an empty room--- large, but empty. Tons of books lined shelves of bookcases, while light furniture such as a small sofa, desk, small bed, and other such furnishings dotted the room in corners.
Frowning, she wandered further down the hall until she came to sickbay, something Phil had pointed out on her first day, as though it was an obligation. Wildwing was not there either. Feeling slightly scared, she went to the Hanger, to have the freedom to pace without fear of waking anyone up.
She entered and choked back a sigh of relief. Wildwing lay on his back, working under one of the Duck Cycles. Grease lined his dirty t-shirt; his jeans were rather crusty as well. She walked forward and sat on the duck cycle next to him, watching the long figure tinker under the neighboring bike.
He grunted suddenly and started groping around, muttering something about a monkey wrench. She peered around, spying it by his right foot. Leaning down, she slid it forward until he touched it.
"Thanks," he grunted, before sliding it underneath and tinkering. He then paused and slid out from underneath the bike. She smiled down at him.
"Hey," he greeted, sitting up and wiping his face and beak.
"How you doin'?" she asked in return.
"I'm okay… still have a bit of a headache, but I took some Tylenol."
"Good," she said, arching a brow. "This is what you do to take it easy?"
"Not really, but it's something to do," he shrugged in reply.
"Shouldn't you be in sickbay?" she asked. She saw a pinkish tinge come to his off-white feathers. "Ah-hah. I see that Nosedive isn't the only one."
"It's not a big deal," Wildwing replied, frowning, his guilt twanged slightly. 'Nice role-modeling there, Wing,' he chastised himself.
"It's okay," she replied. "Tell you what, next time I go on an escapade and you chastise me for it, I'll spill on you." She smiled.
"Ah, so it's blackmail, is it?"
"A fair bargain," she replied. "I don't have my conscience tweaked, and you don't get the third degree from the others."
"Alright," he said, groaning as he sat up a bit. She smiled.
"You want to go for a spin on one of these?" She asked, lightly brushing her hand over the handlebars of the cycle she perched upon.
"Um…" Wildwing said, rather surprised. "I don't think it's a good idea to cycle at night."
"There're headlights on this thing," she retorted. "Dive showed me how to work them."
"Yeah, but I've also had a head injury," he argued, standing up.
"And you call tinkering with machinery something to do while you're recovering?" Ebony demanded.
"And I'm leader," he replied. "I shouldn't drop everything and go."
"Why not?" She asked. He looked hard at her.
"That'd kind of be asking you not to attend a show," he said.
"Yeah, but shows are scheduled, this is free time," she argued in reply.
"Leadership is a constant schedule," he replied. "I'm not going, and you should be in bed. Mallory's strict on bed times, remember?"
"You're not even in sickbay, let alone in bed!" Ebony answered. Wildwing sighed.
"Okay," he said, getting up and tossing his rag aside.
"Where you going?" She asked, watching him from astride the Duck Cycle.
"Going to bed," he replied. "Perhaps you'll be happy then." He turned, walking out of the hanger in long strides. He had gotten a few paces down the hall, before Ebony caught up to him.
"Wildwing, don't be angry," she whispered, almost trotting to keep up.
"Why not?" Wildwing demanded in a low voice. Something about his tone set her off.
"Why is it that I'M always the one who's doing something wrong? This is starting to get routine!" She asked hotly, desperately keeping her voice down.
"Because you're just like Dive!" He hissed back. "Irresponsible and spontaneous!"
"Nobody asked you to be the parent!" She replied.
"Listen! Dive is my little brother. Our parents are on Puck World, probably thinking we're dead because of the dimensional gateway! Don't talk to me about nobody asking me to be the parent, when I need to take care of the seventeen year old kid!" He snapped.
"He's not a baby anymore! He'd probably be a bit more responsible if you gave him breathing room!" She snarled back. Wildwing made a sharp right into his room, with Ebony right behind. Once the doors closed, they were free to talk.
"How do you know what he needs?" Wildwing demanded, his eyes flashing without the aide of Ducaine's mask, which stood on his table.
"Because he TOLD me about it!" She snapped, glaring at him.
"Nosedive was being sweet on you. I wouldn't take him seriously," he retorted. Ebony glared, then turned to go.
"Well, in my personal opinion, what he had to say rings merit," she said venomously before she stormed out of his room. His head snapped in her direction with something equally as biting to say, but nothing came. A rush of pain darted to his brain and he moaned rubbing his temple, muttering words he deemed close enough to swearing, but not quite.
*~
The morning came, with the inhabitants of the Pond rising and getting on with daily routine. Wildwing and Ebony evidently weren't speaking to each other as they both avoided the room the other was in, or, if they couldn't get out of it, would say very little. Duke had woken on the right side of the bed, for he was pleasant and cheerful, along with others who had gotten a good night's sleep, though he had been troubled. Late in the night, he had heard yelling from Wildwing's room. He had at first dismissed it as a dream, and seeing Wildwing very cranky was no surprise. He had gotten pummeled at last night's game, however, seeing Ebony in a storm cloud gave him suspicion.
Duke approached her in the rec. room; amazed that he wasn't seeing Nosedive hanging all over her.
"G'morning sweetheart," he greeted, "you seen Dive lately?"
"He's out with Thrash and Mookie," she said, looking up from a book she was skimming through. She looked faintly cross, but pleasant, otherwise.
"Ah… well," he said then grinned. "Ya know how we had to put off our date the other night?"
"Yeah," she said, looking up again.
"Well, I was thinkin' that… as I don't have practice and if you don't have plans, then maybe we could hang out today instead," he said slowly, almost shyly. She smiled.
"Sure, I'd like that," she said, closing the book.
"Alright, lemme go check out. See ya in the hanger," he said and practically dashed to Wildwing, standing broodingly against Drake One, arms crossed.
"Hey," he greeted. "How ya feeling?" Wildwing only grunted in reply. A beat of silence ensued before Duke cleared his throat.
"Right. I'm gonna go downtown with Ebony for awhile. I'll be back in three hours, and I'll let ya know if anything comes up," he said casually and started towards the door, when Wildwings cold voice suddenly spoke.
"No," he said.
"What?" Duke asked, pausing.
"I said no," Wildwing, said fury burning in his eyes. Duke quieted for a few moments.
"Eh… why?" he asked feeling slightly alarmed.
"She's not to go beyond the premises," Wildwing replied, his voice very quiet and very cold. Duke stared.
"C'mon, Wildwing," he started gently. "I think she needs to--"
"I Said No!" Wildwing snapped, turning quickly to face Duke, arms dropping to his side, his voice rising, his eyes behind the white goalie mask flashing dangerously. His voice echoed slightly in the Ready Room. "I'm sorry Duke, but she hasn't earned the privilege," he said, calming down after an endless awkward silence, returning to leaning against the side of Drake One, arms crossed once more. Duke nodded once, before turning, not speaking a word.
He walked quickly to the Hanger, the previously described scene still replaying in his mind. Entering, he saw Ebony sitting on the floor, looking gloomy.
"Hey… Amber," he started. She shook her head.
"I know," she said, raising a hand to stop him. "I know what Wildwing said. I followed, listened in for a bit and then crept away a little before you left." Duke sat beside her, quietly at first while she brooded.
"What was the argument about?" he asked, his voice low and gentle.
"Well, it first started out with blackmail then progressed to Nosedive and his habits," Ebony said, anger starting to well up again. She wanted to march right into whatever that huge room was and tell Wildwing off, again.
"Nosedive?" Duke asked.
"Yeah, Dive told me that he wanted to be a bit freer, then he'd be able to feel like he was trusted to take on big responsibility, but as Wing won't give him room to grow, he has to escape. Somehow, the conversation led to me being like Nosedive, then headed off into Nosedive himself."
"Got it," Duke said, patting her shoulder.
"I just hope Dive enjoys his freedom, while Wing's got ME under house arrest," Ebony said darkly. Little did the pair know, Nosedive was listening.
He had given Ebony up as a girlfriend long ago, the competition between him and Duke waning until they were buddies again. Dive knew that both Duke and Ebony weren't aiming to be involved either, so the boys had considered it a draw. Ebony now was under house arrest, while Wildwing treated him regularly.
This was no surprise to him, but he didn't like the way Wildwing was treating Ebony—not allowing her to leave the pond. He almost wondered why Ebony put up with it. He turned and walked to the Ready room to find Wildwing still brooding. Marching up, he wound back and punched his brother dead in the face.
Wildwing stumbled back with a cry of rage and surprise.
"Nosedive, what the hell was that for?" he asked, furious eyes rounding on his brother.
"You know, Ebony isn't one of us. She isn't one who you can control. So why the hell are you trying to control her too, huh?"
"What are you talking about?" Wildwing demanded, patting his cheek.
"Not allowing her to leave the premises? Hello?" Nosedive demanded, adrenaline rushing through his veins in anger.
"Listen, she's acting just like you are. You've been through house arrest, and you've gotten better about it. She needs to start acting her age."
"No, she needs to start acting more like you is what you're really saying," Dive snapped back. "You're a control freak, Wing, admit it!"
"Nosedive, I was the one who was hit over the head yesterday, not you," Wildwing growled. Nosedive made to clobber him again, when Duke burst into the room, with Ebony right behind.
"Hey, Hey!" He yelled, seeing Nosedive hurl himself at Wildwing. He grabbed Nosedive by the scruff of the neck and hauled him off Wildwing. Ebony stood by Nosedive's side, touching his face and speaking in a low voice to him, calming him down.
"What's going on?" Duke demanded, looking from him to Wildwing.
"You know precisely what's goin' on Duke- an unjust house arrest when there's no need. She's not apart of the team! Don't worry about her so much. At least SHE can take care of herself!" Dive snapped viciously at Wildwing, while Ebony put a restraining arm on him.
"She is under our roof and is within our facility. It's protocol!" Wildwing said back, keeping cool and rational, standing tall and for once, quite alone.
"Dive, it's not worth it," Ebony murmured to him. Nosedive scoffed in reply.
"Yeah, I know but at the same time she doesn't get the restraining order just because she has a life, that's not in the contract!" Dive snapped back, ignoring Ebony.
"Calm Down, Nosedive," she said, turning him and dragging him away. "Just forget about it. Wildwing has a point, he just doesn't issue it in the best of ways, but it's okay, we can work with it," she soothed, ushering him towards the door.
Wildwing glowered before Duke, practically seething in anger.
"Ya wanna talk about it?" Duke asked calmly. Wildwing, on the other hand, turned around and punched a hole in the opposite door.
*~
It was a good while before Duke could get him to calm down, much more to talk. When he finally was able to get Wildwing to open slightly, Wildwing expressed a regret for his "so-called" tyranny, but didn't know how to correct it. He just didn't want anyone to get hurt, and it took all his strength to keep strong when both Dive and Ebony seemed to take that care for granted.
"I understand," Duke nodded, after Wildwing expressed his doubt.
"I suck," Wildwing moaned.
"Ya know what, I think you just gotta loosen up a bit," Duke counseled gently. "But other then that, ya really care about us. I think that because you're so busy worryin', Nosedive and Eb don't recognize that care, and substitute it for oppression. Nosedive's seventeen, and Ebony's your age, only she doesn't really have to worry so much about takin' care of others cuz she doesn't have to deal with it. It's all supplied for her. She's spoiled like that."
"Thanks," Wildwing said, wanting some time to maul it over by himself.
"See ya later," Duke said, getting up and leaving Wildwing to his thoughts. He started looking for Ebony.
*~
Ebony, after consolidating Nosedive sat around in the rec. room, thinking. She had never caused as much trouble as she had with Wildwing than she had in her entire life. Much more, she had Nosedive fighting for her, which was all right in once sense, but in another, she felt guilty because she pitted brother against brother.
Amber Ebony James had grown up, but in order to grow up fully, she had to do the best thing she could think of to do… apologize to Wildwing. Getting up, she walked down the hall, just missing Duke, who stopped by the rec. room to see if she was all right. He heard quiet footsteps ahead of him and guessed that she wanted to be alone.
Ebony wandered further down the now familiar halls, Wildwing's room being at the end of the hall. She heard footsteps coming towards her and moved over to one side. She ran into Tanya who narrowed her eyes as she saw her.
"Just the person I wanted to see," she sneered.
"Do you want to talk?" Ebony asked calmly.
"Yeah I do," Tanya said, then gestured for her to follow her. Ebony entered a place she hadn't been before: Tanya's Lab. Tanya closed the door behind him, then started on her, rattling about how she must be ashamed to make Wildwing so upset and how she had been nothing but trouble ever since she came, stealing all the boys away to her own devices. As soon as Tanya had said that, she shut her beak.
"You're jealous," Ebony said, incredulously.
"That's besides the point," Tanya said, starting to stutter.
"No, that is the point," Ebony said, an epiphany hit her. "The guys have been spending so much time with me, you feel left out?" She asked gently. Tanya stared at her.
"No," she said. "I'm jealous because I'm obviously not good enough to be included in your little circle of friends. Nobody ever wants to be MY friend first." Tanya sat down broodingly. Ebony was shocked.
"Tanya… I… I'm sorry," she stammered. "You didn't seem to like me at all, and so I thought I'd stay out of your way. I'm sorry. Why don't we make up for lost time?"
"How?" Tanya asked, suspiciously.
"Well… why don't we do something together?" Ebony said. Tanya shook her head quickly.
"No, cuz I have tuning to do in the hanger, and you… you're under Pond Arrest," Tanya said.
"Well, how about I help you tune, or talk to you while you take care of it? I'm okay with tuning. When I hit the entertainment business my late dad taught me how to fix a car in case I get stranded or something," Ebony offered. Tanya looked at her.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yeah," Ebony smiled. "I owe you, for a lot of things, but mostly for not noticing a really cool duck first." Tanya blushed.
"You know, I really like your music," she said shyly. Ebony laughed and hugged her.
"Thanks Tanya, you brightened up my day." Tanya smiled at her.
*~
Creeping down the halls, she snuck by the Duck's rooms, one by one till she got to the one, which was Wildwing's. The doors slid open before her to expose an empty room--- large, but empty. Tons of books lined shelves of bookcases, while light furniture such as a small sofa, desk, small bed, and other such furnishings dotted the room in corners.
Frowning, she wandered further down the hall until she came to sickbay, something Phil had pointed out on her first day, as though it was an obligation. Wildwing was not there either. Feeling slightly scared, she went to the Hanger, to have the freedom to pace without fear of waking anyone up.
She entered and choked back a sigh of relief. Wildwing lay on his back, working under one of the Duck Cycles. Grease lined his dirty t-shirt; his jeans were rather crusty as well. She walked forward and sat on the duck cycle next to him, watching the long figure tinker under the neighboring bike.
He grunted suddenly and started groping around, muttering something about a monkey wrench. She peered around, spying it by his right foot. Leaning down, she slid it forward until he touched it.
"Thanks," he grunted, before sliding it underneath and tinkering. He then paused and slid out from underneath the bike. She smiled down at him.
"Hey," he greeted, sitting up and wiping his face and beak.
"How you doin'?" she asked in return.
"I'm okay… still have a bit of a headache, but I took some Tylenol."
"Good," she said, arching a brow. "This is what you do to take it easy?"
"Not really, but it's something to do," he shrugged in reply.
"Shouldn't you be in sickbay?" she asked. She saw a pinkish tinge come to his off-white feathers. "Ah-hah. I see that Nosedive isn't the only one."
"It's not a big deal," Wildwing replied, frowning, his guilt twanged slightly. 'Nice role-modeling there, Wing,' he chastised himself.
"It's okay," she replied. "Tell you what, next time I go on an escapade and you chastise me for it, I'll spill on you." She smiled.
"Ah, so it's blackmail, is it?"
"A fair bargain," she replied. "I don't have my conscience tweaked, and you don't get the third degree from the others."
"Alright," he said, groaning as he sat up a bit. She smiled.
"You want to go for a spin on one of these?" She asked, lightly brushing her hand over the handlebars of the cycle she perched upon.
"Um…" Wildwing said, rather surprised. "I don't think it's a good idea to cycle at night."
"There're headlights on this thing," she retorted. "Dive showed me how to work them."
"Yeah, but I've also had a head injury," he argued, standing up.
"And you call tinkering with machinery something to do while you're recovering?" Ebony demanded.
"And I'm leader," he replied. "I shouldn't drop everything and go."
"Why not?" She asked. He looked hard at her.
"That'd kind of be asking you not to attend a show," he said.
"Yeah, but shows are scheduled, this is free time," she argued in reply.
"Leadership is a constant schedule," he replied. "I'm not going, and you should be in bed. Mallory's strict on bed times, remember?"
"You're not even in sickbay, let alone in bed!" Ebony answered. Wildwing sighed.
"Okay," he said, getting up and tossing his rag aside.
"Where you going?" She asked, watching him from astride the Duck Cycle.
"Going to bed," he replied. "Perhaps you'll be happy then." He turned, walking out of the hanger in long strides. He had gotten a few paces down the hall, before Ebony caught up to him.
"Wildwing, don't be angry," she whispered, almost trotting to keep up.
"Why not?" Wildwing demanded in a low voice. Something about his tone set her off.
"Why is it that I'M always the one who's doing something wrong? This is starting to get routine!" She asked hotly, desperately keeping her voice down.
"Because you're just like Dive!" He hissed back. "Irresponsible and spontaneous!"
"Nobody asked you to be the parent!" She replied.
"Listen! Dive is my little brother. Our parents are on Puck World, probably thinking we're dead because of the dimensional gateway! Don't talk to me about nobody asking me to be the parent, when I need to take care of the seventeen year old kid!" He snapped.
"He's not a baby anymore! He'd probably be a bit more responsible if you gave him breathing room!" She snarled back. Wildwing made a sharp right into his room, with Ebony right behind. Once the doors closed, they were free to talk.
"How do you know what he needs?" Wildwing demanded, his eyes flashing without the aide of Ducaine's mask, which stood on his table.
"Because he TOLD me about it!" She snapped, glaring at him.
"Nosedive was being sweet on you. I wouldn't take him seriously," he retorted. Ebony glared, then turned to go.
"Well, in my personal opinion, what he had to say rings merit," she said venomously before she stormed out of his room. His head snapped in her direction with something equally as biting to say, but nothing came. A rush of pain darted to his brain and he moaned rubbing his temple, muttering words he deemed close enough to swearing, but not quite.
*~
The morning came, with the inhabitants of the Pond rising and getting on with daily routine. Wildwing and Ebony evidently weren't speaking to each other as they both avoided the room the other was in, or, if they couldn't get out of it, would say very little. Duke had woken on the right side of the bed, for he was pleasant and cheerful, along with others who had gotten a good night's sleep, though he had been troubled. Late in the night, he had heard yelling from Wildwing's room. He had at first dismissed it as a dream, and seeing Wildwing very cranky was no surprise. He had gotten pummeled at last night's game, however, seeing Ebony in a storm cloud gave him suspicion.
Duke approached her in the rec. room; amazed that he wasn't seeing Nosedive hanging all over her.
"G'morning sweetheart," he greeted, "you seen Dive lately?"
"He's out with Thrash and Mookie," she said, looking up from a book she was skimming through. She looked faintly cross, but pleasant, otherwise.
"Ah… well," he said then grinned. "Ya know how we had to put off our date the other night?"
"Yeah," she said, looking up again.
"Well, I was thinkin' that… as I don't have practice and if you don't have plans, then maybe we could hang out today instead," he said slowly, almost shyly. She smiled.
"Sure, I'd like that," she said, closing the book.
"Alright, lemme go check out. See ya in the hanger," he said and practically dashed to Wildwing, standing broodingly against Drake One, arms crossed.
"Hey," he greeted. "How ya feeling?" Wildwing only grunted in reply. A beat of silence ensued before Duke cleared his throat.
"Right. I'm gonna go downtown with Ebony for awhile. I'll be back in three hours, and I'll let ya know if anything comes up," he said casually and started towards the door, when Wildwings cold voice suddenly spoke.
"No," he said.
"What?" Duke asked, pausing.
"I said no," Wildwing, said fury burning in his eyes. Duke quieted for a few moments.
"Eh… why?" he asked feeling slightly alarmed.
"She's not to go beyond the premises," Wildwing replied, his voice very quiet and very cold. Duke stared.
"C'mon, Wildwing," he started gently. "I think she needs to--"
"I Said No!" Wildwing snapped, turning quickly to face Duke, arms dropping to his side, his voice rising, his eyes behind the white goalie mask flashing dangerously. His voice echoed slightly in the Ready Room. "I'm sorry Duke, but she hasn't earned the privilege," he said, calming down after an endless awkward silence, returning to leaning against the side of Drake One, arms crossed once more. Duke nodded once, before turning, not speaking a word.
He walked quickly to the Hanger, the previously described scene still replaying in his mind. Entering, he saw Ebony sitting on the floor, looking gloomy.
"Hey… Amber," he started. She shook her head.
"I know," she said, raising a hand to stop him. "I know what Wildwing said. I followed, listened in for a bit and then crept away a little before you left." Duke sat beside her, quietly at first while she brooded.
"What was the argument about?" he asked, his voice low and gentle.
"Well, it first started out with blackmail then progressed to Nosedive and his habits," Ebony said, anger starting to well up again. She wanted to march right into whatever that huge room was and tell Wildwing off, again.
"Nosedive?" Duke asked.
"Yeah, Dive told me that he wanted to be a bit freer, then he'd be able to feel like he was trusted to take on big responsibility, but as Wing won't give him room to grow, he has to escape. Somehow, the conversation led to me being like Nosedive, then headed off into Nosedive himself."
"Got it," Duke said, patting her shoulder.
"I just hope Dive enjoys his freedom, while Wing's got ME under house arrest," Ebony said darkly. Little did the pair know, Nosedive was listening.
He had given Ebony up as a girlfriend long ago, the competition between him and Duke waning until they were buddies again. Dive knew that both Duke and Ebony weren't aiming to be involved either, so the boys had considered it a draw. Ebony now was under house arrest, while Wildwing treated him regularly.
This was no surprise to him, but he didn't like the way Wildwing was treating Ebony—not allowing her to leave the pond. He almost wondered why Ebony put up with it. He turned and walked to the Ready room to find Wildwing still brooding. Marching up, he wound back and punched his brother dead in the face.
Wildwing stumbled back with a cry of rage and surprise.
"Nosedive, what the hell was that for?" he asked, furious eyes rounding on his brother.
"You know, Ebony isn't one of us. She isn't one who you can control. So why the hell are you trying to control her too, huh?"
"What are you talking about?" Wildwing demanded, patting his cheek.
"Not allowing her to leave the premises? Hello?" Nosedive demanded, adrenaline rushing through his veins in anger.
"Listen, she's acting just like you are. You've been through house arrest, and you've gotten better about it. She needs to start acting her age."
"No, she needs to start acting more like you is what you're really saying," Dive snapped back. "You're a control freak, Wing, admit it!"
"Nosedive, I was the one who was hit over the head yesterday, not you," Wildwing growled. Nosedive made to clobber him again, when Duke burst into the room, with Ebony right behind.
"Hey, Hey!" He yelled, seeing Nosedive hurl himself at Wildwing. He grabbed Nosedive by the scruff of the neck and hauled him off Wildwing. Ebony stood by Nosedive's side, touching his face and speaking in a low voice to him, calming him down.
"What's going on?" Duke demanded, looking from him to Wildwing.
"You know precisely what's goin' on Duke- an unjust house arrest when there's no need. She's not apart of the team! Don't worry about her so much. At least SHE can take care of herself!" Dive snapped viciously at Wildwing, while Ebony put a restraining arm on him.
"She is under our roof and is within our facility. It's protocol!" Wildwing said back, keeping cool and rational, standing tall and for once, quite alone.
"Dive, it's not worth it," Ebony murmured to him. Nosedive scoffed in reply.
"Yeah, I know but at the same time she doesn't get the restraining order just because she has a life, that's not in the contract!" Dive snapped back, ignoring Ebony.
"Calm Down, Nosedive," she said, turning him and dragging him away. "Just forget about it. Wildwing has a point, he just doesn't issue it in the best of ways, but it's okay, we can work with it," she soothed, ushering him towards the door.
Wildwing glowered before Duke, practically seething in anger.
"Ya wanna talk about it?" Duke asked calmly. Wildwing, on the other hand, turned around and punched a hole in the opposite door.
*~
It was a good while before Duke could get him to calm down, much more to talk. When he finally was able to get Wildwing to open slightly, Wildwing expressed a regret for his "so-called" tyranny, but didn't know how to correct it. He just didn't want anyone to get hurt, and it took all his strength to keep strong when both Dive and Ebony seemed to take that care for granted.
"I understand," Duke nodded, after Wildwing expressed his doubt.
"I suck," Wildwing moaned.
"Ya know what, I think you just gotta loosen up a bit," Duke counseled gently. "But other then that, ya really care about us. I think that because you're so busy worryin', Nosedive and Eb don't recognize that care, and substitute it for oppression. Nosedive's seventeen, and Ebony's your age, only she doesn't really have to worry so much about takin' care of others cuz she doesn't have to deal with it. It's all supplied for her. She's spoiled like that."
"Thanks," Wildwing said, wanting some time to maul it over by himself.
"See ya later," Duke said, getting up and leaving Wildwing to his thoughts. He started looking for Ebony.
*~
Ebony, after consolidating Nosedive sat around in the rec. room, thinking. She had never caused as much trouble as she had with Wildwing than she had in her entire life. Much more, she had Nosedive fighting for her, which was all right in once sense, but in another, she felt guilty because she pitted brother against brother.
Amber Ebony James had grown up, but in order to grow up fully, she had to do the best thing she could think of to do… apologize to Wildwing. Getting up, she walked down the hall, just missing Duke, who stopped by the rec. room to see if she was all right. He heard quiet footsteps ahead of him and guessed that she wanted to be alone.
Ebony wandered further down the now familiar halls, Wildwing's room being at the end of the hall. She heard footsteps coming towards her and moved over to one side. She ran into Tanya who narrowed her eyes as she saw her.
"Just the person I wanted to see," she sneered.
"Do you want to talk?" Ebony asked calmly.
"Yeah I do," Tanya said, then gestured for her to follow her. Ebony entered a place she hadn't been before: Tanya's Lab. Tanya closed the door behind him, then started on her, rattling about how she must be ashamed to make Wildwing so upset and how she had been nothing but trouble ever since she came, stealing all the boys away to her own devices. As soon as Tanya had said that, she shut her beak.
"You're jealous," Ebony said, incredulously.
"That's besides the point," Tanya said, starting to stutter.
"No, that is the point," Ebony said, an epiphany hit her. "The guys have been spending so much time with me, you feel left out?" She asked gently. Tanya stared at her.
"No," she said. "I'm jealous because I'm obviously not good enough to be included in your little circle of friends. Nobody ever wants to be MY friend first." Tanya sat down broodingly. Ebony was shocked.
"Tanya… I… I'm sorry," she stammered. "You didn't seem to like me at all, and so I thought I'd stay out of your way. I'm sorry. Why don't we make up for lost time?"
"How?" Tanya asked, suspiciously.
"Well… why don't we do something together?" Ebony said. Tanya shook her head quickly.
"No, cuz I have tuning to do in the hanger, and you… you're under Pond Arrest," Tanya said.
"Well, how about I help you tune, or talk to you while you take care of it? I'm okay with tuning. When I hit the entertainment business my late dad taught me how to fix a car in case I get stranded or something," Ebony offered. Tanya looked at her.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yeah," Ebony smiled. "I owe you, for a lot of things, but mostly for not noticing a really cool duck first." Tanya blushed.
"You know, I really like your music," she said shyly. Ebony laughed and hugged her.
"Thanks Tanya, you brightened up my day." Tanya smiled at her.
*~