Summary: What if Max and the Flock had never gotten "the talk"? What is the outcome of an adolescence without an adult and knowledge of societal norms?
Chapter Twenty-Six: Ad Nauseum.
Yup. So you didn't mess things up.
Right, Totally.
There was no reason Angel and Gazzy and Nudge were scared out of their wits for you..
In fact, there was no reason Angel and Gazzy and Nudge were scared out of their wits for you and Iggy.
You guys pissed Max off. She was angry at you, and she didn't want to to talk to you at all.
But if someone asked you, you'd just say that she was.. scared.. Scared of herself, and scared of how she knew you made her feel..
Of course, the kids weren't about to go take your side on this..
So.. how to fix this?
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Fang sighed, putting his head in his hands, perched ontop of a high tree, covered in the shade of the furry green leaves sprouting everywhere on those goddamned branches. He was watching Max and the rest of the flock; they were out in the field for another training/sparring/fighting session/flying lesson—whatever it was that she pleased.
Of course. It was always whatever she pleased. God, girls, why were they like this? He asked himself miserably.
At least she sort of talked to Iggy. I mean, seriously, how could she not? He was the one who made breakfast.. and lunch.. and dinner.. as well as occasional, frequent snacks. She had to interact with him whether she liked it or not. Afterall.. she liked food..
But even then, she wasn't even seeming all that hostile to Iggy, he'd observed silently. It was almost as if she hadn't even remembered the threat that she had given him three days ago. She wasn't hostile at all to Iggy at all in comparison to the hostility she had towards him.
Then again, Max was most likely fully aware of the fact that Iggy hadn't even fully understood what she'd been talking about that day.. although, Fang wasn't fully sure if Iggy actually hadn't gotten it. Then again, one never really knew, with Iggy. That kid was certainly a character. He might've gotten it, and he might've not, Fang mulled over broodingly.
Regardless, Max was probably being kind to Iggy because she was pushing any inconsistencies or nonsensical thoughts out of her mind. Which of course, she did with everything, Fang pointed out wryly in his head, still staring down at her slim, lithe, curvaceous form thoughtfully as she formed out a perfect side kick to Gazzy. God, she was sexy. No, nevermind, he pushed those thoughts out of his head immediately. Afterall, thoughts like those were what had gotten him in trouble in the first place, he reminded himself scathingly.
Wait, no.. since when had he ever voiced concerns like that ever out loud to her? Seriously, he'd always been careful about it, and had never ever mentioned any hormone-raged, puberfied thoughts out loud to her.
He suddenly, rapidly, really, didn't understand. What had he done wrong? He'd been being so good about all that crap every since he found out that she knew. He was absolutely positive he'd never let a single word like that utter out of his mouth..
However, on the other hand, Max knew for sure, that unlike Iggy, Fang knew about the rest. Puberty, sex, hormones, cum, fluid.. He'd known exactly what she was talking about, all the way through. She was sure.
That was probably why she was all the more mad at him. Nonsensical, but true. Well, that was Max.
Now.. what to do? He thought absentmindedly.
He regretted getting mad at her that day in the hallway now, but he certainly didn't regret it back then.
Max had that irritating, flighty, avoid-to-all-costs-until-faced-with-direct-confrontation personality of hers.. she never wanted to get straight to the issue, but she instead decided to spit out whatever came out of that head of hers whilst in the heat of anger—which, usually, were not completely well-thought-out things..
He was wondering if she was regretting it now, though she hadn't particularly made any signs of it as of yet..
Yet. There was always time to wait and see—perhaps, hope, if he was feeling really desperate.
What she had done, was one of those snap decision things, that she was famous for making for.. However, making snap decisions, in the middle of the moment, in the thrust of anger, when you were angry at your fellow flock member.. was not exactly the brightest thing to do in the book, eh?
Fang was still trying to figure out whether or not she was regretting it yet, but he still wasn't quite sure. She wasn't breaking, which meant she was either a) very, very, very regretful, but still stubborn, or b) way in over her head.
Fang chuckled slightly at the thought, still watching her warily from the side of his head. He was still leaning against the bark of the tree trunk, though lazily now, worn out from all that intense thinking he'd been doing. He was lying down on a branch, staring observantly, looking ready to take a snooze.
He considered the choices he had given himself.. Well, he was certainly the optimist, but it was only cause it was Max he was dealing with here. He felt like he knew that whatever happened between them, it'd always get fixed eventually.. afterall, they were Max and Fang. They were practically genetically engineered—literally—to be able to head the perfect, abnormal flock, complete with a 5-year-old mindreader. Things would be fine, he assured himself. He'd just have to wait it out and see whether it was going to work quick, or slow..
Iggy jerked his head from the small distance below, directly up at Fang. He was sitting casually on the grass, leaning back on his palms, his head jerking up at the sound of the slight voice of a chuckle from him. That always startled him.. He sent Fang a worried glance, that was, albeit wasted on him, considering Fang hadn't looked back down meet him with another glance. Afterall, although things were fine between him and Max—though he really was wary of touching her now, in any way, shape, or form—things were still bad between Max and Fang.
Regardless, it wasn't as bad as that time Fang had spontaneously been barely at the house, out in town, for about a month. But... but this wasn't sad and guilt-ridden, awkward and unspokenly uncomfortable; this was angry and grudge-filled, and ferocious, all over. The atmosphere was tense, and grudged. He could feel it in the air, he didn't need to see to know. However, that was probably due to the fact that this time, their stubborn behavior had gotten a hold of themselves. He didn't really understand the fight, but all he knew was that Max didn't want him to touch her stuff, or even go into her room—something about.. boundaries?
He wondered what Fang had done. Maybe it was something like how he had touched her cheeks the other day, inside her pants; that was when she had called out to him threateningly, before sounding like she was regretting her tone of voice and letting him do it further. He wasn't quite sure, but it seemed like it must've been something really bad. The rest of the kids were thinking so too, but they had even less of a clue than he did. At least he had a clue, ad nauseum..
Afterall.. the other day, when they were in Fang's room, they had been talking about how nice Max's tits were, and he hadn't told Fang that he had been getting really swollen penises whenever he kept thinking about those thoughts over and over again. Regardless Fang had said that he agreed with him too, about her body. If anything, Fang sounded a lot more (weirdly, strangely) knowledgeable than on matters about Max like that.
He'd been trying to figure that out for a while now, in fact, about Fang. He seemed.. experienced.. and.. knowing.. and thats what was perplexing to him.
He was just.. perplexed.
He trusted him though. Iggy trusted Fang, that day that Max had started bleeding out of her crotch—he had trusted him, no matter how much he didn't want to. He knew that Fang knew a lot more about certain things than he did, but he didn't quite know how.
He didn't know what to think of it, he supposed. Afterall, Fang and Max were in a type of relationship that no one could get in between, which was probably why they fought so often. It was a private relationship, sort of secretive, to keep things from the kids, although he, Iggy, was let in on it at times. After all, the things were between the leader and second-in-command; oldest after all of them, and in charge of things around here. He was aware of the fact that they had a lot more stress on their shoulders than he'd ever be able to comprehend. After all, they were two thirteen year old kids trying to raise some kids, and a blind guy.
He got the feeling Fang didn't help sometimes, sort of like when he ditched the kids and them for an entire month basically, that time before. But he couldn't help it, Iggy supposed. The guy had some problems, and he was going through some weird stuff he couldn't comprehend at that time. That was precisely why, Iggy was just perplexed these days, by him.
Thoughtfully, he considered the issues Max had as well. Her personality was flitty, and flighty, she could snap at any moment, and these days, you always had to sit on the edge of your seat around her. It seemed that stress was hard to cope under, he realized, recently noticing the odd behavioral habits Max and Fang were having, and going through. He could barely understand or get either of them nearly in the slightest for the past half-year, and according to what Max had recently done to Fang, neither could he to her. It was like they were keep some big, gigantic secret in store for the rest of them, and were having a horribly hard time coping and dealing with it, finally cracking under the pressure.
Maybe his imagination was getting too creative here, he absentmindedly wondered. Nevertheless, the stress was really getting to them. They had started to even hate eachother now, as if it was really that hard.
Regardless, he'd wondered what Fang had done to Max, and when he'd gotten the chance to do so. It sounded like, to him, that it was something that had been going on for a while, and that Max had finally just become fed up with him and exploded, throwing him an ultimatum to keep him out. Funny though, since it was contrary to the way they'd been acting recently with eachother the days prior—perfectly, utterly, fine. Perfect. It was almost unnerving how fine-ly perfect they'd been.
His mind trailed back to the thought of Fang and his 'experienced' knowledge that he hadn't been quite sure of. Somehow, the issue of boundaries coming up reminded him of that curious wonderment he had gotten once Fang had adamantly, simply agreed with him that day on his bed, about Max's tits. Honestly said, he couldn't quite say much, considering he was only surprised at the type of response he'd gotten from Fang—Fang hadn't been the slightest bit surprised at what Iggy had confided in him about—Fang had been, absolutely, totally, completely blasé about it.. almost nearly as if he had expected it.
Afterall, Iggy, himself, had only felt up Max and her chest, up and down, that day on a picnic months ago. Since then, he had just brushed up against her sometimes, and thats when he'd get a thrill, he'd been noticing clearly these days. He'd noticed they'd gotten bigger, and nicer, and softer.
Fang had clearly seen when he'd slid his hands up her shirt and felt around her breasts, months ago. He'd seen clearly when Iggy had brushed up against Max by 'accident', or felt up around her, since Iggy usually did it in front of others, all the more an 'accident,'; when someone else would be near, Max would look past it as nothing in the spur of the moment, busied, by people around them. She'd look past it as nothing, quickly, busy with other stuffs, but Iggy would be reveling in that quick feeling, in that quick as thunder sensation, lasting in his mind, for restless moments to come.
Girls.. were supposed to have tits.. it was just about time, sooner or later, that Max would start having them too.. Iggy knew. It was just surprising, is all that it was. What was more surprising was how his penis would get real swollen and impatient, and he'd start jittering, everytime he thought about the new development. But, anyway,
He'd still wondered when Fang had gotten the opportunity to feel her up. Afterall, he, himself, did it right in front of him, and he'd always had basis to do it—checking those little circle dot things on her chest. (Which apparently weren't there anymore, according to Gazzy, and because she wore a bra now, according to Fang). It was within those basis of terms, that Iggy had found out simply how much he had enjoyed it.
And then it suddenly reminded him.. that day, in his room, Fang'd been telling him about curves and stuff and all. Sure, Iggy knew they existed, since he'd run his hands up and down her sides and her body before and all, but besides being just apparent to Fang, how and why had he sounded so.. distant? Like recalling a memory then, precisely.
Regardless.. about her room.. maybe, maybe Fang had gone into her room, and just casually felt her down in her sleep or something, just casually, as they were sitting down and talking.
The thought suddenly struck him, horribly. Fang wouldn't do that.. would he..? Especially if he knew if she didn't want him to.. right? Fang.. wouldn't do that, right? Max would get mad.. really mad if she didn't want him to.
Like.. like she was now. But it still didn't make sense to him, Iggy thought.
It seemed like their argument had Max exploding loudly over something that had been going on for ages, that she was fed up with. That, didn't make sense with the way Iggy's thoughts were rolling now—Max would definitely say something quickly if she didn't like it, and make it just stop, instead of just distinctly dealing with it.. waiting to be fed up and then exploding later. Fang.. Fang wasn't stupid either—he'd definitely stop something if he got the feeling it'd end up in something bad. This.. this was bad. So what was the problem? What had been the issue? It was so hard to figure out right now, that Iggy didn't feel like he had any semblence of fixing it. Nothing, either, seemed typical of them, to end up in this situation.. the situation itself was typical—the fight—but not the circumstances in which it was held. Piecing together the issues seemed to be a trifle.
The other day Fang had been laughing and chuckling over some 'sexist pig' stuff that Max had apparently started going on. From what Iggy knew from Fang, she'd apparently overheard them talking about her tits and stuff, and she'd gotten adamant and angry about how to treat woman, and stuff. Something called Fang and him being sexist, and pigs about it too..? Honestly, it made him laugh too.. though, still, he still didn't quite get why he seemed to be so entranced by the features of her new body nowadays and all.
He looked past it though, and wasn't about to touch her at all, even remotely, in the slightest, anytime soon. He might be lecherous, and he might be a pig, but hell if he was stupid. He could overhear Gazzy grunting as Max went through some kicking and punching drills with him, helping training him. He wasn't stupid.. he knew Max could hurt him, awful. Afterall, he'd seen what Max did to Fang in that hallway that day.
And to be honest, everyone was surprised that Fang had had the audacity to fight back.. That.. that was something no one ever did—Max was the leader, and it stayed that way.
But he guessed that Fang had been really angry too, and so, returned it.
Although, the kids were traumatized, and Iggy had tried to best to calm them all down. Angrily, he noted how Fang and Max completely looked past the kids when they were consumed in their own little fights. In all their little bickering and arguing and leaderness-deciding arguments, all in their little tiny world of their own, they neglected to see the fact that Iggy was completely left to deal with the kids all alone, while they were having their beautiful, angsty little arguments.
Not that this argument was little of course. It seemed pretty damn serious. Max seemed to have been seething angry, as if Fang had violated her in some—every way. And Fang had seemed to be really angry too.. but more like, frustrated at her, for being who she was being.
Regardless, until a few days ago, they'd never fought that way in front of the kids. Not that way—they usually just bickered casually in front of the children. Only Iggy had truly seen the sweat and tears that shedded constantly in the relationship between them, and only he would understand how hard it was to watch two kids strain to grow up faster than their ages demanded of them, overcome with things they don't understand at every step of the way. It was hard for him to watch them, but there was nothing he could do, cause in many circumstances, it was him too, that had done growing, simply just by watching them. As they grew, he grew too.
It was angsty—it was emotional—that was the relationship that Max and Fang had. There was no way to get out of that endless circle either, put into a situation like they had been in, coping for the past nearly-two years; put in charge of raising four singular kids, while still not fully grown themselves. They were taking things step by step and trying to figure things out as they went along and thats the way it was—hard, angsty, sweat, blood, tears shed. It was emotional between them. It was funny how blind they were to their conflicting emotions as well. All they did was cry, and cry, and not know why. Figuratively, of course, Iggy reminded himself.
They'd fought alot—they'd gone physical, emotional, mental, with eachother. Iggy had been there to witness it all, but it was killing him that he didn't know what was wrong right now, between them. It seemed like a serious one. What had gone wrong.. with Max and Fang..? It had always been just something gone wrong. Thats how their entire lives and all of their disagreements and tears shed were under.. just.. things gone wrong. Their lives.
The kids had never seen Fang strike Max before, not in the way that he had done in the hallway. Iggy had wished Nudge had been near him, so that he could cover her eyes from the sight, but she had been all the way down the opposite side of the hallway, watching from the stairs. He had quickly closed Gazzy's ears once he had gotten ahold of what the situation was like, giving Angel a stern look to quickly look away (which of course, was lost on her), but they'd still all gotten the gist of the idea—Fang was angry at Max, and Max was angry at Fang, and then Fang had struck her. The end. That was all they had needed to see, and the big old bruise on the inside of Fang's shin, all purple and red and blue.
Those kids, although they knew deep inside that Fang was stronger than Max, they'd never let it show. That was precisely why they'd been so scared when they'd seen Fang strike Max. They all knew that Fang was a lot stronger than Max, that Fang had always kept himself from showing it before them. Everyone could just tell by means of assumption. They all knew the amount of respect Fang held for Max, and that even if he had been the oldest, he would've still let Max be the leader. Fang wasn't the leader-type; god knows he messed up the few times he'd had to try. Max was the leader.. so Fang had always refrained from showing the kids just how strong he was, just to establish authority over the place.
They.. they were just worried.. The flock knew he was stronger, and even though he had never physically let it show through, they just knew. The only problem was, that Max didn't know.. that, since the years they've sparred together, Fang had gotten much stronger, in the time gap.
They wouldn't care if Max threw a punch at him, cause they knew he could take it. Iggy and the kids all knew that he could, and would take her hits, if he had to. Thats what he was there for, second-in-command, ready to take any hits of frustration, to be a cushion to her. On some level, all the kids knew about that part of their relationship--but only on some level; it was not something they distinctly acknowledged or addressed, but it was a slight inkling obvious to everyone. But they also all knew that Max could just as easily bruise with a shove from him. They knew that Fang wouldn't even show a hint of an utterance, when on the receiving end of thirty-five possible ones of hers'. They wouldn't hurt him, perhaps just mildly peeve him. He'd take them. But.. he'd gotten angry that day, when he'd thought he hadn't deserved it.. when he'd heard her screaming her ultimatum at him.
They all knew he was stronger.. which is why they were so scared when he had gotten angry and shoved her to the floor. The fact that he'd been touching her harshly, in any way.. was astounding. The fact that he didn't take her hits, but given her some back.. in front of them, it was astounding. It was almost nearly, goddamned unforgivable, to the kids, at least. Afterall, they'd never seen the fights Max and Fang had when they were younger; Fang had always been restrained, always her silent protector, to them.
They didn't see the blood, sweat and tears, shed in the relationship between them. That, at heart, they were just equals, under a guise of masculinity and machismo, keeping everything together for the sake of the kids: Because Max was leader, she was always right, and always the strongest. Because Fang was younger, he listened to her because she said so. That was the way it was supposed to make sense to the kids; they didn't witness the blood, sweat, and tears, and they didn't see the defiance, raw effort, or the emotion underneath. They didn't see the fights.
They didn't know that Max truly had no control over Fang or what he did. Fang made sure to make it seem like she did, he was obedient to her, mainly a front for the kids. It was more like Fang was doing her a favor by listening to her. Fang knew the kids needed a leader, and he knew Max was the one they needed, so he listened, and pretended, for them—and for her. But deep, deep inside, Fang was his own person, and didn't need a leader.. He got angry, had control over things, and over himself.
Iggy.. had tried to cover their eyes—he had wished he could cover their eyes from that sight, because that was something they didn't need to see. They truly, honestly, didn't need to see Fang and Max fight with one another for unknown reasons, but for real reasons. They truly, honestly, didn't need to see how much control Fang held over himself, and what could happen if he suddenly decided to let go of his inhibitions. Wrought distraught, it would simply destroy the flock, Iggy and Fang both knew.
Iggy was mad, he was certainly mad, once he had realized what had happened—how reckless were they? To fight so that the kids could see? The kids didn't need to see. And now, their view of Max and Fang, would never be the same. Now.. now, they were just human, and Fang.. was just his own person.
They didn't ever see Fang make Max see she was wrong, and they didn't see how angry she'd get, how they'd fight, coming to angst-ridden standstills before relenting. Their relationship.. it was hard, and it was all for the sake of keeping the flock together. Because, because no matter how hard she tried, Max couldn't do this herself. Fang was always there, supporting her, leading her the right way, making the moral decisions black and white, and helping her along the way.
They didn't know.. that there was breakable Max, with emotion underneath, confused, and tired, and sometimes damn near suicidal. They didn't know that Fang was probably more of the leader of this flock than they'd think, cause he was there, late at night, to help her stand up on her feet.
The only problem was that.. they were still just kids. Same kids, with same everyday problems, and the problem was that there was just so much blood sweat and tears between them was because they were just kids.
Max was stubborn, and Fang was headstrong. Max, was leader, and Fang was quiet. There were differences between them, and it didn't create rifts in the situation they were in, but it caused unavoidable problems in their relationship. Because despite the fact that Fang was quiet, he was also headstrong, and despite the fact that Max was leader, she was also stubborn. Those two things tended to clash.. their singular personality traits simply conflicted together, when combined. But they wouldn't be able to survive without one another, Iggy knew. They depended on one another, they relied on one another.
It was Max, Iggy realized, that didn't exactly register a small fact about Fang like the kids did—she'd still be willing to take him on, completely unrestrained, not knowing that he could completely pin her down and kill her, and the kids were scared to death for something like that to happen because they all knew that Fang would be able to do it, in a fight like that. They all knew that Fang would never do it, because he loved Max, but the fact was that he had the skill and ability to do it. Max, herself, hadn't assessed his level of strength in recent times, and they all knew that it would be bad if they fought. Fang had an immeasurable amount of respect for Max.. but when he lost it—he really lost it. He was insanely tolerant, and it'd grown over the years with the onset of maturity and responsibility, but the kids had never seen them the way that Iggy had before—as equals.. when they were.. kids.
Now.. they were more like adults, and it was the way they acted. They did it for the kids. They did it cause they knew they had to.
Sometimes though, sometimes, it broke through, like it had the other day.. That in end, beyond their entire guise, their assumption of responsibility, assumed in front of the kids, breaks. It was an accident that day, and they hadn't meant to fight in front of the kids.
It must've been really bad then, Iggy thought, if they couldn't hold it in and restrain themselves then. It.. must've been a really bad situation, then, if they couldn't even control themselves in front of the kids.. and afterall, Iggy knew that they were top priority to them. To overlook the kids.. was a major deal. He wondered what type of shit had been going on between the two of them for them.. for so long, for them to get so uncontrolled. Things like that, didn't just suddenly happen; it was building up to a climax for a while now.
One thing was for sure now. The kids would never be the same right now, after this—for this first time, they knew, and it was hitting them hard, that in the end, Max and Fang.. were both just kids, trying to raise themselves and raise them. Fang had a temper, and he got angry, and they finally knew, how angry he could really get. Max was a girl, and she got emotional, and they finally saw.. they finally saw.. how their relationship really was. For the the kids, things would never be the same for them. Their view of Max and Fang as the oldest, pacifistic and peaceful, the decision-making leaders, who got along well together, was just tainted.
Now, afterall, they were just human, 98% afterall, but still, regardless, human.
Iggy was the only one that day who hadn't been instantly surprised, traumatized, and shocked. He knew it from the first place, how those two had dramatically changed once Jeb had left. They'd changed, for a front in front of the kids, but deep inside, they were still just the same. It just leaked through sometimes.. They were themselves when they were alone, together, and they hadn't meant to act that way in front of the kids.
They were separated in ways, by now, the age they were in now, coupled with their circumstances. They hadn't sparred together in ages, since they were like, 11. Back then, they were immature, careless, and unrestrained. It was just the two of them going at eachother, bruised and scruffed up bad daily, bandages all over one day and off the other, only to try again. Since then, Jeb had left, Max had taken on more responsibilities around the house, and it'd just been Iggy going against Fang. Fang went on with Iggy in consideration to his level, while Max was getting busied with starting to teach the younger kids how to spar. Thats why Iggy had never actually gotten all that good in combat, and thats why they all had assumed Max had fallen back a little bit, while Fang had used the spare time to continue training.
The separation, perhaps, is what held Fang to assume his responsibilities. He knew, now, the role he had to play, for her. He had understood a lot from Max and the way they were acting, perhaps even more. Fang stayed silent then, the childish fights decreasing between the two of them, wrought silent because of the more serious matters they knew they were in charge of now. He stayed silent and supportive, because he knew it was what she needed. Somehow, Iggy noticed carefully, Fang may have even matured more than Max—he was the one to take the hits, to let her go at him in frustration, cause he knew that was what she needed. In many ways, Fang had risen up from the immature, scruffy little kid he had been, in just a month, gained a level of knowledge no one would be able to understand, within the month he had refused to come out of his room, once Jeb had left. Max had always been the older one, the leader one, but now.. afterwards, Fang had matured, it seemed more than she had. And so, they stopped fighting like that, in front of the kids. They were no longer kids anymore to do so, cause they knew now they had a flock to support. Fang knew, he had Max to support, so she could support the kids.
He knew, and he accepted, got his anger under control, serious matters sitting on his shoulders, beyond trivial ones. He was no longer childish about things.. but mature.. rational. He.. dealt with Max, because he knew how to. And perhaps, on some level, all the kids knew about the significance too, Iggy guessed. It was on the same level they all knew Fang was stronger, but would never admit it. They all knew Fang was a lot to Max. On some level, they also knew how much control Max had over him. On some level, they all knew a bit of everything, but they'd never let it show. The whole premise was to show a normal life to the kids, and thats what Fang wanted, and what he protected her for.
Fang had recently offered Iggy weights, to work out with, but he'd politely declined. Iggy didn't really know why he should bother. Regardless, Fang still pushed himself, hard, for a reason Iggy didn't quite know why. Max.. however, was just busy these days, although they all knew she was pretty skilled in herself, in hand-to-hand combat. Nevertheless, she was still quite.. reckless.. especially, in matters with Fang.
It seemed like Max and Fang just had a lot of misunderstanding between them, but not in actual matters of things—in matters of actually understanding one another; motives, and feelings, wants, and desires, and honesty. Hell, Iggy was pretty much sure that he even understood Max and her feelings a lot better than Fang did although it felt like he knew a lot less about her than Fang. Maybe that was the reason Fang got less.
She didn't quite know him anymore. He didn't quite know what to do with her anymore. It was all very frustrating to them.. it was all quite confusing, to them and to Iggy.
On some level, Iggy felt a certain responsibility to keep them together too.. Afterall, he was still one of the older kids, and he took charge around things in the house too.. But Max and Fang fighting, it was like, ruining it all.
He ever wondered what Fang had done to her, to make her want to make sure he never went into her room, ever again.
He knew that Fang wasn't a bad person, and would normally listen to what Max would tell him, unless he didn't like it. But commands like, "stop," were normal and casual, and direct, and Fang would just stop if she told him to. Especially if it was concerning her. How far could he have gotten to get her mad, and then why would Max get mad if she didn't ask him to stop doing anything? She usually knew what she liked and what she didn't. There wasn't any confusion.
Iggy was still trying to figure this out, and figure their fight out, cause whether they were aware of it or not, it was wreaking havoc on the kids. Nudge was scared to death, and Angel had on a look of worry on her face that a five-year-old shouldn't ever really have. Gazzy was just plain quaking, and couldn't focus on just about anything at all, completely scarred and disbelieving at how disappointed he could be at one of his idols, Fang, for doing that to Max. The Gassers couldn't believe that Fang had shoved her to floor like that, could lean over her that threateningly, and whisper mean words into her ear. He couldn't believe one of his biggest idols had ever done that. He couldn't believe Max had just lain there weakly, lying against him. He couldn't believe Fang had done that to her. All he felt like he had left now, was Iggy.
It was an act of trauma and personal, personal desire and terror, that no one should really be able to witness, Iggy worded grimly. He was just about positive about how awful it must've looked to the kids.. Fang, bent over and leaning over Max, inundating her completely on the floor, his mouth close to his ear, his voice deep, low, rough, and his eyes flaming in anger. Max, her face red, and flushed, looking up defiantly, tears threatening to spill over, looking up at him angrily. The fighting, the screaming, the backs turned, while the chops and the hits, and the kicks thrown consecutively, all laced with crude words. Ow.
Talk about hate.
It was all angst ridden and bitter and stuff too.. all the more better, he thought exasperatedly. The kids hadn't needed to see what they did.. they were terrified now.
They were all pretty much on the nerve of hating Fang right now, but still torn and confused, desperately trying to convince themselves that what they'd seen hadn't been true, and that Fang really wasn't like that, and that Max really didn't hate him, and that everything would've been patched up soon and fixed eventually.
They were praying to god—the same god that had given them two hands and two feet, and ten fingers and ten toes on each of their tiny little feet. The same god that had given them a life, and the same god that hadn't grafted wings onto their backs. Not the men who had tortured them for the early years of their lives, but the god that had given them life, to breathe fresh air and survive and die, free from cages—they were praying to that one.
Iggy let out a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. They'd better fix things up, real quick. The kids couldn't stand Max and Fang hating eachother, and honestly, neither could he, although Max and himself were fine right now. (For the exception of the extra-careful non-touching no-contact matter he was making sure to enforce).
Somehow, in the back of his mind, for some reason, he felt like taking Max's side too though, along with the kids. Although he wasn't surprised by what Fang had did, he got the feeling that it was one of the reasons that made Max want to cry.. that Fang wasn't even aware.
Because Iggy didn't really know what Fang had done, but got the feeling that it wasn't anything very good.
For Max.. not to want him in her room anymore.. was a big deal. He wondered if it was anything having to do with the fact that she was such a.. girl now, but he pushed it aside.. It was Max, Max afterall—boobs and curves or not, soft butt or whatever, it was still Max. How much nerve did Fang have with her? Fang knew her limits best of all, out of anyone. So what could he have possibly have done to get himself banished from her room completely..? Iggy amended that Fang had to fix this up.
Whatever he did, no one was on his side now, for the scene that they'd seen in the hallway. The flock was insanely defensive about their flock leader, regardless of whether or not they loved Fang too. It was just.. just wrong to see Fang treat Max that way. It was okay for Iggy—he got it, and understood their long, complex, messed-up relationship, sort of—but not for the younger kids. All they'd seen was Fang wind Max, thoroughly. They'd never ever seen Fang and Max behave any remotely that way, and it was a glimpse into how angsty their relationship truly was. It was a glimpse, and they didn't want to see what was behind the rest of it.
Truth be told, neither did Iggy. He got the feeling, that it was something, to be very, very afraid of.
A/N:
Eh. Long Iggy rant.
It explains a lot, but probably does not satiate you guys. Don't worry though, the rest of the actual Iggy-ness questions will be answered soon too..
So, you know I hate, like, recurring angst, so this'll end pretty soon.. and then we'll get to sweet, sweet, good again.. soon. I promise. If I ever get that far, before I get bored and lazy again..
Max and Fang do fight a lot.. this is an awkward stage in their lives, you know what I mean? Adolescence is an awkward stage in life.. hence the misunderstandings.. its all angsty.. thats also a whole part of my plot, so poooo if you don't like it. Hm.. Meanwhile, Iggy is all confused, but laid-back, and chill, and slightly worried, like the cool person that he is ;]
Don't worry.. he wont stay that way.. *coughcough* How long can you really keep Iggy confused and clueless, eh? ;]
Anyway.. review.. -- peace outt.