Wings Open Wide (Robbie)

[Belle Harrington]

Belle made her way timidly to the Training Field, praying to God that it would be empty. Dressed in her usual attire; a white tank top, with a long black skirt (reaching below her knee), and of course a sweater, this time it was red. She had left her iPod and binoculars in her dorm room, because she knew if she brought them out they would only distract her, and she couldn’t be distracted now. Oh no. If she was distracted, she’d get hurt.

She had to practice; she was just barely being able to control her wings from coming out and in. And she wanted to slowly get them flapping. Maybe even bringing herself off of the ground for the first time. She knew that was going to be a big step, and she didn’t expect it from herself this time around, but she was hoping she get the courage to do it soon. She loved birds, and was given wings just like them. Why wasn’t she up there in the sky flying with them?

Because you’re a coward, her mind snapped at her.

Her eyes fell to the floor as she arrived at the Training Field, it seemed like there were a few other students here but they all seemed to be doing their own thing. Moving quickly now, Belle made her way to the farthest point of the Training Field trying to get as far away from the other students as possible.

Slowly, and hesitantly Belle removed her sweater exposing the two holes in her back. She knew the next part was going to hurt a bit, it always did, but she was beginning to get used to the pain. She had to get used to them, if not she would never be able to take her wings out. Taking a deep breath in now, Belle focused on her wings, ‘Come out, come out, come out, come OUT!’ she thought aggressively to herself. And they did come out. With a big poof of white feathers everywhere Belle’s white wings ejected viciously from her back, causing Belle to keel over in pain. Her wings wrapping themselves around her as they usually did when she was hurting.

“Argh,” Belle grunted, and then stood up brushing her dress, as she began to numb to the pain in her back. She stood there, with her eyes closed, as she slowly and gently began flapping her wings for a bit. She had to wait for a bit before she could bring her wings back in. At least until the pain in her back was completely gone.

[Robbie Wilkes]

"Robbie, stop thinking too much about other things and just do it already!" Robbie's trainer exclaimed exasperatedly, leaving Robbie glaring at him. Robbie liked his trainer, he really did. But sometimes, he just wished the pain in the ass would just...disappear.

Thunder rumbled in the distance and his trainer raised an eyebrow. "You know, just because I can't see it, doesn't mean I don't know that's your way of giving me the finger." He smirked before clapping a massive hand on Robbie's shoulder. "Come on, dude. Just do it. You're getting sloppy. What'd I tell you about compartmentalising your emotions?" The trainer asked, a softer tone adopted. That didn't happen often, Robbie remarked to himself.

"I've tried. But...things are just messy right now kay?"Robbie admitted. It had been, a little. What with his parents not sending him anything from home. No money, no postcard from his little siblings...nothing. It was starting to even scare him a little.

"Okay, just...concentrate."

Robbie nodded and gathered all the heavy rain clouds together overhead.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw a blond girl take off her sweater. He raised an eyebrow and slowly the clouds began to disappear.

"Robbie!"

He snapped back to the trainer and jerked his head to the girl who suddenly sprouted two wings and fell on the ground.

Robbie's trainer sighed and waved his hand in dismissal. "We're done anyway. Go save your damsel." Robbie watched as his trainer walked away before approaching the girl who was starting to get up again.

"Hey, you alright?" He asked, skirting around the expanded wings. They were pretty. And one look at her told him she was pretty too. Very.

[Belle Harrington]

As Belle stood up slowly she heard the rumble of thunder in the distance which immediately brought tears to her eyes. Great, she thought herself, she was going to be stuck outside with her wings out when a thunder storm was coming around. And her iPod was back in her dorm. The thought of being able to hear the thunder storm at full blast, with no music to calm her down brought tears to her.

Standing up now as she slowly flapped her wings, her eyes were shut trying to keep the tears back. She was terrified of thunder storms. Hell, she was afraid of almost all loud noises, but thunder storms were the worst. Probably the one thing she hated most in the world was the sound of thunder crashing outside of her window, or right above her head.

That's when she heard a voice near her, causing her eyes to slowly open. "Hey, you alright?" Her tear-filled green eyes looked over to the blonde boy, and immediately her hands went to her face to wipe her eyes. No one needed to see her crying. And she would never cry in front of a person, those moments were saved for under her covers with her beautiful white canary, Amelia.

"Y-Y-Yes, I'm f-f-fine," she stuttered, smiling sweetly at the boy. What was going on lately? It seemed everyone was talking to her nowadays. She found it so peculiar, especially at the fact that she was actually talking back to them. Well she kind of was.

Her wings stopped flapping, and went limp, hanging beautifully down her back. Her attention was now completely on the boy now, as she slowly and shyly looked him over. Who was he? She had never seen him before, but then again that wasn't unusual she was always looking at the ground inside the school. And if she was outside it was to stare at the sky or at the ground for her many loves. "Th-th-thank y-you..." She said quietly, struggling with the words.

[Robbie Wilkes]

By the way she stuttered, Robbie knew she wasn't fine. He frowned slightly, suddenly not knowing what to do. Social etiquette dictated he go over there and make the girl feel better. Some sort of comforting gesture like a pat in the back or something. He could do that. He'd done it plenty with Jared. And Estelle. Not that they ever needed it. But they were his closest friends. This was a complete stranger. For all he knew, she'd just scream at him for being near her.

Well, okay...that smile indicated she would probably not hurt him too much. She looked so...delicate.

He gave her a little smile and approached her cautiously, still very much aware that her wings could just swipe him when he wasn't looking. "Um, don't use your wings much?" He asked, pointing to her wings. He didn't think he'd be able to handle that kind of pain. His ability was mostly mental so there wasn't a problem of feeling any physical pain. But the migraines were a bitch.

[Belle Harrington]

Belle watched the boy now, a smile dancing gracefully on her face. He looked confused at what to do with himself. And she was confused too. He came and asked if she was okay, and she was. Now why didn't he leave? He just stood there looking at her, and she stood there starring right back at him. The awkwardness of the moment caused Belle to finally drop her gaze, and look towards the sky.

That's when she noticed movement from the boy, he was coming towards her now. Very slowly, and very cautiously, but he was coming. He looked somewhat scared of her. She wondered why, and then realized he might be afraid of her wings. They were actually very large comparing to her tiny body.

"Um, don't use your wings much?" She heard him ask, pointing to her wings. Belle looked back at her wings and then back at the boy, and shyly shook her head, "N-n-no. Still getting u-u-used to th-them." Her wings now quickly bursting open to their full length, showing the boy the beauty of her white wings, and trying to scare him a bit, but all for fun of course.

And then she did it. She giggled, in public, to a stranger. Something she hadn't done in years. Immediately her wings fell limp again. Her eyes looked to the floor, and her face turned a bright red. Her smile was gone, and she tried to focus her mind back on trying to get her wings to flap. When was he going to leave?

[Robbie Wilkes]

Robbie jumped back when the wings spanned wider. Her giggling made him roll his eyes and a grin surfaced on his lips. "Very funny. Thank you for giving me a premature heart attack." He joked before extending his hand to her. "I'm Robbie." He introduced himself.

When her wings went limp, Robbie tilted his head in confusion. Abilities, if the meta was not in control of it, were basically an extension of their emotions. Meaning that since her wings were going limp, the girl was probably either scared or...sad? Robbie wasn't entirely sure what but she looked better with a smile.

"Um...you want me to leave?" He asked after a moment of silence. This was a little awkward and usually when he approached a girl, they would either fawn over him or outrightly ask him to leave and she was doing neither. So he did it for her. If she wanted him to leave that is. "I'm probably like wasting your time and uh...training. I was actually just worried when you buckled over earlier. Thought you needed help or something..."

[Belle Harrington]

Belle stood there silently for a few seconds, her eyes fixated on the sky above her. He asked if she wanted him to leave, and she stopped to think about it for a few seconds. Finally she brought her eyes down from the sky, and looked at the boy, and slowly shook her head. No. She didn't want him to leave. She wanted to make friends, and he seemed very nice, she was just... Not used to someone actually wanting to talk to her, and not thinking she was a freak.

Finally she turned to the boy and smiled, "B-B-Belle..." She said, struggling with her name like she always did. She wondered why she stuttered, she assumed it was because she wasn't used to talking.

"I'm s-s-s..." She stuttered, sighing to herself, as she looked sadly away. How many years had it been since she held a conversation with another person? She couldn't even remember. She talked to Amelia all the time and never stuttered, but here she was almost barely being able to speak. She was nervous. "I'm... s-sorry... I sc-sc-scared you" She said pushing the words out, looking at the boy now, and nervously smiled.

Slowly and gently Belle opened her wings back up, and looked up at the sky watching the birds fly above her. A real smile dancing on her face now as she watched her fellow winged creatures, "Th-thank you... F-f-for caring," She whispered to the boy.

[Robbie Wilkes]

"Belle?" Robbie grinned. "Nice name."

"Well hey, it's no biggie." He shrugged when she apologised for the wings. "Seriously. No harm done. See, I'm still intact. My pants are still dry." He joked, not entirely certain she would actually understand his train of thought. Though in Belle's defense, even he didn't understand his own train of thought sometimes.

Like a pro, Robbie ignored the fact that she was stuttering. "Hey, don't mention it. So um...how long have you been here? And uh...does it always hurt? You know...the wings thing?"

[Belle Harrington]

Belle stood there watching the boy, he was such a peculiar boy. A very handsome one, but very odd. He was nice, and appeared to be very caring, but his sense of humor was different than she was used to. When he joked about him not wetting his pants, Belle let out another soft giggle at the idea of him wetting his pants at all. This time she didn't freak out about giggling. She felt a bit more comfortable with this boy. He was one of the first few people to see her with her wings out, and not turn and run in the other direction.

When asked how many years she had been here Belle held up her hand with two fingers up, indicating that she had been here for two years now. She smiled softly at Robbie, and then flapped her wings again, this time with more force as if she were almost going to lift off of her feet. But then she slowed them down, and then they stopped completely.

Squinting in pain, Belle retracted her wings back into her. And nodded, "Y-Yes it does hurt, j-just a bit..." She shrugged, before picking her sweater up, brushing the dirt off of it and placing it back on. She was done training for the day. She was getting tired from the work out of bringing her wings in and out, and flapping them.

Sitting down Belle, let out a sigh, and looked up at the boy. "Wh-wh-what can y-you d-do?" She asked shyly.

[Robbie Wilkes]

Had Robbie known she was so afraid of people calling her a freak, he would have dissuaded her and told her she was definitely not the only freak around. She didn't have to feel so uncomfortable. Especially not when she looked like that. He would have also told her to toughen up. Robbie's protective side was suddenly re-awakening for this girl, much like it did with Jared. The urge to keep her in a protected bubble overwhelmed him all of a sudden.

The sudden movement of her wings had Robbie instinctively moving forward to grab her hand before she flew off. The look of hurt on her face made Robbie wince. The poor thing must be in such pain. Having practically four feet of wings suddenly shoot out of your back had to hurt like a bitch. He released her hand and gave her a tiny encouraging smile.

He followed suit when Belle sat down and looked over at her when she asked her question. Time to show off, he mused with a grin. He looked up at the sunny sky and pulled one particular cloud over so it covered the sun before tapping on her shoulder and pointing to the blocked sun. "Weather control. So if you're ever stuck in a rain, just call me up and I'll bring you your sun." He grinned widely. "Why are you here out on your own, Belle?"

[Belle Harrington]

Belle suddenly looked down when the boy moved forward and grabbed her hand. She stood there silently looking at his hand holding hers, as her wings slowly fell limp. What was he doing? Did he not see the monster that she was? Could he not see the wings? Belle's eyes watched Robbie as she brought her wings in, his face wincing in pain along with hers. Was she hurting him? When he released her hand, Belle stood there with hers not moving from where he left it. Then slowly she dropped it too, and smiled weakly back at the boy.

Usually if someone tried touching her she would have turned around and run in the other direction, leaving anything and everything of hers behind. She was always on the defensive. Always protecting herself. She was terrified of everything and anything,

Belle smiled as she watched the boy sit down with her. He was nice. An attractive boy, and a nice guy. It was weird to meet someone who seemed too good to be true, but Belle still kept her distance. She watched the grin dance on his face, and kept her eyes on him as he looked up to the sky. He seemed to be doing something, and then it got darker. A lot darker. Like the sun had just been covered. Belle quickly looked up at the sky, and noticed that a cloud had moved in front of the sun. But how? She was just looking up there and there were no clouds around the sun.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Belle quickly turned her attention back to Robbie, "Weather control. So if you're ever stuck in a rain, just call me up and I'll bring you your sun." She heard him say, and she understood, she smiled returning his huge grin. She wished she had a power like that. Something that could actually help her or others around her. What the hell did wings do? She thought to herself. Plus he didn't look like a freak, she screamed the word freak whenever her wings were out.

"Why are you here out on your own, Belle?" She heard Robbie ask, and she looked to the floor then back up at Robbie thinking of her answer. She pointed to her her back, where her wings would have been. "I-I-I want t-to try f-f-flying..." She smiled weakly, and shrugged her shoulders. She looked up at the sky, and began watching the birds again. "I-I'm to sc-sc-scared to f-fly..." She looked back down at Robbie and shrugged again, a look of defeat on her face.

[Robbie Wilkes]

When he didn't get too much a response other than a smile out of Belle, Robbie shrugged, seemingly unperturbed. So the girl was not the greatest conversationalist. Her stuttering was probably another reason why she didn't talk much. He didn't blame her. He remembered when he couldn't even so much as open his mouth without feeling like a complete loser.

She wanted to try to fly? He would have thought after two years, she would have been able to. Then again...it had taken him two years to get to where he was. He really shouldn't think everyone was the same. She had the added difficulty of having to push twelve feet of wings out of her body. Couldn't be that easy.

Her fear of flying made it even worst. "That sucks," Robbie offered helpfully. Sometimes, the boy just didn't have that much tact. "Um...are you afraid of heights or flying in general?" Robbie asked after awhile. It was painfully awkward for the boy and he really didn't know much else to do. But he couldn't leave her alone. Not now.

[Belle Harrington]

Belle sat there looking up at the sky now, the boy's powers were still amazing her. Maybe he could stop thunderstorms when they were about to happen? She thought happily to herself. She would love a power like that! Never have to hear a thunderstorm ever again in her life. Looking over at him again she smiled, "S-s-so you can st-stop th-th-thunderstorms?" She asked quietly and shyly. It would be so great for her if he could, then maybe every time there was one, he could stop it for her so she did have to hide in fear.

Looking shyly at the boy now, she couldn't help but shyly smile about the stupidity that she still hadn't flown. "That sucks,"She heard Robbie say, and she sighed and nodded her head, "Y-yeah it does s-s-suck..." She giggled slightly at saying the word. She wasn't really one to speak like most teenagers. She never said, cool, or awesome, or sucks, she was mature when it came to language whenever she spoke.

Then the two of them fell silent, and Belle's attention went back to the sky, leaning back on her hands now as she closed her eyes feeling the sun on her face. "Um...are you afraid of heights or flying in general?" She heard Robbie say, and she returned her attention back to him. Her head shook gently, and she shrugged, "I-I'm mostly sc-sc-scared of f-f-falling to my d-d-death" She giggled slightly, at her stupidity.

[Robbie Wilkes]

"Yes maam," Robbie beamed with pride. "I mean I've got limitations, obviously. I'm not fully trained yet. But I can minimise the sound at least. Make it sunnier. Are you scared of thunderstorms?" He asked, his tone softer than he had intended. What was this girl doing to him?

"Well, I'm sure it's not that bad. You not flying I mean. It can't be easy to even bring it out, let alone move it around. This isn't a cartoon ya know? Like, you can't just sprout your wings and take off." Robbie shrugged, trying to make her feel better about it.

Robbie paused and looked over at her with a horrified look. "That's a legitimate concern." He said after a long while of just staring at her, trying to come up with a reasonable answer. "Well. How far along are you in your training? Like, can you actually fly? Isn't it like...instinctual? Your wings I mean. I would think if you were falling, it would just start flapping or something?"

[Belle Harrington]

Belle nodded her head slightly when Robbie asked if she was afraid of thunderstorms, "T-t-terrified..." She spoke quietly, and shrugged. Why not tell someone who could control the weather that she was terrified of thunderstorms? Maybe he could help her out? Or maybe he could make her life a living hell by making the thunderstorms louder, and more frequent. But she had a feeling that he wasn't like that. He didn't seem to be mean or have any bad intentions, either than simply being nice to her.

Belle sat there quietly, watching Robbie as he spoke, he had no idea how much it hurt to brings her wings out, and to retract them back in. At least it wasn't as bad as the first few times. She could still remember the ripping sensation she felt in her back the first times her wings came out. And all the pain, and the blood. The thought of her wings, only made her more upset. She hated them so much. She sighed and faked a smile towards Robbie now, "It r-r-really h-h-hurts sometimes..." she said looking up at the sky and then shrugging, "Especially w-w-when I g-get sc-sc-scared." She smiled weakly looking at Robbie again.

When Robbie stopped talking, and starred at her Belle couldn't help but blush a deep red, and turn her attention to her feet. It was weird how he was starring at her, and then finally he spoke, "That's a legitimate concern," he said to her, and she shrugged in response.

"Well. How far along are you in your training? Like, can you actually fly? Isn't it like...instinctual? Your wings I mean. I would think if you were falling, it would just start flapping or something?" She listened to Robbie as he asked her a line of questions, thinking quietly to herself she turned her attention back to Robbie, and smiled slightly. "I-I trained for t-two years..." She said and stopped to think to herself again, "A-and I've n-never a-actually tried f-flying y-yet" She giggled softly, "I-I'm too scared to e-even try..." She couldn't help but giggle a little bit harder, "I-I'm a b-big ch-ch-chicken."