closed 🪶 so many birds of so many feathers

[garudas]

Who: Benedikta Harman & Others.
Status: Closed.
Where: The Roost.
What: Benedikta tries to fix up the chocobo stables that she broke last month, and she also gets a new visitor through the rifts.
Warnings: None for now.

Comments

[velocityraptor]

[ He's joined the team, but he was away getting kidnapped and that's been a whole thing, and now that he's pretending he's totally healed from injury, it's back to work. He's stubborn. Fortunately he's mostly healed.

Hawks does hang back while she looks him over. Everyone looks at the wings, he's not offended, but he can always tell that they do. ]

Oh it's not a bother, I like having things to do. [ He genuinely means that. ]

[garudas]

[Fortunately for him, the work that needs doing won't be too difficult. Benedikta is well aware of who has been healing from what happened hardly a month ago, so won't be too bossy. Only a little.]

In that case, why don't you bring over that basket of greens. The birds have yet to eat, and I would rather not have them restless while I attempt to fix these stables.

[The bright yellow-feathered chocobo eating out of her hand chirps, her wings flapping as she watches Hawks.]

Astrid seems to like you already. Do you come to the stables much?

[velocityraptor]

I haven't actually. [ For someone who probably took it a little easy for a couple of days and who is very much the type not to rest when he should, he's moving pretty good. Hawks is good at disguising injuries, very well practiced.

He moves over to the basket of greens and starts passing them around. ]

I'm glad she likes me, because some animals get kind of weird about me. Birds don't usually mind me.

[garudas]

[A motion to him, and Astrid stretches down to try and catch the green in her hand, nipping at Benedikta's fingers and earning a little tap on her beak in admonishment for being so impatient. She chirps back, and stalks over to Hawks to look him over. Greens? Friend?]

It might be the wings. They are quite impressive.

[velocityraptor]

I think animals can't decide if I'm a man or a bird. [ Hawks chuckles and well, he's a softie, so she's going to get some greens off of him. ]

It's both. And thank you. [ His wings fluff up a little bit with pride. ]

[garudas]

[Look at her, sucking up to him and getting what she wants!!! Astrid's feathers puff out in joy as she takes the green from him.

And with that out of the way, she moves to the pile of lumber that had been gathered and set aside by some of the crew for rebuilding the stables.]

They are... not made of the magic of this world, no?

[velocityraptor]

Ah, well, that's kind of a yes and no answer. They're my quirk, so without the tattoo, they're not there and that's weird. [ Hawks will offer Astrid a little head pat too, gently running fingers through feathers. ]

But they're not from here. I was born with them. I'm what we call a heteromorph, meaning I have mutated traits from something not entirely human. For me, it's a hawk.

[garudas]

[A heterowhatnow?

Benedikta's brows furrow in confusion, but as she knocks a plank of wood free from the pile and lifts it from the ground with her magic, a breeze blustering through, she continues to eye them with interest. How did he end up mutated with them anyway...? If he was born with them? Questions that sit on the tip of her tongue but ones that she does not feel quite so comfortable asking just yet. She has only just met the boy after all.]

And they do not get cumbersome? I often find that my wings can get in the way more often than not.

[That wood is carried over to where Hawks is standing, right where the stables used to be, and she drops it carelessly to the ground at his feet.]

[velocityraptor]

[ At the very least, he doesn't seem to mind questions. He doesn't - people have been asking them for years. He stands out and has a public facing job. People here might be shy but not every reporter at home has been. ]

I mean, kind of? [ That's probably one of the stranger questions, actually. ] They're attached to me though. Even if I shed all my feathers, I'd still have the bone structure there. [ He does not like to be that unarmed. But more importantly... ]

You have wings?

[garudas]

[Ah. She supposes that not everyone has been around long enough to see them for themselves, and it's not like she walks around with them out...

So there's something of a smile as she gives her shoulders a little shrug, and in a burst of magic and feathers and wind, her own wings unfurl from her back, their span wide and reaching, white feathers tipped in a light green. It startles a couple of the chocobos, squawks and warks echoing off the cliff walls.]

Not quite the same as yours and made of magic, but... still my own.

[Her smile turns a bit proud before she's bending over to straighten a plank of wood, and she shoves it into the dirt where she'd dug a little hole.]

[velocityraptor]

[ Hawks is delighted and impressed and he claps a couple of times. ]

Very nice! [ He's taking in her wingspan, it has to be close to his own, if not bigger perhaps. ]

I certainly hope you fly! [ Because that's the best way to travel, obviously, he's not at all biased. ]

[garudas]

[Benedikta preens at that, giving her wings a proud ruffle, her smile tugging wider when the chocobos take interest.]

Of course I can. Why else would I have them?

[She folds them against her back and continues to work. It's not so often that she leaves them out like this, but... birds of a feather...]

It took some time to manage them, but... unlike my old wings, these take little to no effort at all to maintain.

[velocityraptor]

[ Hawks knows all about pride in one's wings, he's very proud of his own. ]

I taught my cute little intern how to fly. Best thing I ever did.

[ Ah, he misses him. ] Really? Lucky. I'm in the middle of molting. [ Hawks sighs heavily, lamenting. ] They look terrible. I really need a good preening.

[garudas]

[Is it strange that she still finds them quite stunning?]

Have you tried asking the gryphons up top?

[Is she serious? Joking? Yes.]

My own wings do not need that sort of maintenance, yet they insist on trying anyway. The chocobos, not as much.

[velocityraptor]

[ They certainly are a spectacle, a lot of people think so it's just his bird-like instincts that are saying they're not perfect and presentable. He chuckles at the joke though. ]

No, I haven't. That's lucky that you don't have to look after yours like that. It's a kind of itchy when the feathers are replacing themselves naturally. You wouldn't want to.