Under Wing [Closed]

[Memoru]

Accus dreaded these bi-monthly meetings. Worse then dreaded. There was…was…no possible fate worse than this. It was positively hectic. He was dragged into some mishap or another despite his constant efforts to avoid any sort of conflict with Mommy dear, or Mother, or Neta. And while Sarit was quite the dear he was always in trouble over one thing or another because of her (not that he blamed her for it, poor little Sarit didn’t like the situation any more than he did.

At least Kelila was sane.

Hopefully she didn’t send note that she was sick again. Although it had proved rather amusing when Mother dragged them all down to see her…only to find he sprawled in bed with some Torquehelm stranger.

Accus shoved his fist into his mouth to keep from sniggering.

”He’s a client, mommy!” had done nothing to quell either mother’s anger.

Faintly, Accus wondered what had happened to the Torq after wards. He certainly hadn’t seen hide or hair of the fellow again.

Shrugging it off (he didn’t really care, although it would be something decent to think about should he be shoved into the corner while the girls argued), Accus peered over his smaller cages of birds before selecting a red canary. Mother always insisted he brought Mommy dear a present.

Accus tugged the bird up the cellar stairs to the main floor, pausing a moment to catch his reflection in a dusty mirror. With a frown he licked a finger and smoothed his bangs out of his face, jamming his little hat into place, and waddled out the door.

At least, he thought vaguely, eying the murky sky with barely withheld disdain, it didn’t look like it would rain before he got there.

Mommy-dear always made such a fuss when he got wet. Honestly, he hadn’t had cold nor infection since he was twelve years old…

[Memoru]

The door swung open before Accus even had the chance to knock. He let out his breath in an ‘oomph’ as something small and hard connected with his chest. Stumbling backward, but being sure to keep his grip on the canary’s cage, Accus managed to catch himself with an awkward flick of his tail before jerking his eyes down to see his attacker.

Sarit. His youngest sister. Not quite out of adolescence yet, and shimmering with all the feminine delicacy customary to her Yarrow heritage.

She’d grown some, since he last saw her.

The little Yarrow-Corvie mix grinned up at him with her bright, pink eyes, perching on her tip-toes to smack an awkward kiss on Accus’ cheek. She wheeled around without a word and scampered into the house, cries of,'Accus is here!’[/color] following her as she went.

Accus exhaled a little sigh while brushing the dust from his fur. Puffing out his chest and fixing his cap – what was the use, really? Mommy-dear would fiddle anyway, and Mother would find something else to criticize – he grabbed his canary and set forth into the rickety little house, head held high…for now.

He could already here the voices of Mommy and Mother conversing angrily over…something.

Hopefully not him.

[Memoru]

“Well get out then!”[/color]

“Fine, I will. I don’t need to take this at my age!”[/color]

Accus’ ears pricked and he shuffled back against the wall, just as a black and purple blur stormed out after him, grumbling and growling in such ways a rat really ought not to know how. Kelila. Accus screwed his mouth shut to avoid calling out to her. As much as he adored his older sister, he wasn’t getting into the middle of her argument.

He’d have enough of his own.

Accus flicked his ears back up and continued down the call, canary cage held tightly between his teeth.

The sight that greeted him in the kitchen was not one he was particularly…used to.

Mommy was crying in Mother’s arms. Which was never a good thing (although Accus normally got cookies out it), not because of Mommy, but because Mother would be particularly stuffy today…and Accus wasn’t really in her good books, being a male.

Neither was the stranger at the table.

Another Torquehelm. A feline. Who was probably feeling quite awkward right now, but Accus couldn’t tell. Nor would he be able to inform anyone, with that tight-looking muzzle tugged over his muzzle. And he would have trouble up-and-leaving with thouse leg…bindings…

Accus’ cheeks colored.

…oh dear, were those spreader bars?

[Memoru]

Mother’s eye caught Accus’ over Mommy’s shoulder. She lifted her head, frowning so deeply she forced her lips to curl into a snarl. Oh dear. Accus reached up a hand to tug his braid, but Mother’s eyes narrowed further and he dropped it to his side.

“Get him out of here, Accus!”[/color] she jerked her head toward the Torq,” We don’t need…his sort ruining our family-“[/color]

Mommy let out a particularly loud wail and clung harder to Mother. For a moment, Mother’s eyes softened and she nuzzled Mommy’s head, whispering quietly under her breath. Her eyes cracked open again, and, seeing that Accus hadn’t moved from the spot, she snarled again.

Accus jumped and rushed over to the Torq.

Too late to keep himself out of it, apparently.

“Come along, stranger,”[/color] Accus tugged the feline’s arm, ” You’ve caused enough here, I think.”[/color]

The feline came, nearly throwing himself off the chair. Accus stumbled backward with a gasp, before catching himself and shooting the fellow a glare. The feline shied a way a little, but Accus shook his head and shoved him forward.

It took longer than he would have liked to get the bugger out of the house, with that awkward shuffling gait. A few minutes of awkward silence with his sister’s latest conquest to make things just a little more interesting.

At least Kelila would be taking most of the rap today.
”Give Kelila my regards,”[/color] he waved, still leering, and slammed the door shut after the feline.


“Accus! Get back down here.”[/color]

Accus winced.


“We have something to talk about!”[/color]

…bugger Kelila to seven levels of hades.

[Memoru]

Mommy had settled down a little, and the four remaining girls were seated silently around the table. Not in chairs, of course, none of them had achieved any form other than their animal one, and chairs made things quite awkward. Accus waddled into the kitchen to meet four identical stares.

It made his fur bristle.

“Your sister is gone.” [/color]

“I assumed-.” [/color]

Mother’s stare narrowed and her tail lashed, cat-like, to the side. Accus snapped his mouth shut and hurried up to the table, ears folded back, head bowed. His bangs brushed down to hide his face, just enough so that he could lift his eyes and leer at mother without much fear of being caught.

He heard a giggle from Sarit on the other side of the table.

“She’s decided to…to…frolic about with men.” [/color]

Which was, of course, one of the worst crimes possible. Apart from being male.

“Not even one man!”[/color] this wail was from Mommy, and her tears gushed once more. She buried her face in her hands, and Accus snapped his ears back, looking up.

He really didn’t like being angry with Mommy.

“…Torq men, because of her…her…”[/color] Mother waved a hand in the air, unable to continue,” She won’t be joining us today.”[/color]

Mommy wailed again, collapsing in full over the table.

Accus winced. Kelila’s choice of…flexibility as her choice of experimentation had always led to a bit of an uproar with their parents. At least it took the weight of Accus’ doings.

“But we will enjoy today’s supper, and we will be going out after wards. Grandpa would love for us to visit, but not if we’re all going to be so stressed out that we give him a heart attack. Is that understood, Accus?”[/color]

Accus swallowed a sigh and nodded.

“Wonderful,”[/color] Mother forced a small, clapping her hands together and pointedly looking away from Mommy as she wailed,” Now…who brought Mommy presents?” [/color]

[Memoru]

The declaration had Mommy looking up, at least, and Accus shot her a shy smile from beneath his bangs. Mommy wiped the tears out from under her yellow eyes and smiled back. Mommy liked presents, although being one short might cause a bit of tension (as if there wasn’t enough already). Mother wrapped an arm around Mommy’s shoulders and tugged her closer, shooting Accus a sharp look before turning her attention to the other girls.

Sarit, who still lived with Mommy and Mother, produced a beautiful
bouquet of paper flowers, each one brightly colored and resembling several natives from the Yarrow. Not that Sarit had ever been there, but Mother had a great many picture books for her.

Mommy snuggled them to her chest and squeaked her thank-yous.

Neta produced, as was her specialty, a small mechanical contraption. Accus wasn’t sure what it was, and neither was Mommy, from the surprised stare she gave it. Accus lifted his hands to his maw to hide his smirk. It was nice to know Neta wasn’t so good at her profession. He wouldn’t have to lurk in the shadow of family members when he made his own debut.

“Birds again, Accus?”[/color] Mother sniffed.

He hadn’t noticed the quartet turning their attention to him.

Accus scowled and nodded, lifting his little red canary onto the table. It sang quietly, hopping from perch to perch with its scrawny, pink legs. He was a pretty one. Accus had been quite lucky to catch the fellow too. Red ones were rather hard to find.

“Trained. To sing, mainly, I taught him-.” [/color]

“Rubbish,”[/color]
said Mother,” Just like the rest of them.” [/color]

“Hazel…”[/color]

[Memoru]

Accus ears snapped back against his skull, head jerking to reach Mother’s frozen glare. He bit his tongue to keep from speaking out. Arguing with mother would only cause more problems. It was better to just sit and wait it out.

Damn Kelila for leaving him.

“We have a thousand birds already,”[/color] Mother snarled. Mommy was hesitantly tugging at her arm, urging her to sit down again. She didn’t, of course. She stalked around the edge of the table and flung an arm out toward the living room. Bird song could be heard, something Accus was quite used to tuning out, occasionally punctuated by the trilling call of a Magpie.

He smiled nostalgically at the thought.

“We have twenty finches, Accus, twenty finches, that we have to feed. And canaries?”[/color] Mother gave a snort and slammed her hand down in front of the canary’s cage. Accus jumped, and the canary silenced,” We have five.” [/color]

“Hazel, Hazel, really, I don’t mind. I like Accus’ birds. Hazel, please…” [/color]

Mother growled and turned away.

“That obnoxious magpie of yours is the worst of all. We don’t need any more.” [/color]

“Hazel, they’re quite-.” [/color]

Mother snapped a glare at her. Accus’ hackled rose and he shrunk back from the table, one hand tugging hard on his little braid while Mother’s back was turned from him.

“…alright,”[/color] said Mommy,“No more birds, I’m sorry, Accus.” [/color]

“Yeah,”[/color] said Neta, speaking up for the first time since they’d gathered around the table,” Why don’t you do ear things for Mum, anyway?[/color]”

“Because he doesn’t do anything with ears, Neta-dear,”[/color] said Mother, calmer this time, she eyes Accus over her shoulder as she returned to her seat,” He’s rubbish at that to.”[/color]

“Hazel, come now, don’t be-.” [/color]

Accus swallowed hard.

He wanted to leave. Damn Kelila for not taking him with her.