Robin Red Breast in a Cage [Closed]

[Memoru]

The most difficult part of his job was acquiring proper test subjects. There were many reasons Accus didn’t bother trying anything on himself (mainly the prospect of failure. He would not be a happy deaf), and while his fellow Corvistownes were not all to opposed to helping a fellow out with his fiddling, they had gone and mixed their own selves up. Accus’ abnormally large nose wrinkled at the mere thought of the effects their previous experiments may have on his own learnings.

No. There would be no Corvistownians mucking about in his lab. Not a one until he was suitably ready.

Which was why he was here, waddling (as rats tend to do) down the bustling streets of the capital city, a tiny little cage gripped between his teeth. The birds, tiny, purple finches, squeaked and flapped furiously against the gilded bars, but Accus paid them little head. The fellows would be fine until he found a nice little street corner to prop himself against. And while not particularly valuable they may catch the fancy of some poor naïve fellow, a child-like mind or two…and those were always the easiest to deal with.

Nothing in any world came free, Accus believed, but you get it damned near that price with a bit of trickery.

Scampering between the long legs of an equine, and shooing off a pair of scoundrel-y looking youngsters (just Twos, they’ll probably starve to death before reaching adulthood anyway), Accus darted into a warm little alcove against the side of a cobbled building and quite happily plopped himself down, eyes twitching across the various Cards that sauntered by with narrowed, judging glances.

Accus plucked open the little cage and deftly swiped one of the little birds out. It fluttered madly at first, between the grip of his fingers, before resigning to her fate. Accus let her squirm out and strut across his fingers, chirping her merry little tune.

Only Accus , rubbing his fingers over her little head, could feel the odd little rise of stitches trailing down from the girl’s ear holes. Hopefully her buyers wouldn’t notice. It might makes things…difficult.

[seraaches]

You couldn't say he wasn't often in the streets of the Capital City, because he was. He was almost constantly in and out of the Palace and in and out of the City. It was part of his job being errand King for his dear, dear wonderful Queen Mother. So today he was skipping about with a satchel full of papers and the vague idea that he hadn't done anything truly annoying to his darling Mother in at least 17 hours. Therefore, he had to find something to do. It was a matter of honour.

Therefore, when the equine had a little Corvie rat scurry between his legs, he followed the small man's progress with interest, especially when he set up 'shop', or so it seemed, in a small alcove. Okay, he was interested.

The equine headed over to the man and gave a small, strangely toothy grin. "Hello, friend."

[Memoru]

Accus ’ eyes spun up at the sight of the equine, immediately flicking down to the mark on his chest. A King. His ears flicked back and he scrunched his nose. He might have to be careful, dealing with a face card. But…but this might prove rather useful. More so if he could decipher those odd marks dripping down from the creature’s eyes. He might have to watch his back with this one.

It wasn’t easy to gip a King.

Accus offered a somewhat belated smile and jerked his hand outward. The finch started, flitted off his fingers, and dropped to the ground to rest between Accus’ toes.

“Hello, stranger,” his grin widened, white teeth flashing to match the King’s grin,” I’ve never had the pleasure of speaking to a king before. I’m afraid I haven’t much of interest to offer to such a magnificent card.” He reached down and plucked the finch off the ground, resting her in the palm of his hand,” Only little birds. A cheap fancy for those who can’t get more exotic ones.”

His finch squeaked and ruffled her feathers indignantly.

[seraaches]

"The simpler pleasures, hrm?" Ira asked quietly, pale eyes easily following the swift, fluttering movements of the bird before shifting back up to rodent's face. It was a rather nice face; for some reason Ira found himself drawn to face markings, especially stripes. No reason for that, nope.

The little bird fluttered up her wings and the young stallion seemed to give her his attention simply by not turning towards her. There was a sudden stillness that settled completely over the man that suggested he could move in any direction at a moment's notice.

Then, just as suddenly, the young man was loose and easy-going again, as though he hadn't seemed about to leap forward or away in a sudden and swift motion. He was relaxed and he shifted his weight to his back legs. He said nothing more, having nothing more to say.

[Memoru]

The King’s strange movements had Accus’ fur bristled. There was something wrong with this creature. Something a little…deranged perhaps. Or perhaps Accus’ mind was merely exaggerating a small eccentricy. He stifled the urge to draw his finch away from the equine, keeping his hand up and proffered instead. He wasn’t conscious of the fact he’d taken a cautious step away from the much larger Card.

“Homey…yes. Although, ,” he wriggled his fingers, causing the finch to chirp again, snapping her beak at his furless knuckles,” Although…they are trained. I didn’t want to try and sell simple song birds, when one could just pluck a pair out of the forest,” he drew the finch back, cradling her against his chest. Her dull read breast looked pale and dim against the brightness of Accus' diamond.

He snapped his eyes up to the King, craning his head back significantly. A forced excitement burst into his face, lighting his yellow eyes with child-like wonder. An expression he’d practiced long hours in the mirror.

“Would you like to see what they can do, your Majesty? ”

Perhaps a show might attract other potential customers as well.

[seraaches]

Rai inspected the little ball of feathers with detached interest, at least until the rat explained about them. Trained little birdies? Now that was interesting. His ears flicked forward again and he tilted his head slightly as the Corvie suddenly lit up with a mass of excitement. It was rather surprising to see such sincere, child-like wonder from someone he'd just seen with a very calculating expression. Hrms. Rather odd.

Would the rat really be that excited about these finches? Ira supposed it depended entirely upon wot exactly the finches were trained to do. Before that, however, there was something else to address.

"While it sounds exceedingly interesting," the young stallion said with his still strange, quirky grin. "But I'm not a Majesty. Strictly speaking, I'm not even a Highness yet." He didn't seem in the least offended, but a hard edge to his eyes suggested that this was potentially a serious issue. "So. Wot have you trained your little feathers to do?"

[Memoru]

The warning has Accus’ ears pressed back once more. His attempted flattery dashed with a degrading reprimand and a warning expression. Accus bobbed his head low, grinding his teeth against the queasy feeling in his chest. Accus didn’t like being corrected.

The rat popped up against just as quickly, swallowing the bitterness with another bland smile,” My apologies, sir. It won’t happen again. ” At least not until it was appropriate to do so. Regardless, Accus turned his attention visible to the little finches. They were bobbing excitedly in their cage, and it took only a flick of his finger to loosen the latch so they could fly out. Their squeaking ceased for a moment, and Accus clucked his tongue.

Wouldn’t do for them to be skittery in front of a potential customer.

The tiny flock scurried out of the cage and made their way to various perches on Accus’ body. Only the little female stayed still and quiet in his hand.

Accus gave a sharp whistle, and the finches flinched…but the discomfort lasted for only moments before all six of them took off and landed on his outstretched fingers…before turning themselves upside down to hang by their tiny, pink toes! Another whistle and they crawled back up, stretching out their wings and squeaking out a short diddy. Accus clucked his tongue again and they stopped, flitting back up to his shoulders and huddling against one another. All, once again, but the little female who stayed in his palm, her head turned shyly against he wing.

“They can fetch things light enough for them to carry as well. Quills and little things mainly. Helpful when one doesn’t want to walk across the room. They know a few little songs. Silly things, really…but it’s amazing what you can teach little birds with the right tools. ”

And the right…surgery.

[seraaches]

For one who preyed upon others, it was the small signs that were truly important and Ira caught a few interesting signs of something unusual going on. Not that he would blatantly say anything, but at least he was rather interested in knowing the whys behind the look of the Corvie and the flinching of the birds. Still, the rat's show did manage one thing; a little girl had seen the 'show' and now she excitedly tugged her mother over.

"Do it again!" the girl shrilled excitedly. "Mommy, lookit wot his birds can do!"

Ira eyed the girl, wondering briefly if she would taste as sour as his high voice was in his ears, but he knew better than to eat anyone in front of their parents. That was just plain rude; you should always eat the parents first. He swished his tail, eyes going back to the Corvie as he smiled again. "Oh, yes, we'd like to see their tricks again."

[Memoru]

Accus would have been much more excited had the little girl not driven her mother along for the ride. A little girl would be so easy to entice! Although, morally speaking, it wouldn’t be particularly kind to do anything permanent to one. Not the best of subjects, children, but certainly the easiest to acquire. Quality and quantity, really.

And, at the moment, Accus would take what he could get.

“Certainly, sir…and lady ,” he bobbed his head to the little girl, shooting her mother a dull smile. He let out a rat-like chitter and the female perched on his palm fluttered up and landed on the girl’s shoulder, chirping softly. She could stay there, for the show. The girl should like that.

Accus waddled backwards and whistled the birds into returning to his hands, before flinging them up in the air. A careful pat-pat of his leg on the ground had them flying in elegant patterns just above his head…which meant eye-level for the larger stallion and the young girl’s mother. Something that really only worked when he had a group of them.

Accus turned his attention away from the flock. The tapping of his foot would keep them busy for a few minutes,” If you’re little girl would like one, they’re all for sale. Quite tame, very affordable,” he placed a paw above his heart, cocking his head a little,” And, like all good salesmen, I’m willing to negotiate.” Would prefer to negotiate, if it came down to it.

But he wouldn’t get much from them. It was the stallion who’d be a better target…

“And for you, sir, I do have…more variety back in Corvestowne. Nothing exotic, as I said, but perhaps something to catch your fancy? Something a little more suitable for someone such as yourself? Maybe a pretty present for a lady-friend?”

[seraaches]

Ira had to redirect his gaze away from the birds; he wasn't entirely certain he could control his nature and not snap one right out of the air. His tail lashed and he returned his attention back to the rat rather than the birds above the Corvie, even as their conversation was punctuated by the oohs and aahs of the little girl. As the man might have desired, something like a crowd was beginning to form around them.

Ira tilted his head thoughtfully at the man's offer. A pet bird. Not that he wanted one, but there were a few others he could think of who would probably just love to have a trained pet bird. His dearest Queen Mother, for one. His Queen Mother could definitely use assistance keeping up with his life; the stallion was a bit overwhelmed trying to keep up with his own Court just now. But Ita was going to take care of that.

"Well, that sounds very interesting," he said idly. "Perhaps we can discuss this further."