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Post by The Jenn on Oct 10, 2010 21:54:37 GMT -5
"Daddy says we have a biiiiig basement. It belongs to Mr. Parsley. The whole house does. He works down there. He makes lots of noise. Are there tunnels? I dunno! I should ask." He would definitely have to ask Daddy if there were any secret tunnels, and if Mr. Parsley ever used them, and if he could use them, too.
Her description of the Capital made him stop dead in his tracks and stare at her, fluffing his wings a few times before continuing to the kitchen at an ambling pace. "Oh. Wow. Really? That sounds great! I wanna go now! After lunch, maybe." And he would have to ask Daddy about that, too. He didn't care so much about trees. There weren't a ton of them in Corvistowne, either. Not like there were around the palace, or in some of the places they drove by when they came to visit.
Lunch took priority to any of that, though, because his stomach told him so in no uncertain terms. He thought about it, tilting his head a little further than necessary as they walked. "Sorbet," he decided after a moment. "They have the best here. And maybe a sandwich. If I have to." He didn't realize that it was the best because a King had requested it be kept on hand for Mirriam herself.
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Post by Lucca on Oct 10, 2010 22:28:08 GMT -5
"Ooooh! Have you been down there to see it?" Mirriam fairly fluttered in her excitement, forgetting entirely about her desire to stay on the ground to be fair to her friend who couldn't quite fly himself yet. A super secret basement lab! She'd never been in a real Corvie laboratory before, because, as Teo had said, they just didn't have many Corvies in their Court.
Mirriam slumped a little. She would love to show him the Capital, but... "Well...we might need an adult to go with us...I'm not really allowed to go by myself." And she also wasn't supposed to wander off by herself while there, but she didn't always follow that one! The fact that one such instance had led to the noticeable scar she had on her neck didn't really seem to deter her, though she did have a healthy distrust of Jubjub birds.
Mirriam's eyes practically lit up at his answer. "Sorbet is my favorite! Well, other than fruit tarts and strawberries and peaches. They really do make it yummy here!" Now fluttering several feet off the ground, she had to make a conscious effort to fly slowly enough for him to keep up. "Look look, we're here!" The Bat made a bee line for a large set of doors, behind which muffled sounds of cooking and shouts could be heard. Mirriam wiggled her nose as the delicious scents reached it. Her stomach growled in response.
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Post by The Jenn on Oct 10, 2010 22:33:34 GMT -5
"Nooo," Teo grumbled with an obvious note of disappointment. "I want to. But Mr. Parsley keeps the door locked. He's down there a lot sometimes." He would love to see a real Corvie laboratory, too.
Her comment on the Capital threw him for a loop and he blinked. "Oh? Ummm. Daddy might go. He's an adult. I can't go without him. I know that." Because Daddy didn't let him go anywhere without him. He said he was too little. Which was dumb. He was way bigger than he'd been when he was just a year younger!
And then the kitchen's smells and sounds began to assault his senses in the best way possible. "If we both ask for sorbet then they can't say no," he said with the confidence of a child who just figured out the trick to getting exactly what he wanted. And with that, he hustled into the busy environment before stopping dead in surprise, staring at all the activity around him.
Oh. Wow. There were lots of people moving around everywhere. He'd never actually been in the kitchen itself before. He just knew that was where the food came from.
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Post by Lucca on Oct 11, 2010 11:37:36 GMT -5
Mirriam perked up. "That would be awesome! I hope you get to go, then!" She'd rarely gotten to go to the Capital with her guardian...he just didn't have the time, really, between his duties with the Kingship and the fact that he was overseeing Sprouts. But when he did take her (usually for Sprout-related things, like when they went to the museum) Mirriam ended up having a lot of fun and learning a lot from him. Like the way many little girls almost idolized their fathers, Mirriam thought Mr. Birdy Man could do no wrong.
Mirriam gave an excited squeak in response and pushed open the doors. She'd been here lots of times, so she landed and pulled on Teo's wing. "Come on, let's try and find Mike! He's my favorite cook and he always gives me stuff! I'm sure he'd give us sorbet, and sandwiches, and whatever else you could possibly want!"
She looked around the kitchen, brown eyes narrowed intently as she maneuvered through paws and legs (pulling Teo gently behind) until she saw the bipedal Josiggy/Avington mix and squealed in delight. "Mike! Hey Mike! Can me and my friend Teo have some sorbet?" She grinned up at him and then blinked and added, "please?"
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Post by The Jenn on Oct 11, 2010 11:44:21 GMT -5
So much bustling activity. Teo wasn't entirely comfortable walking into that mess of moving limbs, but at the same time, it was kind of like a crowded Corvie street. He didn't have Daddy's hand to hold onto, but he had Mirriam's wing to keep touch with, and that was fine. He hopped along after her, almost getting stepped on twice as a startled pair of assistant cooks cursed at finding a child in their path while they were holding something, but eventually making his way after Mirriam unscathed. He stared up at Mike, working the dual-pleading-children angle. "Please?" he chirped right after her, huddling a little closer so that he didn't get near anybody's feat again. "You always have the best. It's better than home. Pleeeease?"As somewhere else in the palace, Parzifal began searching for his son for lunch. Where would the boy have gotten off to? He usually stayed to the hallways by the residences.  |
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Post by Lucca on Oct 11, 2010 12:08:14 GMT -5
Mike chuckled, slipping off the hot pad he had on one of his large hands and kneeling down to ruffle the children's fur affectionately. "Of course!" He had a deep, resonating voice that always seemed to promise laughter on the edges. "I'm always happy to give you a little something, Mirriam, and your friends. But only a little, for now! You can have more after you eat a proper lunch." He winked and shuffled off to the cold closet.
Mirriam cheered and hugged Teo excitedly. "Yay yay! See, Teo, I told you he was nice!" She bounced and fluttered happily until the cook came back, holding two small bowls full of the requested confection.
He kneeled down to hand them to the kids. "You two look like you need this," he said seriously, though his eyes were twinkling. "You have the look of two someones who've been off having adventures, and adventuring's mighty hungry work."
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Post by The Jenn on Oct 11, 2010 12:40:16 GMT -5
Oh, Teo liked this man. He really seemed to understand the important of sorbet to a pair of hungry adventurers. He understood it enough to go and get them some! The boy clicked his beak a few times in delight and returned Mirriam's enthusiastic hug with a few wingbeats of his own, earning a word or two of caution from staff who didn't want feathers or dust kicked up into the food.
Tucking his wings close again, the boy just grinned as best his beak would allow. "Yay! Thank you, Mr. Mike! I love sorbet!" And after he had a treat, a proper lunch wouldn't seem nearly so arduous a chore as it did with the prospect of dessert first.
He stared up at the man seriously, nodding his head. "I'm the shark Queen," he told the man in a child's solemn tone. "Mirriam is Queen of the Pirates. She has the Captain Queen's hat. We took over the seas and the islands and the beaches."
And then he eyed the sorbet like his life depended on it, not quite sure where to go to dig his beaky face into the treat.
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Post by Lucca on Oct 11, 2010 16:32:13 GMT -5
Mirriam nodded earnestly right along with Teo. "Yeah, it was a crazy battle, you should have seen it!" she cried, taking the offered bowl and fairly bouncing with excitement. Mike was the rare adult that actually -got- her stories! So many of them didn't care or just thought she was being 'cute'. He actually understood it. "Teo is so brave a Captain!"
Mike smiled warmly. "That sounds like quite the full agenda, then! I'll leave you to it. Meanwhile, I am forced to finish the more mundane task of making lunch." He straightened up, winking and waving them gently toward the door. "I'll have lunch ready in just a few minutes." The rest of the staff either rolled their eyes at the interaction or smiled fondly. It was well known that Mike had a soft spot for kids in general, and Mirriam in particular.
"Okay Mike!" Mirriam replied, and then took her sorbet and nodded toward the door. She figured it was nice enough out that they could just go outside to eat. It didn't cross her mind that there might be someone looking for Teo, though, despite the fact that he'd mentioned his dad. "Come on!" She led him the short distance to a small terrace with tables where the nobles and visitors of the Court could take a meal in nice weather.
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Post by The Jenn on Oct 11, 2010 17:16:29 GMT -5
The young bird flared his feathers proudly at Mirriam's compliment, his grin as wide as a bird could manage. "And Mirriam's got a huuuge hat, which makes her a really great Captain, too," he added at the end of her story, waiting for praise. Which came. Yay!
"Thaaaank you," Teo chirped to the man's assistance, taking the edge of the bowl very firmly in his beak and waddling after the Avington bat in a strange gait. He didn't want to spill his sorbet so hopping wasn't really an option! It made him slow, though.
And he'd never eaten out here! Normally he and Daddy ate in the guest rooms, or with his family, or something. Sometimes even in the dining room. Outside was nice! He found himself a chair and put his bowl on it. Then, rethinking this plan, he grabbed the bowl and juuust managed to shove it on top of the table with his face. Then he clambered and climbed and struggled up into the chair with a beaming grin.
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Post by Lucca on Oct 11, 2010 21:25:00 GMT -5
It was a bit difficult for her at first, but especially living in the Palace where most things were geared towards the higher end of the spectrum, Bipedals and Humans, Mirriam had learned to use her wing claws for just about everything, and her mouth or feet for everything else. Of course, birds didn't have any wing claws, so Mirriam completely understood Teo's frustration.
The little Bat set her own dish across from Teo's and hop-fluttered easily up into the chair. "To the victor go the spoils!" she cried happily. She wasn't completely sure about that expression, as why would one actually celebrate about getting something that was spoiled? But it seemed appropriate. It was a good thing they had this lovely, non-spoiled sorbet! She set to eating it happily and making appreciative noises at the same time.
When she'd finished, she licked the lingering sweetness of her muzzle and gave Teo a huge grin. "Yummy! That was great! So you get sorbet at your house too, huh?" She paused and got a strange look on her face. "Hey...who did you say you came with? Your dad? Shouldn't we go find him?" Mirriam tried not to think about dads too much...or, well, she tried not to think about -her- dad too much. Because she still really missed her parents. Someday she vowed to go out and find them!
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