day 15 mingle

[terraria]

WHO: all
WHERE: here there everywhere
WHEN: day 15
WHAT: mingleeeeee

( so how are you?

good? bad? hungover? sugarcrashed?

tired from a long day as a barista/bartender/bouncer/emotional wreck?

maybe in your semi-not-really lucidity/exhaustion you notice that the grass in the middle of all the barns, next to one of the rivers, is pretty soft. good for a nap.

maybe rest a while.

don't die though. lily is watching and will bring you back to kick your ass. )

Comments

[terraria]

That's not your fault. You're not used to caring after wings, and from what I've seen... neither is he.

I went through a lot of wing injuries myself, even with people caring for me and having it right in their faces. He'll need to instruct or at least be open to instructing others on how to take care of them.

[ohlord]

Yeah, pretty much.

Ya said every couple've days to stretch 'em out and stuff, right? What about the whole... fixin' feathers stuff?

[terraria]

He really should be stretching them every day... but we're working with someone who does not seem to want to have them out at all, so every couple of days feels more possible.

Preening should happen daily, at least once. It won't be as long as I took with them, I had to take so long because his wings were in such bad condition. It's like... brushing your hair.

[ohlord]

[frrrrowns]

So you've just been doin' it yourself this whole time?

[terraria]

( a )

Um. Yes?

[ohlord]

[i mean, having a better idea of Perci's background, it makes sense not to let strangers near his wings... but still...]

... guess y'already might've said somethin' about him helpin' out with that to also help with gettin' comfortable with it... but y'know, if ya need help with it or anythin'...

[terraria]

( he actually kind of blushes... ducking his head. )

I-I... well... I suppose I... do trust you all enough for that... ( scratches cheek, abashed. ) And I haven't been able to reach my middle back... or my upper back... but...

If I let you... you can't be mad, alright?

[ohlord]

I won't be mad.

[terraria]

( he hesitates, but he does eventually turn his back so styx can see, pulling his hair to the side. his shirt is actually backless! it's just covered by his hair most of the time.

and his back is scarred to hell. it does not look like someone of perci's stature could easily survive that kind of treatment. )

Over here... and here - that's where I can't reach. ( and since he's seen minuet's fucked up feathers - and how neat perci has most of his - the spots of unruly, untouched feathers stick out very prominently. )

[ohlord]

[thanks to the whole memory spill fiasco, he knows damn well scars would only be there if someone deliberately didn't heal them and he said he wouldn't be mad and he wasn't lying.

he is beyond livid. nigh murderous, but not at Perci, of course.

but he doesn't say anything, swallowing it down. not like the person he'd let loose righteous fury on is even there anyway. so he stays quiet, shifting closer to inspect the wings and not the scars, lets the sourness in his stomach settle again before releasing a heavy sigh and... gently, trying oh so hard to be gentle, touches the messy feathers.]

Like brushin' hair, huh.

[finger combing...]

[terraria]

( and perci melts, his wings settling from their tensed, at-attention position. )

That feels nice... ( he lists his head a little to the side, sliding his eyes shut. )

This is what we'd do most mornings on my island. Gather around, preen, have our breakfasts. The little ones would be shouting and grousing, those who already had their wings preened running about and playing and the ones who were still being taken care of making a fuss. ( he laughs, wistful. ) I miss it.

[ohlord]

[keeping at it, just gently smoothing out ruffled feathers, adjusting ones that are out of place but not broken...]

... think the girls back at the orphanage did things like that--brushing their hair n' stuff.

Mostly, it's meals where humans tend to do any kind of... communal stuff.

[terraria]

( perci tenses a bit at being compared to a girl, but he doesn't say anything. there's a cautious air as he glances back at styx. the apprehension in his eye is close to what someone would see when someone was waiting to be struck. )

... maybe humans have more in common with beasts, then.

[ohlord]

[girls just have more hair to brush...

but Styx doesn't react, just keeps up the combing and correcting of feathers.]

Worse than beasts, actually.

[terraria]

You're the second human to not only not defend humans, but actively say they're worse.

[ohlord]

Humans have not just instinct but the ability to rationalize.

They just refuse to rationalize when they should and then rationalize things they shouldn't.

Humans can make anything okay so long as they can rationalize it to themselves.

[there's no real inflection in his tone. he's just flatly telling it like he sees it.

like he's experienced it.]

[terraria]

Well... yes. But I do not think that's specific to humans.

[ohlord]

Don't got a lot of other experiences with beings able to rationalize.

[terraria]

I suppose it'd be difficult to take Minuet as the speaker for his... people? You'd need at least one more...

[ohlord]

[pauses. hesitates.]

... there's plenty of his people. The problem is that they're not exactly able to communicate with humans or vice-versa. That's probably why he came about, anyway.

Him and his brother.

I don't got a lot of nice things to say 'bout his brother, and he's dead anyway, so. No reason to get into that.

[definitely more the kind of quick sweep tone of This Is A Painful Topic For Minuet, Please Note]

Either way, their... type of their people isn't common, either. Pretty rare, actually. Never heard of any others and it's been a long time.

[terraria]

Mm. I see... so he's alone in the world, in a way. I understand.

( that isn't a sympathetic "i understand" - it's empathic, understanding too well. )

Just means we'll have to keep him company all the more stubbornly. Bluebell as well, but I feel as if they may not be as close.

[ohlord]

[welp. things he has actually failed miserably at before due to. running off and getting beaten to hell, so quiet again for a long moment.]

The majority of humans tends to react badly when they don't understand somethin'. Tend to disregard, trivialize, or worst of all, become afraid. And then if it's that last one, it's easier to act if ya turn that fear into anger, anger into violent action.

Minuet's seen countless humans go through it with him. 'Cause how would they know what to do with someone like him, anyway? There's not much else we got to work with. And when the only other of his kind in the world is the one who wants to kill humans for bein' how they are, it gets harder.

... but people here aren't like the people back home. A bunch've people have more experience outside their own species. They're used to it. It's not frightenin'.

He just hasta see and experience that more, first. He wants to be closer--man even wants to make friends with gatordogs. [THE MOST EXASPERATED TONES.] But experience goes a long way with that. Think most've Bluebell's a little like that in some way.

[terraria]

( he's quiet, if only because he knows... all too well what all of that feels like. )

Gatordogs aren't friends, they're food. ( simply said, as he threads his fingers through his hair. ) I think everyone's thrown off because he doesn't act like I do. ... granted, he and I are very different despite our similarities. We may have similar experiences, but simply because he's not as fragile or small or polite as I am...

Well. Physically speaking, you seem more gentle with me than you are with him, as far as I've seen. Is that true?

[ohlord]

[mmm we love guilt and shame in this household but pushing some hair out of the way of some smaller feathers near the base of the wings.]

To be fair, I wouldn't be gentle with you, either, if circumstances were different.

I'm not a gentle guy.

And he'd probably think I was dyin' again if I suddenly went easy with 'im.

[terraria]

Mmm. Like if I wasn't so small and my bones hollow?