[PRP] Bird Watching (Temperance/Squeeps)

[Smerdle]

The sirens weren't allowed to wander much on their own, and though they bent some of the other rules their father had laid out for them, they were pretty good about sticking to that one, or so everyone thought. Whether they'd had it effectively frightened into them that there were creatures out there who would steal them away forever or they knew instinctively that they were vulnerable was unclear to anyone but them, but either way, they tended to keep out of sight no matter which side of the universe they were on. Rabbit's space at court was one of their most common haunts because of this. It was relatively safe, and there were generally people to visit with even if it was a little quiet. They often came barging in when they were least expected. At least they were polite about it.

"Hello?"

"Oroh?"

"Lady Temperance?"

The Semblance of Unitop

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance dropped the hairbrush she was holding with a loud clang. "Oh! I'm, uh, I'm sorry; you startled me a bit." She stooped down to retrieve the hairbrush and looked up with a smile. "Haven't seen you in a bit - is Rabbit here, then?"

Then, she pointed to one, then the other. "Sy and Nev, yes?" Temperance said, an oddly teasing tone in her voice. She had pointed to the wrong ones.

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"He's not," Nev said, darting a curious glance or two at the brush she had dropped. Shiny. "I think he's at work."

"Yup. Work," Sy added. She tried to keep her eyes wide and guileless in the wake of Temp's mistake, but her mind whirred with possibilities, giving her the wily look she'd been named for. It was a shame she hadn't been born an identical twin. The adventures they might have had.

"Right. Yes. I'm Neverain."

'Might' being the operative word. She would have had to have been a much better liar for her and this nonexistent twin to have pulled off even the simplest of deceptions. She started to giggle just after Nev whined, "Sy, don't."

"I'm not doing anything, don't worry. I'm Sywyly, Lady Temperance." She bobbed slightly in what might have been a curtsy from someone who didn't know how to do so. "He is Neverain."

"We wanted to see how you were doing. And to avoid math. It's very boring."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance tried hard not to smile at their attempts to go along with her joke, but failed. "Please - you do not have to call me Lady. Lady Sywyly, Lord Neverain." Then she stood up and dipped a proper curtsy.

"I am at your service. Honestly... I'm bored here, so I'm glad you've arrived. However, I have to warn you you can't run from math forever. It'll catch you." She lowered her voice ominously.

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Sy's golden eyes went wide at Temperance's words, and though Nev seemed momentarily pleased by what she had said, it was he who shook his head first.

"We aren't... We'll never be nobility. But we can stop using your future title if you want. It does feel... weird." He smiled. "I'm sorry you're bored though. I know that Dad is working as quickly as he can." They knew better than anyone how easy it was for Rabbit to get sidetracked.

"What do you mean, math will catch us?" Sy added, following a swallow that seemed to dispel her initial shock at being titled. "I get that we need multiplication and stuff, but graphs are stupid. If I ever need a graph in real life, I'll kick it."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yes, please, I never need to be a 'lady' around you two." Temperance smiled at their reactions to being called by titles. "And you are as good as any nobility." She made a non-committal noise when Nev mentioned Rabbit. From what she'd heard of other trials, there was pain, abuse, neglect, and strict rules and almost a format. This seemed rather... free-form. Temperance wasn't sure she was grateful for it. It allowed her perhaps too much time to think.

As for math, well... "I mean that one day you'll be older and you'll need to make a graph and you will remember from what you learned. Math is everywhere - in your books, in your everyday lives, in your DNA." She sat back down in the chair. "What do you find boring about it?"

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Although it'd been Nev who had initially been opposed, Sywyly seemed intent on hijacking the math conversation at this point. She paused, the crest of feathers on her head fluffing up a little as she thought.

"I guess it's not boring, like sitting around staring at a wall. There are just better things to be doing. Like being here."

"I just like English more," Nev piped. He had moved a few steps off to one side to take off his cloak, and was now preening a wing with the fingers of his opposite hand. "Stories, really. What's DNA?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She swallowed a laugh. "I'm glad you think I'm a bit better than math." Temperance watched the two of them. They'd gotten so big and were still adorable. Rabbit had turned out to be a good dad, she reckoned.

"English has lots of fun stories - does Rabbit get you a lot of books? And DNA is deoxyribonucleic acid. Basically it's tiny little strands in your bodies made up of thousand of genetic pieces of code. It's why you are you and not Sywyly." Temperance tapped her foot.

"Do you want me to tell you a story?"

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Sy nodded. "He does. I keep all the books on my side of the room, but we both read them. Our aunt reads to us too sometimes. And our... Jim. Our aunt's boyfriend."

Nev might have added more, but he was rather fixated on the offer of a story. He might have also told Temperance that she was absolutely better than math, but he did come to the realization that such an assurance might be kind of condescending before he did so. "I would love a story. It doesn't have to be long or about deoxironuclic acid or anything. Just one you like."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Good. Books are important." Says the girl who barely has time to read anymore, she thought.

She tapped her lip in thought. "Let me tell you a story about a grudge that wouldn't die." Temperance couldn't take credit for this one; she'd read it in someone's tumblr post about Overwatch headcanons. But she liked it anyway. She wasn't the greastest storyteller, but she embellsihed it were she could, spinning the tragic tales of Angela Ziegler and her healing magic. How she'd saved one of the Shimada brothers from certain death, how people had said she'd gone too far. And then, how Gabriel Reyes appeared, a shadow of himself and so mad at the world, mad at her for what he'd become. But the culprit hadn't been Angela,

There had been someone else. Someone who'd abused that magic and brought back someone far too gone, twisting them in the process. If someone was dead physically for more than a few seconds, healing magic didn't work properly, the brain began to atrophy. Some people were past saving. Temperance talked about how Gabriel was in pain everyday, and wouldn't let Angela help him. How they continued to fight on opposing sides, continued to hold grudges, continued to exist with no true ending or reconciliation.

"And the story is still ongoing, of course. Maybe the truth will come out one day." She hoped she hadn't put the squeeps to sleep with that.

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

The sirens sat mesmerized from the start, thoroughly entertained by pretty much any tale they had never heard before. They worked to commit the story of Angela and Gabriel and the Shimadas to memory, tapping one another on the forearm for reasons that weren't immediately clear. In time, the taps revealed a pattern of shared memorization, but it had only just gotten started when Temperance's story ended. When she stopped on a cliffhanger, the sirens clapped.

"Did you know them?" Sy asked, leaning forward.

"Are you Angela?" Neverain was pretty sure that healing was what Temperance was here for, or at least what Dad had told him she was good at. What if this was the reason why she wanted to become a noble? To heal Gabriel Reyes once and for all? To ease his pain and mend his mind? Nobles could do all that if they wanted to, right?

The Semblance of Unityoohoo

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance grinned at them, wrinkling her nose in amusement. "No, I'm not Angela. I'm nowhere near that good a healer." She certainly couldn't just decide heroes never died and make it so.

"I'd like to be, though. But I'm no supposed to use any magic at my job - thought maybe I could, um, learn how to help out the people who live on this side of Ashdown, maybe." Temperance wanted to protect everyone, to ensure no one else died a senseless death.

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Though Nev seemed ever so slightly disappointed that Temperance wasn't secretly Angela in disguise, it passed quickly. He nodded. "Maybe. I don't know a lot about people over here. I guess we are people over here, but we've got blood and we heal like Dad." He made a point of avoiding cuts and scrapes, but his sister was another story. Not only did she not mind getting cuts, but she liked showing them off too. "I'm sure you can figure something out though. There can't be that many different kinds of othercreatures."

"Well, there could be, but they're not gonna be made of jello or anything," Sy cut in. "I bet a lot of them have blood and skin too." She looked thoughtful, lightly pinching her own arm before looking back at Temp. "If I see anyone who looks shadowy or made of wood or anything, I'll ask them about their cuts." It was tantamount to admitting that she wandered where she wasn't supposed to, but she tried to move on without comment.

"What do you do when you're by yourself? We could probably bring you a game or something if you wanted."

The Semblance of Foonity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"You are people wherever you wish to be considered a part of." Temperance smiled nervously. "I try, you know, but people still die, no matter what. But that's why I'm here, after all." Sy, however, got a sharp look.

"Does your dad know you are talking to shadowy people?" This otherland was full of video game-like creatures and she wasn't sure small squeeps should wander around. In fact, everyone in Rabbit's household was so tiny. She wondered if it was a subconscious wish he'd had.

Temperance reached into her bag and produced a small, crystallized skull. She summoned Per and he cocked his head at her before skittering up to sit on her shoulder. "I play with Per, sometimes. And I don't think computer games would work here. But, you should visit me and bring some games we could play together." Per darted to her other shoulder, restless in that he had no task.

"Per, go say hi." He darted down one of her arms, all shadowy and barely weighing anything, although she felt the p***k of small claws against her skin. He stopped on Temperance's knee and stared at the two squeeps before waving awkwardly.

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

At the sight of Per, Neverain drew a surprised breath, the smile that grew in its wake surprisingly similar to his father's. He had never met Gloom, he hadn't even heard of him yet, and as such Temperance's pet took its place as the most adorable creature who acted like people in the world. He made a note to introduce the idea of some sort of pet, maybe to his aunt. Nev wasn't in a hurry, and if he did things just right, the adults would think they had come up with this idea all on their own. Sywyly would have been proud of him, had she been able to see his thoughts. He waved back at Per, then clasped his hands to prevent himself from petting the creature forever.

Sy looked at him too, but it was mostly so that she wouldn't have to drown in Temperance's disapproval.

"Mayyybe?" She raised her eyes and sighed. "No. Probably not. Benben doesn't look very close at anything unless you tell him to, and I'm not telling him about anything like that. I don't go near anyone mean, I don't think." She wanted to say she could take care of herself, but she'd seen movies. Only stupid people said things like that. And she couldn't, though she definitely wasn't admitting that out loud. She usually just found herself wandering anyway, through no malicious intent of her own, and since she was already bending the rules, what was a little more pressure? Still, Temperance was right. She would try for a while, if only to make herself feel less guilty right now.

"I guess I don't have to. But talking to too many people at home will get us in trouble. Staying quiet all the time is boring. Like here. Or math."

The Semblance of Moonunit