[Video]

[nomen_est_numen]

Shen has been poking and prodding at the screen of this phone for a while, now, and is just about getting the hang of it when he curiously pokes the communicate app. Whups.

Your screen shows you the typical ceiling of an apartment. They do all look alike, after all, it could be anyone's ceiling. However, then the view is tilted and well, shit, the place is being overrun with avians, it seems, because here's YET ANOTHER TALKING BIRD.

... Admittedly, a very pretty talking bird. This fellow resembles nothing more than a white peacock with red and black added as an afterthought and sounds like his CV might include at least eight years at RADA. If... talking birds have CVs. Or attend RADA. You never know. He's wearing white and grey silk robes.

"Well, now at least I know what this one does..." he muses. There's a pause, and then he resumes talking. "Oh, yes." He picks up a sheet of paper with one wing and blinks at it. "'Don't forget to introduce yourself to the community.' Don't forget, indeed. I suppose that's their idea of humour." He drops the paper. "Well, then. My name is Shen and..." Blinkblink. "That's all, I'm afraid." His eyes move rather a lot, one might notice. "At least I know I'm not alone in this detestable condition," he finishes in a rueful mutter.

((Whups, forgot this bit...))
He shifts uncomfortably, reaches into a sleeve, and produces a shiny, feather-shaped throwing knife, which he eyes dubiously before tossing it aside where it hits something offscreen with a clattery metallic sound, as though it's simply landed in a pile of similar items. "Another one... why in the world would I have these in my feathers?"

...

Say hello to the pretty birdie?

Comments

[washurhair]

There's something strangely familiar about seeing a bird holding a knife in its wing but the memory passes as quickly as it came. After all, ducks don't need to wear glasses.

"At least you came with weapons. Shampoo didn't get hers back until yesterday!" The girl shakes her head before shooting Shen a confused look. "You know, I not surprised that you can talk. I'm more surprised that you wear clothes."

video;

[gandere]

Okay, where's the person that's really talking for you? I'm not falling for this. No way.

[nomen_est_numen]

"The only reason I 'came with them' seems to be because they were laced into my feathers. I've found fifty-three of them so far!" Squirm. Rummage. Toss. "Fifty-four." He reaches offscreen and pulls a guan dao polearm into view. "Not to mention this in my tail!"

At her second statement, he looks puzzled. "Why... wouldn't I wear clothes?" He looks down at his robes, then back at the screen. "I'd feel rather naked without them...."

Re: video;

[nomen_est_numen]

"What on earth are you talking about?" Wow, whoever it is has got those beak movements down solid. "This is my voice.... unless I used to sound like someone else."

video;

[gandere]

[ After dealing with prinnies, she ought to be used to it. Still, she's a bit wary about it. ]

It's just... birds normally don't speak.

[nomen_est_numen]

Shen opens his beak to counter and then stops. Blinks. Lowers the feather he'd raised like a finger.

"...Then how... Why is...." He gathers his scattered thoughts. It isn't every day you have such a fundamental aspect of your self questioned, and even more rare to be lacking the experience to back up an answer.

"The people who examined me earlier didn't seem to find me all that anomalous...." he finally says.

[washurhair]

Her eyes widen at the sight of the pole arm. "Aiya! You know how to use that?" Perhaps he is a fellow marital artist? It's been long since she could hone her skills against another, even if the other is more avian than human. "It been a while since I've used one like that, I more proficient with chui [Melon Hammers]."

"Well, birds don't normally wear clothes? Maybe dogs if owner is weird like that but..." She trails off and shrugs.

[nomen_est_numen]

You're just trying to get Shen to strip, aren't you, you minx?

He regards the guan dao for a moment, then puts it aside. "I must have done... I can't think of any other reason why it would be stored in my feathers unless someone else decided to use me as a walking armoury."

"I'm ... not a normal bird, mow, am I? ... Am I? Perhaps I come from somewhere where it's normal for birds to wear clothing because it ... feels normal."

[gandere]

Really...

[ She tries to not sound surprised. ]

I'm just not used to it myself. I think .. I don't remember too much about home really. That's the strange thing, you know? Talking birds might be common back from where I come from.

[washurhair]

Shampoo hums to herself. That's true, different worlds have different rules. Though it is a bit sad, she thought he might have come from her world. "Oh well, it just seems silly... but useful too."

She tilts her head side to side as she thinks out loud. "You could surprise enemies looking like that... they underestimate you and then you hit them in their moment of weakness. Ah." She stares at the camera as if she just realized something. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Shampoo from Village of Women Warriors in China. Nice to meet you."

[nomen_est_numen]

"That's... sound tactics." At the next part, Shen's eyes widen. "You remember where you're from? How did you remember it?"

[washurhair]

The girl sighs and shakes her head. "I been here for about two months and collected enough anemoi to remember my village and family. But there's still a lot that doesn't make sense in my head. It's all out of order really. Ugh, I still don't remember how I even end up in this place!"

[nomen_est_numen]

"Yeeesss, yes I've heard of these anemoi," Shen answers, mind racing now. He's clearly on the verge of an idea... or a stroke. "D'you know where they might be found? The people who examined me rather rudely this morning were frustratingly closed-mouthed about them...."

[nomen_est_numen]

"They very well may be. I do hope that that's the case, because the alternative would mean that I'm something.... unnatural." He looks properly disturbed at that idea, he does.

[washurhair]

"No surprise there. Shampoo walked out on them when they stayed quiet on that too. Sometimes locals pay in anemoi when you finish a job but most of them time we find them during missions. The Justice League sometimes has extra anemoi if you want to try that. Though, i think they still rebuilding after demon invasion..."

[nomen_est_numen]

"Ah, I see," he answers softly. "It appears I've got a lot of exploring to do." He pulls yet another knife out of his wing feathers. "Perhaps later...."

[trustycrowbar]

Damned if I know, fluffball. Maybe to weigh yourself down? How many do you have! From the sounds of it you've been molting them constantly.

[nomen_est_numen]

"'Fluffball?'" Shen echoes as though it's a word in a foreign language, dragging his pronunciation over every letter. One long black eyebrow is quirked. "I am not fluffy." LIES. BRAZEN LIES. He's more feathers than bird. He plucks yet another knife out of his plumage. "And so far, I have... fifty-eight of these things. I've been ...molting them for the last three hours, ever since I left that laboratory."

[trustycrowbar]

Fifty-eight?! Christ almighty, where didya hide them all? No, wait, on second thought, don't answer that. I'm better off not knowing I think. I wanna say they're weapons, though why you'd need THAT many I have no idea.

[Except maybe around Thanksgiving...]

[nomen_est_numen]

Pluck. "Fifty-nine. They were somehow woven into the feathers of my wings and tail, along with this polearm and two rope darts." Because fuck your sensibilities. "They look as though they might be... throwing knives, I think. Hm. To be honest, though, I don't know why I'd need that many, either."

[trustycrowbar]

Me neither. What would you be so afraid of to have that many weapons in the first place?

[nomen_est_numen]

Shen hefts one of the knives in his feather fingers. "Clearly nothing, all told," he answers wryly. Then he sighs. "I only hope the reason I have all of these doesn't come after me while I'm like this. Damned irritating is what it is, being so vulnerable!" He irritably flicks the knife aside and it... ends up embedded in the wall. He won't notice that until much later.

[trustycrowbar]

[The knife is offscreen so he doesn't notice. Part of his mind picks up the resonant sound of a knife getting embedded into something, but that same part used to watch a lot of cartoons as a kid so it's quickly written off.]

This place is pretty isolated. 'S actually part of the problem; no one's left yet of their own volition... but I can't say that others can't come in. They'd have to be pretty tenacious to do it, is all.

[nomen_est_numen]

"I can't imagine most people here would leave, if for no other reason than they'd have no idea where to go," Shen observes. "I daresay when someplace becomes familiar--especially if it's the only place that's familiar--one would rather stay there." Shiftashift. He reaches back. Pluck. "Sixty. I do believe that's the last of them." He shivers his feathers and fans out his tail, an impressive display of white and red and black. "Much better, yes."

After a beat, his tail feathers drop again. "The idea that it's difficult for one to follow someone into this city isn't comforting--imagine what sort of enemy it would take to do that sort of thing."

[trustycrowbar]

[Gordon blinks, brows furrowing.] Huh. You're a peacock. I couldn't tell before from the angle of the camera; so we've got a duck, a penguin and now a peacock. Here's hoping no one around here's allergic to feathers...

Yeah, but it also means that we're not overrun by 'em. They're the kind of enemies we can see coming... as well as the occasional monster that stumbles into town.