ArchivedLogs:Odd Bird

Odd Bird
Dramatis Personae Horus, Tian-shin
In Absentia	2015-03-13 "Oh, hi there."
Location <NYC> {Funhaus} - Harbor Commons - Lower East Side
The house might have started out looking capacious and respectable, but it has since moved through various incarnations, always colorful, but never colorful the same way for longer than a few days. There is little in the way of what most people would call furniture: a sectional couch buried in fluffy cushions, three bean bags of varying sizes, a scattering of bookshelves, what looks like a human-scale cat tree in one corner, and a low, square table surrounded by zafus. The floor plan is largely open, criss-crossed by rope bridges linking small elevated platforms to the landing of the second storey, beyond which lie the bedrooms. The kitchen is separated from the living room only by a long counter, lined with stools. Even the appliances are decked out in unexpected hues, edged with designs that change on a daily basis. A row of tins and jars runs the length of the breakfast counter, none of which match and all of which bear brightly colored text describing their contents: teas, coffees, mates, and various herbal blends. Spring has arrived! Inside Funhaus, at least. The same adorable goats cavorting in the snow only a couple of weeks ago now gambol across rolling hills carpeted with wildflowers. Trees, too, burst with flowers of every color, with birds of every descript perched on their damp branches. Green plastic vines dotted with glowing globular berries climb the bookshelves and wind across the rope bridges. Tian-shin, dressed in a loose pink mandarin jacket embossed with red peonies and black gi pants, has just finished mopping the kitchen floor. Even in her casual clothes, she has her hair twisted up into a neat bun secured with a sleek silver hairstick with a translucent red globe at one end.. She sets the mop in a bucket and takes a long drink out of a thermos. There's a rustle of feathers outside one of the upstairs windows. A fluttering. A large birdlike shape /swoops/ in through one of the open upstairs windows. Careens inside to THUNK-scratch at Joshua's bedroom door. Squawk in displeasure. Swoop down over the balcony. On closer inspect, very /large/ bird. Horus's feathers have been highlighted in a somewhat iridescent pearly sheen, glimmering in the light as he darts into one room and out of another. The squawking grows more and more agitated with each room he explores before coming to rest on a low railing of one of the rope bridges. One very large dark eye regards Tian-shin and her cleaning with bright suspicion. Tian-shin takes a couple of steps into the living room and looks up at the new arrival, blinking rapidly. "Oh, hi there." She sets her thermos down on the counter, brows creasing. "Wow, you are pretty and.../big/." Producing a slim smartphone from a pocket, she snaps a picture of Horus. "You stuck? Don't worry, I'll give you a way out..." Even while she speaks, she shuffles over to one of the living room windows and opens it onto a reasonably warm afternoon, then retreats to the kitchen. Horus's head tilts to the other side, now. The displeased chattering returns. His huge wings spread again. He launches himself back into the air, circling the room once and then /dive-bombing/ Tian-shin -- or, rather, Tian-shin's phone. His enormous beak snatches at it, nipping it out of the woman's hand before he darts through the window and back out into the sunny spring afternoon. A startled yip escapes Tian-shin's lips as she throws up an arm to shield her face from beak, talons, and buffeting wings. After Horus makes off with her phone, she stares blankly after him for a moment, then bolts out the door after him. She stops on the front steps of Funhaus and scans the courtyard, her expression more incredulous than disturbed. In the courtyard there is a large (shimmery! Pearly!) birdshape perched atop the castle in the playground. Horus has set Tian-shin's phone down on the roof of the castle. He nudges at it with his beak -- taptaptap? Taptaptap? Curious? POKE? Though Tian-shin's appearance in the courtyard makes his feathers ruffle back up. He picks the phone back up in his beak with a small clickclick noise. Holds it there, eying Tian-shin warily again. Tian-shin crosses her arms and chuckles. "You're an odd bird." This as much to herself, perhaps, as to Horus. She reaches back inside and grabs a handful of rice crackers from a bowl in the entryway, then, closing the door behind her, ambles over to a bench. "Don't know if you like these, but maybe we can trade?" So saying, she tosses a cracker half-way between the bench and the castle. Tilt. Tilt-tilt-tilt. Horus's head tips one way and the other, back and forth, watching Tian-shin go and watching her come. The phone is still in his beak when she returns. He flutters up off the roof of the bench, flitting down -- and down and down. SWOOP. Not towards the rice cracker Tian-shin tossed but to her /house/. He disappears into the open window again. Inside the house there's a scraping noise, a rattling, the thunk of a bowl falling to the ground. When he reappears, swooping out the window, the phone is still in his beak but his large talons are clenched shut. A trail of rice crackers falls from his feet as he disappears off into the distance.