For the birds [Open]

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Hydroponics was an area that Zouichi had become somewhat fond of. It wasn't as though it particularly reminded him of home, though in some respects the plant and animal life here did resemble that of Earth.

But it was quiet here. Or, at least, far quieter than the cities he was used to. There was the occasional carnivorous plant or other surprise, of course, but nothing seriously hazardous so far. Today he was sitting in the soft grass under the shade of an alien tree. He'd been watching the wildlife carefully for the last few days, observing the behavior of the small avian creatures that inhabited the area, gathering up a collection of the seeds they seemed to especially relish.

This was the second day he was attempting this. Zouichi opened the small packet in which he'd stored the seeds, spreading out a handful on one palm. He held them out, then waited, keeping absolutely still.

A small, red-plumaged bird eventually fluttered down from one of the nearby trees, alighting on a branch not far from him. Tiny, but apparently bold, it deliberated for a moment before taking wing again, setting down on the ground below his hand, where some of the seeds had spilled. It pecked at them, keeping one bright, beady eye on him all the while.

Without warning, it hopped up to perch on his wrist, pecking delicately at the food there.

He smiled.

[ooc: Feel free to come feed 'em, scare 'em off, whatever :)]

Comments

[colorfulworld]

Aftran had been spending an inordinate amount of time in Hydroponics since becoming a nothlit. It was the nicest place on the ship -- it was more beautiful than anything Aftran had seen on Earth, even.

Ah, there was a human-looking person there, feeding the birds... Aftran stopped walking to just watch, not wanting to scare the animals off.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Feeling someone watching, Zouichi looked around, scanning the area. He spotted Aftran from a distance, a trace of a smile still on his face.

"Hello," he said quietly. The bird looked up from its meal, curiously, but didn't fly off. After a moment, it resumed its intermittent pecking. By now, a few more of its fellows had come to join it, a rainbow of brightly-colored plumage hopping about boldly on the ground.

Apparently, the first bird had been a kind of Bird Ambassador.

[colorfulworld]

"Hello," Aftran replied, watching curiously, then smiling as more birds appeared to join their friend. "Are they yours, or did you just find them?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"I don't think they belong to anyone," he said as the first bird decided that clearly the best way to watch this exchange happen was by hopping up to perch on Zouichi's shoulder. He took another few seeds, scattering them on the ground for the others. "I've been coming here for a while to watch them, though."

He paused. "My name is Zouichi. Nice to meet you."

[colorfulworld]

"They're beautiful." Aftran could understand why he would come here just to see them.

"My name is Aftran," she said with only a little hesitation. Only a fellow Yeerk or someone who already knew her would recognize the origin of the name; to anyone else, she figured it would just sound like a typically odd sci-fi-style name, especially when she left the number off of the end. "Nice to meet you, Zouichi."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

He smiled. "Aren't they? Would you like some seeds? If you approach slowly, they may not fly off." No telling, of course; it wasn't like he'd really had a lot of time to experiment with their reaction to other people.

Zouichi didn't recognize the name, though it did sound a little odd to his ears. But there were so many people with strange names here. "What brings you here? Or do you visit Hydroponics often?"

[colorfulworld]

"Ah, all right." She started toward him slowly, cautiously. The birds were nice; she didn't want to scare them.

"I don't, no, though I've been meaning to. I like how nice it is in here."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

For now, the birds seemed to regard her with little concern, more intent with plucking easy food out of the grass than in worrying about Aftran.

"Yes, it's remarkably quiet. There aren't many forests left back where I come from, and I don't believe any are this large. It is... a pity." There really was no other word for it. Advancements in technology had pushed nature by the wayside, and most of the plant life that remained was planned, carefully sheltered and sculpted. "They are mostly displays, not allowed to grow wild."

[colorfulworld]

His world sounded bleak. Not as bad as the Yeerk world, but still not something desireable. "That's too bad."

Once she was close enough, she crouched down next to Zouichi and the birds. She watched them curiously, then eyed the packet of feed. "Can I take some to give them?"

[futureisclear.livejournal.com]

Ildraniath was quietly amazed by the amount of life present in hydroponics. For all of their superiority and security, most Eldar craftworlds did not dedicate space to parks or large sources of animal life. It was, almost universally, the smooth, organic curves of wraithbone and the dull sheen of buildings. So to find herself standing in the middle of a forest aboard a spacecraft was very interesting indeed.

She'd been on planets before, of course. Some just as lush and as verdant as this. But she'd never spent any great amount of time on them. She dimly wondered whether or not this was what the Eldar planets had looked like before they were consumed. As she passed, she almost missed Zouichi - he was standing stock still, after all. When she noticed him she paused, hands clasped behind her back. She was still wearing the armor he'd last seen her in and she dipped her head in a slight nod.

"Zouichi. I hadn't realized that caring for animals was a part of your assigned tasks."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi started a little at Ildraniath's voice, causing a few of the birds that had come to perch on him to abandon ship, flying back up to the nearby tree branches to regard him with general avian disapproval. He actually looked a little embarrassed to have been caught in the act -- he hadn't been expecting someone he actually knew to come by.

"It's not," he blurted. Then, a little more sedately and in an extremely obvious attempt to change the subject, "Hello, Farseer. Er... out for a stroll?"

[futureisclear.livejournal.com]

A flicker of amusement crossed her features. The synthetic obviously hadn't been expecting company. She walked over, peering up into the tree branches at the birds that had so recently abandoned Zouichi.

"Yes, for the most part. Exploring the ship and seeing what I can find."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Ah. And... have you found anything of interest?" He was trying to maintain as much dignity as he possibly could with a bright red bird perching on his head. Oh, and he was tucking away the extra seeds for later. As discreetly as possible, of course.

[futureisclear.livejournal.com]

"There's quite a bit to explore," she confided, "I don't believe I'll ever be able to fully map out the city."

She turned back toward him and her eyes lingered on the bird atop his head. He really was rather strange. "Do you make it a habit to provide your head as a nesting ground?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Yes, it's quite large. I'm not sure exactly about the exact dimensions, but the crew has only managed to explore a small fraction of the total area of this level. And, of course, there are still undiscovered locations elsewhere on the ship."

Zouichi was torn. On one hand, this was a terribly compromising position to be caught in. On the other, he couldn't just shoo the animal away; that would be... well, he just couldn't. He settled for standing up, straightening slowly enough not to startle the bird. It didn't fly off, but it did hop down onto his shoulder with a cheeky flip of its long tail.

He coughed. "Actually, this is... no. This is the first time I've had them actually come down and accept food from me. I have been coming to visit regularly, however."

[futureisclear.livejournal.com]

She didn't particularly mind; it wasn't as if she was going to judge him for his odd habit. Well, not strictly true. She would, but she wasn't going to comment on it. Much. She settled her back to the tree and watched as the bird jumped to Zouichi's shoulder.

"Getting them used to you?"

That was a concept she was well aware of; make animals (or men or mon-keigh) used to your presence and soon enough you would just be a staple of their environment.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Yes. Although it has been easier than I expected, actually. These animals are significantly less wary than those on Earth; I suspect they have not had much contact with humanoids and are thus less likely to view our presence as a threat." Now that she wasn't directly pointing out how ridiculously he'd been acting, he did enjoy the topic of the local wildlife.

"Of course, it's probably not best to feed them all the time; it could become a problem if their diet only consisted of one or two easily available foods." Like eating birthday cake all the time. Tasty, but not good for you.

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

Soon enough the food started swirling like a tiny tornado before settling down. 779 was smirking from a distance away, relaxing against a tree, looking at the area with mild interest.

[You really should learn to play nice sugar. You'll never make friends this way.] The voice came from a well to do doll. She was pretty by doll standards, a classy red dress and red rose hair. She was settled on a branch of the tree he was at.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi didn't turn around or scan the area; rather, he watched wordlessly as a group of the birds alighted on his hands and forearms, jostling at each other to reach the easy meal. It was an unusual sensation. While the animals were light, weighing almost nothing to him, they had surprisingly strong talons for their size. Adapted for perching, no doubt.

Which made sense, of course; they did spend a good deal of time in the nearby trees. After a moment, he raised his voice to carry across the clearing: "How long do you plan on remaining hidden?"

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

Splicer smiled walking closer, hands in his jacket pockets and his usual shades on. The doll seemed to float right from the tree onto his shoulder and settle.

"Wasn' doing much'a hiddin'. But I guess you could see it that way." He looked at the birds for a few moments before letting the food fall again, turning to face Zouichi. "How's it hangin' Zouichi? Didn' take you for a bird watcher."

[And why not? He seems like a sweetheart.] the doll mused.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Between creepy ragdolls and birds, Zouichi thought he liked the birds better. Now, what did this guy want? Something about Splicer just seemed... off. Besides the doll perched on his shoulder, that is.

"I am not watching them," he said, blinking at Splicer. "I am feeding them. But I'm fine. How have you been, Splicer?"

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

"Can't they get their own meals in this place?" He asked curiously, and yeah he was serious about the question...

"Been good really. Ship's a lot better than everyone made it seem. Free food, free lodging, you get payed, and all you have to do is be ready for combat at any time? Hell it's as easy livin' as the damn grunts in the barracks had it."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Certainly," he said, "This ecosystem appears to be self-sustaining. But they seem even more amenable to someone else finding the food for them."

Zouichi nodded. "There certainly do seem to be plenty of the basics. But for crew members not used to a militaristic lifestyle, it is a lot to adjust to."

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

"I suppose. Tho civs are a part of any military regimen as well. Guess they jus' didn' have much war where they come from. Seen sever year olds wield rifles back on the fringe planets." He shrugged.

[Like Lillith, which you shouldn't have left alone with Miguel. Who know what filthy words he's teaching her.]

"Miggy's fine, and besides Lil will just tune him out anyways. Girl's tough."

Can other people here what the doll is saying?

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Child soldiers?" Zouichi frowned. "What exactly was going on on those 'fringe plants' that made that necessary? And who are Miggy and Lil?"

The longer he talked to Splicer, the more bizarre the man seemed. Most human beings would be horrified at the discussion of children forced into conscription. Splicer apparently threw them out there to get the conversation going.