Giving Everyone The Bird

[fusionjack]

Who: Jackson Isaka + OPEN
When: The late afternoon and evening of April 12th
Where: Downtown Locke City
What: It is really, really inconvenient to echo back your weird monster form when you're out in public. Between getting pelted with peppermint by a keychain monster and turning into something big and strange, Jack is having a really, really inconvenient day.


[Downtown Locke City, Afternoon]

Not having a car any longer was really starting to grate on Jack's nerves. But he was still waiting for his insurance claim to be processed, and he was still on a damned waiting list for a rental, so here he was, waiting for the bus. Waiting for the bus like a great big loser. Was this what his life had come to? He was turning into a bug monster, he was behind on everything at work, the FBI knew where he lived and had an eye on him, and now he had to take the bus. Things could not be any worse, he was sure.

Except that someone suddenly elbowed him from behind. "What the f...!?" His first impulse was to turn around with the intent of punching whoever was responsible for it, and so turn around he did. But before he could get to the violent portion of the action, he was breathing in a cloud of stinging peppermint powder. He choked, recoiled, and felt all of those violent impulses of his spike even further. Only he had no idea what he could possibly direct them at, because he couldn't see a damned thing.

The little Altoids-flinging keychain toy that had assaulted them was nearby, though. Perhaps some helpful person nearby had spotted it, and would be kind enough to point it out? Perhaps they'd be lucky enough to stay out of the range of its noxious attacks, too.

[Downtown Locke City, Late Afternoon and into the Evening]

Things had only gotten worse, and did not seem likely to get better anytime soon. But if there was one small comfort that Jack could take in the midst of the day's chaos, it was that he had definite, absolute, conclusive proof that he was not turning into a giant bug.

That's because he had gone and changed into a giant bird, instead. A 7-foot tall, black and blue bipedal humanoid peacock-thing. One that still had itchy eyes from the peppermint bomb earlier, one that was wide out in the open and sticking out like a sore thumb... but at least he wasn't some kind of insect. He wasn't the same thing as Hajime was, not the exact same thing, at least, and that was... good. He was pretty sure that it was good. Though not very useful, in the overall scheme of things. For he needed to get home, and needed to somehow do it without causing an enormous commotion. His first thought was to call the Network and ask for help, but he especially didn't want any of them to know about this. His second thought was to call his cousin specifically, but that didn't make the cut, either. If he was going to reveal the exact sort of monster that he had become, he'd do it in a setting with some dignity, not pleading to get him safely home.

The end result of all this pride and bad luck is that there's a birdman trying very, very hard to keep to alleyways and out of sight as he slowly makes his way home. He cannot possibly fully succeed in this. Surely someone is going to spot him.

Comments

Sometime that evening

[radiantchicken]

Moving was hard work, and it was a bit easier when Torin wasn't riding a dinosaur. If he wanted to retrieve his things quietly, slipping onto the bus and doing a bit of flying were his best bets. So when he was flying to the nearest bus stop, he couldn't help but notice the big bird skulking in an alley.

Another bird! Had this one started out like him? Torin swooped down and perched on a nearby dumpster in that alley. "Hello there! I don't mean to be rude, but are you new in town?"

[fusionjack]

The beating of wings hadn't given Jack pause. It was probably some pigeons that he disrupted after having jumped those storage crates, he was sure. But then he heard that voice calling out to him, and he cringed. He hadn't wanted to run into anyone he knew! (Perhaps it said much about how he had started to regard Torin as a person rather than a bird that he was worried about running into him.)

"No. No I'm not." And he groans and brings a large taloned hand to his face. It keeps getting worse. Why does it keep getting worse?

[radiantchicken]

Wait a minute! Torin recognizes that voice. "Jack?" He leans forward a bit and cocks his head to one side as he contemplates what he's seeing. "Jack? Is that you?" How odd--he'd seen the human earlier that day, and the human had still been a human!

[fusionjack]

Jack groans again and cringes away even more. Torin recognized him by voice? Maybe parrots had a better sense for that kind of thing. There was no use trying to get away, then. He turned himself about to face the other bird. "It's me. I remembered something. And then this happened." He does not sound happy. He is also not making eye contact.

(Well, his head isn't pointing in Torin's direction. The eyeball in the middle of his chest is staring right at the bird.)

[radiantchicken]

Parrots were very vocal birds. Torin had a good ear for such things, especially because he didn't yet talk to that many people. "That is most unusual." Though whether or not Torin's talking about the chest eyeball or the overall change is anyone's guess. "Do you need assistance in getting home?"

[fusionjack]

"Yes. Yes it is." Whatever he was referencing, it sure as hell was unusual. Torin's question makes him sigh, and he forces himself to turn about and properly face the bird. "I need assistance getting home without being seen. I don't think it's actually possible at this point. Maybe I should just call a cab, tell them I'm going to a costume party, and dare them to say anything."

He's feeling kind of dumb now, is what he means. He pulls his smartphone out from somewhere within that coat-thing he seems to be wearing, and offers it to Torin. "...how good are you with touch screens?" Because his talons are terrible for them.

[radiantchicken]

"I am much better with them now that I have thumbs!" Torin carefully takes the phone from Jack. "They were impossible to use with only parrot feet. "He poked at the phone a bit. "Who do you want me to call?"

[fusionjack]

"These hands are an awful lot like parrot feet, I think." He lets out a profoundly exasperated sigh, handing the phone on over. "...slide up two dots, then over one dot, then up, then back two dots to unlock it. And then hit the little phone icon. And then flip down to 'Yellow Cab'."

Hey, Torin was playing video games. Surely he could manage a smartphone interface.

[radiantchicken]

"Perhaps I could give you some pointers, then, once we see you home safely." Torin peers at the unfamiliar smartphone screen, tiny parrot finger extended in a cautious point, and gets to swiping those dots. It does not take him long at all to follow those instructions; those video games paid off. "I've done it! Now what?"

[fusionjack]

"I'd appreciate that. I think that might help." And yes, yes, good, Torin is living up to all of his greatest expectations. "Tell them to send a cab to..." Wait, where in the hell were they? He crept forward, stuck a head briefly out of the alleyway, then ducked back in. "...The Starbucks on Parkway, downtown."

Boy, a latte would be good right now. ...could he even drink one, like this? He turned away and grumbled under his breath and tried very hard not to worry about it for the moment.

[radiantchicken]

"Hello? Ah, yes. I need a cab sent to the Starbucks on Parkway, please and thank you." There is a bit of a pause. "Thank you! And you have a great day as well!" He looked up at Jack. The phone call was done, but now what? Oh, wait, wait, he could look at the screen, and there, he'd figured out how to hang up. "How long do you think it will take?"

[fusionjack]

There. That was nicely done. Maybe he was even doing a good deed, getting Torin used to using the phone? "I have no idea. Nothing to do but to wait for it." And with a sigh, he settles back against the nearby wall and crosses his arms over his chest.

"...how did the move end up going, anyway?" Why not make conversation in the meanwhile? He might have looked like a monster, but he didn't really feel much like one. Much.

[radiantchicken]

"The move went rather smoothly, I'd say." Torin can handle making small talk while waiting around for Jack's cab, sure. "I was just heading back for a few more things before moving in completely." He also started preening a bit as he waited, which caused another thought to occur to him. Even though Jack looked like a very different sort of bird... "How are your feathers feeling? You...ah...keeping them clean is important."

[fusionjack]

"What have you got left to bring? I could..." Well, no. He couldn't. He wasn't in much shape to help with moving right now, but the words kind of came out before he could stop them. He coughed awkwardly. "...well. Never mind."

Torin's counter-question just caught him entirely flat-footed. "My feathers? I... they're supposed to feel like something?" He had an awful lot more leathery bits than feathery bits, but there were certainly feathers up on his shoulders and head. He lifted up a taloned hand, flicked lightly at them, and then looked back at Torin with as much confusion as he could manage. "What should I be doing?"

[radiantchicken]

"Oh, it's not much," Torin reassures him. "Just Bragigas's battery. I wanted to make sure it's in a safe place." Because that sentence made ever so much sense, yep. "It may not do anything, but it feels rather important."

He hopped over to get a better look at Jack's feathers. "They'll start to feel...off if they get too dirty. That's the best way I can put it. And your beak doesn't really look like you're cut out for preening...curious."

[fusionjack]

"Bragigas?" Should he have known what that was? Jack figured that he should ask, just to be sure. "It's probably important, whatever it might be. Of course."

He's a little tense when Torin hops closer. This is an aspect of being a weird monster that he hadn't at all considered, not the least because he had expected to be a bug rather than a bird. "I don't know how I could preen something that's mostly on my head. Maybe I'm not supposed to preen...?"

[radiantchicken]

"Yes! He was my Voltasaur partner!" There is no small amount of pride in Torin's voice at that. "And I do know the battery is very important, even if I do not know the specifics of that."

He considers this as he studies Jack. "Perhaps that is true; you do not seem very suited for it. But I would be happy to provide assistance if you do require it," he says politely. "I've helped Julien out with his, as well."

[fusionjack]

"With a name like that, it sounds like the battery would probably power him..." Torin certainly seems to have a more colorful set of memories than him. He's not sure if he's jealous or not.

"I'll... let you know if it's something that I seem to need." It's sort of mumbled. It was kind of galling, to consider having something that you couldn't just take care of, yourself.

He peered out of the alleyway, hoping to spot a cab. Come on, hurry up, hurry up....

[radiantchicken]

"But the battery is very small, and he was very large...it is somewhat strange!" As though robot dinosaurs weren't strange enough on their own.

"Do that, you have my number." Because Torin definitely did want to help out any other birdpeople in any way he could. It was like a bird brotherhood! But before he could say anything else. "Is that the cab?" He pointed at the yellow car rolling up to the spot he'd requested on the phone. "Do you need help with it?"

Because surely two talking birds would be easier for the cab driver to deal with than just one.