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Simon remembered the first time he became aware of his ability, a bonafide superpower if you will. He was a young and wee little lad, in his first year of high school. Sitting outside on a bench, waiting for his third period of class to get nearer, he heard a chirping noise from nearby. Simon loved birds, the sound made him smile initially, yet it faded rather quickly when he heard the sound of struggling with the bird’s chirps.
He rose from his seat on the bench, and strained his ears to find the source of the noise. It sounded like it was coming from near a window, and by looking above the glass, he saw a bird’s nest. He stalked over to the window carefully, and there he saw a small little hawk, curled up into itself.
The poor thing was almost writhing in pain, and although Simon knew he should not touch a baby bird and take it away from its mother, he could not leave the hawk there in good conscience. His classes be damned, he had more important things to do. He gently bent down and picked up the fledgling, the little bird was small enough that he could cup him in one hand, something in him stirred as he raised the bird closer to his chest. He felt the need to protect it, and this is what he would do.
“Do not trouble yourself with any more loathsome thoughts, little one. We shall take a voyage, away from this dreaded school, and see the one you would call a doctor. He could take a proper look at you, and then you could return home, to your mother and father,” Simon murmured to the small hawk, stroking the bird with his free hand.
The hawk cuddled up to his fingers, ceasing its writhing for a short while, yet Simon was not satisfied yet. The movements seemed stiff, as if the bird was still in pain, which was surely caused by that nasty fall. With a newfound sense of determination, he left the school grounds, with the small hawk in hand, and made the journey over to the veterinarian.
It was a relatively short procedure, the hawk had suffered a fall, and broken its wings. Or he broke his wings, as Simon found out the fledgling was male. The next step was fairly simple, the hawk would need time to recover before returning into the wild, and after taking a quick glance at the almost sad eyes the hawk gave him, he decided to take care of him. It would be simple, he had experience with small children, could a small bird really be all that different?
And thus, Simon left the veterinarian’s office with a small hawk in hand, some medication and instructions on how to properly care for him. As he walked back to the space centre he called his home, he pondered as to what he would call his newfound friend, and came to the realisation that he never properly introduced himself.
“Ye Gods! I never told you my name, did I?” Simon exclaimed, not bothering to feel silly about the fact he was talking to a hawk.
“My name is Simon, Simon Blackquill. I am studying to be a prosecutor, and Cykes-sama has been teaching me the art of the blade, as well as the realm of the psychological human mind. It would be a rather large advantage in the courtroom, if I were to implement analytical psychology while prosecuting. So, you could really say that Cykes-sama has taken me under her wing,” he said, and chuckled at his lame joke.
What he really did not expect was for the hawk to laugh too. A rather sickly and weak laugh, yet a laugh nonetheless.
“She sounds like a great woman, Simon,” the small hawk said, in a sweet and childlike voice. Huh, Simon was really not expecting that. He stopped his movements, and his mouth fell open, he could do nothing but stop and stare at the bird.
“Y-you talk?!” he spluttered once he regained the ability to communicate. Did he perhaps take the pharmaceuticals assigned to the hawk by accident? He must be high out of his mind, no fucking way did he hear a bird speak fluent English.
“Duh, why are you so surprised?” the bird asked him, as if this was a completely normal and regular occurrence. Perhaps he should talk to Cykes-sama when he gets home, she could give him a proper psychological evaluation. He was too young to be losing his mind already, yet perhaps he was already far gone.
“...I have never heard a bird talk before, is this a common thing?” Simon inquired, trying to keep his voice even. The last thing he wanted to do was to scare the poor thing by being too loud.
“We talk all the time, silly! Maybe I should be more surprised that you can properly understand me, you seem to be an anomaly in this regard…” the hawking said, trailing off at the end. An anomaly indeed, either Simon was somehow now one with the birds, or he was hallucinating.
“So you talk, huh… Alright, I can work with this. Is me taking you home in the meantime so you can heal amenable to you?”
“Sure thing, Simon! My mum hasn’t come to my coop in ages, I am afraid she may have left me for good!” the hawk said, far too cheerful for the statement he just gave. If Simon had the princess’ heightened power of hearing, then he would surely have sensed discord in the voice of his new feathered friend.
“Oh…”
“Nevermind that, bruv! Bring me to this Cykes-sama you were talking about!” And Simon did just that. The two walked back to the Space Centre, jabbering away about whatever passed their minds, and Simon felt elated. He was worried about the small hawk, but Simon knew that they could become good friends, perhaps this newfound ability was a gift after all.
“...Simon, what the bloody hell are you doing?” his older sister said in lieu of a proper greeting. She did not even sound angry, just somewhat exasperated, as if this form of behaviour was expected of him. He was debating if he should feel offended, however if she already was used to his antics, then he could never truly disappoint her.
“Uhhh, a smoothie,” he answered, a sheepish smile passing onto his face. Perhaps if he quoted one of her favourite shows, then she would react better.
“That does not answer my question, dumbass. Who is that?” Aura asked, more gently this time, although she did roll her eyes.
“This fledgling here, his name is uh,” what was his name? Simon should have asked that.
“Taka,” the fledgling supplied.
“His name is Taka, I found him on the school grounds, he must have taken a fall, as he broke both of his wings. Can I please take care of him, at least until he is properly healed? He doesn’t have anyone, I couldn’t just leave him all alone,” Simon pleaded, and made the saddest face he could possibly muster. After a moment, she folded like a flimsy chair, and buried her face into her hand.
“Fine. You two brats always nag me about getting a pet, I’ll go have a chinwag with Me’is and see if you can keep Taka in the meantime,” Aura said with a deep sigh. Taka chirped at this happily, and Simon grinned. He knew Cykes-sama would most likely say yes, he practically already won this non-existent argument of taking care of Taka. And that he did, Cykes-sama was ecstatic when she saw the fledgling, and the princess was overjoyed, Taka ended up being a permanent resident of the Space Centre. That was, until Simon was no longer a permanent resident of the Space Centre due to unforeseen circumstances… But as of now, Simon would just remain at the Space Centre with his darling young princess, his beloved sister and his treasured mentor, and his newfound bird friend, living out his days in a blissful peace.