Chapter Text
In hindsight, Parrot didn’t think he’d be listening to a series of riffs on a random Tuesday afternoon.
That melody.
Before Parrot knew it, he walked towards that sound.
Its oddness had something addictive about it.
There was a boy sitting in front of the station, ears perked up, guitar rested against his lap, with an audience of about twenty, but content just strumming away, though most people offered a glance and went along with the rest of their day. The guitar was slightly offbeat, laughter in between the chords, missing a few cues before they fell back into rhythm. Like a firefly to a flame, Parrot watched, slightly humming along with the tune.
Halfway through the song, the mysterious figure glanced up.
“That’s…kind of creepy, dude.” He said. “The way you’re looking at my guitar.”
Parrot averted his gaze immediately.
Uh oh. Someone’s been caught.
“Well…it sounded really nice! So I…uh..stayed. To…listen! Yeah!!” Parrot blurted out nonsensically.
The mystery man let out a chuckle.
“Encore?” He asked, looking at the few people who stayed, tail wagging behind him.
Surely one more song couldn’t hurt. Right??
♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.
The crowd gave a few claps before dispersing away into their merry lives.
Unfortunately, for Parrot, he was glued to the floor.
“…you’re still here?” the dog-hybrid asked.
“Wait, I’m allowed to leave?”
Parrot, again, wished he would just keep his mouth shut.
Unfortunately, he is a parrot.
“I mean…I didn’t say you couldn’t go. So…uh..we’re fair…?” The stranger snorted softly. “You look like you’re going to…explode. Like a bunch of TNT mine carts were just thrown at you.”
“…I rarely talk to people. Especially random guitarists who I just came across at the train station while trying to get to college, bro.” Parrot, why can’t you just keep your mouth shut?!
“So, you always stare at random musicians on the subway?” The stranger said, absentmindedly plucking at the worn-down guitar strings.
Parrot immediately felt the embarrassment hit him like a truck.
“What-? NO! Y..you’re just…err…a special…case?”
He then decided that the stranger’s guitar case was more interesting to look at instead of the lush greenery outside and the hiss of trains against the cool spring breeze.
The stranger let out another hearty chuckle.
“College?”
That caught Parrot off guard. Looking down at his watch, he was already running awfully late.
“..Supposed to be there right now, actually!”
“And you decided to stop for some random street performer? I’m honoured.”
“…In my defence…I don’t have a defence. It’s not my fault your music was weirdly addictive!!”
“…Weirdly addictive?”
Parrot’s feathers fluffed up in embarrassment. “IN THE GOOD WAY!!”
“You really know how to compliment people. Wow.”
Now Parrot was considering throwing himself onto the train tracks from that awful first impression.
Parrot’s headwings frantically flapped. Like a chicken. “I..I’M JUST..appreciating…the…atmosphere!! Bright day outside, right???”
The stranger laughed properly this time.
It was warm. Annoyingly so.
“So…you play?”
“A…little.” he admitted after a bit.
“What exactly is a little?”
“…enough to feel like i’m getting publicly executed by an election run by some crazy dictator lettuce who just crowned themselves king of the server in this very very crazy election.”
The stranger blinked. “Oddly specific.”
Parrot groaned into his hands.
“Okay. I got nervous and spouted out nonsense.”
“No, keep going. It sounds fun.”
“PLEASE NO.”
The guitarist grinned, strumming another chord.
“So, you do play. Do you potentially write too?”
Parrot hesitated.
“…I guess. Sometimes. It’s a hobby.”
“..So, can I hear one?”
Parrot stared at him in absolute shock.
“ABSOLUTELY NOT!”
“But why not?”
“I would like to preserve what dignity I have left, thank you very much.”
“You stood here analysing my guitar for like..twenty minutes. It’s a fair trade.”
Parrot looked like he’d just been sent to war.
He wasn’t going to win this dispute.
He took the paper out.
“Don’t judge. It’s unfinished.”
His eyes skimmed across the sheet music.
“It…it’s really good. I’d love to play it once you’re finished with it.”
“So…you gonna give that back?”
“Nope.”
The first few notes stumbled slightly. Then it settled. And then..
Parrot froze.
Hearing his song being played aloud felt strangely different from hearing it in his own mind.
“You wrote all of this?”
The floor was suddenly interesting again!
“Unfortunately.”
The final chord faded into the noise of the train station.
“See?” the guitarist said. “It’s good.”
“..you’re just saying that!”
“I’m quite literally playing outside a train station. I gain nothing from lying to you.”
“…Fine. You win.”
The stranger laughed.
“What’s your name, by the way?”
Oh. Riiiight.
How do two people talk for almost HALF AN HOUR, without exchanging names?!
“Parrot.”
“…Parrot?”
Sigh.
“Well, my name is Wifies.”
He held his hand out. “Nice to meet you, Parrot.”
Parrot took Wifies’s hand. “Nice to meet you too, Wifies!”
Parrot suddenly remembered that he had to go to college! The conversation had to end eventually.
“You heading somewhere?” Wifies asked.
“College. I told you earlier. AND SOMEHOW FORGOT!”
“Which one?” He asked, his curiosity piqued.
“Unstable High,” Parrot answered.
“…No way.”
“What?” Parrot just stood there. With a dumb, blank look on his face.
“Well…I go there too,” Wifies said. “Studying neuroscience…I mean…we’re both late. Do you wanna go together?”
Parrot blinked.
“Sure!”
♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.
Eventually, after a long conversation, they finally made it to their campus.
“…So…” Wifies shifted his guitar strap.
“Yeah?”
“…See you around?”
“…Yeah. See you around!”