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One unforgiving, humid, and unnecessarily bright sunny day in capital city, a particular pair of
Avians were out in the hardly bearable summer sun (under the shade but still) visiting their
fellow vendors Shopping for materials needed to complete their next big project to, as Parrot
says, ‘give out resources to those who are in need of it’ and so on…
*cough* As if he and Parrot weren't also in that category of players but whatever.
The chatter between Parrot and the staff of the lumber store (what's the point of a lumber store
anyway? Just go outside and chop down a tree for void sakes! Can't believe we're spending
diamonds on this.) Hardly reaches Theo's ears as his mind is on the long trip they'll be taking
through the great sea.
Not that many things reach Theo's ears to begin with. (Cart PvP 101, if you're gonna learn it,
make sure you get the proper safety equipment first. Trust him, he learned that the hard way.)
So his thoughts go generally uninterrupted. He considers the items they'll need, such as water
breathing pots, several chests to carry the loot, and maybe some night vision.
He lets out a shrill tweet meant for his friend teammate to alert him of his departure. Leaving.
Will return.
A similar noise managed to breach his dull hearing and reverberate in tune with his instincts.
Affirmed. Be safe.
As if Theobald is never not careful.
… don't think too hard about that one.
The sun was still as bright as ever once he left the shop. Even if it wasn't the coolest under the
awning, Theo underestimated how bad the heat really was, remind him to grab a water bucket
with ice too or fire res.
Theo passed a few shops down the street, the potion shop he and Parrot owned was a nice
walk away from the store that sells wood. Again, what a dumb thing to make a business out of.
Meaning he passed several other stores on the way there.
There's the enchantment shop, the building material store, the music store, the restaurant that
makes amazing veggie stew—
Wait a minute.
THERE'S A MUSIC STORE IN CAPITAL CITY?
The music store was small, not unlike the majority of the shops and houses in the capital city
grounds. An assortment of different instruments was lined up on the shelves. Such as flutes,
keyboards, guitars, A fu— freaking Kalimba! Percussions like drums, bells, and handpans…
Wow, he hasn't seen one of those in a while.
Now, these are all cool instruments, but his specialty doesn't seem to be in store. But they could
just be kept in the store's stock.
There was a player tag in a separate room from the main store that he had not noticed before
just now. Theo (presumably louder than necessary) called for assistance.
The player came from out the back, apologizing for taking too long. They introduced
themselves, “Sorry for the wait, I'm _Magentarain3, they/she, and I'm here to help you with your
purchases.”
Hm! Polite, but a lot of people in capital city are polite when running businesses. Unless you're Reddoons. *cough*
They talk pretty loudly, too. He can hear her crackling voice.
“Cool, cool, nice to meet you. I'm Theobald, THE biggest bird. Perhaps you've heard of me?” his
crest puffs up with pride at his own introduction.
They raise their eyebrows at that. “You're that mercenary who gets carts from Puki in the black
market, correct?” Theo nods—he didn't actually expect to be known, but maybe he is coming to
be known as the biggest bird!
“Didn't peg you as the musical type, personally.” She teases, now smirking at him.
This time, Theo, with his arms crossed, raises his own eyebrow and gives a once over of the
shopkeepers’ outfit. “Well I'd think someone named Magentarain would have magenta in their
color scheme and not dark blue.” his wing twitched to make a point. “Besides, you don't even
know if it's meant for me.” (It is, but they don't need to know that.)
They slowly nodded. “...Touché.” Ha.
“So… what instrument are you looking for?” Ah, right.
“First off, are these like— all the instruments you have in stock?”
“There's more variety in the back, but I cannot let anyone who's just browsing back there since
there are a lot of bandits & shoplifters around. Paying customers only.” That's pretty
understandable.
He glances toward the back door then back to Magentarain. “How many diamonds does a violin
cost?”
.
.
.
Theo and the shopkeeper go on for a while after, discussing prices, financing, and discounts for
favors. Some time later, a certain macaw, wondering why his teammate was taking so long,
stumbled upon the shop following a lead from others helping him find said teammate.
And just imagine his genuine surprise when he, in fact, found Theo there, and the witnesses
were right!
Parrotx2 walked in to Theobaldthebird and a player called _Magentarain3, having a discussion
about some instrument (fitting of the music store.) A discussion that his fr— teammate was
clearly invested in. The other avian was so enthusiastic about it that he almost didn't want to
interrupt him. Alas, they have got to go soon, or they'll have to postpone this treasure hunt for
another two weeks minimum.
Parrot chirps, acknowledge me. And it gets both parties’ attention as they stop conversing.
“Uh hello, Theo? What are you doing? You said you were gonna finish packing our stuff.” He
inquired.
Magenta is the first to reply. Theo, meanwhile, hid his face behind his headwings, crest
flattening.
“Oh dear, I didn't realize that I was holding your friend up! We just were talking out the details of
Theobald's custom violin. He claims that you're both coming into enough money to cover all the
expenses soon.“
Well, they're not even sure if that's true yet. He and Theo don't know how much treasure they'll be
or even if whatever’s left will be enough to pay for the violin—
Wait, Theo plays violin?
He blinked and tilted his head to the side. Well, he didn't see that coming.
It seems he's learning more & more that people are full of surprises.
Parrot lets out another squawk. Hurry. No time. Theo thanks the shop owner and scurries
through the shop out the door. Parrot follows suite, slowly catching up then walking in time with
his companion.
“Hey, Theo, y'know we might not have enough diamonds left over to be able to get any
instruments? Right?”
Theo doesn't respond, but some of his feathers flatten, and he walks ahead of Parrot.
Was it really that important to him?
…
Maybe Parrot can scrape some money together for another time.
Sigh
On a long chilly afternoon at the northern council, Theobaldthebird, King Parrotx2's Royal
knight, The general of the kingdom military, and the aforementioned monarch's best friend. Was
walking through the palace halls headed to the king's chambers from his English tutoring.
So, as it turns out, Theo has dyslexia. It made reading a challenge for him growing up, so he
never really bothered with it since reading isn't really necessary for PvP, y'know? But his King
claims that he needs to learn to read better in case there's ever a secret message given to him
or something along those lines.
Now he's got to spend 30–60 minutes away from Parrot everyday while he studies. Ugh.
But! Now he's done and can visit his flockmate in his room.
Theo arrives outside of the door of his best friend's bedroom. He can sense the other avian in
the room. His instincts have honed an incredible amount. He bets it's from bonding with his flock
so much.
Or the loss of his left eye, but who wants to think about that
He knocks on Parrot's door, receiving a trill of approval. Flock! Come in! Well, who is he to
refuse an invitation from the king of unstable? (Haha.) He twists the knob on the door, opening
it.
When he does, he sees Parrot sitting on the seat in front of his vanity, humming to himself,
staring at his reflection and using a preening comb on his ‘hair.’ Theo watches him glance up to
see Theo in the mirror, and a smile breaks out across his face once he does.
“So, how was your reading class today?” Parrot puts the comb down, stands up from his seat,
and walks past Theo, the cockatiel follows.
“Dull and tedious if you ask me— and you just did so don't scold me,” Theo adjusts his gloves,
his hands are starting to numb. He'll have to take them off soon and get some ice for them.
“You're a better teacher anyway, and I think N3body4ere has it out for me. He makes me rewrite
the entire essay when I mess up a paragraph.”
One of Parrot's headwings twitched. Oh no, he's getting ideas.
“Guess I'll have to get you a new tutor then, I really wish I wasn't always so busy all the time
with like— all the paperwork I have to affirm and deny. I could help you read and such myself,
it's one of the things I miss about our potion shop in capital city.” Parrot lamented.
“Well you're free right now. We could do some catching up on my lessons, and you can test my
progress like when you first started teaching me.”
Admittedly, Theo doesn't really like his English lessons (I know crazy right? Who would've
thought?) but he'd tank another cart to the face totemless and lose his other eye if it meant that
he and Parrot could spend some time together as a duo again and not ‘the political figurehead’
and ‘the royal bodyguard’
Parrot's a 1000x better tutor than any of the chungies that they hired anyway.
“Aww does someone want to have the biggest bird be his tutor?” Parrot coos. Not literally.
“Dude, you are NOT the biggest bird.”
“Yes I am, bro.”
“No you're not.”
“Yuh huh.”
“Nuh uh.”
“Yes I am! Jinx!” Oh my dayysss. Is he serious? The audacity of such tiny birds, really.
Parrot chuckled, some of his feathers puffing out, and genuine joy rolled off him. Theo can't
even be mad at him when his liege is rarely this happy. And said happiness is highly contagious.
“It's great that you like my teaching skills and want to actually learn from me, but I got a much
better way for me to spend time with you. One I've been planning, for a while actually,” Parrot
stops at a door. When Theo looks up, he realizes it's not Parrot's office nor the sitting room.
(Why do those exist, you can sit in ANY room.) Parrot looks back at him.
“Theo, I've got a surprise I've been wanting to show you for a while now. Follow me?”
“Y'know, that's my whole job, your majesty.” Theo lets out a soft laugh at his own joke, one that
could easily be interpreted as a huff. Parrot knows that, though, and laughs too.
“D'alright bro,” he opens the door, letting it swing, then gestures for Theo to follow him in.
Inside the room, the first thing he noticed was the grand piano in the back. Placed in front of the
large window. Then the harp with a chair next to it. To the side, a couch. Several lighting items
decorate the walls. Along with a few instrument cases on the shelves.
This was so cool, and the builders did amazing work here. Did they ever pay that Horace fella?
They should.
Theo was so caught up in admiring the room that he almost missed Parrot walking towards him
slowly with his hands behind his back. Wings tucked close and posture hunched forward. He
shouldn't be doing that, not very regal for him.
“What are you hiding?” Theo asked.
“Wow, y'know if you gave me a second, I could show you without being judged.“
With that, Parrot slowly handed the item behind his back to him.
And— oh.
It—
It's a case. For a violin.
Theo could cry.
He grabs the case to the best of his abilities—hands are still stinging right now—and he looks
over the case, which is clearly holding an instrument based on its weight. He had to put it down,
though, worried he'd drop it.
Parrot noticed.
“Do you not like it? I tried to recreate the customizations you made with the music store keeper
a while back. But I can have it changed if I messed anything up.“ Parrot began fidgeting some
and avoiding eye contact as he spoke. Clearly nervous as he was hiding his face behind his
headwings too.
Theo shook his head. “No, no, it's amazing! But my nerves are acting up, and I don't think I can
play until I get a regen pot or some ice with weakness. Sorry.”
“Wait,” Parrot opened his inventory and went through the contents of one of his bundles. “Aha,
here's one for you.”
Now holding the potion, he eased off Theo's gloves, showing off the old burn scars on his
hands. The macaw poured some of the regeneration on each one, then rubbed it into the
scarred flesh evenly as the feeling slowly came back into Theo's fingers.
When Parrot was done, Theo gave his hand a flex to test their mobility. Delighted that it was all
there, for a few more days. “Thanks.” Theo said, the other nodded.
The cockatiel put his gloves back on, then picked up the case from the floor. Opening it, he
retrieved the violin inside, running his hand down the neck, body, and over the strings. Strings
that need to be tuned.
Parrot seems to think the same thing and starts playing the keys on the piano while Theo
twisted the pegs and tuned to the notes playing.
Once he's done and all tuned in. (Ha) he grabs the bow from the case and plays a tune. Parrot,
recognizing the tune, plays with him.
They duet a number of songs together. Theo on the violin, Parrot on piano, occasionally singing
too. If any passersby heard the music, they would've never guessed the king and his knight
were the responsible party.
Sadly, all good things come to an end.
Parrot had stood up to stretch his legs and wings, when he glanced at a clock he forgot was
there. Only to be shocked at the time. He was fifteen minutes late to his next meeting, they had
to go and he informed Theo of such.
“Ah. I didn't notice, either. Well, let's get going, your highness.” Theo said as he put the violin
away. Parrot waited on him before he left out the door, Theo closing it behind them, then
catching up to Parrot. The knight once again trailed behind his king. They walked quietly to the
meeting.
The silence was broken by a click from Parrot.
Covey. Love you.
Theo grinned and tweeted back,
Love you. Brother.