Chapter Text
It was a very rainy day in Crossroads, the sidewalk caked in a layer of water, with beads of rain dripping off of the tall buildings. Inphernals ducked under anything they could find, whether it be their own gears, hands, or even their clothes.
In a small cafe near the heart of the city resides a trio of siblings, these being Slingshot, Shuriken and most notably, VineStaff. Shuriken and Slingshot have returned home after completing their duties for the day, with VineStaff staying behind after agreeing to close up shop for the day.
“Alright, I cleaned all of the tables, hung up our uniforms, what else do I have to do..?”
A small thump can be heard from inside the kitchen, VineStaff fearfully treading forwards, her gear already halfway spawned in her hand. A small, shuddering shadow can be seen in the back corner, VineStaff approaching cautiously. Very quickly, the small shadow darts out from the corner and into VineStaff's sight.
Before VineStaff lies a small harpy, their yellow wings frayed wildly, brown tinted water dripping off of its small feathers and onto the freshly mopped floor.
“Oh my goodness! Are you alright?” VineStaff exclaims, as she carefully squats down and slowly reaches her hands out. The harpy slowly rises, its whole body being just over a foot tall when standing. Slowly, the harpy approaches VineStaff, her hands patiently extended outwards, waiting.
The harpy lightly steps onto VineStaffs hands, she then brings it up near her chest for warmth. It nestles up against her chest, it's small wet body soaking through VineStaffs kimono as VineStaff locks the front and back door to finally clock out. VineStaff starts the trek home, taking a break inside Boombox's Music Shop midway through because she was already soaking wet from the rain.
“Hey Vine! Howzit goin’? You look soaked!” The short inphernal said, far too energetic for how late it was.
“Oh, I've been good.” VineStaff sighs exasperatedly, her being already tired from the day at work, let alone the treacherous route home.
“Whaddya have in your hands there?” Boombox says, trying to peek over her arms, his short frame not cooperating.
VineStaff slowly opens her arms, lowering them so Boombox could get a better view. Even with this, Boombox has to get on his tippy toes to steal a glance over her gentle arms.
The eyes on Boombox's visor widen spectacularly, him being careful to keep his voice quieter than it was before.
“Oh my Swords, where did you find this little guy?!” He whispers, the small harpy stirring slightly in its sleep.
“He was just inside my work. He was shivering and wet so I'm hoping to bring him home and nurse him back to health.” The small harpy draws a wing over its face, revealing to the both of them a scraped and de-feathered wing.
“Yeah, I mean just look at his wing. I could give you a blanket for him if you want, I have some spares in the back I think.” Before VineStaff gets a chance to respond, Boombox is already on his way to the back, signalling for her to come with.
In the back room, Boombox pulls out a perfect size black blanket, helping VineStaff wrap the small harpy tight and comfy. Boombox also offers VineStaff a pair of spare clothes, to which she declines as her apartment wasn't too far from where they were.
“So… have you thought of a name for him yet? I mean, you're gonna have to call him something.” Boombox says while finishing wrapping the small creature up.
“I'll get there eventually, but for now I think I should just get him home and clean.” With that, Boombox bids them farewell and safe travels home.
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After fumbling around with her keys for a short time, VineStaff unlocks the door to her and her siblings' shared apartment, still having to scale the stairs up to the third floor. Opening the door to enter, VineStaff was greeted with Slingshot cooking dinner, and Shuriken sleeping on the couch with the TV on.
“Hey Vine! How was it closing today?” Slingshot says, similarly eager to how Boombox was.
“It was fine, but can I talk to you for a sec? I have to ask you something.” VineStaff looks down into her arms, the small harpy peacefully sleeping.
“Yeah, absolutely! What is it?” Slingshot says, still not turning away from the stove.
“So, I found something at The Cafe, and I was wondering if we could keep hi- it?” VineStaff walks up next to Slingshot, still not revealing what's in her arms.
“Depends on what it is. Do you have it with you? Can I see it first?” Slingshot finally turns away from dinner, leaning on the counter next to the stove.
“It's a… uhh..” VineStaff wordlessly lowers her arms, showing Slingshot the peaceful harpy, now lightly snoring in her hands.
Slingshots eyes widen. “Nope, no way. Do you know how hard it is for us normally right now?”
“Sling. Just until he's back to full health. Just look at his wing.” She softly moves the blanket off of its left wing, revealing the de-feathered appendage once again. Slingshot bites his lip for a quick second, his eyes very briefly softening at the sight of its weak wing.
“Okay… fine. But only until it's back to full health, alright?” He says while carefully placing the blanket over its now shaking form.
“Okay. Thank you Slingshot.”
“Oh, and one more thing.”
“What's that?”
“I get to name him.”
“What!? Aww, come on! I found him first!”
“And I could've said no. So I get to name him. I'll have one by morning.”
“Okay, I'm gonna go clean him up for now.”
“Sure. Dinner’s almost ready, I'll just leave it in your room.”
“Okay.”
VineStaff carefully walks to the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind herself before turning the faucet on, room temperature water pouring out of the tap and filling the tub about a quarter of the way full. The noise of the rushing water wakes the harpy, him standing up while being significantly more dry and strong, the nap seemingly doing a lot for its energy.
VineStaff lowers her two hands again, the harpy quickly stepping onto them and carefully exiting into the bath, the small creature squatting down with its legs folding backwards and allowing it to loaf and wet it's lower feathers. VineStaff grabs a cup and fills it with water, dumping it on the back of the harpy as the water absorbs in-between its wings, the excess rolling off back into the bath.
—--------------------------------
After gently drying the harpy off, VineStaff starts trying to find a place for him to sleep. She searches through her closet, under her bed and even in the gardening closet, still coming up with nothing at the end. In one final search, she checks through her dresser drawer which leads her to get a questionable idea.
30 minutes of rearranging later, VineStaff's dresser had been morphed into a cot for the harpy, using old, unfitting clothes as a makeshift mattress and a large dish towel as a blanket. She lets the harpy feel around inside for a short while, before tucking it in and turning the light off.
VineStaff softly closes the door, before walking out into the living room.
“Dinner ready yet? I'm starving.” VineStaff says, Slingshot getting slightly startled and arching his back.
“Almost. Just come sit anyway, I want to talk to you about something.
VineStaff pulls out a chair and sits at the seat closest to Slingshot, slightly worried about what he will have to say.
Slingshot turns his head to the side to look at VineStaff. “Are you… really sure?
“About what?” She asks.
“About.. him. You know how hard it is with us three alone, let alone a-”
“Didn't we do this already? You saw his wing, I can't just let him out in the wild!”
“I just- I don't know. But if he becomes too much of a problem, he's gone. I'm sorry.”
“What if it was a cat? Would you still keep them then?”
“I- yeah.”
“Well then what's the difference?”
“Harpies are too close to inphernals! Okay?! I'm just scared of what he'll do one day.”
VineStaff sighs exasperatedly, feeling tears well up in her eyes. “Just - let's talk about this tomorrow, with Shuriken. Okay?”
“Okay. On a lighter note, I thought of a name for the little guy.”
“Oh yeah? What is it?”
“Sparky.”
VineStaff chuckles, wiping her eyes. “What? That's a wolf name!”
“Oh come on! I was thinking hard about that!”
“Well, I guess it's not a bad name. It could be worse.”
“So Sparky it is?” Slingshot says, turning back towards VineStaff.
“I guess it is.”
—--------------------------------
After waking Shuriken - and silently agreeing to talk about the harpy with him tomorrow morning - they all eat dinner and head to their respective bedrooms. VineStaff swiftly changes into a pajama shirt and bottom, and climbs into bed - not before checking on the soundly asleep harpy in the dresser - and rests her arm beside her pillow.
Near the dead of night, a light gnawing sound could be heard right next to VineStaff. Groggily peaking her head up, she spots Sparky teething on her wooden arm, but since she can't feel anything she allows him to keep going. After a few minutes of teething, Sparky gets tired again, resting atop VineStaffs back and rubbing itself along the soft patterning of her shirt, eventually falling asleep.
Tomorrow is another day.