Understanding The Human Condition

[Dip]

There was a loud crash, a scream and a yell in respond. The crash was the large metal door slamming against the frame, the scream came from the body that was tossed to the floor, and the yell was from the tall man who tossed the body.
​

The man knelt down and cuffed the figure under him, and the lump shifted and kicked in protest. Once the hand cuffs were hooked onto the frame on the floor, they took a moment to stand up. The kick that the cuffed criminal delivered did enough to knock the shoe off of their foot-- which wasn't a normal foot, mind you. It wasn't a surprise that the shoe came off so easily.

The man wore something much like a detectives uniform, and he played the part quite well. He wore a badge that said, "Inspector J.J Baxter", as if the man was some sort of important person. He had a few scratches and bruises, along with some blood on his chin, and he was sure to get revenge for it. He wiped his jaw with the back of his hand, and spat out a good glob of blood. While the shoe had fallen off of the other's frame, it did deliver one hell of a wallop. He balled his fists, and pushed the convict down onto the ground.

The other shoe came off, and the criminal made another yelp. They glared up at the other man, brown eyes so full of hate and disdain that any God would wish to strike down the man. They were wearing a pair of cargo pants, one that covered a very particular looking pair of legs. The pants were black, and so were the boots. It was as if the stranger had stolen the uniform from a sleeping guardsman, and slipped into the building unnoticed.

Under the character's shirt was a pair of large wings, which they had disclosed rather nicely under a large over-coat. They had pulled off the uniform quiet well, until someone squealed and the right people got word of the wrong person. Inspector Baxter knelt down before the other body, and smirked. There was blood coating his teeth, and even the grin was enough to send the other person spinning.

"You're not human, now, are you?"
The convict spat in his face as a respond, which made the man lash out and grab at their neck. Baxter lifted the body into the air, as if their bones were hollow. The body kicked, trying to let the man release them from his grasp. They tried to grab a hold, but damn those cuffs on their wrists. The gasped, coughed, and finally spoke. "Y-Yes, Yes, I'm not."
The man dropped the body onto their knee's, and pressed a large boot onto their chest, pinning them backwards and watching as the other flopped hopelessly on the ground.

The convict's wings spilled out of the overcoat, trying desperately not to get stepped on or broken.

Inspector Baxter smiled, and used his free hands to light a drag. He took a long pull, and rest his elbow on his propped knee, applying more pressure to the size 12 shoe on the other body's chest. "Now, what makes you think you can trespass onto private property, steal a uniform, pose as a police officer and smuggle in contraband from the outside world?"
The body struggled under the weight of the shoe. They glared back upwards, showing no mercy. "I doubt that oranges count as contraband..."
The man pushed down further. There was a gasp.
"Okay, okay, okayokayokayokayokay..." They stammered, feeling the weight leave for a mere second. "You--all of you PEOPLE are denying these beings, those INNOCENT beings their rights! If you even think--"
"Don't start with me," The man rolled his eyes, ash falling from his cigarette and onto the struggling frame's mouth. "You animals have no right to walk among common folk. It's human nature to put down dirty dogs-- you freaks aren't even grateful enough to be Man's Best Friend. Plus, they've all been tried in the court of law."
The other began loudly, "YOU THREW MY BEST FRIEND IN JAIL BECAUSE THEY WALKED IN A HUMAN NEIGHBORHOOD!"
"It is the law."
"You just executed an innocent being for working in the locomotive department!"
The man cracked a small. He pushed smoke from his lungs. "What can I say? It is the law."

This angered the struggling frame to no extent. They screamed, kicked, flapped, flailed and eventually freed themselves from the other man's power. They used their wings to fly hap-haphazardly from the ground and onto the table. They turned ready to attack the other man with their hands behind their back. They looked to the human with so much hate that it almost made the other man fall back in fear. He had long dropped his cigarette by that time.

"You're disgusting! This isn't the law, it's fraud. It's murder. It's disgusting, it's offensive, it's not right. It isn't right, dammit! It isn't fucking right!" They screamed loudly. This caused quite a commotion, partly because others could see into the room and look at what what happening, and it looked like a 6'5" man was being sized up by a very loud and very scary Harpy.

The man grabbed the figure by it's wings, and threw it back down onto the ground, this time using both feet to hold the harpy by it's wings. "Look here, bird-brain." Inspector Baxter said loudly, to the struggling frame. There were tears in their eyes, and fear in their heart as the thought of their wings breaking entered their mind.

"We have tried putting you in prison before. We tried boot-camp. We all know what you can do, and we all know that every time we try anything, you manage to escape, so you know what? You're right." The smiled. "This isn't the law. So, I'm going to make special accommodations for you. I'm going to be your law. I'm going to be your new parole officer, and what I say goes."

The man licked his lips. "I could kill you. I could, and I want to. So badly. But you'd expect that out of someone like me, right? So, I'm going to give you a deal that you can't refuse. I'm putting you to work." The man lessened the pressure of his boots on the other being. They let out a strained sound, gazing upward. "And... if I decline your offer?" They smirked, but soon regretted it.

The Inspector took his size 12 book and slammed it against the farthest segment in the Harpy's wing, causing it to break and the Harpy to scream out in pain. The Inspector smiled. "You won't."

It was two weeks later that the law did take place. It happened at a humble postal service outlook, that had recently boomed in business. Inspector Baxter came into the building, holding an envelope and a large, fake smile. He plastered it on as he met with a very random service women.

"Do you have any available positions?"
The woman looked him up and down. "Not for humans."
Baxter put the envelope on the table, and smiled. "Good."

It took a while to get the papers all sorted out, and in that time, the Harpy was in a confined space. They passed the time scratching away at a nice groove in the wall, and screaming profanities to any human who tried to come close. Their wing was still broken, but only partly. They could still fly, but not for very long.

The Harpy's name was Edurika, but not for very long.

It had taken weeks to plan out, but Edurika had gotten a job that they didn't want. They had a badge, a uniform, and a quota that they had to meet. 'They' were now 'he', and Eduika was now Eddie. Eddie Fay, now working for the Postal Service.

The first day of work was terrible, and it was just being pulled out of confinement that had determined that. It took atleast two to get 'him' out of the building, and another half of one to shove them into a car. It was hell to get to the station, but once they were in there, Inspector Baxter grabbed the Harpy's arm and pulled him into the building, almost with enough grace as a baby on roller skates.

Inspector Baxter looked at Eddie's new assistant, and looked down at the convict. The Inspector smiled, and pulled out a card from his wallet. "If he misbehaves, I'll be sure to assign you with a new partner. Give me a call if he's a naughty boy." Baxter placed a large hand on Eddie's shoulder, and messed up his hair as he left.

As The Inspector did leave, he made sure to look at Eddie straight in his eyes, and stomp his foot on the way out. Eddie swallowed, and knew that he had to make nice with the very thing he hated. He turned to the other boy-- his new cowoker, and gave a shallow wave.

"Uhm... I'm Eddie."

He was going to kill Baxter.

 

[RiniPinja]

It was the start of a new career - it was the start of his new life!

Skyler was excited, thrilled, anxious, and even a bit nauseous. As a child, he had several dreams, and each stuck to him like glue, however, this one in particular was the one closest to him. It was a dream that most told him to stop thinking about, the one that most told him he was being ridiculous.

He wanted to fly and soar in the air, as if he was one with the birds.

Sure, a hot air balloon wasn't quite as... regal as his dream sounded, but it was close enough! He had worked hard to finish his schooling, and then finished a little more school to understand the workings of the hot air balloon. It wasn't too hard of a job, but Skyler had dealt with a lot of problems on the way of becoming what he wanted. And by golly, it worked. Skyler had managed to receive a very minor license to drive a hot air balloon and he was entrusted with people's letters and packages. He also had to memorize a map.

Except, there was one problem.

On the very first day of work, Skyler woke up late. LATE! When he woke up to an alarm blaring at him, he had saw that he had accidently typed in 7:00 AM instead of 6:00 AM. He nearly screamed in frustration, and he scrambled this way and that to make sure that everything was perfect. He had this... Identity crap? Check. Uniform? Hat? Some snacks to bring for the long days in the air? Check. Check. Check.

At 7:15, he burst out of his apartment and ran as fast as he could to the station. Skyler then slammed open the door and panting hard, he saw the officer and his... apparent co worker?

His co worker wasn't human.

Skyler stared at him a bit, his eyes can't help but noticing the fur that took over his-her? legs and her-his feet were not as... well, it wasn't human. As soon as he realized what he was doing, Skyler forced his eyes to look away. It wasn't that harpies were rare, Skyler just never... interacted with one. He took the card from the officer and felt a little confused and fearful by his offer of help.

When the older officer left, Skyler looked over at the smaller harpy. He cleared his throat, trying to erase the past awkwardness he had set up. "Hi, Eddie..." He muttered a bit softly, before clearing his throat slightly. He spoke a little louder and with a bit more confidence. "I'm Skyler Wright."

He glanced over at the time, wincing a bit when he saw how late he was. At least they wouldn't be late to start their departed schedule. "It's almost time to go... Do you want to leave now? Or do you have something to do first?" Skyler eyed the harpy carefully. Was he suppose to be polite to the half-bird? Or was he suppose to be all demanding and forceful-like? But Eddie was his senior, so Skyler couldn't see himself doing that...

Skyler cleared his throat once more. He decided that being friendly won't kill anybody quite yet, right? "And I'm hoping to enjoy the time I work with yo-" Before he could finish his sentence though, they were interrupted.

"WRIGHT. FAY. GET YOUR ASS INTO THAT BASKET RIGHT NOW, OR SO HELP ME GOD." A woman screamed at top of her lungs. She stormed over to them and grabbed them both by the ears. "WRIGHT. YOU ARE LATE. FAY. DON'T LOOK AT ME THAT WAY." She glared at them, and Skyler tried to wiggle out of her hold. "IF YOU TWO DO THIS AGAIN. YOU WILL BE SORRY. NOW GO!" She shoved them both out into the open field, where a balloon was waiting for them.

Skyler scrambled into the basket, his ears ringing from the constant yells.

 

[Dip]

At first mention of his name, Eddie rolled his eyes almost to the back of his head. How ironic, that this pathetic excuse of a pilot-- a second hand Harpy would be named Skylar? He felt offended, and this punk didn't even have to say a word to him. Eddie wished he would have been the least bit more careful during his last smuggling...

As the other boy began to talk, Eddie thought to himself about what had gone wrong, and who was to blame for this. His friends couldn't have done anything like this to him, could they? He placed a hand on his chin, thinking to himself about the situation. He hadn't done anything different from the last time he had went there... maybe he had been to risky, and came twice in one week... But just last week, he went for four days in a row!!

He didn't know who was to blame for this, but he wasn't worried about that yet. When there was a scream, and a loud woman to go for that, Eddie nearly crumbled. She attacked them both with so much force, it was almost scary. Eddie wriggled and tried to flee from her grip, scared she might do something with his wings much as Inspector Baxter did, but she only shoved them to their carrier.

Eddie watched at she went, glaring big brown eyes following her every step. He had some choice words to say to her... He cupped his ear, feeling his heart-beat against his lobe. Humans were disgusting. He jumped a short distance into the basket, flapping his wings slightly to get the lift he needed. He didn't know a damn thing about balloons, nor did he want to.

Eddie looked down at the ground, and saw a bag full of letters and envelopes. He pulled it up, and carefully pulled it onto his frame, making sure to tuck it under one wing. He watched the boy climb in, and set up the balloon for take-off. Eddie wanted to throw him out of the basket almost instantly, but his wings were at stake.

 

[RiniPinja]

Skyler saw as Eddie settled down across in the basket and then he turned on the heat. The hot air balloon started to rise high up in the air, and Skyler couldn't help but feel excited. He stared down into the ground, watching as the people, buildings, and any physical properties of the world he live in slowly grew smaller and smaller.

And then he reached up to the sky, his hand trying to grasp onto the clouds. Skyler just smiled a bit softly, pulling his hand back. Of course he wasn't able to go up high enough to feel any clouds, but he could certainly still try to.

He sat down in the basket, looking through the various packages and letters. They were all addressed to the next city, and he knew it would be a while till they got there.

So he turned to the harpy. The harpy looked annoyed, angry, and just generally pissed off. Skyler frowned lightly, but then took his backpack off. He set it next to him and reached inside. "Are you hungry? I have some snacks." He pulled out a plastic bag, which was quite full of various food items. "I don't know what you eat or what you like... But I might have something similar to it."

Skyler tried to smile a bit gently and held out the bag towards Eddie.

 

[Dip]

Eddie tried to think further on who might have been the culprit in this issue, and he tried to think about how he should evade the issue the next time he does go to smuggle in some fruit. Eddie wondered if it was smart to go in sometime soon, but he knew he had some depending on him. He placed an elbow on the side of the basket, looking down the shrinking world.

He was upset. He wondered how easily he could just escape into the next town, and hide from all forms of police and cops. He sighed, letting his arms dangle off of the basket. He had too many obligations at that time. It would be a slow progress, escaping from what he had got himself into, but he could run himself off of his feet and still not find a safe place free of prejudice.

Sometimes he hated how he looked. He hated his hollow bones, and his bird-cage of a heart. He hated his wings sometimes-- mostly the one that The Inspector had so rudely stomped on. He wondered how it felt to be human, just for a day. He wondered how it would feel to have feet. Two of them. And no wings?

As he thought, the human began to speak up. Eddie turned to him, and threw out all negative thoughts he had. What was he talking about? He loved himself too much to be compared to such an ugly being of nature. Skylar was just so plain. Where was his feathers? Horns? Tail? All humans were disgusting, thought Eddie, and he wouldn't want to be any of them at all.

He looked over the food, and wondered faintly if the fruit he did have was fresh. He took an orange, bit into it like an apple, and turned to look off into the vast nothingness that was the blue sky. He continued to eat the orange through the skin until the entire thing was gone. He looked at the clouds, wishing faintly he could fly without pain.

He pulled his wing in-front of him, and looked at a white bandage that covered a small section of his wing. He sighed dejectedly, and decided to try and fly eventually.

 

[RiniPinja]

Eddie didn't say a word to him. Skyler felt awkward and took a bite out of his own food - a bag of tiny cookies he often enjoyed. He then downed it with water, grimacing slightly. It tasted like nothing. Gross. He had the craving to drink some sweet tea he often made at home, but he knew it would be impossible in the air.

One of the downfalls of becoming a mailman.

Skyler sighed, then stood back up. He leaned against the edge of the basket - not enough to tilt it over - but just enough to look at the ground below them. They were passing through lands of grass, and Skyler could just barely make out the trees and roads that litter the plains of green. Skyler wished he was an artist and he wished he could appreciate the views that he saw in the world around them for hours on end. But he can't. Even if he tried. He just gets bored with it too quickly.

He then glanced over at the harpy, who said nothing.

Skyler's mind wandered. Eddie had came in with the police officer who had warned him that Eddie was naughty. Harpies were servants to people, so Eddie must have been forced into the job with him. It seemed cruel to make a Harpy, who had wings, to be trapped in a basket in the sky all day. Though Skyler could see why - his wings were all bandaged up. Maybe forcing him to go in a hot air balloon was out of pity?

After some time, he knew that no matter how much he wondered, he would never be able to get an answer for himself.

But before he could voice his questions, Skyler was suddenly aware that he was feeling rather nauseated. He glanced down at the ground below him, and he realized that... He could barely even see the trees now. In fact, he saw almost nothing but green grass, even the roads had blurred out.

He started to panic, which was the worst thing anybody could do miles up in the air. It wasn't his fault, it was only his first day! And he had wanted to fly higher and higher. He wanted to touch the clouds! To visit the birds, and say hello to the sun up close and personal. He wanted to do it all. He had completely forgotten that humans weren't capable of it.

He felt like he was losing air. He reached out to grab the chains that control the balloon, but he missed. He made the fire burn hotter, and the air balloon shot up in the air like a turtle jet. Skyler fumbled around, his breathing getting harder and harder. His body was shivering, as it got colder and colder the higher they went. His fingers were shaking like made, making it harder for Skyler to work the chains, and he could feel the goosebumps speckle up and down his arms. He finally managed to pull the other chain to lower the fire.

But the balloon wouldn't go down fast enough. Skyler sunk to his knees, his head hung low. He tried to breath, but it was hard. As if a weight was crushing down onto his chest. And his body was so cold. The chattering of his teeth made it harder to breath, and Skyler wanted to wrap his body around himself. But he knew if he did so, it would be even harder to breath.

As he gasped for breath, he could only hope that the balloon would go down fast enough before Skyler lost consciousness or froze to death.

 

[Dip]

Eddie, of course, was almost completely unaware of what had been happening. He wasn't aware that it had been hard to breath, simply because his lungs were larger than normal. You'd expect that of someone with hollow bones and feathers covering about seventy-percent of his body! But he only thought something was wrong when the boy fell to his knees, and heaved as the balloon leisurely fell.

Eddie looked down upon the boy, and down upon the mechanism, and wondered faintly how the hell someone would work one of those. He paled, and looked at the human again. Eddie never wanted to do this. He didn't know how! He knew that if he didn't act fast, the kid might die, and Eddie would have another set of charges on him. He groaned, and tried to pull a chain.

When he did, he felt the balloon fly further upwards. Well, that was a situation he didn't want to see himself in. Eddie panicked, and looked down at the human. He made a strangled sound, grabbed at his hair, and decided to do the most rational thing he could think of.

He instantly took off most of his uniform till he was just in a white work-shirt, his hat and his pants (his pants were just something that ended right where his feathers did, and buttoned on the cuff. His talons, along with the lower half of his leg were visible, and the pants ended right where his 'knee' would be). Eddie had the rest of his clothes piled up near the boy.

The second thing he did was jump out of the basket. Sure, he didn't do it right away, but he did do it after a few more strangled noises and a leap. What he did when he jumped out was cling to the side of the basket, and slowly lowered himself onto the bottom of the basket. He was hanging upside down like a bat, and hanging onto the bottom with his talons.

He used all of the strength he had to flap his wings downward, using himself as a propeller to bring them back onto a decent level. He flew through clouds, ignored his throbbing wing and his dizzy vision, and tried with all his might to keep the orange he just ate in his stomach. Eddie felt the change of pressure shift and stab inside him like a knife, but soon, he couldn't take it anymore.

He slowly but surely climbed into the basket once more, noticing the small holes in the bottom, and he sat on the floor. He heaved and sighed, his wings unfolding and flopping lazily to his side. He felt them throb in time with his heart beat, and he damned the man who ruined his right wing. He looked over to the boy, and hoped that he did enough to atleast save the boy.

 

[RiniPinja]

Skyler felt the clothes pile up on him like he was a part of the laundry. But he did not move away from it, instead, he found comfort in the warmth that they provided. Sure, they smelled a bit weird, like... well, like a bird. But it wasn't unpleasant. Skyler just wrapped it closer to his body, enjoying the warmth.

And then he realized that they were descending quickly. Skyler immediately stood up, when he realized that Eddie was no longer in the basket. "Eddie?!" He yelled out a bit, but quickly regretted it as he had a hard time regaining his air.

But soon enough, it came back. Skyler saw Eddie back into the basket, his wings fluttering around him. Skyler felt normal again. He still felt nauseated, and he was still freezing cold. But it didn't feel like someone was squeezing him; he was able to breath normally. Skyler took large breaths, before making sure that the fire was low.

He then looked over at the harpy. Skyler felt his face flushed. He was just saved... by a harpy! A convicted harpy! And why? Because Skyler messed up. MESSED UP! Skyler felt embarrassed, and he couldn't help but mutter. "You didn't have to do that." Yeah, he did. "I could have handled it myself." No, he couldn't. "I just... I meant to do that!" Yeah right.

"And besides! What were you thinking? Your wing is hurt, what if it like... snapped?" Skyler frowned. "What would have happen if that happened?! Do they grow back or fix themselves???"

 

[Dip]

Eddie let his eyes roll open as he gazed at the boy like he was going to kill him. He wasn't in the mood for dealing with someone like this. He wanted to shut that guy up for a good reason. He wanted to pull out his own feathers and shove them in his mouth to have the stupid human shut up, but he didn't want to touch him at all.

Eddie took a hand, and rubbed his eyes. "Do humans ever stop talking?" He snapped, interrupting him. "I swear, maybe if you spent less time talking and more time paying attention, then maybe I wouldn't have to risk my life for someone who could 'handle it them-self'." Eddie held up air quotations, and groaned as he felt his arms turn into jello.

If Eddie had it his way, he would have left the flying to the pros. Humans weren't meant to be high up. They weren't meant to see the sky the way respectful Harpies were. "I would take up a different hobby if I were you. Maybe stick to sorting mail, yes? Or would that situation go up in flames aswell?"

 

[RiniPinja]

Skyler shoved Eddie's clothes to his face. He was insulted and he glared at the harpy like Eddie was the most awful creature on Earth. "What the... Why be so rude?!" He finally yelled, his patience finally cracking. "I know you were arrested or whatever, but what the hell? Why are you lashing it out on me?!"

For a second before, Skyler had thought about looking at Eddie's wings. He wanted to make sure that the exerted force didn't cause anymore damage to it... But now, well, screw it! If Eddie just wanted to be an asshole, then Skyler knew he didn't want to take time dealing with him.

He shivered once again, wanting to feel the warmth of the clothes again, but he knew it was too late. He didn't want to embarrass himself further in front of the harpy.

Instead, he slumped down against the basket sides once more. Only because he was tired, though.

"I'm not going to change what I do because of what you say," Skyler muttered. "Just because you were born with the ability to fly, doesn't mean I can't do it either."

 

[Dip]

Eddie took the time to put on his uniform again. He hated that guy, and now he had a good reason to: Eddie saved his life, and he was being a total dick. Eddie wanted to make some more bashes about the shitty job that the other man did do, but he knew he had too much to lose. He sat on the basket, his finger slightly poking out of the holes he had made.

He would have to patch those up eventually. Maybe never. It wasn't his job-- none of this was! He had half a mind to fly out of the damned basket right then, but he knew he had too much to lose. Man, it was just a series of loses for Eddie today. And the day before. And the week before. Well, weeks before. Man, it had just been a lousy series of events so far, hasn't it?

Eddie pulled one of his wings infront of him, and ran his fingers through it, grooming himself and making sure that his feathers were all the least bit healthy. He could use a bath eventually, but he could put it off for another day or so. He let the baby feathers flutter upward into the sky, and he doubted that the other man knew what he was doing.

 

[RiniPinja]

Skyler sat there awkwardly, watching the harpy... lick himself? He wasn't quite sure what he was doing. It reminded him of a cat, but this was a bird. How strange. Beasts are strange. Skyler wasn't ever sure if he'll understand the harpy.

Instead, he stretched out to the best of his ability in the small basket. He tried to rethink his way through the situation he was just thrust in.

Skyler had panicked. He had gotten too high in the air and panicked so badly, he was unable to save himself. It was a rookie mistake, but it was a deadly mistakes, and Skyler was in no hurry to repeat it again. He glanced around outside the basket, just to make sure he wasn't too high. He was good.

If it wasn't for the fact that the harpy was there, Skyler would have died. Yes, he admitted it in his head. He probably would have passed out and died by suffocation. Then nobody would notice until the hot balloon ended. And everybody would go "What an idiot. Dying like that. Good riddance."

Skyler shuddered at the thought. "Thank you, Eddie." He muttered finally, although sort of flatly. He then looked away, "You're a jerk for lashing out, but thanks for saving my life."

He then looked over at the hole in the basket. Skyler reached over to pull out a kit that mends the basket, and he worked on it for the rest of the way.

 

[Dip]

Eddie didn't agree that he had saved the idiot's life. He didn't say or do anything. He had gotten good at ignoring things and people, so he did just that to the human as he picked his wings clean. But as soon as he had started, it was abruptly ended. Eddie stood up, and saw that they were a mere twenty feet or so away from the ground.

So, Eddie decided it would be smart to jump out of the basket.

He did just that, really. He jumped out and used his wings to flutter to the ground, but it did cause him slight pain. Instead of keeping his wings arched on his back, he let them droop until they were scraping the ground. Well, there went his idea for prolonging a nice bath. He felt exhausted, and he wanted to go back to his home.

He got a messenger bag full of mail, and looked through it. He knew that he had all of the mail that was assigned to 'Them'-- Them being folk like Eddie-- and the human had the human mail. It had to be that way, or else Eddie would be arrested again. Inside was a little map, a compass and a bundle of letters.

Eddie took the map, looked it over, and looked at the road signs. He instantly felt tired, because he had a long walk to the other side of town. He didn't say a word to his so helpful co-pilot, because he knew it would be futile. He didn't want his help. He didn't need it. Eddie pulled out a pen from his bag, made a mark on the map, and walked off in the direction of the slums.

His talons clacked on the pavement as he made his ways into the ghetto.

 

[RiniPinja]

Skyler noticed the harpy leaving before he had a chance to follow. At first, he thought that Eddie would wait up for him - but nope. The harpy decided to do his own stuff. Skyler sighed and then yelled from within the basket. "MEET ME AT THE TOWN SQUARE!" He tried screaming at the top of his lungs.

When he got out of the basket, he tried to see if Eddie was still around. But of course not. Skyler dawned on the messenger bag and flipped through the various addresses. He knew where most of them were, he studied the maps, but it was all going to take quite some time.

Skyler liked this part of the job too. He smiled to everyone when he delivered the mail. Some people hugged him in joy. Other people decided to invite him in for coffee or drinks (he couldn't refuse, of course). Some glared at him and yell at him, in which he quickly had to run away. Didn't anybody ever hear of "don't shoot the messenger"?! Ah well.

Skyler still had his laughs and fun.

By the time the sun was setting, Skyler happily made his way to the town central. He was holding a fruit smoothie, one of oranges. It was made by the person he just delivered a particularly nice package too, and he had thought that maybe Eddie would like it.

He sat down by the fountain, waiting to see signs of the familiar bird creature.

 

[Dip]

It took him most of the time to walk to the slums, and some more to get all the main to everyone. He got to the addresses alright, but he knew little about where to put it. The big ones he just... put on the door, right? Small ones go into a slot? Medium ones go in there too, right? Eddie was about to go postal on the entire situation.

He ran into a few Harpy children playing in the street, and he noticed the mother watching her children from a far. She was smoking a cigarette, and Eddie damned the humans who created them. They dull feathers and make bones brittle. Eddie went up to her, and handed her the mail. She instantly lit up, and took it from the boy.

"Are you a mail-man?"
Eddie smiled gently. "You could say that."
"My daughter wants to deliver mail when she gets older. How did you get work?"
Eddie's smile vanished. "I...I guess I'm on work release." He sighed. "I never wanted this, I got assigned."

There wasn't much conversation after that. Eddie walked back to deliver the rest of the mail. And once he was finished, he decided to try and fly the rest of the way back to the basket. While he was getting a good wing workout, he felt like he was made of led. He was never going back to solitary confinement for as long as he lived.

Eddie made it to the central, and felt like he was going to degenerate.

Back in the city, nothing particularly grand happened. Mikhaeel Baxter sat in a coffee shop named Birds of a Feather; one of the only congregated coffee houses in the city. The teen was looking out into the setting sun with a bored expression on his face. In his hand he had an orange pen and a napkin, with an outline of some spilled coffee onto it. Mikee surely wasn't an artist, but he liked scribbling sunsets. He had a small collection of napkin master pieces in his room, and he liked adding to his collection.

He sipped his coffee and sighed, looking out into the colorful world that he lived in. He wished he could see most of it all.

 

[RiniPinja]

As soon as Skyler saw Eddie he walked over with the drink. He held it out for him, noticing how awful the harpy looked. "Here, it's orange. It's to apologize for earlier, you know, for exploding on you." He said quickly.

He wondered if the harpy was tired from the work. Skyler knew his legs were starting to feel sore from the constant walking. They were actually suppose to head out once more, after picking up some food and taking a brief break for biological needs, but Skyler wondered if they could perhaps rent somewhere to nap... It wasn't as if anyone would notice, right?

However, Skyler felt stares from around him. He glanced over and noticed a lot of people were staring. He could hear some of their whispers.

He's being kind to their kind.
Charity work?
Delusional child. Maybe something is wrong with him too. Maybe he LIKES them.
Ew! No! Yeah right.

Skyler felt his face turn flushed at all the gossip, and he just quickly place the drink in Eddie's hand. "Come on, we should go." He muttered quickly.

James was working that day. It was a long hard work day, but he managed. It was his first day as a bus boy, and he had finally finished washing all the of the dishes required of him. So, he decided to take a break. The manager was kind enough to give him 10 minutes.

James sighed. He hated the prejudice that surrounded him, but what could he do? It was the world he grew up in. It was all he knew. He was about to walk out of the cafe, in hopes of finding something else outside in the city in the mere 10 minutes, but something else caught his eye. A boy.

Like a cliche romantic novel, James was immediately intrigued. He immediately walked over, pretending to be a waiter. He glanced over, looking at what the boy was scribbling so relaxed down on his piece of napkin. A sunset in orange. "Hello." James said simply. He was about to say something witty, something that would grab some sort of attention. Something like 'Coffee isn't a part of the sunset, you know.' or like 'Are you really drinking coffee at this time of hour?', but nothing came out of his mouth.

Instead, it came out of his hair. Hiiiiissssssss. They all yelled collectively, reaching out and smacking the unsuspecting boy in the face.

James flustered and freaked out both at the same time. He was freaked out because well... SNAKES. and he was flustered because well... Who introduces themselves by smacking another person in the face with a head full of snakes?! He pulled them back, using his hands. He winced visibly as they bit at him, and he felt like ripping them off and screaming. However, he just muttered. "You alright? Sorry, they're..." He trailed off, his face turning red and red.

He felt so embarrassed, he could literally just die.

"Yeah. They're just that." James finished lamely, then he turned around and immediately made a beeline to the kitchen again. Okay. Yeah. No more showing his face. Like, SERIOUSLY. He glared at his mirror, but immediately looked away. They were hideous. They were gross. Ugh. Why couldn't he just been like a human who had measly pieces of hair on his head?!

James hated his life.

 

[Dip]

Eddie didn't want the drink, mostly because he could guess that it was made by human hands. He wasn't an expert, nor was he good at judging social situations, but when groups of people come out talking loudly about who you are while someone else thrusts something into your hand, it may or may not be poisonous.

He poured the entire thing onto the ground, leaving the cup there too, and headed back to the basket. He tried to keep his wings held high, but you can only do it for so long before it became a chore. Sure, they would naturally fall there, but when exhaustion came, it was always harder to do simple things. Eddie jumped into the basket, and let his wings fall out.

His body was inside the basket, but his arms and wings were hanging out, much like how an exhausted dog hangs his head over a fall, or out a window, or much how a tired cat sleeps in the sunlight. Eddie was reverting back to his animal-like ways, and he felt like some days it would be much better to just fly with the birds.

Mikee had spent the past twenty or so minuets just watching the sun start from the risen position and fall out of the sky. He chewed absently on the end of his pen for a good while, before he heard the sound of a stranger trying to spark something. Mikee shifted his blue eyes over to the other person, and looked over him instantly.

He didn't have enough time to do that quite well, because almost like clockwork, something came up to look over him. A lot of somethings, actually. Mikee didn't look at the other boy long enough to notice anything besides a slightly scaly feature about him, but soon he saw it when the many somethings came hissing into his face.

When the snakes appeared in his face, he felt as if he was turned to stone. The snakes were so quick, and they darted at him like he was a meal. Mikee jolted back, making something that was a little between a scream and a yelp, but it didn't last long because the boy pulled them back and instantly headed out like Mikee was the plague.

Mikee watched the boy run farther than where he was allowed, and he tried to understand what had happened. Well, he was approached by a very terrifying human-looking creature, that was for one, and two, that creature had a very friendly bundle of hair. Snake-hair. Mikee soon felt his stone-like feeling break away from him, and he looked down at his coffee.

He wasn't thirsty anymore. He stood up to go and pay for his coffee.

 

[RiniPinja]

Skyler saw as Eddie just dumped it into the grass, which made him a little upset. At first he tried to ignore it. He breathed in a little, to keep himself calm, but he still glanced over at Eddie with disapproval. But still, he said nothing. He just climbed into the basket without a word.

But as they raised up high into the air, and as he simply thought about it, Skyler finally couldn't hold it in anymore. "Someone worked hard to make that, you know. That was mean." He tried not to sound too harsh, but he was quite sure he wasn't able to prevent his annoyance from leaking out.

James still had a few minutes before he had to go wash the dishes. So he stood at the door. But then the manager came by, "Parker!" he yelled out a bit. James stiffened and looked over at him. "Why are you just standing there? The cashier took a break, you can handle taking his spot for a few seconds, right?"

Despite the question, James was really in no position to deny his boss. He reluctantly made his way outside and stood in front of cashier spot. "What did you..." James looked up as he approached the register and he saw the Sunset boy. He stared for a bit and quickly looked back down at the cashier. He remembered the coffee at the table.

"That'll be $3.15." James muttered calmly. Inside, he was freaking out.

 

[Dip]

Eddie didn't quite care about what the other person had to say, nor did he want to care. Was that person as dense as he sounded? "Well, I don't know about you," Eddie started quite obviously, turning to look over his shoulder. "But if you took a good look around once in a while, you'd maybe understand that strangers don't take kindly to folk like me." Eddie turned over to look at the endless sky.

"Honestly, pick a fight with someone on your level. I've been keeping myself alive for longer than you've had a life." That was a stretch, because Eddie was still just a kid, but he had enough of a life for then to say that the human had easy living. "That drink could have had anything in it. If I were you, I'd be more upset about the people ready to kill me in the town square-- but oh, they'd work hard to make my murder justified, wouldn't they? Someone would work hard to hide the body, or tell J.J Baxter exactly what he wants to hear."

Eddie wanted to fly by himself, but he knew his wings wouldn't allow it.

Mikee looked at the boy, and hesitated before he handed the money to the other boy. He expected the snakes in his locks to come out and hit him again, but the other boy-- James?-- seemed to calm them down well. He pulled out a five, and handed it to the other boy. He thought for a moment, and spoke up. "Keep the change." He stated gently. "Just you. It's a tip."

One of the managers overheard this, and quickly intervened. "Sir," They interrupted. "Why don't you give it to someone more... hardworking?"
Mikee made a face. "Hardworking? He's the only person in this building who actually came to talk to me, and I've been coming here for weeks. He deserves it more than you do."
The man looked at the customer, and glared at the Gorgon, before he left to his post.

Mikee walked back to his table, and tucked the napkin into his pocket. He was ready to head out.

 

[RiniPinja]

Skyler muttered a bit, "They didn't think they were making it for you, though." He looked away afterwards. His glare settled on a cloud nearby. He was annoyed, but he knew that Eddie had a point. Eddie was a minority. He was a servant, a slave, someone to look down upon. Heck, he had even less rights than their pet dogs or cats in society. So Skyler could understand why he was so pissed off at the world.

But still. Was that any right to be angry at everyone? Skyler couldn't help but think it was a pathetic way to live life. Not to mention exhausting. But who was Skyler to say or do anything about it?

He was craving a good iced tea. He wished he could have somehow brewed it up in the air.

After about half an hour, when the moon was starting to show it's true colors, Skyler finally cleared his throat to speak up. "You don't have to be that afraid around me." He muttered, his mind set on making Eddie see the fact that not all people were bad. "In fact, when we get off the next city, I'll make you some drinks, fruit drink? And you can watch me make it, or something. I just want you to try something good without worry."

James was a bit stunned by the actions of the boy. First, a tip! James was usually cheated off of his money (although he usually managed to catch it), but never had he received a gift. He could feel the stinkeye from the manager to him, but James couldn't get himself to care. He smiled a bit, 'I allowed you to keep a long-term customer." He said with a bit of pride. The manager seemed to want to slap him, but instead, he stormed off.

James chuckled under his breath, and went to apologize and thank the boy. And you know, maybe get to know him.

"Thanks." James quickly said, managing to catch the sunset boy before he left. He felt slightly awkward, but he continued. "However... I'm a little surprised you didn't... scream or try to kill him. So, thanks for that too. I'll buy you coffee next time as an apology." James was actually aiming for a date, but he wouldn't mind being the boy's personal waiter if he got the wrong idea.

James hope he could get some coffee with him.