Great Flaming Peacocks, Batman!
In which Ethe'oj goes bird watching.
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In which Ethe'oj goes bird watching.
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The tall metal-looking man sat upon the bench with a sketch pad and a set of pencils nearby. He had pulled one leg up to where his arms wrapped about the shin and his chin rested upon his knee. The 'golem' had a perturbed look on his face. Well, as perturbed as someone just beginning to grasp emotion can be.
He had been trying, for hours, to sketch these white peacocks strutting about behind their secure little fence. Ethe'oj had heard that you can gain a better understanding for life if you just sat down, observed, and then drew or painted what you saw. So far he had nothing. Perhaps he was missing something? Other than actual talent he was probably missing a quite a few things, or so the tall being had decided after a moment or two of brooding.
Meanwhile, in the pen, a peahen was watching as a male white peacock strutted about, tail feathers fanned in all their glory. The peahen seemed actually interested or perhaps more amused at the display, that is if a peahen could look amused. The male peacock didn't seem to notice or mind so long as the female was looking at his plumage as the female ought to.
The peacock was a fine specimen, he felt, and deserved interest and a mate. The vain, beautiful male continued to strut and little did he know that the peahen was interested in him but not in the way he would have liked if he had known.
Ethe found himself amused as he watched the display of the male desperately trying to garner and keep the peahen’s attention, especially since other males in the area were suddenly also interested on getting a bit of the action though the hen seemed interested only in the strutting white male before her gaze.
While one could sit and nitpick about what is wrong with the scene, the events that began to roll forward made it seem perfectly sane, normal, and natural. Not long after the males discovered that there was indeed a peahen near by, did the first male that had previously been proudly strutting and displaying himself catch on fire with a loud distressed squawk sound.
All around panic and feathers started to fly about in the air causing the man stand from his seated position and rush to the fence as if to get a better look at the display. The peahen had gone ... Who knows where. Probably fled, distressed that her prospect was one of those flammable males and not a nice normal lad she had believed him to be. Poor, poor heartbroken peahen.
None of the staff seemed in a great hurry, or they were all on some break far, far away. As far as Ethe knew these were peacocks and not phoenixes and so he clumsily climbed over the fence, fell face-first onto the ground on the other side to which he responded with a grunt and stayed face down for several seconds before he picked himself back up and wandered to the now smoldering bird.
Huh, that was quick.
Truth be told the bird wasn’t smoldering, and in fact it wasn’t even there anymore. At least it wasn’t there in the sense of its original form because in its place stood a small toddler grinning up at the tall man. Smoke came off of the small form that was otherwise unharmed. Sometimes, children came about without clothes on, in this case the toddler wore a pair of dress shoes with a rather lovely dress-type clothing draped about his small form.
Interesting. Fascinating, really.
"Papa!" the toddler exclaimed happily and suddenly threw himself against the metal man’s leg and hugged it. Ethe'oj didn’t protest but he did blink in surprise. This was much to take in for someone that barely knew his own likes, dislikes, or even what he wanted in life. Now he suddenly had a child very stubbornly latched to his leg.
Gingerly he grasped the small boy's forearm and got him to relinquish the leg so he could kneel to stare at the brilliant emerald color of them. Ethe'oj tilted his head, and the boy mirrored the motion. The metal man smiled at the boy and the boy smiled back. Ethe frowned at the boy and the boy frowned back. They went on in this fashion for quite a while until they heard noise from the brush and then the peahen from earlier came bursting out of the foliage, wings opened wide, and mildly distressed before she disappeared in another part of the foliage as if seeking some form of an exit. Not long after a small horde of peacocks came running past after the peahen that they will never catch.
Now it was getting a bit weird for the 'golem' as he lifted the boy up into his arm and began to make his way out, this time finding a gate to exit out of rather than climbing over again, which was the wiser approach considering that he now had a child to worry about.
"This one wonders if you have a name," he asked the child but he didn’t honestly expect an answer, and that was what he got, intrigued silence. "This one will call you Avery." Ethe'oj said with a tone of finality. The tall metal man seemed to lack the personality needed to be distressed or surprised about the child or worry about how the small being came to being and whether it had other kin and it the display of earlier was some sort of prank.
As far as Ethe’oj was concerned the child was now under his guardianship.
He had been trying, for hours, to sketch these white peacocks strutting about behind their secure little fence. Ethe'oj had heard that you can gain a better understanding for life if you just sat down, observed, and then drew or painted what you saw. So far he had nothing. Perhaps he was missing something? Other than actual talent he was probably missing a quite a few things, or so the tall being had decided after a moment or two of brooding.
Meanwhile, in the pen, a peahen was watching as a male white peacock strutted about, tail feathers fanned in all their glory. The peahen seemed actually interested or perhaps more amused at the display, that is if a peahen could look amused. The male peacock didn't seem to notice or mind so long as the female was looking at his plumage as the female ought to.
The peacock was a fine specimen, he felt, and deserved interest and a mate. The vain, beautiful male continued to strut and little did he know that the peahen was interested in him but not in the way he would have liked if he had known.
Ethe found himself amused as he watched the display of the male desperately trying to garner and keep the peahen’s attention, especially since other males in the area were suddenly also interested on getting a bit of the action though the hen seemed interested only in the strutting white male before her gaze.
While one could sit and nitpick about what is wrong with the scene, the events that began to roll forward made it seem perfectly sane, normal, and natural. Not long after the males discovered that there was indeed a peahen near by, did the first male that had previously been proudly strutting and displaying himself catch on fire with a loud distressed squawk sound.
All around panic and feathers started to fly about in the air causing the man stand from his seated position and rush to the fence as if to get a better look at the display. The peahen had gone ... Who knows where. Probably fled, distressed that her prospect was one of those flammable males and not a nice normal lad she had believed him to be. Poor, poor heartbroken peahen.
None of the staff seemed in a great hurry, or they were all on some break far, far away. As far as Ethe knew these were peacocks and not phoenixes and so he clumsily climbed over the fence, fell face-first onto the ground on the other side to which he responded with a grunt and stayed face down for several seconds before he picked himself back up and wandered to the now smoldering bird.
Huh, that was quick.
Truth be told the bird wasn’t smoldering, and in fact it wasn’t even there anymore. At least it wasn’t there in the sense of its original form because in its place stood a small toddler grinning up at the tall man. Smoke came off of the small form that was otherwise unharmed. Sometimes, children came about without clothes on, in this case the toddler wore a pair of dress shoes with a rather lovely dress-type clothing draped about his small form.
Interesting. Fascinating, really.
"Papa!" the toddler exclaimed happily and suddenly threw himself against the metal man’s leg and hugged it. Ethe'oj didn’t protest but he did blink in surprise. This was much to take in for someone that barely knew his own likes, dislikes, or even what he wanted in life. Now he suddenly had a child very stubbornly latched to his leg.
Gingerly he grasped the small boy's forearm and got him to relinquish the leg so he could kneel to stare at the brilliant emerald color of them. Ethe'oj tilted his head, and the boy mirrored the motion. The metal man smiled at the boy and the boy smiled back. Ethe frowned at the boy and the boy frowned back. They went on in this fashion for quite a while until they heard noise from the brush and then the peahen from earlier came bursting out of the foliage, wings opened wide, and mildly distressed before she disappeared in another part of the foliage as if seeking some form of an exit. Not long after a small horde of peacocks came running past after the peahen that they will never catch.
Now it was getting a bit weird for the 'golem' as he lifted the boy up into his arm and began to make his way out, this time finding a gate to exit out of rather than climbing over again, which was the wiser approach considering that he now had a child to worry about.
"This one wonders if you have a name," he asked the child but he didn’t honestly expect an answer, and that was what he got, intrigued silence. "This one will call you Avery." Ethe'oj said with a tone of finality. The tall metal man seemed to lack the personality needed to be distressed or surprised about the child or worry about how the small being came to being and whether it had other kin and it the display of earlier was some sort of prank.
As far as Ethe’oj was concerned the child was now under his guardianship.
