Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was an unusually warm day, considering the season. Not, that it was by any means hot outside, but it'd been so cold lately that 50 degrees seemed like a blessing. People on the streets unzipped their coats, and took off their gloves, giving the blue sky grateful glances. Instead of rushing, head down against the wind, people were walking, even smiling.

Savius, who had been going stir crazy in the recent cold, was only too happy to take advantage of a change in the weather. He wasn't an indoor bird, and if the sun was going to offer a little heat, well, he was going to take advantage of it. He was going to breathe in the rays and walk in the street.

He bundled up little Taylor (because, it was chilly, none-the-less), and headed out of doors. Taylor had been fussy lately, but whatever was bothering him, it wasn't something he had the words to articulate. As Savius walked down the street, with the gryphling sitting on his shoulders, Taylor wistled to the birds, and seemed to perk up a little. A relief, to here the child giggling.

They reached Savius's destination quickly, and the lanky, winged teen swung his younger brother down from his perch and set him down gently. It was a small lake, really more of a pond, with a few little streams feeding into it. But there were benches to sit on, and a few ducks who were stupid, or too well fed, to search for a warmer climate.

Savius had brought bread in hopes of contributing to the well fed argument. Besides, he'd seen it in pictures. Even if his inclination was to catch and eat the ducks, he'd decided that it was more important to have one of those bonding experiances with Taylor.

He'd eat the ducks later, after the bread made them trust him.

Savius had a loaf of french bread on his lap, and a whistling boy clinging firmly to one of his hands. Ducks were starting to grow closer, greed fighting caution. Savius threw off some pretty strong predator vibes, and even if most people missed that, animals rarely did. At the same time, he was person shaped, and he had bread. This was usually a good sign.

Contimplating how best to get the ducks to take his offering, he pulled off a chunk and handed it to Taylor.

"Go on, Zombie. Give it to the ducks." He pulled his hand free, and pushed the boy gently toward the water, until the young boy took a few wary steps.

He noticed the unicorn boy out of the corner of his eye then, and glanced up, throwing Tovar one of his lazy, unconcerned smiles. "Do they want to feed ducks? I've got lots of bread..."

And they sure as hell aren't going to take it from me, he added, mentally.

Taylor, meanwhile, was talking to the ducks. Duck language was a lot simpler than human language, in fact, all bird languages were. They didn't have a lot messy, imbetween words. Right now, they were saying mostly 'food' but also 'predator' and 'give'.

He replied with a reassuring quack of 'no predator' and 'food', as he toddled unsteadily toward the water. He didn't like this walking thing. Crawling made so much more sense. The ducks gathered closer to him, as he left the company of his brother, but stayed in the water.

((Note, in case you didn't catch it in the thread. Savius is pure. So he shouldn't bother Etain's virginity sense.))

"Cute little brats you've got." Coming from Savius, it was a compliment, even if it didn't sound much like one. He pulled off a large chunk of french bread, and held it out toward the unicorn boy, his expression falling into one of idle interest. Three brats tended to be more entertaining than one.

And he wouldn't mind having someone closer to his own age, even if that person was non-Kin. Savius liked people. He just... didn't identify with them much.

"Zombie-" Reaching out with one of his long legs, he nudged Taylor with a toe, sending the ducks backpeddling and earning himself a frown from the quacking child. "Say hi."

The retreat of the ducks bothered him a bit. As much as he tried to reassure them that Savius wasn't a predator, they wouldn't listen. He wanted to pet their soft feathers, make friends, but his brother was preventing him.

"You go." He scolded, pointing toward the far end of the bench, further from the ducks.

And now there were other kids? He looked toward them, not quite trusting. But he was an obedient child. "Hi."

The taller one had something sparkly on his head, and that was interesting. Reaching up toward it, he made grabbing motions with his hands. "Give?"

Between the irritated look that Taylor was giving him, and the more gentle glance of the unicorn, Savius was getting plenty of pressure to get out of the way. With a shrug he stood, leaving the bread on the bench, and moved a reasonable distance from the water. He stayed close enough that he could reach one of the kids quickly, just in case. Not that he didn't trust the Zombie to take care of himself, but he didn't even know the other brats. Cute, though, for what little that meant.

Taylor, meanwhile, was trying not to pout. While he couldn't understand Etain, he was able to pick up the general tone of the words, and figure out that he was not going to get the shiny in question today. Etain moved down a bit in his estimation at that, but there was still the younger boy, and the ducks.

Speaking of ducks, they were returning now, and coming out of the water, as they'd been reluctant to do when his brother was still near by. Quacking messages of safety, he reached out his bread to a pretty brown one, and petted it carefully as it took the bread from his hand.

"You pet?" He asked the younger boy, stroaking the duck in demonstration. "Good. Soft."

A glance at the older boy, who he was a bit more relucatant to share with, now. "You too. She stay."

The duck squacked at the rough handling, but, with bread being offered along with a correction of the infant's touch, it found more reason to stay than to leave. Besides which, allowing itself to be touched seemed to be providing it with exclusive attention, as all three children failed to share with the other ducks that were pressing in more closely.

"Got ask. Got say safe." Taylor explained, in his choppy, toddlerish english. The words themselves were clear enough, his skill at mimicry making them clear, but he had yet to fullly grasp proper structure. So words were simply pressed into service, without elegance. As he spoke, he began throwing bread to the other half dozen ducks that had gathered around the children, loudly demanding their share in the spoils.

Curious, he took a bite of the bread himself, and frowned as he chewed at it. Without the stuff that 'rain put on it to make it sweet, it didn't taste that good. "Why bread? Not good. Give good. Ham. Icecream."

For his part, Savius stood, still keeping a watchful eye on the brats. He closed the distance between himself and the other children's apparent guardian, standing within talking distance, but leaving a rather excessive amount of personal space for the two of them.

"So, they yours?"

"No meat?" The very idea of it seemed to confuse the young boy, and his expression turned serious and displeased as he gazed up at the much older boy. Was the boy with the shiny on his head lying to him? That wasn't very nice at all. "Why?"

Leith's situation succeded in tearing his attention away from Etain. The younger one was being trampled! Bad ducks. Quacking his displeasure at the fowl in question, he shooed it roughly, moving protectively toward the younger boy. In an attempt to appease the animal in question he threw a piece of bread at it, in case food worked better than scolding.

"What, the Zombie?" Savius asked, idly, as if Tovar might in fact be referring to some other young child that had followed him to the park. But no, there were only three boys, and the man had already laid claim to two of them. Which meant that they were quite decidedly talking about Taylor now. The Kestrel folded his wings, and shook his head.

"Not really. He's my Dad's." Lithle might not be around, but calling his guardian 'Dad' had become a habit at this point. Even if it had started as just a way to piss her off. "My little bro. Came out of a stick."