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Auryn giggled as she stood under the false canopy of wines and tree limbs, her wings trembling happily as she watched the birds fly past. Well, watched them as much as she could; really they were just blurs of brightly colored auras, or stationary glowing shapes that she knew to be a bird. She didn't care, though...in her mind's eye, they were beautiful and funny. And they sang. The whole room was alive with noise, twitters and chirps and all sorts of songs that just made Auryn's heart soar.

She loved coming here, especially since it was an enclosed building. There was only one door in at the start of the exhibit, and one door out all the way at the other end. That was where Santana waited, reading some book probably, waiting for his little Songbird to get bored and be ready to go home. Which could take a very, very long time.

Especially because it was going to be feeding time soon; Ryn's favorite time of the day. All the zookeepers came out, spreading out food. Some did shows, some just held birds for the visitors to see...and others handed out little paper cups filled with a sweet, nectar like juice. Which then attracted all the gentle, colorful birds to come sit on you, drinking the nectar and singing in your ear.

The bird exhibit at the zoo was Auryn's favorite place in the whole wide world. If they'd let her, she would live here, sleeping in a nest and singing with the birds.

Ah, the classic bump.

You see, Auryn had also seen that bird, dancing between the branches. Its aura shown like a beacon, beautiful and proud and in that very instant she felt a kinship with the fluttering bird. She had to be closer, and see exactly who it was that he was strutting for. One hand on the guard rail to guide her, she took off running around the bend...

And ran smack dab into something hard - very hard - and metal. Well, metal covered by cloth, but still metal nonetheless. She landed on her rear with a small "oof" as the wind left her lungs, feeling her tail bend awkwardly and pain shoot up her spine. That'd hurt, and somewhere in the back of her mind Auryn understood why they had "no running" signs posted all over the place. Seriously though, who would be dumb enough to put a pole in the middle of a walkway? That was so stupid!

However, none of that really mattered right now. Her face burned from where she'd run into the object, her bum and tail were sore, and her lungs were desperately struggling to find a breath. Plus, she'd been caught off guard, and the sudden fall had scared her. So, you better believe, that when her lungs finally did manage to inhale, it was turned into an ugly, horrible...ear shattering cry.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The sound didn't draw as many glances as you'd think it would. After all, the zoo is a public place...and many of the staff had grown numb to the sounds of wailing children who had hurt themselves or (more frequently) didn't want to leave yet. No, instead as Auryn continued to cry, hiccuping between sobs as fat, nasty tears stained her face - far out of ear shot from her guardian - only a few patrons glanced their way...and then quickly moved on.

Lots of things came together to make Auryn not scream anymore. The pain was subsiding; right now it was just her pride and her dignity that was bruised. The cool touch was a welcomed feeling as she hiccuped again, wiping the tears from her eyes. She looked up at the form - big person, like Santana was big - an realized that his aura swirled in two distinct different colors. Her rescuer was a spawn, and that made all the difference to Auryn.

"K-kay," she stammered, sniffling a bit as she wrapped pudgy little fingers around his wrist, starting to stand up.

She realized that the reason his touch had been cold is because it was metal. He was metal, she noted, her fingers sliding a bit onto his hand and finding out that this wasn't an arm brace or guard he wore, but his actual skin. Was he the 'pole' she'd run into?

Once up on her feet, Auryn already felt much better. She wiggled her tail experimentally; while it was stiff, she could move it just fine, and nothing else seemed wrong or broken.

"I think...I can walk," she said slowly, taking tentative steps...without letting go of his hand. "Did I run into you?"

She hopped up onto the bench, swinging her legs in that happy, idle fashion. If he didn't make a move to let go of her hand, neither would Auryn try to let go of his. It was one of those things she still retained from being younger, and her "aura senses" hadn't kicked in yet: simple things like contact made her feel secure. Despite the fact she was physically fine, the run-in had still left her a little shaken.

"I'm Auryn," she answered him, looking up with a genuine smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm sorry I ran into you!" Her voice giggling...obviously, it hadn't hurt him. He was made of metal.

"Oh! Oh, the pretty bird? With the long tail!" Ryn almost chirped like a bird herself, bouncing a bit in her excitement. She looked up and around, trying to find it again, and instead pointed to where the distraction had been flying before her wailing drove most of the birds into hiding. "It was there, I know it. Were we watching the same bird?"

Her wings trembled slightly in her happiness. She was wondering if he liked birds, but of course he liked birds, he was at the zoo looking at birds! But how nifty would it be if they had both been watching the same bird at the same time? And than ran into each other!

The fun thing about Auryn is that she is so damn excitable. The mere idea that the bird had been dancing just for them - No! Even better, it had been dancing to bring them together! - just made her all the wiggle. Her wings, her tail (if a bit stiffly), her fingers and toes...everything just happily shifted at the idea. How amazing! Then again, everything was amazing to Ryn.

Vali, however, had to go an add another level of awesome to the equation. He complimented her, specifically her wings, and he suddenly became her new best friend. She squeezed his hand warmly, actually reaching out with her second hand to hold onto the fingers that were so much bigger than hers. Pride and Kindness; she would be genuinely happy about the attention, but that certainly wouldn't stop her from wanting more.

"Yes, yes! I'd like that. We can feed them together, you and me, Vali!"

The birds were starting to come out again. A young woman had just come out with a fresh round of cups on a tray, offering them to a few people, and now that things had settled everything was starting to get back to normal.

Auryn watched as Vali went off to get the cups. However, when she saw the woman continuing to talk to her new friend...well, she couldn't be left out of that conversation, now could she? She hopped off the bench, her sandals clopping against the ground as she rushed over and also listened intently to the instructions.

"Okay! Thank you," came her reply, taking one of the offered cups. Free of charge, explained the woman, since they'd already paid to get into the zoo...and the birds needed to be fed, anyway. "Woohoo!" Auryn cheered, and immediately held her cup out at arm's length - as told - in order for the birds to come her way.

It. Was. A. Swarm. All types of birds in a rainbow of colors swooped down from the branches, landing all over Auryn's shoulders, head, arms. They squawked defensively over the cup, but Auryn could only laugh, her voice ringing like bells, as there were feathers everywhere.

They'd attempt to land on Vali, too...but the hard metal of his skin made it hard for them to sit properly. Whatever birds weren't scared off by this strange shiny boy would sling to his clothes, trying their best to find grips on his hands in order to reach the cup.

The little red head girl pointed and laughed happily as one bird landed on Val's hand...and promptly slipped off with a indignant squawk. It's aura danced and glowed, and Auryn was almost breathless from the beauty of all the birds around her and her new friend.

"Is it! This is the best!" she said, resisting the urge to pet the birds that settled and preened themselves on her after taking their fill of the cup.

However, once all the nectar was gone, few birds were keen on hanging out much longer. Most flew off to find other people with cups, some taking to the trees now that their bellies were full. Auryn waved good-bye as the last bird flew away from her, looking up at Vali and just beaming with joy.

"You're the best, Vali! Thanks so much for feeding the birds with me!" The she gave him the biggest hug ever, just wrapping her pudgy little arms around his leg and squeezing tightly, her little wings fluttering like butterfly wings against her back.

"Auryn?"

The little girl's head snapped around as she heard her name called, and she smiled and waved enthusiastically as she noted her guardian heading towards her and Vali.

"Hi Ana! This is Vali! We were feeding the birds!" she gushed, running over to hug Santana's legs much the same way she had hugged Vali's just moments before.

"So that's what was taking you so long," the wolfish man chuckled, kneeling down to hug the little girl. "I was starting to get worried."

"Nah, I'm ok. You should have seen it, Ana! There were so many birds! Some of them tried to land on Vali, but they slid right off! Look!" and, pulling away, Auryn ran over and knocked on the older spawn's metal leg.

"Isn't that cool?"

Santana grinned, shaking his head as he stood and walked over towards the two of them. "Yes, Ryn. Very cool."

"Nice to meet you, Val," the adult said as he met the pair, extending his hand. "I hope Ryn hasn't been too much trouble."