But. Something about that much water had been grossly intimidating, and he’d just so happened to run into Aliez while trying to figure out what he was going to do for the day.
The company was welcome, and it had been a pleasant trip out to the reservoir.
They’d gotten to enjoy trees and ‘fresh air’ and warm sand--and, more abnormal, food trucks.
He was only moderately acceptable at using currency, but he’d been given it and he spent it, and they had two servings of french fries. Andreiya had gotten every topping he could on the side, and he had a grilled cheese sandwich.
He had only been slightly disappointed that it hadn’t been all cheese, but one bite in and he’d decided he liked it. He and Aliez sat at a little table, on the sand but under a large umbrella that shielded them from the sun.
He wasn’t really used to this civilian glamour, even if he had the same hair color, the same eye color. His skin was different, his clothes were different. He felt different.
There were humans nearby, splashing in the water, building in the sand. He’d stared while they were getting their food, because--why not? They’d picked a seat well away from everyone so they could enjoy a little bit of privacy while they appreciated their meal. It was a little warm, but he was comfortable, and eagerly picked at his food. At first, the flavors had been overwhelming. Now, he wanted to try everything.
He tried to eat quickly, with as many manners as he could muster, but it felt like there wasn’t enough time in a day to do everything he wanted. He had a list of things he wanted to do here that was nearly a foot long--he wanted to examine the sand, he wanted to understand why they were laying in it, he wanted to see the water, he wanted to understand why everyone was in it. He wanted to take a walk in the forest, he wanted to eat--well, everything. He wanted to understand why the sand squeaked, and what all these animals were. There were big, white, fluffy birds that looked a little scary, and alternated between stomping around on the ground and flying above.
“Do you think they might be predators?” he asked, because those beady little eyes looked evil, and no matter how he sat or what he did, one of the birds was watching him.
- Aliez was pleased that he met up with Andreiya. He hadn’t been sure how he was going to spend his day, but everything seemed easier when he had someone with him. As long as he didn’t end up getting into trouble like when he’d been with Vyn at the place the humans called a mall.
“The birds?” Aliez asked, having studied his Baby’s 50 First Animals very hard. He was very confident that the winged creatures were birds. However, he was unsure of the type of bird, as there appeared to be many different subspecies.
“I am unsure,” he admitted with a frown, also turning from the table to watch the creatures as they roamed around. Some of them seemed to be picking at scraps that had been left on the ground, and others were just. Staring. “The humans don’t appear to be fleeing from them,” he observed. Instead, it looked like they were generally leaving them alone, except for a few that were tossing food to them every now and then.
Aliez couldn’t remember exactly what he asked for, but he had been given something similar to Andreiya but with some red savory fruit and crisp, green leaves on bread with large pieces of white cheese. There was some dark, sweet glaze that was over top of it and put between two pieces of bread, and he found it quite refreshing to eat.
He was still getting used to having strange, rounded ears. And seeing others with strange rounded ears. He did not find the appeal in looking human, but he knew the importance of keeping a low profile.
“Maybe we should try feeding them some of our food and they will leave us be?” he suggested, not really sure what else to do about the birds that kept staring at them. He would much rather the birds leave them alone, so they could go back to discussing the shapes of some of the colorful flotation devices some of the humans were using. He was certain one was called a one-horn.
“Birds,” Andreiya repeated, sort of to himself, and sort of as confirmation that he had heard and accepted Aliez’s categorization of these creatures.
The humans did appear to be feeding them, but Andreaiya wasn’t really certain that he wanted to part with his food.
“Birds,” he said again, slowly, as if that would make the word feel right. It didn’t. All he could think about were their evil, beady little eyes.
“They are disturbing,” he decided. “I do not wish to pay tribute to them.”
He ate another fry, but the bird closest to him waddled closer, so Andreiya tried to scoot a little further on the bench as he watched it warily.
“...But, perhaps they have negotiated something with the humans that we were not informed of. Are we offending them?” he whispered, suddenly concerned that they could hear and understand them. He looked at his food, at the winged monsters a few feet away, and then back to Aliez almost helplessly.
He tried to be discrete and hide from the birds that he was shoving a few more fries into his mouth.
- “I think if we hold very still it will not see us,” Aliez suggested, but -- wait that didn’t seem right. He was confusing his Earth animals. Maybe that was what they were supposed to do with rabbits?
“Oh.” Now it was Aliez’s turn to be uncomfortable about their new potential enemies. Another of the birds decided it wanted to squawk and land on the table. He quickly covered up his own food with his arm, and looked across to Andreiya for help.
“I do not like this,” he cringed away from the creature, waving a hand at the beast as it opened up its wings to assert dominance.
Not knowing what else to do, Aliez grabbed his food and quickly slid under the table where -- oh no, it was even more difficult to avoid the birds from down there! This was a horrible choice. Hopefully Andreiya knew this and didn’t make the same mistake.
“Aliez.” Andreiya’s voice was full of alarm and he was rigid in his seat. “Aliez, this bird has defecated on the table. He is coming closer.”
The malicious, evil, soul-crushing sound of a bird cawing. The shrill shriek of Aliez fighting for his life, and then ducking beneath the table to join Aliez with half his fries and his grilled cheese sandwich.
“He is vicious! He is a thief! I did not move and he still ran at me.”
And now, with all the movement and excitement and stolen fries scattered on the table above them, the birds were eagerly flocking to get their share. Andreiya made an alarmed noise as he tried to save his grilled cheese sandwich by shoving half of it in his mouth at once.
“Aliez, I saw his teeth. There were so many of them, they looked horrible. They will eat us for sure. I think we have to run.”
He didn’t think even Commodore Lyndin could get there quickly enough to save them. “Maybe if we stun them we can escape.”
Guine
