[DTA] Birds Of A Feather

Saskia wandered on now-familiar roads and slinked between narrow alleyways of the abandoned cityscapes. Passing the skeletal frames of an old bus stop with its informational signs rendered unintelligible by rust and decay, she gave it little attention in her slow walk. You could hardly call it patrolling as Sergeant ordered her to, but more like a lazy, absent-minded stroll.

She wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s not like she wasn’t paying attention to things amiss. She still noticed an unfamiliar shape in an alleyway, something lanky and covered in a pleasant hue of feathers.

His beak pointed to the sky, the oddly-shaped dinosaur was oblivious to her gentle steps approaching him.

Following his gaze where his interest remained, she saw plenty of wings fluttering between tall walls and the chatter and squabbles of colourful birds. Standing there, she simply did as he did and took in the scene above their heads.

Lowering his head, eventually, and noticing the large shadow that joined his, the oviraptor made a slow turn of his head to look behind him. At first, he didn’t react when Saskia returned the look.

A blink, a second, and the oviraptor sprang up to his feet, startled. Facing her, his monochrome-streaked face was painted in sudden terror. Feathers ruffled, he backed away one step at a time, just a snap-decision away from running.

“Ah. S-sorry,” Saskia apologised, soft-spoken and without urgency. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

With her eyes flicking to the ground and her claws clutching the relic of a plush toy close to her chest, one could easily forget she was a predator. There was no indication that she’d even try to pursue the stranger or chase him teeth first if he chose to run.

The brown and grey oviraptor, frozen in place, blinked at her for a moment. With a breath escaping him, a sigh of relief likely, he slowly relaxes again as the initial scare melts off his limbs. He was convinced he’d end up as her dinner today if he didn’t flee, but it appears he was mistaken in her intention. He tilts his head to the side to regard Saskia, then her dust grey plush bunny, then the ground before looking at her again. Shuffling on his spot as if deciding whether to run anyway or stay put, he eventually picks the latter.

“No, no, that’s okay. You didn’t scare me. I am just… jumpy?” He tried for an excuse.

Saskia didn’t question it and merely looked at him with an eerie calm in her silver eyes. She let the silence sit between them and simply angled her snout upwards toward the tall walls of the surrounding apartments once again.

Small parrots like to roost on the broken frames of torn-open windows, chatting among each other. As much of a commotion as they cause amongst themselves, they are a welcome flutter of colour between concrete towers and mouldy walls. Cockatiels, parakeets and various lost pets have escaped their cages once humankind was no more, and now congregate in these rotting city remains left standing; Squawking, whistling and singing songs that once played on loop on the radio.

“You were bird-watching,” she then muttered more as a fact than a question, her head still aimed toward the sky. “You don’t find these in the forests or plains often.”

Colourful finches whistle their songs, and ancient breeds of parrots repeat old human sayings that have been passed on over the generations. As the silence stretched again, she lowered her head in a smooth motion to look at him again, though her gaze landed just shy of his.

“Oh! Uh, yes, I’ve been watching,” the oviraptor blurted out with fluttering wings, once he figured it was his turn to speak. He cleared his throat and flashed her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You can hear them say words at times. The birds, I mean.”

It was hard to tell whether he was more nervous to be this close to a cryolophosaurus or one so eerily calm as her. She didn’t even question who or what he was, as most other strangers would. He has been chased, interrogated, and met with suspicion, and he returned the distrust and caution more often than not, as many of his kind did.

“My name’s Tiainen, by the way. You probably have met other Oviraptors before with how casual you are,” he introduced himself with a light chuckle, and a disbelieving shake of his head, when she didn’t speak up. He promptly interrupted the gesture once Saskia’s eyes actually focused on him. 

“I did not,” she answered matter-of-factly.

He opened his beak, then closed it again. “Right,” his voice trailed off, followed by another breath of quiet.

“Tiainen is a pretty name,” she then finally replied, before the pause could turn sour, and he fidgeted too much. “Mine’s Saskia.” She smiled down at the eyeless toy bunny in her grasp, giving it a little shake. Her trusty companion of a stuffed animal, limp and tiny in her claws, swayed uselessly with the motion. “And this is Dusty.”

Tiainen perked up as this was the first time he saw her smile, and added a chuckle of his own. “Saskia. And Dusty. It’s nice to meet you two.” He meant it and determined that she wasn’t bad company after all. He tilted his head to glance at the flocks of birds before giving the cryo an inviting half-nod. “We can watch the birds together if you like.“

She gave him a rare smile before her face returned to the pleasant blankness she wore most commonly.
“Just so you know,” she flicked her blue speckled tongue before continuing, not answering his offer. “The west side of the city is Sergeant’s territory. He might mistake you for a fancy ostrich and call a hunt party to chase you.”

Tiainen chuckled lightly before his smile faltered when it hit him that she wasn’t joking.
Maybe it is better to get a move on, instead.

[1005 words according to google docs]