Friendly Faces

Oboe and Bassoon had been in service of the count of Atlantis for many days and nights now. The curious pair had heard of rumors of an underwater dome filled with strange creatures and plants- and hadn’t been able to resist. They had flown right into the walls of Atlantis- and had instantly been arrested. Thankfully the court was merciful- instead of treating them as spies or attackers and having them killed or thrown into a cell somewhere, they were offered a deal. Work in the service of the court, and they would be freed. It did not escape the two's attention that no time frame was mentioned- but all they could do was go with the flow.

Today they were instructed to preen on one of the many gardens scattered around Atlantis. This wasn't one of the gardens full of meat-eating plants, thankfully- these seemed to be the plants they used to make the war paints Oboe and Bassoon had seen painted onto nearly every resident. And it was during that day both caught a hint of another surface dweller in Atlantis for the first time- a black pachycephalosaurus already at work in the garden.

Lazuil has been in the heart of Atlantis for a few weeks now, working in service of the court in hopes to one day be allowed to meet with their queen. She had started small, cleaning statues and armor around the oasis, doing whatever she could to get into the courts good graces. It wasn't hard work but she's thankful to be working in the gardens today. The flowering plants are beautiful and the weather is pleasantly humid. 

A basket sits at Lazuil's feet and she slowly fills it with unwanted plant life. She plucks dried leaves and shriveled flower buds off of stems and places them into the basket, trying to keep the area clean and tidy. Nervous about damaging anything of the plants, she moves slowly, double checking that each shrub and bush has been fully pruned before moving onto the next one. 

The black pachycephalosaurus pauses her work as a pair of Tapejara waddle into the gardens. She raises a hand in greeting. “Hey there fliers! Are you helping with the gardens as well today?” 

Oboe squawked, hopping forward and getting almost rudely close to the omnivore. “Yes! That's right! I didn't realize there were other normal dinosaurs down here.” She took a quick look around her at the surrounding environment- a strange, underwater dome with aggressive and rude dinosaurs.

Bassoon quickly grabbed the edge of Oboe’s wing in his mouth, pulling his mate back to a respectable distance. “We need to get to work.” He urged, releasing her. “You know they dont like it when we’re late.” He nodded towards the watching guards- who were obviously eavesdropping and horrible pretending to not be.

Oboe grumbled but fell into place beside Bassoon as they joined in with Lazuil, carefully examining the plants and removing parts that were overgrowing or unhealthy. Their sharp beaks were already used to consume vegetation as omnivores, so they had little trouble using them to preen the strange, exotic plants kept down here.

As they worked, Bassoon became unnerved by the silence- and decided to start some friendly conversation. “So, what brings you down here?” He asked Lazuil as he carefully held some plants still for Oboe to snip away at, spitting them back out in the basket at their feet.

“Oh, I just wanted to meet with their queen!” Lazuil says, dropping more dead plants into the basket. “I've heard that they have excellent armor down here and was wondering what type of materials they use to make it! Or if they just found it somewhere…” Most members of her herd have experimented with making their own armor or using parts from ruins as armor, but it hasn't been the best. “Setting up some sort of trade agreement would be nice, or even just getting the ability to purchase some goods from a seller!”

“With all the strange things down here I'm certain that they have something better than what we use up above… but it's been difficult to get a meeting with anyone important.” Constantly being sent to do acts of service around the area has started becoming tiring as well. How much work must one do to prove that they have good intentions? How much work must be done before she can speak with someone in charge?” Lazuil pauses to lean close to whisper to the fliers. “Im thankful for the chance the court is giving me… but it's starting to feel like I'm wasting my time. At this point I'm starting to question if the queen is even around!” 

Oboe and Basson shared looks as they finished dropping the rest of their cuts of various foliage into the basket. The bushes were preened to near perfection, the overgrowing and unhealthy cuts removed and scattered around the grounds. The trio carefully picked them up, far too nervous to risk pissing off the Atlanteans in a very delicate situation. 

“Well.” Bassoon raised his head, taking a quick looking around before ducking his head towards Lazuli. “Some rumors say… the scouts, they walk, you know?” He nervously clawed at the grass.

Oboe butted in. “They say the queen may not even exist. They could just be playing us for fools.” She spat angrily at the ground- as well as a bird-lizard could, anyways.

“I hope that's not true… but it does make sense.” Lazuil cleans up her area, humming thoughtfully to herself. She's spent a lot of time working towards this goal, but there's only so long that she can wait, and only so much free work she's willing to do. “I guess I'll do a few more tasks to help out and if she doesn't show up, then it'll be time to get going.” 

She picks up her basket and smiles at the fliers, readying herself to leave before the guards come check on them. “Was nice meeting you two! Maybe we'll see each other around while doing tasks in the area… Make sure to stay out of trouble though, you never know what the guards will do if there actually is no ruler around.” 

The two smiled back. If only everyone here was as friendly...