The Bearer of Bad News

{{XD Aislin}}

"Too right, she doesn't," agreed Thatch. "She keeps it in a jar. Under her bed."

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Tremor winced. "Yeah. I would, too."

Ariel smiled encouragingly. "Um...want I should try and grab you one?"

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Aislin made a face. "Well, actually, someone's holding onto it for me, you could say."

She went back to her stew. "But if they don't want it, I'm sure there's room under my bed for it. Don't have any other use for it."

Thatch's face was blank.

Until Door elbowed him and stared at him pointedly.

"Ohhh." Thatch's eyes lit up, and he blushed, biting his lip.

Door sighed. "We aren't too bright today, apparently."

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"No," Trem said automatically. "That's what you never do. Running after pigeons is just asking to be whitewashed. And not with paint, either..."

"Mob mentality. Right." Ariel tried to hide her grin. "Alright. Any suggestions?"

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Aislin didn't dare look at him, trying hard as she could to eat her stew without turning red. "Obviously." she said, "I take it they don't want it too much."

"I never said that," Thatch blurted, speaking without thinking (as men are prone to do). "When did I ever say that? Name one time!"

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Trem shrugged. "My best guess is that we walk around until something pops out. Everything's a bit jumbled at the moment..."

Ariel nodded. "Do any of them have distinct...erm...voices?"

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Aislin was caught off guard and looked at him for a second. "I...uhm, I was...well, I..." she paused. "So you do want it?"

She grinned.

Door made a face, standing. "Mush. Nasty stuff."

Thatch shrugged. "You feel like giving it up?"

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"Every one has a distinct voice," Tremor muttered, rubbing his temples. "And that's the problem."

Ariel bit her lip. "...I'll just...um, hush and let you focus."

And so she did.

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Aislin suddenly bit her lip (...funny how that works). "I thought I had."

The girl blinked at herself, and had a sudden thought.

She imperceptibly nudged Thatch; a meaningful nudge. She had to talk to him later about something she'd only just remembered.

"No, it's alright," Trem murmured, more to himself than anyone else. "I just need to pick out one or two..." Narrowing his eyes, he listened to the mob of gossiping birds, trying to pick out just one.

Easier said than done.

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Thatch blinked at Aislin, but caught her look and nodded. "Okay, Door," he called. "We're done with the mush. You can come back now, yes?"

Door shook her head, waving back. "I'm going for a walk. I'll meet you guys at home, okay?"

"No more thrill-seeking, okay?"

Door turned around, staring at him for a hard moment. "Okay," she agreed, nodding.

"I'm horrible," Aislin said, as soon as Door was out of earshot.

"We're...um, what you'd call an um, couple, right? You and I? Or...uh, am I mistaken?"

She didn't look directly at him; too busy fighting off a blush.

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Ariel watched the birds hop to and fro, wincing at the coos that were no doubt giving Trem a headache.

Food, more food, something about lady pigeons... "It's all useless," Tremor muttered, shaking his head slowly.

Excuse me, he said to one grayish bird who was pecking at something unidentifiable. Might I talk to you for a moment?

Eh? Whaddabout? It paused, blinking up at him with bright, intelligent eyes.

I was wondering if you'd heard anything interesting about the young man who lives in this house, Trem asked.

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Thatch blinked, instantly turning red. "Uhm... I dunno," he mumbled as only he could. "I... D-do you think we are?"

"Well, yeah...I thought...Iddaknow..."

She trailed off, "Did I...uh, assume too much?"

Thatch shook his head. "No..."

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{still thinking of what to do with Trem...}

Aislin smiled, despite herself, and studied the ground intently.

"...That being said...I think that, well...it would be easier for Door if maybe we tried not to be so...Iddaknow..."

She looked at him, "You know what I mean, right? I don't want to make her feel bad because she and Alex just split."

Thatch ground his teeth at the mention of that one person, but eventualy nodded. "...Yeah. I get what you mean..."

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The pigeon pecked again at its food. Well.... there's lots of stuff goin' on 'round heeyah, ya know? What exactly ah ya lokkin' foh?

((Gosh. Pigeon just got a Brooklyn accent. >.< I need a life.))

Ariel watched, amused.

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Aislin cracked her knuckles, "But I wanted to...y'know, talk to you about it because I didn't want you to...Iddaknow..."

She half-grinned. "I don't express things well. I'm sorry."

"Join the club," Thatch replied, grinning as he threw an arm around her shoulders. "As of now, there are two members."

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Tremor sighed. Getting info from this bird was going to be about as easy as pulling teeth. A boy named Alex, mainly. He's a... friend of the family. Former. Any bells ringing?

The bird looked thoughtful. Ehh.... dunno. Hard t' be shore. A bit heeyah, a bit theyah.

{{This is fun.}}

The look on Tremor's face made Ariel laugh, but she quickly suppressed it.

[XD]]

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Aislin grinned. "Well, so long as I'm not alone."

Thatch dared to peck Aislin on the cheek. "You won't be."

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Such as....?? Trem prompted, trying to stay calm. Anything about a marriage, or something?

Y'know... now that ya say sumthin' abowt it, yeah! the bird puffed up his feathers. Sumthin' about a wedding and a really sad kid and a forced... forced sometihng.

WHAT?? A forced what???

Aislin grinned sheepishly in response. After a moment, she turned to look at Thatch. "So Door is...she's seemed to have calmed down."

Nodding, Thatch looked in the direction that his sister had gone off in. "Yeah... Which is a good thing, I think. As long as she's not stewing over what happened, she'll be alright... But you never know. Nothing like this has ever happened before..."

Aislin nodded solemnly. "I wish there was something we could do."

"You and me, both..."

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After several moments of deep deliberation, Tremor had finally gotten the pigeon to give some good information. And as the bird went on, Tremor's face grew more and more veiled.

Ariel slowly approached him, so not to scare the pigeons away. "What'd he say?"

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Aislin nodded, "I don't know about her, but I'd hate to be...pitied, at a time like that. So do we treat her the same as ever? Or...comfort her?"

Aislin wanted to help, but didn't know how.

"...How do you feel about blackmail?" Tremor said quietly, straightening up and staring straight ahead.

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Thatch's mouth quirked in a half-smile. "When we were younger, Door would get upset when people would fawn over her just because she was a girl. They figured that, well, y'know... A noble girl wouldn't be able to do anything on her own, and she'd need the support of everyone else to get by in life..." He drifted off, shaking his head. "If there's one thing that Door's not, it's weak. She's always wanted to prove that she's as strong as anyone. So... I don't think comforting her would help. If you get what I mean..."