it all keeps adding up, i think i'm cracking up;

[notachickenhawk]

Characters: Tobias and open.
Setting: Floor 14, Floor 63, and Floor 87
Format: Either.
Summary: A day in the life of a birdboy?
Warnings: Probably nothing aside from usual body horror if he morphs. Maybe mild language?


[Floor 14]

[Even with everything that happened, Tobias is still a teenager. A nerdy teenager, at that. So it's not really that surprising for someone like him to be on the media floor, playing a video game - an FPS, specifically.]

[What is probably surprising, at least for other people, is that he's still in his hawk morph, perched on the controller. One talon is on the stick controlling movement, and the other is resting on the face buttons.]

[… These graphics are awesome.]



[Floor 63]

[Birds are not made for water, generally - at least not hawks. That's just not something they do. But Tobias is fighting that instinct today as he rolls himself out into the water.]

[Today, he's decided to use his dolphin morph, despite having almost been drowned acquiring it. There's just something about being a dolphin that's sheer fun, even though he's eyeing some of the fish uneasily. Still, the dolphin instinct takes over, so anyone heading through this level will see a dolphin speeding around, chittering and trying to play with the fish.]

[Every so often he pokes his head into the column of air around the stairs, spraying out a wet breath from his blowhole and sucking in another fresh breath before zooming away again.]



[Floor 87]

[It's not totally unlike Tobias to sit and admire wildlife. He's part of the wildlife, after all. He'd smell the flowers, but his sense of smell is way inferior to most of his other senses now. Even still, it's not that hard to spot the flash of reddish-brown from the stairs.]

[It's starting to get harder to spot him, though. Tobias closes his eyes, hunkering down a bit. A nap shouldn't hurt, right?]

[Hasn't he seen this in a movie somewhere?]

Comments

[POPPIES, POPPIES EVERYWHERE]

[bloodyashes]

[Luckily, there's someone who makes regular, but short, stops on the poppyfield floor, and Asch happens to see the collared hawk diving into the flowers. He's on-guard against the effects of the floor, which means that he's at least capable of going far enough into it to stand over Tobias, his arms folded and a couple of poppies in one hand.]

You shouldn't sleep here, you know. You'll die in your sleep if you do.

[notachickenhawk]

[The voice rouses him from his quickly deepening sleep. He opens his eyes, feathers ruffling a bit.]

<... Huh?>

[Most intelligent responses, here.]

[bloodyashes]

[Man having people who don't share his voice actor in his head is still weird.]

I said, don't sleep here.

[And because clearly talking isn't going to work... Asch shoves his couple of poppies into his belt and reaches down to pick up the bundle of feathers. How do you successfully carry bird. Stomach-down, presumably...]

[notachickenhawk]

[He doesn't really respond, just kind of hangs there. He's so tired. The world has stopped making much sense. His head drops to rest on Asch's arm, eyes closing again.]

<Tired... I don't wanna wake up for school...>

[ambassadorasshat]

[Sup bird gamer, here's another redhead for you. Not someone particularly interested in video games--he's not very good at them, there might still be a broken television in the room as a testament to that. But he can watch plays on the televisions, and they're kinda cool.

He'd go to look for one if Tobias' game didn't distract him. He fails to notice the bird, though, and assumes it's a movie instead. Hope you don't mind an audience, Tobias.]

[notachickenhawk]

[He only really catches a glimpse of him out of the corner of his eye.]

<Hey Asch. Didn't think I'd see you on this level.>

[ambassadorasshat]

[...Okay, several weird things just happened. Someone just talked to him in his head. And it wasn't Asch. And they called him Asch.

...Was it the bird? Could birds do that? Tower, why you mess with him?]

I'm not Asch. Asch is my--uh...I'm not him. Who are you?

[notachickenhawk]

[... welp. He pauses the game and looks over at him. ... Huh.]

<... Sorry. Didn't get a good look at you. I'm Tobias.>

14

[desireforchange]

[This particular floor is... just plain awesome. It's not his first time here, either. He's been here several times and has already become acquainted with some of the games. He's headed over to one of his favorites, when his eyes land on something... different.

That's a bird--

--playing a game. And it has a collar? So this place has animals as prisoners, as well? Moving closer, he slowly cranes his neck to get a closer look, only standing a couple of feet away.]

Uh... hi.

[It can play games. Therefore, it has to be able to talk. Luke logic says go.]

[notachickenhawk]

['scuse you he's a he not an it. But he manages to hit the pause button and look around. Uh.]

<Uh. Hi.>

[Awkward...]

<You... aren't Asch. Are you related to him?>

[Sorry about the thought-speak he can't exactly use vocal chords to make words like this.]

[desireforchange]

[It's nothing personal, but how was he supposed to know the gender? He blinks when the sudden male voice enters his mind. No way...]

You... uh... [Let him just start over and completely switch to something else.]

No, not... ... technically. Not the way you're probably thinking. [But, more importantly...]

How are you... doing that, though? [He gestures to his right temple. He's only ever had Asch's voice in his head, after all. But that's because of something that makes a LOT more sense than... this--a bird speaking into his mind.]

floor 14

[fionnuisce]

[He really was just going to walk by this floor and mind his own business. Honestly. But on the other hand--]

...is that a fucking bird playing a videogame...?

[Said with the tone of 'oh well, I've finally snapped.' Because Waver's pretty sure he's hallucinating vividly.]

[notachickenhawk]

[Uuuuugh. He pauses and stares right back at Waver.]

<Yes it's a bird playing a video game. And talking to you. No, you're not crazy or hallucinating or something.>

[fionnuisce]

...Congratulations.

You have now taken the top position on the list of 'weird shit I've seen here'.

Joining the Floor 14 Train!

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick hasn't been up to moving around much the past couple of days, but as is usual he has jobs to do, places to be, food to eat, and so on. Not that he has to do all of this at once--hence his plan to briefly stop on the media floor, not so much to entertain himself as to sit down for minute and relax.]

[He carefully settles into a beanbag chair with every intent to fall asleep in the ambient noise when he catches sight of Tobias. That's fine, he thinks, just someone playing a video game. Interesting how he manages with just his feet like that.]

[Wait.]

[Rick does a full double-take. What...what does he even say about this? Is this normal? He supposes there could always be some race of hawk-people that this individual heralds from, in which case his awkward staring must be extremely offensive. He quickly looks away and flushes pink.]

[...Surely he must've noticed. Rick's sure of it. This must be salvaged!]

...Y-You're...ah...p-pretty g-g-good at that.

[notachickenhawk]

[... Aaand there it is. He was waiting for the doubletake.]

<My reactions are pretty good like this. I could probably do this just on hearing alone now.>

[Enjoy that telepathy.]

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick visibly starts. That...that's not something he's run into in quite a while. Doesn't feel like the hawk can read his thoughts back...maybe. Probably. He's kind of rusty with mental conditioning.]

...That m-makes s-s-sense. [As opposed to the fact that there's a hawk playing a video game, which makes very little sense.]

[Despite his better judgement, Rick inquires further.] ...So...you h-have g-games like this w-where y-you're from?

Floor 14 - Cuz the more the merrier~

[taintedwhite]

Birdie!

[Have a young albino girl run your way, Tobias. She stops right next to the bird, curiosity and excitement painted all over her face. It's the first time she's seen a bird do that. Though she's supposed to know many birds back home, bird-named people at least.]

Birdie can play video games? ...Birdie wanna play video games with Shiro?

[notachickenhawk]

[Oh geez. She sounds a lot younger than she looks. He hits the pause button and looks over at her.]

<Uh. Maybe? What do you want to play?>

[taintedwhite]

[Shiro blinks in surprise, then claps her hands happily.]

Birdie can talk too! Birdie is very smart.

[Then she seems to ponder his question.]

Shiro likes action games... With superheroes... And fights! And games with candy, too.

floor 63

[terreifying]

[Rei cocks her head, staring intently at the hawk playing the video game.]

...So, who taught you to play?

Floor 14

[sunflowerfairy]

[Yotsuba sometimes wandered into this floor to tentatively play whatever video game was in the console. She didn't know everything about them yet, but they were interesting, just like almost everything else here in the Tower. However, she didn't expect to see the birdie from before playing video games, and she smiled as she watched him play.]

I didn't know you liked video games! But..which one are you playing? It looks dang..dangerous!

[Floor 14]

[no_longer_a_king]

[Dude, that is some mad hawkform skillz.

Arturia came up to play her usual fighting game if no one was here. Initially she had assumed someone left the FPS on the demo or something, not that someone was playing.

Naturally, she's shocked to see a hawk playing the game. Not any hawk, but a hawk who is among the refugees here, judging by the tiny collar about its throat. To her embarrassment, she's gaping at it, even after it taps a few buttons and gets in a few headshots.]

I did not think hawks enjoyed this sort of thing. [Stupid thing to say? Yes. Yes, indeed.]

[notachickenhawk]

[He pauses the game and looks up at her.]

<Most don't, no. But I do.>

[no_longer_a_king]

[And she....

....well, as strange as it is, Arturia has dealt with stranger in her life even before coming to the Tower. A hawk playing video games? Why not?]

I'm partial to fighters myself.

[She just takes a seat on the other end of the couch to wait her turn.]

I take it games such as this are common where you come from?