*Smells like burnt chicken…

INTRODUCTIONS CAME AND WENT AS quickly as Flower King’s closure. Uprooted in the most literal sense and seated meticulously in the school’s closet, resettlement tugs his heartstrings. Blue’s guilty of hiding his fatigue and woes, but revealing them is unfathomable. The part he plays in this ensemble has no room for error. Many rely on his performance, himself included. Were he to wilt, the others would follow. That tragedy mustn’t manifest.

AND YET IN THE CASTLE he perches, condemned until Ralsei has the time to inspect his “sprained” ankle. What a laugh without humor. He is without fault, the incident was incidental. Nothing plagues him physically, only psychologically, and no cure exists for that. What marginally improves his tragicomedy act is a new, interesting face. Right away Blue knows this is a Lightner.

This was okay! he thought, for the bluebird wasn't alone in his impatient agony.

To his right sat a stunning individual, practically glowing in his radiance. His smile in the face of woe could only be described as infectious, yet for a fellow actor like Berdly, there was something off about it in a way he couldn't quite put a finger on. The boy grins in response, at least happy to see someone take note of his presence.

*Salutations, o' fellow blue-hued compatriot! I am Berdly! A dashing knight in glow-in-the-dark armor!

*I may be here due to unforeseen unfortunate circumstances, but I shall not allow any minor injury to keep me from my duties.

HE  WOKE  UP.

it  wasn't  something  she'd  been  thinking  about.  not  really.  noelle  has  had  too  many  things  on  her  mind,  lately,  and  it's  horrible  to  say  it,  but  berdly  has  not  been  one  of  the  top  five.  god,  it's  terrible,  and  noelle  knows  it.  of  course  she  does.  he  doesn't  deserve  that  from  her  -  he  deserves  a  good  friend,  a  best  friend  rushing  to  see  him  first  chance  she  gets,  not  .  .  .

.  .  .  well,  not  this.  noelle  walks  through  the  doors  of  the  hospital  the  afternoon  after  kris-

her  eyes  slide  across  the  empty  waiting  room  in  front  of  her.  she  twists  two  fingers  around  the  ring  finger  of  her  left  hand  as  if  twisting  a  ring  that  is  not  there.  there  is  a  dull  throbbing  pinch  where  the  thorn  dug  its  way  in.  it  hurts  when  she  presses  on  it.  she  keeps  doing  so.  the  receptionist  looks  at  her,  and  noelle  looks  back.

“  hey,  hun,  ”  she  says,  warmly.  “  he's  gonna  be  able  to  go  tomorrow.  ”

noelle  blinks,  taking  a  long  moment  to  realize  she  means  noelle's  father.  right  -  dad  will  be  at  the  festival.  good.  that's  good.  she'll  have  the  chance  to  say  goodbye.

“  i'm  here  for  berdly,  actually,  ”  she  says,  voice  feeling  far  away.  the  receptionist  pauses,  then  nods.

“  second  room.  ”  she  knows.  she  looks  at  the  door  with  nothing  but  guilt  every  time  she  walks  by.

noelle  strides  into  the  hallway  with  hooves  clicking  on  the  floor.  it  sounds  like  her  mother's  gait.  she  swallows,  coming  to  a  stop  in  front  of  the  door.  she  hesitates  for  just  a  moment,  in  front  of  the  door,  before  taking  a  deep  breath.  he  deserves  to  know  what's  going  on.  she  opens  the  door.

he's  not  dead.  it's  a  hollow  relief,  though,  to  see  him  awake.  noelle  closes  the  door  behind  her,  hesitating  there  in  the  threshold.

So cold.

An icy grip clutches his SOUL. Holds it tight, refusing to let go. Every breath he takes leaves a chill from his beak, and every minute he clings to life, his consciousness falls deeper into the abyss. Yet he continues to persist. To what end? Not even he had an answer. All he remembers was a sheet of white and every molecule in his body turning to ice.

Would death have been a kinder fate?

As he begins to awaken from his nightmare, frostbitten wings lay numb in the hospital bed. First thing he sees is more white. This time, from the sterile ceiling. He inhales deep. An agonizing pain fills his lungs. The boy cringes as a frosty mist escapes from an exhale. Hard to breathe... hard to move... hard to notice he was even awake at all.

Yet the deer did. The one he so desperately wanted to protect. Was she... okay? He couldn't see her... He couldn't see anything. His gaze remains affixed to the florescent light, as if wondering when the Angel would take him away from this place. Yet... what remained him tethered to this mortal coil was the soft voice of his visitor.

*N... No... elle...

the bluebird croaked,

"You can't talk to someone you can't see or hear," Aqua responded to Berdly's question, and only then did it dawn on her that maybe she wasn't hidden as she thought as was. In fact, she realized she was just standing there, right out in the open. "Oh well, guess I lose the stealth game. Though I'm mainly playing the help Seth game. Did you know Seth is super duper smart? They know all sorts of things about human. Like names and stuff. Like my name. It's Aqua, because I guess I'm aqua colored." Some how she can completely forgotten that she had been asked what her name was and yet at the same time still answered the question.

*Haha! Seth's intellect was never a question for me, as one would need a high IQ to fully grasp my genius! For you see--

That's as far as the bluebird could get into his little speech, for the young-looking... human? began to prance about. Her 'dance' was light, weightless, for whatever she touched remained still; yet she left chaos in her wake in the form of a flower shower. Petals rain from each step, all in the same hue as her skin. Just what was she, this 'Aqua?' And what was Seth for that matter? So many questions, so little time...

Berdly couldn't help but laugh at the sight. How rare was it for him to be the witness of misfortune rather than the victim of it. Perhaps it cruel of him to laugh, but who can blame him? Though... maybe he should at least try to help. He wouldn't tolerate such foolishness in his own library, after all! 'Twas a place for learning, not... whatever it was he was looking at right now. With a sorrowful goodbye to his cup of tea, he sets it aside and rises from his seat.

Well... now what? thought the boy. His eyes followed the restless child as she hopped to and fro. If only he could catch her... He observes in stunned silence, attention slowly slipping away, until!

*Eureka! Fear not, my violet companion! For I have a plan.

Well, Jack may not be the greatest at picking up social cues, but, he can certainly tell when Berdly wasn't particularly feeling like opening up. There's a pause, before his signature smile came back on his face.

"Your loss, hee-ho. I hope you hee-realize that I hee-won't let up, hee-ho." Is all he gives, before the second race finally began as he unpaused the game. Unfortunate for the Snowman, though, his beginning would spell a terrible fate before him- As he tried to time the beginning boost, he watched his kart immediately explode and fumble around.

He can't let Jack win.

And so he didn't. With the remaining two matches, Berdly found himself victorious by the skin of his teeth. And so he leapt into the air and cheered. His controller clattered to the floor as his talons danced around it.

*Huzzah!! I knew my gaming magic could never wane!

Oh, this was a bit out of order from what the process of events Seth thought-out in their head. They assumed they'd at least chat for a bit before Berdly would ask the question to where they were. However, small adjustment's like this weren't anything they weren't able to handle. Things were still on course to go as planned. "This cafe is one of those places where if you don't know about it then you can't find it. Since it's slightly underground. That sunset is actually just a screen with window's in front of it." And it wasn't really a lie either. The flower darkner having requested this cafe to be slightly built underground and for the screen to display a sunset since Ralsei did say they had to try and keep Berdly in the dark. "The uh, armor is something I don't know about." Again, not really a lie.

"Oh, but I'm sure you also meant the name. It's call The Jarona Cafe. A silly name, but it was a named by a silly individual. Though remember, its only a in the know sort of place. You can't just be telling any and everyone about it or it loses it's charm." Seth hoped that'd satisfy any of Berdly's questions and concerns for the time being.

*A secret cafe and a haven of knowledge? By the Goddess of Education, am I in heaven?

Heaven. Armor. ...The dream. That's right, his dream! The thing that's been turning in his head in constant debate whether it was real or not! Though, it couldn't be, surely! After all, he was a knight in glow in the dark armor with command over the winds and halberd in hand. He summoned the cavalry to come together in a grand group project to forge a battle mecha that rivaled the greatest in media! Why wouldn't this just be some fantasy of his? And yet... his arm. The one of many great flaw(s) that turned his dream into a nightmare. And it laid in front of him, covered in a heap of bandages that obscured the wounds beneath. Were he to unravel them, would he be met with blue feathers... or charred ash?

Before he could dwell upon it further, a new voice called out to his new companion. A small blue girl stood between the two of them rocking back and forth and smiling up at Seth. Huh... Why did she bear a striking resemblance to--

"Hee-ho-ho-ho-ho! Perhaps, hee-ho, you should try gaining spatial awareness to dodge my hee-ssatsu technique: Gr-hee-n Shell Snipe Attack, hee-hoooooooooo!" Jack quickly starts to gently nudge his elbow into Berdly's ribs, trying to do his best to avoid his cast. . . Which was harder than one would think. He swipes the pad of his right thumb under his chin, almost as a sign of confidence.

"But, hee-hey, you still got 2 more chances. It's best two outta thr-hee, right?" Despite his ribbing and teasing, it's clear that Jack doesn't want this to be something that genuinely ruins Berdly's day. The poor guy's already in a cast. . . Not to mention, despite all the taunting, the blue bird was probably Jack's closest friend here.

There's a pause.

*A-ah yes...! Best two out of three.

*Of course, I was merely overcome with adrenaline.

How could he have forgotten? And he rarely forgets! Poor bird must be losing his touch...

He violently shakes his head, ruffling his feathers. No! No, he can't be! Any fret to his already crumbling social life can wait. He has his own pride as a gamer on the line! Really, it's all he had left...

Easy it was for the doctor to find Berdly once again. Easier still was it to simply follow at a respectable distance. Rare for the doctor to show himself, rarer still to fully manifest only a few feet behind a resident. It was safe now. No prying eyes or nosy neighbors to interrupt, or intervene.

"Young man."

It was greeting enough. Greeting enough for a monster that, if the doctor's memory served, Berdly had never seen. It was good that they'd never crossed paths before... All of this. Before his DELTARUNE. Simply... a stranger.

And one he would not have been able to see in the dark all those weeks ago.

Approach. Make his presence known.

Despite the welcoming light, the barren streets left the bluebird uneasy. He feared if he wasn't careful, he could run into something--

With a sharp inhale, he halts. Feathers prickle at attention from the sudden voice, as soft as it was. He turns his head, swiftly combing back his crest feathers as if he didn't just show a moment of weakness a few seconds before.

Behind him stood a towering, thin, almost ghost-like skeleton monster. One who had a calm look in the eye and a crooked smile. Yet, even to Berdly something felt off about him in ways he can't explain.

*Oh, salutations and good evening! You're a new face around here. Did you arrive just now?

*Alas, most have landed at home base for the night. I promise Hometown hasn't succumbed to the 'ghost town' staus.

.....

"Yes, I am quite familiar with you Berdly," Seth said, almost absent mindedly. Being a flower one tends to hear, well, everything. No one thinks twice when speaking around a flower after all. Though it swiftly dawned on them that their statement could come off as creepy.

"Uh, I mean, I've just heard a lot about you and your superior intelligence is all." Seth was just going to push down the feather they got from Kris and had in their book further down so Berdly wouldn't notice it was actually his. Ugh, they needed to shift the topic and quick before everything become botched and their planning gets thrown out the window.

His superior intellect.

Of course.

His greatest lie achievement, the thing he's centered his entire identity around. The only thing that gave him meaning to people. Everyone knew he was number one in the class, but this... is the first he's seen someone actively try to prove their intelligence to him with insightful conversation. Oh god, what if they find out he...?

Berdly lets out a sheepish chuckle, brushing back his crest as his eyes wander off to the side. As they land upon the cup of tea, he begins to consider the sense of deja vu he's experiencing. Now that the identity of the secret admirer has been revealed and he's had a moment to process the new environment, he still had to ask:

*Ah, of course, my dear Seth. Worry not. You'll have your intellectually-stimulating dialogue yet.