Definitely Not Poisoning Pigeons in the Park +(Riley and Shade)+ [COMPLETE]

It was a couple hours after noon – perhaps around three, with the sun beginning to descend – with more than enough time to reach or find shelter before nightfall. The shadows of trees surrounding the small grove of oaks provided decent cover from the summer heat, and it was at the edge of these shadows where Riley sat, cross-legged.

The teen had finished a small job earlier in the day had rewarded himself by buying a loaf of bread. Well, “loaf” might be over exaggerating – a bun would be more accurate. He had eaten most of it, the remaining bit quickly being diminished as he tore small crumbs from it, tossing it in a semi-circle in front of him. A dozen or so birds – mostly small songbirds, though two pigeons had joined as well – crowded around, eager to get an easy meal.

Riley smiled, gently wrapping what was left of the bread in a napkin and stowing it away in a pocket. If he came across more birds on the way home, it would become their dinner for the night. He pulled down the edges of his bandana to uncover his ears, hesitating just for a moment before uncovering the rest of his face. The air was relatively clear and fresh, so at least his breathing wasn’t acting up – more than usual, that is.

He cocked his head, listening to the birds and picking out the tune of one of the songbirds. He closed his eyes, focusing on the sound for nearly a minute before carefully repeating it. The song was more complex than his standard fare – pigeons, crows, sparrows. Finding it to his liking, he leaned back, propping himself up with his hands and watching the birds finish their feast, continuing the replicate the song to familiarize himself with it, “singing” it louder than most birds usually would.

The birds fluttered away nervously as she neared Riley – and, as a result, closer to them as well. They didn’t stray far; some were brave enough to dart in and grab another crumb before hopping away again.

It was the change in their behavior that alerted Riley, though, and not any footsteps – they were quite soft, especially compared to bird chirps and his rendition of their chirping. He stopped singing, blinking a few times at the birds before twisting around in his seat, spotting the person that no doubt frightened the animals.

Okay, the person – she? – was kind of frightening. She definitely looked like the type that would stab him if they weren’t in broad daylight. Then again, I probably look like a crime waiting to happen, wearing a bandana all the time. The thought made him reach for said piece of cloth, touching the fabric and almost tempted to cover his face again. If it didn’t seem incredibly rude, he probably would have.

As he did so, he shifted to face her without awkwardly bending around, changing from being cross-legged to sitting with one knee bent and foot on the ground, just to make it easier for him to spring to his feet and flee if the situation came down to that. Riley looked at the girl, hyperaware of his rather obviously harbinger-style eyes. Cue awkward pause – on his part, though. What was he even supposed to say? Please don’t hurt me?

“I…er, hello there. Can I help you?”

He nodded slightly at her statement, flicking his gaze away from her – a habit he had picked up as to not bother others with his eye color. Thinking back to what he was doing, it had been a risky move for him to use his power so openly, though he hadn’t expected anyone to notice enough to care. Obviously, he wasn’t so lucky in that regard.

“…Mind if I join you?” Riley looked back at the girl, taking a second to take in the request before nodding again. She didn’t seem hostile, at least. Maybe even friendly, for a non-harbinger (at least he couldn't tell if she was one or not; defaulting to the latter seemed easier). He gestured at a spot next to him, half turning to face the birds again, though too wary to put his back fully to her, especially when she was standing. Instead, he would wait for her to sit before he would finish turning, as to keep her on his side and not behind him.

He still sat as though he was poised to flee, though, one leg bent and the other curved beneath the triangle his leg made with the ground, and arms propping him up just slightly behind him.

Riley cleared his throat quietly, glancing at her briefly though otherwise seemed content with watching the birds. “So…what’s your name?” Maybe if he returned the friendliness – or, well, attempted to – this encounter would go a bit smoother, and no one would end up dead. Especially him.

“And was that you I heard?”

He hesitated, but it didn’t seem it would be bad for him to answer truthfully. “I’m Riley, and yeah, it was.” As if to prove it, he opened his mouth just a fraction and replicated a portion of the birdsong, mimicking it near perfectly – he’d need to practice more, but he doubted that most people could tell the difference between him and the actual bird. Er, sound-wise, of course. After a couple of seconds he stopped and shrugged. “I don’t have any supernatural connection to birds. I like them and they like me. Probably because I feed them.” He smiled slightly, partially to seem like less of a cold hearted jerk (you’re paranoid, Riley, not a sociopath or something) and partially to remind himself that he didn’t need to be so tense. Not yet, at least. There were no knives or guns or fists in the face involved with this meeting.

He shifted slightly in his spot to get more comfortable, watching Shade out of the corner of his eyes, this time with some curiosity rather than pure wariness.

“…what about you? Do you happen to be able to tame birds or some other animal, or maybe something else?”

Her amusement from his power made him smile just a bit more. It was a rarity – for him, at least – to see someone accept the fact he was a harbinger so easily. It was a relief, really; the “normal” people could be really terrible towards his kind. He’d experienced said discrimination once or twice, but most of it he had seen from simply watching the world around him.

Shade’s answer, though, made him falter just a bit. At first he was confused by her reaction, the way she seemed…bothered, by his question. He had just been asking if she had any talents or whatever –

Though now that he thought about it, his statement could’ve been interpreted as “what’s your harbinger power?”. Not that he knew she was like him or something, though now he was doubting the original conclusion he had come to. It would at least explain the goggles.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.” He switched to a cross-legged position, as though the posture would somehow make her feel better. Well, at least it made it seem like he wasn’t about to run away on a whim. “Are you from this area?" he asked in an attempt to change the subject. "I haven’t seen you around before.” As though he knew everyone in the district, which he most definitely didn’t.

“Did you walk all the way here?” That...would be quite a daunting journey. He’d never even left his District when he could help it. He turned toward her slightly, catching the way she was treating her leg before she stopped. Did she walk all the way here injured? He wasn’t sure if he would admire her for it or sigh in exasperation at the notion. Not that he would actually do both; he just met this girl.

“I guess I do, whenever I find the time to do so, or if I just need to relax.” He rubbed the back of his neck, before returning to his previous pose, definitely calmer than he was several minutes ago. Perhaps not completely relaxed, but decent enough for social interaction. Glancing at the bird on her foot, he smiled slightly and sang a short, soft tune he had learned from the creature – or, well, a bird of the same species. He really shouldn’t be showing off his power, but she seemed to like it, and when other people were happy bad things were less likely to happen.

Riley listened to what she had to say, nodding slightly. He cocked her head at her question though, trying to decide if he should say or not.

Oh hell, she knew his name now, she could look him in in the Index if she wanted to so she may as well hear it from the source. “My power isn’t limited to just birds; any sound that I can hear and focus on is fair game. For example…hm.” He took a moment to remember what sounds he’d catalogued that wasn’t inappropriate for the situation. Gunshots, alarms, and screams were all out of course. He concentrated on a memory of wind chimes that had been hanging in someone’s backyard, and cautiously parted his lips, the sound of chimes sounding from his throat. He only showed a short sample though before ending it and shrugging. “It’s nothing special, really.” And it really wasn’t. It was better than communing with plants or riding a unicycle or something silly like that, but it was less useful in protecting himself compared to, say, setting someone on fire.

Wanting to get the attention off of his own abilities, he looked at her and asked, “So…are you a harbinger? Or a normal person that’s not as terribly discriminatory?” Awkward question, but it was important, especially if they ever met again. She could be a good ally in the future, and the more of those he had, the better.

Ah, so he did categorize her wrong. Well, it would’ve been nice to have a “normal person” friend, just to remind himself that not all of them were terrible. But hey, he was more inclined to trust harbingers anyways. After all, they were all in the same boat.

Riley shrugged again when Shade said that she’d rather have his ability. “It’s…not exactly something I can protect myself with, unfortunately. Would’ve been helpful to get something like that, especially – ” He caught himself just in time. No need to babble about his living situation to her. “Well, in general, as a Harbinger. I guess I’m just lucky to not live in the South District.”

And again she was nursing her leg. He glanced at it, though was hesitant about bringing it up; they were still relatively unknown to one another, and he didn’t want to pry too far, especially with how she seemed to dodge questions. Maybe that just pertained to what her ability was, though? Riley knew it’d be an underhanded move, but maybe he could look her up in the Index later, just out of curiosity.

(Needless to say, the attempt would prove to be fruitless, as Shade was not her real name, resulting in a somewhat put out Riley with the fact that the girl didn’t give her actual name, though he couldn’t blame her for it. People always had their reasons.)

He tilted his head slightly. South was generally considered more dangerous than the North, right? No large gang – at least in the size of Solstice – residing in the North if he rememberd correctly. He’d much rather accidentally cross the border into the latter than the former. Probably something personal, then. Not something he really had a right to ask about; he could sense that she had a lot of things to keep private, and well so did he.

Riley looked up as she stood, pausing for a moment but rising as well as she spoke. “Alright, then. It was a pleasure to meet you as well; perhaps we will meet again, eventually.” He knew the bakeries around the District; perhaps they’d bump into each other at one of them. She wasn’t all that bad of a person, after all, and he wouldn’t mind having a new…acquaintance? Friend might be stretching it at this point, but maybe one day. Of course, as long as no sudden attempts of murder are involved. “Take care on your journey back,” he said, letting a faint but friendly smile appear on his face.

Riley shook her hand, a little cautiously at first but relaxing after a moment. He nodded as she turned and walked…well, limped away. At least she could still walk, and she seemed as though she would do fine on the walk back home.

He had turned away to look out at the clearing; the birds had left to continue about their lives, though they could still be heard chirping and singing occasionally. At the sound of Shade’s voice, however, he looked back at her, surprised at the question.

“Well…no, not yet. I’ve been considering it, I suppose. It’s decent pay, but dangerous as well.” He did go on the Bulletin now and again, but he never really did much beyond read up on the various criminals. He could see the appeal, and had come close to going after targets himself when he was running low on credits, but something or the other stopped – or saved, one could say – him from doing so. “Why?” It seemed like an odd question, especially out of the blue like that.

A handful of numbers was easy enough for a short period of time; if anything actually useful came from having his power, it was being able to remember things decently. Riley pulled out his phone – bought and paid for (as if to make up for the fact that the guy refused to do anything more to help him out, though at least it meant he had a way to contact people) by a “friend” – and added it to his fairly empty contact list, saving it under the name “Shade”.

Looking back up at her as he pocketed his cell phone, he smiled slightly. “Thanks, I’ll remember that.” So now, he supposed, they were allies of some sort, or at least future allies when the time comes. Maybe eventually he could learn a bit more about her, and maybe even be friends. “I’ll see you later, then. Have a good evening.” He realized that he needed to head back as well, if he wanted to make sure he had enough spare time on the walk home to account for any delays.

Nodding again, Shade turned away with a short wave. Placing her feet carefully until she reached the pavement again. From there, she headed east, musing on the meeting with Riley.

It had been a nice change of pace since there wasn't any yelling or explosions or fights or weapons drawn or running or... Wow. A lot of crap had been happening in the past few weeks, huh?

Sighing softly, Shade tugged her hood a little further over her face to block out a little more of the sun's rays. Her skin was already uncomfortable, a good indicator that she had been out just a little too long. If she was right about where she was, then the Emberwheat Bakery shouldn't be too far. Maybe she should stop in like she had been thinking of earlier. Of course, Fye might yell at her for walking around so much on this leg - as much as he ever yelled that is - but the thought of some of his excellent food was too good to pass up. Maybe she'd just get a disappointed look, if he even reacted.

...Who was she kidding? He probably wouldn't care at all.

Huffing again, just with a differing emotion, she shrugged. She was hungry.

((end))