rekindleme | Of Birds and Barns

Who:Anyone, Everyone
Where: Fourth District, unoccupied lot
When: 20th-22th January
Summary: Trying to find room for two Chocobos was a puzzle enough; now, with four more on the way, it's in everyone's best interests to get a place together to house them all.
Warnings: Not recommended for those with bird allergies.

Ramza was forced to draw upon a few favors- and no small portion of his stipend- in doing so, but- one way or another- he couldn't simply leave the birds without a roof over their head.

Eventually, and after a bit of generosity from Saeng Seong's administration, he was able to have set aside a vacant, verdant lot in the fourth district for use as a pasture... or, at least, he was assured of its green; in January, it was harder to discern beneath all the gathered snow. The Chocobos seemed comfortable there, at least, the season's weather notwithstanding. It wasn't huge, but... then again, there wasn't a huge herd that called for acres and acres.

The more pressing matter, however, was a lack of housing for the birds. And while there were materials plenty enough for such a task- from tools to planks and old corrugated metal, some purchased, some donated, others 'reclaimed' from the past month's more violent happenings, and some of it even sitting in sorted stacks on the sidelines- Ramza had to acknowledge that, for all the Chocobo stables he'd passed through in his homeland, the process of actually building them was well outside of his skills and knowledge.

Thankfully, a few kind souls throughout the city were willing to offer their help in any number of ways... or at least to come and see the big, strange riding-birds for themselves.

((OOC: Apologies for the delay! Feel free to start your own threads, and don't think you need to focus entirely construction either; get involved, mingle, and play out however you wish... and feel free to use Ramza's two chocobos to lend yourseves a hand. Thanks again, everyone!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yeah, I heard about that. They're gonna come in handy though, yeah? Cars ain't much here, but the paths are perfect for bikes and the chocobos are compact enough to work, too." He looked up. Sup, Boco?

He pushed to his feet and decided to ruffle neck feathers instead. Aw, how could he say no to that face, huh?

"...So where'd the others go, anyway?" That's right- he offered a kinda-sorta adoption gig before all this. The egg sat in the apartment now, warm and out of harm's way, but... what of the other three?

"And affectionate, no less; I know not if they would thirst for touch same as you or I, but I cannot imagine they would have much issue in getting it." Especially if Kanji's reaction was any indication.

"The eggs?" Ramza replied as Boco leaned right back into Kanji's affections with a placid sway. "That 'hatching specialist' Gold's lot was drawn... as was a curious girl named Piper. Cupid, as well-- one can only imagine the luxury of that chick's rearing..."

He nodded, distracted. The eggs had homes, then, which put a little load off his mind. But with the swaying Boco at hand, his focus was on not only scratching the bird's itch, but his own- sometimes you just wanted to pet a soft and fluffy thing. Didn't every man?

"There's no way in hell anybody'd let these guys get cold n' sick with that weird Saeng Seong stuff. All the people that're here? They wanna help 'em! What's sparing an extra petting on top of everything, y'know?"

Ramza let out a quiet laugh. "Better people and better life than they would have found in Ivalice, for certain. And here they would find no use in battle, as well."

Though he had his suspicions about the latter, from what he'd gathered about Pokémon...

"To say naught of your own efforts. You've my gratitude as well, Kanji."

He nodded, glancing away briefly. Gratitude, huh...? "I'm just bangin' nails into boards, man."

"Battle, though? That weird snowman invasion shows that we gotta put up our dukes sometimes, don't it? If they're good to fight, then ya shouldn't let 'em get all rusty."

"And I suppose a blacksmith just swings a hammer against an anvil!"

But Kanji's second thought leaves Ramza at a scowl.

"Mayhap it does. But I still would not have wished it upon this city any more than I would wish a life of battle upon any man or beast."

"Yeah," he conceded.

"This place is pretty chill. The snowmen showin' up was way too weird, but I gotta wonder if somethin' else is comin'. Can't imagine that'll be it, especially after everybody's started askin' questions about this priestess or whatever."

"Ah... yes."

In his bustling to get the barn together, he'd almost forgotten about the broadcast; if nothing else, it was a relief to know he was not alone in his concerns.

"...What do you make of it, Kanji? The interruption, I mean."

Whoa, someone was asking his input?? That's a first. But even though he was flattered, he still had to rub the back of his neck and shrug. "Search me, man."

"I think there's a lot that native group ain't tellin' us. Nobody'd break through a video like that unless they had no other way, right? Like there was a message they hadta get out but knew no other way how. But the person that busted in ain't innocent, neither. They wanted to make that shit public, but why, y'know?"

"A challenge to her station, perhaps," he spoke, as his sight trailed away alongside his thoughts. Thankfully, there were no souls but a few birds within earshot to them. "It would not be the first I had seen. In this world, mayhap, but..."

He glanced down to his gloved hands... he swore he could still feel the scratch of timbers from the snowmen's strikes.

"...If those snow-monster attacks were their doing, I cannot say they have my sympathies."

"Back home, I got to learnin' that the most unexpected people can get up to no good. Taught me a good lesson. I got my eye out on 'em."

So they weren't like Adachi, maybe, but it was worth remaining vigilant. With a nod he stood, setting down the thermos.

"I figure they need a solid talking to and sooner instead'a later. But right now some birds need a place to sleep. Back to it."

"Such things I'd learned all too well in my own affairs," Ramza muttered. Perhaps some things never changed, even across worlds.

"But we will see soon enough. If naught else, we know our allies are many among the guests."

Ramza sighed as he picked up his clipboard and thumbed through his pages of notes. "Right you are... let's see if we cannot finish the roof frame by nightfall."

"Sounds good t'me. I'll call the big guy to hold the framework steady. We good on nails, or did we run short again...?"

Busy, busy, busy. Suspicions melted back into casual conversation again. Right now they had to worry about the birds. Once they were good, they could start giving some natives the steely eye.

Peaceful city, huh? If he didn't know any better, he'd say the city was busier than most were led to believe.

Of Birds and Barns

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