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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Oct 24, 2013 23:56:50 GMT -8
This day.
Could not possibly.
Get any worse.
Sebastian blinked hard, cocking his head first one way, and then the other, eyeballing the gated, locked door to the flamingo exhibit in a mix of abject disbelief and venomous, pooling contempt. Hell, he even considered the door from an upside down angle, tilting his head and craning his neck until he knew he must have looked stupid and foolish—there were children giggling—but damn it, he had to be sure he studied the lock from all angles before confirming that he could not in fact, open it. It was hard to say if the shiver that climbed up his back was one born of panic or sheer irritation as he straightened himself out again and suppressed the urge to kill something. He now had a new appreciation for doors though—for locked things and arms and hands and fingers and opposable thumbs—and realized with horror that doors themselves were downright diabolical to everything in the world that did not have those things. What evil bastard had thought them up? Sebastian kicked at the gate helplessly, but instead of a booted foot coming forward to slam into the surface and tear the metal mesh down, a smaller, webbed foot pressed up against the surface instead.
An orange, webbed foot. Said foot was attached to a stilted, orange leg too. He had two of them, actually. Sebastian’s eyes narrowed as he noticed and pulled the offending foot and leg back and set them tenderly down on the exhibit floor, cocking his head again. The rosy pink feathers along his back ruffled; he extended his long wings out, the tips of each of those feathers stained a darker, blood red and emphasizing the black tips on the bend in his bill and the inky lines surrounding his eyes. Stripes of white decorated or splotched the top of those wings, but the predominant color that soaked his slender body was…pink.
Sebastian E.G. Brandt, the big tough German from the Impedio Society, was a flamingo. A fabulous, pink flamingo.
“God help me,” he said. It came out in another dry squawk. He noticed a shadow of movement beside him as another flamingo mirrored his position, stretching her wings out and squawking happily. He stepped to the side and she stepped with him. He was slightly larger than the other birds in this cage, so he stuck out a bit more, but it was beginning to unnerve him how some of his fellow cellmates mimicked his every move and sound. He flapped his wings, blowing gusts of air outside of the exhibit before noticing, wearily, that now four other flamingos, each of them varying in pinks, reds and white plumages, copied the movement effortlessly. When he twitched his head, they did too.
“I have to get out of here.” He turned tail, wings partly open, feathers ruffled from sheer anxiety, but the females followed, strutting after him all too cheerfully and imitating his body language, right down to his bristled, pink feathers. “Gah! Leave me alone please!” He waded into the water in the middle of the exhibit, but still they followed him, and to his horror, he collected two more females who were instantly infatuated and decided to replicate everything he did, almost the very second he did it. “Ah! Go away please!”
He’d never thought he’d have a gaggle of girls trailing after him like this, and he’d never thought he’d be terrified out of his mind because of it.
Time Stamp: May 12th
Notes: And this pink? It flares brighter than yours. You're damn right - it's pinker than yours.
This thread is also a Rp Prompt - Morphed. It should also satisfy one of the requirements for the Challenges Contest - role-play with someone you've never role-played before.
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Oct 26, 2013 11:56:03 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends Today Elaine had decided that she would go to the zoo.
She wanted to bring someone along with her - perhaps a friend, or her dad, or one of her brothers. But it, unfortunately, hadn’t worked out in her favor and she resorted to going by herself. Which, to be honest, wasn’t all that bad. She had wanted to see the animals that the zoo had to offer, for some reason the idea had just appealed to her and wouldn’t let her go.
For most of her trip, she paid little to no attention to the map she had grabbed out front and just walked along the paths, taking turns here and there and looking at the animals in their habitats. She loved the marine life and the children’s zoo (perhaps more than she should have), and now she was just looking at the animals. There were so many, already she felt like she’d walked a thousand miles in the zoo, and she was sure she had missed tons of exhibits.
And she was getting a little hungry. Elaine passed many eateries, but she wanted to check one more thing.
That being the flamingo exhibit. She had seen it before, but she passed it, telling herself that she’d look at it on the way back. And now, well, it was sort of the way back, and how could she deny their fabulous and absolutely fantastic pink feathers?
For some reason, though, a lot of people tended to ignore them. There were a few kids that hung around, eager to look at the animal and then moving on. They were giggling and playful and Elaine enjoyed watching them, but the flamingos, okay? There were different colors, but she fixated on the pink ones.
Especially that big pink one. It was larger than the others, and therefore (to Elaine) the best. Not to mention, it was pink. She watched him for a while, as the children came and left, and was a little amused at the fact it was looking at the locked door quizzically. And then it started flapping his wings and running and there were other flamingos chasing and it was such a comical scene that she couldn’t help but laugh.
Though somewhere she heard a distant plea for help and tore her eyes away, looking behind her. There seemed to be nothing wrong there, the only thing that seemed to be needing any sort of ‘help’ at this time was the big pink bird she had been looking at. She shrugged, perhaps it wasn’t really in trouble but rather it was some weird habit or mating season or whatever. And kept laughing at the slightly bigger fabulous pink bird.
Too funny - she swore tears were coming out of her eyes now.
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fulfills contest challenge pack: roleplay with someone you've never roleplayed with before. |
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Oct 27, 2013 20:26:55 GMT -8
Sebastian glanced up, exasperated, all of his pink feathers ruffled into a frazzled mess. The lady birds crowded him and he popped his head up moments later, swamped by a tidal wave of pink, red and white, his eyes warily roaming from one female to the next; he had to push his way through their feathered bodies, wading through water too and nearly tripping over his own feet in the process. Sebastian could almost swear the small squawks and noises they made reminded him of gaggle of giggling girls. If he could blush he would have; but instead he shook his head back and forth violently in embarrassment after breaking free.
Girls. And all of things—girl flamingos. He shook out his feathers.
“I’m sure you’re all very nice,” he squawked back at them, “but as lovely as you are I am not interes—ah!” He spread his wings and jumped, flapping helplessly after one of the girls nipped at his side. For a few seconds he felt his stomach drop as he lifted a few feet in the air—actually flying—before his feet slapped back onto the ground and the sensation of weightlessness left him. Gravity worked apparently, and though flustered, Sebastian twisted his head around and looked at the flamingo that had nipped him, then down to the spot where he was now missing a few useless feathers.
That one was getting a bit too frisky.
Sebastian hurried back to the exhibit wall, drawing his wings close to his sides again. The other flamingos seemed to hesitate because of it, buying him a few precious seconds. His eyes had caught on a young woman standing close by, and he instantly latched onto the hope she posed. She wasn’t as young as the other children. If he could just communicate with her. “You! Open the door!” He did not expect her to respond—he was squawking like a maniac and normal people did not understand flamingo, but Sebastian’s amber eyes glinted with frustration. He flapped his wings a few times for emphasis, buffeting gusts of air through the cage and toward her. “You’re looking right at me. Now just…open the door,” he squawked.
He kicked feebly with his webbed foot at the locked gate, and then dipped his head and knocked his beak against it for emphasis.
As if she could understand. Sebastian rolled his eyes and sighed miserably, a hard, steely look in his eye.
Yes. He was 100% certain now. Today could not possibly get any worse.
Time Stamp: May 12th
Notes: xD
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Oct 28, 2013 2:39:11 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends Aww, it was so cute. Flapping and flailing and being absolutely adorable. Elaine wanted it to be her pet! But that was silly, the flamingo belonged to the zoo. There was no way she could possibly get a flamingo. She wanted to look on a little longer. A little longer then she'll go back to enjoying whatever else the zoo had to offer - especially that food.
Well, she hadn't quite expected what came next. Just about the time she was going to head off, she heard this curious sort of voice, and she turned around again. And found nothing there. But it sort of came from the exhibit in front of her. Which was impossible, because all that was there were flamingos.
It only took her a couple seconds of incredulous staring and a lot of confusion. She had stopped laughing for the meantime, trying to think of why some random flamingo in the exhibit started to talk to her. At least, well, his (the flamingo sounded like a guy, at least) cries of duress and that fact that she could now hear it made it ten times funnier. However, it had a request that Elaine unfortunately could not deliver. She figured there were lots of magical beings in the world thanks to her education of the Impedio Society, so what was wrong with one talking flamingo? She shouldn't have been so fazed.
"Mister Fabulouspinkcoat, I can't! Do I look like an employee of the zoo to you? I'd get in so much trouble..." Of course, Elaine didn't care so much about the trouble at all. "So, what's in it for me? What do I get in return? I don't think you've got any money on you, so how about you be my pet? Then I'll help you escape." Of course, she hadn't exactly thought out a plan yet - she couldn't just grab a flamingo and go, people would notice, because Mister Fabulouspinkcoat had a fabulously bright pink coat. "I've always wanted a flamingo as a pet~!" |
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Oct 28, 2013 19:00:15 GMT -8
Wait.
“You can understand me?”
Sebastian tensed, cocking his head to one side when the girl turned around to face him again and began talking—actually addressing him, before he dropped the question on her. He blinked. She had called him Mr. Fabulouspinkcoat, which under any other circumstance, would have left him one, embarrassed (his feathers did fluff up a bit at hearing it) and two, disheartened because it would have meant she was talking down to him, like a baby or a cute animal. Which, to be fair, might have been a little bit accurate, but instead, she kept going. She responded, she could understand him! She had understood him! Finally, a break. Exhaustion washed through his eyes and dulled their shine. He would have squawked with relief but instead, ducked his head down and swept his wing out in front of him, shaking his head back and forth from below it.
“You want—no! I’m not a pet! Look. I need you to listen to me.” He jerked his head up from under his wing and leaned closer to the exhibit gate, lowering the volume of his squawk as if sharing a very serious secret. His wing jutted forward to hide one side of his face, pink feathers splayed like long fingers, in the same way someone might cup their hand around the side of their mouth when they whispered something to someone else. It was probably quite the sight. “I am not actually a flamingo,” he confessed, his gaze darting first one way, and then the other multiple times, as if searching for an eavesdropper. Damn those people and their need to eavesdrop on flamingos, man. He snapped his gaze back to her. “My name is Sebastian, I moved to America from Italy, if that helps. But I’m German originally, I guess. Anyway, the point is, I was human before! And I know! I know I don’t look like one but I’m am! I promise!” He hopped from foot to foot, lowering his wing to his side again and rocking on his stilted legs. Sebastian had never felt more awkward in his body before.
“You can understand me though. You have to help. Please. Do you see those other birds over my shoulder?” he craned his neck toward the cluster of female flamingos eyeballing him across the exhibit. Then he glanced back at her again. “As much as I love attention from lovely ladies they--they are—they are very demanding." Yes. Demanding was a good word for it. They wanted far too much of his attention. "Just…maybe go pickpocket the keys perhaps? Off a guard? And let me out?”
He paused, searching her face for any sign of doubt, which, quite frankly, would not have been all that uncommon. If a flamingo had just walked up to you, started talking and then claimed he was a human and you had to help him escape, you might walk away or laugh too. Heck, you might even check yourself in to a therapist's office. Sebastian might not have believed it himself even if he was a former Creature Hunter. “…it’s true. I swear it is,” he tacked on.
Because anybody would believe a talking flamingo.
Time Stamp: May 12th
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Oct 29, 2013 22:09:00 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends Elaine just smiled and nodded, as though a flamingo talking to her were the most natural thing in the world. "Yep~ You're talking to me, aren't you?"
It wasn't, of course, but she had more important things on her mind - mainly how to get this flamingo to become her pet. It seemed adamant not to, but what else was it to offer to her? Besides, it wasn't like being her pet was the end of the world. In fact, she'd probably spoil him rotten. It wasn't a bad life, not the flamingo. "I know you're not a pet. Yet." He will be. Soon. Soon.
Although the flamingo must be screwed up in the head. Because it thought it was human, which was just silly. There was no way this was a person, no one shape-shifted these days. It certainly was acting like a human, which in flamingo-form looked ridiculous as hell. "You look very silly." Elaine tried to say it in the most serious tone she could muster, but at the very end her composure failed and she laughed, yet again. She wasn't taking this very seriously. "Okay, German-Italian-American flamingo, whatever you say." She nodded, although she didn't believe a word. She wanted a pet, and this would be the perfect pet.
She also had no doubt that she probably looked very silly to onlookers, talking to a flamingo, but could they hear him too? Or were they too busy staring at her, talking to the big pink flamingo? Elaine found nothing wrong with this and continued to listen to this ridiculous story. "Sure, sure, okay." If anything, he was a very entertaining, and she liked that. A lot. Entertaining future pet was entertaining. "But you still haven't given me a reason to let you out, silly."
Be my pet be my pet. That was all Elaine really wanted, and what else was a flamingo to do? It wasn't like it could just travel out in the streets, the zoo would probably be on the lookout for an escaped flamingo anyway. "Why are you in a zoo anyways, if you're human?" |
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Oct 30, 2013 22:09:24 GMT -8
Sebastian knew that question was coming. He had braced himself for it, and yet his feathers ruffled uncomfortably anyway. He seemed to rock back and forth on his webbed feet, clapping his beak in the silence that followed; it was the equivalent of drumming his fingers against a surface, in its own way. He simply required a second to ruminate on his thoughts and the details he would—or should divulge. If they had switched situations he would have asked the same basic question of course, “How did this happen to you, if what you say is true?” Of course, if he’d been in her position, he realized, eyes narrowing, he would have just assumed a talking flamingo was actually some sort of monster and attempted to kill it before it could manipulate anyone or cause serious damage to others. Impedio Society training was serious business—and under Salvatore’s wing, his had been rather brutal and relentless. Things like talking flamingos were tolerated about as much as gnats. Sebastian blinked wearily—he was a very lucky bird. Man, a wayward thought corrected.
He shook his head from side to side.
“Very well, let me explain,” he began. He lifted his head up and looked her in the eye. “I was walking along, minding my own business—I like to visit the zoo on certain days I…I am actually,” he sighed and flapped his wings irritably, “I have a hearing problem,” he admitted. “Whatever this is,” he stomped his foot against the ground to indicate himself, but it was really more or less, a smack. “It has rid me of that it seems. But on my bad days I would come to the zoo because my hearing is, well, shit. And the noise on a good day—the sound of the animals and the people—it helps. But today there was this bright, blue light. It was almost white. It blinded me as I was coming back from aviary. There was pain, something like burning, and when I opened my eyes again I was dizzy.” He tilted his head at her. “The next thing I know. I look like this.” He snapped his wings open to their full length, the instant whoosh of air filling his ears. People start shouting and then there’s zookeepers crowding me and while I’m still barely thinking straight they drag me back here. And that’s why I’m a flamingo. It’s also why I need to get out.”
He closed his wings again and began to pace back and forth, thinking quickly. “What can I offer you…ah…?” He paused, glancing at her one more time. Sebastian realized he did not know her name. “What did you say your name was?” He blinked. “But let me out of this cage,” he added, “and whatever you want—you can have it.”
Oh if only he were in a better position to think things through more carefully.
Notes: I'm having so much fun. xD
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 2, 2013 0:31:14 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends This bird was really lucky that it had managed to bump into her, and that Elaine was alone. Because she probably would have ignored him if she were with her friend, and should anyone else have been in this situation, she doubted they’d really believe there was a talking flamingo and there was absolutely no way they would release him. She was willing to make this work. Providing that he gave her what she wanted.
What this person (she was dubbing him Sebby the bright pink flamingo) described sounded something like magic had possessed him and turned him into an animal. For whatever reason. “Wow, what’d you did to deserve that?” He must have angered something to have such bad luck, or did something and karma was paying him back. Or his shitty luck matched his (presumed) shitty hearing.
It seemed human (like his actions that looked ridiculous in flamingo form) but Elaine wasn’t sure if or when he was gonna turn back, and she was willing to bet it wasn’t going to be anytime soon. So, what was the harm on taking him as a pet? There was none, and she really wanted a pink flamingo. If she was gonna kidnap it and probably break fifty laws along with it, she was gonna keep him as a pet, dammit.
“My name’s Elaine~ We’ll be great friends I’m sure.” She smiled sweetly at the bird. “But do you mean it? Anything?!” Elaine had already expressed her wanting to keep him as a pet, so what was the harm? He was agreeing to it, she as agreeing to it, so it was a deal! “Okay, I’ll get you out.”
Now was the hard part, figuring out how to get him out. She couldn’t just break in, there was a lock and if it were that easy, animals would be broken out of zoos more often. She could break the lock, but she wasn’t sure if she was strong enough. And that would be an absolutely horrible idea. She could get a zookeeper or something. Pretend she was lost and hopefully the zookeeper had keys to the cages.
“Wait here.” Bat her eyelashes a bit and acting innocent should do the trick, but she had to be fast about it. The flamingo wanted out and she was gonna get it out, but she had to escape attracting the attention of zookeepers. |
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Nov 3, 2013 9:23:20 GMT -8
Sebastian met her eyes warily, grumbling under his breath, “I suppose that depends on who you ask.” His gaze was heavily lidded and an annoyed glint had reentered his eye; many of the monsters he had encountered during his travels had been considerably intelligent. He and the other Hunters, working in close knit teams had slain so many—Sebastian would not be surprised if this latest situation was some kind of perverse punishment for it. He did not like to think he had done wrong enough for this—they were monsters, they killed people—but he supposed he had had it coming. It was the only thing he could think of. He tilted his head toward Elaine questioningly, and then squawked cheerfully as she agreed to help him.
“Yes, yes,” he rushed quickly, clapping his beak. “Anything you want. Now quickly!” He strode after her for the length of the exhibit, feeding her as much advice as possible. Because of his work in the Impedio Society, he had a little experience with things that he shouldn’t—like pickpocketing and manipulation. “There are two ways we can do this. You can bring the keeper here and have him open the cage because you’ve noticed one of the flamingos are sick. When she, or he, gets here, I will attempt to look convincing about it—they’ll open the cage and close the door, but probably won’t lock it behind them. That’s where you come in. You open it when I’m ready. Or, you’ll have to steal the keys on your own. But be careful. And remember—distract. The mind can only focus on so many things at once. No matter what, we’ll have to worry.”
He glanced pointedly down at his feathers. “I’ll stick out in a crowd too much. I’m too—pink.” However, his voice trailed and he jerked his head up as she asked him to wait. He had nowhere left to go anyway—he was standing at the corner of the exhibit now, watching her leave. Finally he turned around, thinking to get ready—but there was a wall of lady flamingos in his way. They sometimes dipped their heads bashfully and fluffed up their feathers, calling in sweeping cries and flapping their wings for more attention.
"Ladies," he said, nodding in acknowledgement and attempting to sneak off; they strutted after him.
Elaine had better hurry.
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 3, 2013 13:16:07 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends Elaine did not, in fact, depart in a hurry to get back. In fact, she was more or less trying to think about the pink feather situation. She had planned as far as getting him out of the cage - she didn't plan so much for how to get out of the zoo from there. This was a big (very big) ball of pink and if no one noticed, then there was a problem with the sanity of the population of Los Angeles. And no, that was not a good thing.
Though now that she thought about it, the flamingo could very well be some kind of criminal that she was taking home. But right now Sebby was a flamingo, and he was fluffy and pink and she wanted him beyond belief. Hopefully he didn't mind be stuffing into a bag. It was the only solution she could come up with at the moment. So before trying to lift a key from a keeper, she stopped by a gift shop and bought a huge duffel bag (her reasoning being she might need it for sporty activities, but she had her school one already so it only served one purpose). Hopefully he would be able to fit in there. It was more like he had to fit in there for the plan was a no-go.
The nearest zookeeper was in fact very easy to charm. Sparing all the juicy details, she easily pickpocketed the key (they honestly needed better attention spans within the staff), and she was happily strolling along back to Sebby, keys and bag in tow. It had taken her a grand total of twenty minutes. And a plus - she had gotten the number from the cute zookeeper. But she didn't think she'd be calling it anytime soon. Though if he was still interesting after finding out about his missing keys, there was always that hope when she gave her own number.
"Sebby~" It seemed he was busy with the female flamingos that were head over webbed feet for him. "If you want to stay a little longer with the ladies, I don't mind, but we've got to hurry or else they'll find out." |
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Nov 3, 2013 21:09:15 GMT -8
“Ladies. You are all very pretty,” Sebastian was saying, slowly. “And I am sure there are plenty of good—ah—male flamingos, with better, ah, more amazing feathers out there for each and every one of you. And you will make lots of little flamingos together one day. But while I am flattered by your interest,” he added, flapping his wings, irritated, “you must understand something. It is not going to work,” he deadpanned. His captive audience only blinked at him with glinting, hopeful eyes and he sighed. “Look. You are birds, ladies. And I am a man—and German—and this organization I work for would not like it if I were to ditch them to…to help make more flamingos.” He cleared his throat. This was the most awkward conversation ever. “So. I will be going now,” he announced, cutting off abruptly as he finally caught sight of Elaine standing by the exhibit again. He attempted to walk by the girls without incident, but one of the more frisky ones boldly stepped in front of him and blocked his way; she touched her beak to his and his wings snapped open in the same way a man might throw his hands up to ward off affection or say, “I’m not touching! See! I’m not doing anything! She’s doing it, not me, I swear!”
Then Elaine was calling for him and Sebastian had no choice but to shake off the feisty female, grumbling under his breath as he managed to sidestep her. He could swear the squawk she made as he ran away sounded something like a giggle and maybe even what you would refer to as flamingo speak for “call me sometime." His feathers rose along his body; it was not a good sign that he was beginning to understand the other flamingos in this cage.
“Do you have it?” he queried, waddling up to Elaine. He almost said something else too, but then he noticed the giant duffel bag she had brought with her and he paused, eyes narrowed. Sebastian flicked his gaze back to her. “What is this for?” he said, bringing his wing forward and pointing at it. He had a good idea of what it was for, actually.
He just didn’t want that idea to be true.
Because being smuggled out of the zoo in a duffel bag seemed like the cherry on top of his this-is-not-my-life sundae.
Notes: xD Poor Seb. The things I let happen to him.
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 5, 2013 20:22:14 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends "Sebby, you're quite the ladies man." At least he was in bird form. Elaine wasn't sure how that translated so much in the human world, but now that he was a flamboyant pink bird, at least he had that going for him, right? Even if he didn't seem to be enjoying it much. Though she smiled anyways. It was a truly comical situation, and she was just lucky to find herself somehow in the middle of it. But she held up the keys, confirming that yes, she did indeed bring it. And she was ready to kidnap a flamingo from the zoo, just as soon as she walked towards the locked door thing.
If this ended up getting her in trouble, she felt lucky that she was Giovanni Accurso's daughter. If anyone had enough weight to throw something like that under the rug, it was him. And obviously having one of his daughters accused of stealing a flamingo was probably not a good thing. And that was literally the basis of why her whole kidnapping plan was okay - that she would suffer little consequences for her actions. Plus, if what Sebby said was true, then he was really human and she was doing a good thing by 'freeing' him. Freeing him to her ownership, anyways.
"I hope you don't mind, but I can't exactly take you on a walk on the sidewalk in all your fabulous pink glory. You need to get in here. And you can't move." Elaine had run out of better ideas. There were probably a million ideas better than the 'stuff animal into bag and run' method, but right now it seemed to be the best idea she could think of. The keys sort of jangled in her hands as she struggled to get them to the lock, juggling the large, over-sized bag in her hand. "There you are free. Get in."
Elaine supposed that technically this wasn't freedom, stuffing him into a bag as soon as he was out of the cage. What other option did he have, though? She unzipped the bag which seemed just the right size to fit a slightly above average flamingo male. "Quickly, else they'll come back and put you in again." Maybe it was suspicious to walk around with a chunky sports bag and exit the zoo, but there were a lot of questionable things that the citizens of LA tended to do. Plus, this time was... around the time lots of people left, so she should be able to escape in the crowd. Possibly. Probably.
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Nov 10, 2013 11:04:54 GMT -8
Sebastian sighed, ducked his head and swept his wing in front of him while he shook it back and forth at Elaine’s explanation. This was not his life right now. It was not. He was not a pink flamingo and he was not going to be smuggled out of the zoo via giant duffel bag. He was a Hunter, verdammt noch mal! He would never, never live this kind of thing down if word got out, and there were just so many people back at the L.A. Headquarters that just did not need to know for reasons of keeping his own sanity. And yet, Sebastian’s rosy feathers bristled silently as he peeled his wing back, the click of the lock in the gate catching his attention. He had no choice really. She had freed him, and Elaine was correct; this was the best method of getting him out. He could not exactly fly, and it would take too long to learn how to coordinate his awkward limbs and allow for it. So this—sadly enough—was their best option.
“Sounds fair,” Sebastian mumbled. However, maneuvering himself into the bag was awkward and he couldn’t suppress the irritated glint in his eye as he tucked his wings in and ducked down;it was zipped up and he was left in the dark. “This is not my best day,” he grumbled to no one in particular. “Elaine,” he squawked and then winced. He kept forgetting that every word he said to her was actually in flamingo-speak. It would not be good for other guests to hear strange noises coming from her bag, especially if they were animal noises. Sebastian glared at the walls of the bag. “Just walk carefully,” he said, trying to lower his voice, but fighting another bout of aggravation nonetheless. He hoped this damned bag didn’t muffle him too much and make it hard for her to understand. “And try not to bump into anything. Please,” he added. His feathers ruffled uncomfortably. This whole being-stuffed-in-a-bag experience was awful. Heat was already coiling its way in and there wasn't much in the way of fresh air or light in here. On top of that he would have to be as quiet as possible if they wanted this to work, meaning that no matter what happened or what was going on out there, he could not say anything. And that was difficult.
If Sebastian could help it, he was going to wipe the traumatic memory of this entire day from his mind later. Preferably with the aid of some hard liquor. He'd have to find a store that sold the good stuff too, not this cheap, disgusting american beer and whiskey that went down like water.
Though, Sebastian had yet to figure out how in the world he was going to give Elaine the slip in the first place. She was a nice girl. She had helped him. But he couldn't shake the feeling that the whole 'pet' thing hadn't been a joke and that he should be somewhat concerned about it.
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 10, 2013 12:51:49 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends Sebby was in the bag. One fabulous pink flamingo secured as a pet. Elaine felt no remorse. He had wanted out, she was getting him out, and this would be a fair trade off. Well, actually it probably wasn't on his end, it was probably the shittiest deal he had ever made. But Elaine wasn't about to correct him, not when she had so much to gain from it. Of course, she was probably going to have to explain to her father why she brought home a flamingo, but she would think about it later. She wasn't exactly sure how she was going to convince him that keeping a pet such as this was a good idea, but she was going to if this were the last thing she did.
Sebby was heavy, and Elaine was sort of having a bit of difficulty. Much as she would love for someone to help her, she couldn't possibly risk that. So she shifted the bag a bit, and in the process accidentally bumping into things with her bag. Despite the squawking from before, the request not to bump into things, Elaine was just... bumping into a lot of things. Whoops, hopefully Sebby wouldn't be too ruffled over it. Being in that bag was probably uncomfortable for him, but oh well, right? There was nothing she could do about it, because he was heavy.
Approaching the exit was a lot, and she meant a lot of people. And of course, inevitably, she was going to bump into a lot of people. She kept muttering the words 'sorry', half to the people she bumped into, and half to Sebby. And... surprisingly, no one asked her about the suspiciously oversized bag she had there. The bus was, conveniently, there and she quickly entered, maybe bumped the bag into a really hard pole, and was quick to try to make a quick getaway from the zoo. The more distance the better. Hopefully Sebby was doing well. Despite the turbulence he was sure to have felt. Was he hurt? Well, she could check once she got home because opening a bag with a flamingo in public was probably not her brightest idea. |
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Nov 12, 2013 17:23:00 GMT -8
Ow.
Ow again.
Ow.
Gottverdammt!
In the name of Mary, Joseph and helpless baby Jesus, what in the hell was going on out there? Sebastian winced and bit back so many squawks of pain, huffing and puffing after each wallop or thwack that hit him in the head or gut as the bag and Elaine bustled out of the zoo. It seemed as if she was content to bump into everyone and everything she could. Didn’t she realize birds had delicate bones? They were hollow and easy to snap. He could not help but clap his beak irritably at this fact and at the sad, sad truth that regardless of what a fantastic caretaker she was, this was his only way out. He sighed. Granted, Elaine did apologize. That had to count for something—and, well. She was helping him in a bigger way. He supposed that meant she was nice enough. Sebastian just couldn’t tell if those apologies were sincere or not. Nonetheless, he could not help but squawk and twitch when the bag bumped into the pole. It left him in a dizzying haze for a few seconds until he shook it off and glared at a peep hole in the bag.
“Are we out of the zoo yet?” he asked. Whether he meant to or not, he thrust his beak through the top of the bag, blinking rapidly to clear the dark spots from his eyes; the rest of head and neck quickly followed. He took one precursory glance around and then cocked his head in a question. “Wait. Is this a bus? Why are we on a bus? Where are we going? We’re out of the zoo. Why are we here?” His feathers bristled uneasily. Sebastian had honestly expected Elaine to take him somewhere else maybe. A side street—a secluded area just outside the zoo where he could wait until he changed back—anything. He had not expected a bus of all places, and he was so dazed by this new development that he didn’t realize that if he didn’t duck back down and get back into the bag, someone would eventually notice the pink flamingo in the back of the bas that was looking around, alive and well.
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 12, 2013 18:09:01 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends Elaine needed to get home, and as far away from the zoo as possible. With her flamingo kidnapping stunt she was pulling right this moment, going to the zoo would only make her feel guilty. She decided that if she ever wanted an enjoyable experience at the zoo again, she was not going to make kidnapping sentient and talking animals a habit of her's. It was just... flamingos were pink and irresistible. And her main priority was putting distance between the zoo and herself and get into the safe haven that was her house. And then she could deal with her new pet then.
Sebby had agreed to it. And Elaine was going to honor him on that promise. Because she knew that if her dad ever found out the flamingo talked, well, it was bye-bye birdy. And surely Sebby didn't want to go bye-bye. And when she thought the coast was clear, she allowed herself to relax near the back of the bus. And then the idiot flamingo decided to poke it's head out.
Just because she understood him, didn't mean that the other passengers on the bus would. In fact, she was pretty sure with the way he was squawking about he was attracting some attention. So she did the only thing she could think of in this situation (and honestly, she wasn't exactly thinking straight since this was so spur of the moment), she shoved his head back into the bag. The things she did for the sake of a pet. She was just lucky that no one actually turned to look, and his head was effectively shoved back into the bag before anyone could see it.
Elaine could certainly see his concern. And so she whispered as inconspicuously as she possibly could (easier said than done), towards her pink flamingo. "You really want to be close to the zoo right now?" |
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Nov 12, 2013 19:15:30 GMT -8
And then he was promptly shoved back into the bag and muffled. This was just not his day.
Sebastian’s beak fell open in the beginning of a protest, but he honestly paused after Elaine’s last statement and sighed. “No,” he confessed. “But a bus?” he added bluntly. He peered quizzically back up at her, a mildly annoyed glint in his eye, but he made sure to keep his voice as hushed as he possibly could. For all the good that did. Hopefully any spectators would just think Elaine was an eccentric girl and not talking to a duffel bag for no good reason. “I expected a street maybe, away from people. Or someplace where no one will see me. I have to change back at some point, don’t I?” he whisper—chirped. Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t quite sure, and that worried him. There was an occasional itch crawling over his back and up his neck from time to time, but he couldn’t tell if that was caused by the fact that he was a damned flamingo or if the magic was legitimately beginning to affect him again. Sebastian sort of hoped it was the ladder.
But Sebastian would have to do a reasonable amount of explaining if he suddenly poofed into human existence again on the bus. The Impedio Society would not approve of that or the cover up stories that would have to follow. Sadly, he had to hold out hope that the magic would at least last long enough to get Elaine and him off the bus and somewhere reasonably out of the way before that happened. If it happened at all. His eyes flashed. It had better happen.
“You never answered. At least tell me how much longer it’s going to be,” he mumbled before settling in for the long haul.
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 12, 2013 20:18:06 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends Oh, he was just full of questions now, he was. Elaine ignored them, of course, and tried not to talk or draw the attention to the two of them, in the back of the bus. She was taking the bus because she didn't have a car. It was a thirty minute ride to the general vicinity of her house. Hopefully flamingo-boy would be able to last inside the bag for that long. "I can't drive." She was trying to be a little discreet by looking away from her bag and just announce random facts about herself. "I like the color pink." Maybe the other passengers on the bus would grow fed up and stop paying attention. She was just an eccentric girl with an eccentric zoo bag saying eccentric things.
"Twenty minutes." It was thirty minutes from the zoo, about ten minutes had elapsed, so it was around twenty minutes. Surely he could stay his flamingo self for that long. Of course, it was preferable if he kept that way for the rest of his life. It would work out to her advantage very well. But at the same time, she could use this whole incident as blackmail to whoever the heck this person actually was. Granted, they'd have to be useful in some way, but with how he sounded, Elaine was sure he didn't want this getting out.
Though she did really want to keep a pink flamingo as a pet. It had always been her dream. "Maybe fifteen, now that I think about it." Elaine hadn't actually been keeping track of the time. But there were only a couple of stops left until she was within walking distance of her house, and then Sebby could poof into whatever he wanted then. |
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Nov 12, 2013 21:05:30 GMT -8
Fifteen to twenty minutes?
Sebastian could manage that, he reasoned. At least, he assumed he could do as much. The thought of staying in this duffel bag for another second bothered him immensely of course, but there was nothing he could do about it. He’d just have to get used to it. So Sebastian finally shut up and sighed and settled in amongst the stuffy, dark walls of the duffel bag and even attempted to rest a little. He wound up twitching and flopping around, hilariously causing the bag to rustle and jump on occasion, as the bus rumbled down various streets, picking and dropping off more and more people. It was impossible to sleep with that raucous, gravelly noise issuing from the engine and every bump in the road rocking him back and forth. At some point he nearly jumped out of his skin—the bag was moving and Elaine had probably hauled him out of the way of something—before he was promptly set down again. For the bulk of the trip he attempted to clear his mind and think of something other than his current situation.
But the only thoughts that surfaced were ugly German swears and insults—things he would never say in front of his mother. That and the fact that he would never, ever mention this to anyone. Ever. Not even the people at work deserved to know. Hell, the people at work especially did not need to know. And he would spend the rest of his life pretending it simply didn’t happen.
Eventually—thank god—the bus pulled to a stop and this time they seemed to be getting out. Sebastian resisted the urge to pop his head up and out of the bag again, but he couldn’t help but lean closer and peek one eye through as they unloaded from the bus, soaking in the details. “Finally. No more bus. Now, where are we?” he asked. He felt that itch crawling up his back again and shivered. He was also getting hungry and quite frankly, he would feel much, much better once he was finally out of this bag.
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 12, 2013 23:30:50 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends They sat in silence as the bus rumbled and bounced its way towards Elaine's home. She stared out the window some. She pretended she wasn't suspiciously keeping a duffel bag that was mysteriously shifting every so often. Sometimes it was troublesome and moved and slid and she realized she actually had to keep an eye on it. Stupid, troublesome bag. She'd kick it if Sebby weren't in it. Although he was probably half the reason it was doing that.
The time passed surprisingly quick, and soon she was actually in her neighborhood (ish) and ready to take the flamingo into her mansion. The family mansion. Elaine probably should have thought through bringing a flamingo (who talked AND admitted to being a human, so this was a stranger she was practically shoving in her house), but nahhh. Never crossed her mind once that this was a potentially bad idea. Stepping off the bus and carrying the bag out, she walked a bit to the residential district. Though, it couldn't hurt to talk to him a bit now. "We're in my neighborhood now."
She had the impending feeling that Sebby did not want to be her pet (despite agreeing to it). "Although we're not quite out of sight, so you may want to stay in there for a little longer before the coast is clear." The started briskly walking towards her home. She could sort everything out there. "You'll be safe soon, I'm sure." Unless her crazy dad was at home. |
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