Take Pity On The Opening Band - Week[e]man Oneshots

Birds of a Feather

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One crisp October day, Dallon finds a raven half dead on the sidewalk. He takes it upon himself to nurse it back to health.

Razzmatazz Era

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It was a heartbreaking sight.

To think, if he hadn't already decided to take the scenic route to the coffee shop, he would've missed the carnage.

Here, laying in this alleyway in the steady rain, are several birds. Feathers astray, lifeless in a graveyard on asphalt and surrounded by sky scraping concrete tombstones.

Dallon almost hurried past, the dead aura hanging in the air growing to be dampening and dismal when he catches movement out the corner of his eye.

His eyes trail to an awning. More specifically, the black thing that's quivering underneath it.

It takes him a moment to realize it's a bird. A large crow or raven, sleek black feathers ruffled and unaligned as it shivers in the October chill and rain. The poor thing...

Slowly, Dallon creeps forward, heart scrunching up as the bird squawks at him, raising its wings the best it can in defense.

One of its wings is bloodied and missing several feathers.

"Hey, hey! I know you're scared..." Dallon coos, sinking to his knees. "It's okay little buddy..."

The bird fumbles to stand on shaky feet before falling back on its side, in a frenzy to defend itself and fight off a possible predator.

Of course, anyone who knows Dallon is well aware he is no predator. Far from it actually.

The bird eventually ends its fight, perhaps coming to the realization Dallon meant it no harm and resting. It chirps.

Peep!

Peep... That's a good name for now.

"Don't worry, Peep," Dallon says, pulling his jacket off and coaxing Peep to crawl onto it. The bird eventually does, nuzzling into the fabric as Dallon gently bundles and picks it up. He smiles down at it, it's face twisting and examining him. It chirps again. "You're gonna be staying with me for a little while."

The coffee can wait. Dallon turns back the way he came, cradling his new feathered friend in his arms.

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A quick google search tells Dallon that Peep is in fact a raven and appears to be an adult male.

He lays Peep out on the coffee table, slowly letting his jacket fall away to better examine him. As he saw before, its wing is down some feathers and bleeding along with a few wounded sections on its chest and back. Judging by how Peep had been flapping its wings back in the alley way, they seemed to be fine, which does grant Dallon some relief. He should be able to tend to Peep on his own.

But then again, he's no bird whisperer. This could prove to be quite the challenge.

Peep makes a series of clicks, taking a gander around Dallon's apartment and ruffling his feathers.

"It's nothing special," Dallon says, taking a look around himself. The somewhat tidy kitchen, the baloney with space to hold about three people before becoming cramped, the low light levels in the living room. "Just my humble abode. It know it's probably not your preference, but..."

Peep meets his eyes as he trails off, squawking.

"You're probably hungry."

Peep squawks again.