ORIGIN

Nemo

He'd taken to wing after bidding the quiet hyena goodbye- he honestly didn't know what to make of the younger Gembound, but he's glad that they had that... well he can't call it a conversation, since he'd done most of the talking. But that had made him curious, and reminded him that he liked learning things... and learning about other Gembound.

As he hop-flutters his way through Monoceros, occasionally panic flapping as he realizes a stray gust of wind has lifted him much too high off the ground for his liking thank you, he realized that he's not... as terrified of being off the ground as he used to be. The wind under his wings doesn't feel as hostile as it used to, and so he decides to try and pull his own wind into the mix- it's not as bad as regular wind, since it's his... right?

Nemo, of course, not only lifts himself upward- he's practically thrown by the resulting blast of wind and sharp pain that laces up his spine that he flops end over end in the air, to hit a nearby wall upside down and very much disoriented.

Legs over his beak, upside down and unsure of exactly where he went, he has to take a few seconds and... not move.

From his new point of view, he's able to spot some... structures? Unless he'd hit the wall too hard... But that does cause him to blink- and tilt his head in curiosity. Maybe he can find the Gembound who live there... they seem like they might have a story.

@Azure

(m for 1 swear)

She'd been winging her way back toward Tunnel J when she saw the head-over-heels fluttering of the bird. Concern struck her--and unfamiliarity; she didn't know Nemo. She didn't think she'd ever seen him before, but he definitely didn't look okay. The way he'd hit that rock--she cringed, and altered course, four wings flapping to sweep her in his direction.

Black crow-like forelimbs touched down beside him a moment later, followed closely by her hind hooves, wings folding against her back. Around her neck, a glittering stone, hung on black woven cord and encasing a small, white flower, the whole thing glowing a soft blue, swung to and fro. "Hey, you okay?" she asked, nails and hooves clicking as she walked over. "That looked like a pretty nasty tumble."

Her tone wasn't casual, either; she was genuinely worried. If the bird was hurt--truly hurt--there wasn't much she could do. And for a moment she felt helpless; pretty magic and craftsmanship wouldn't do shit to heal the dying.

@Nemo

(Rated M For Cussing.)
Nemo

Well, great. His first impression to someone new.. and to add insult to injury, they can actually fly.

Nemo feels like a bumbling oaf, soreness and concern from the other be damned, and he swings his feathered legs about in an attempt to get them under him- doing so with a flop and a faint, "Ow."

He shakes himself off as best he can, white plumage rankling high but setting down as he looks up and up at this other... bird? Gembound, Nemo decides, and he opens his beak in a birdy smile.

"Yeah. I'm fine! Surprisingly…" laughing, he flexes a his right wing in a sort of salute, "Wish I could say I wasn't used to that, but alas, the winds do not like my wings."

"Sorry for whizzing past like that.. I swear I had a plan to do.... well, not that. My name's Nemo, what can I call you?" Introductions first, yeah? That's how you socialize like a normal Gembound, instead of scaring the crap out of people or dropping out of the air on them.

@Azure

The winds do not like my wings.

Azure let out a kind, good-natured laugh, eyes crinkling up a little in a warm smile as she looked out toward the Twister. "No, I don't think they like anyone's wings," she agreed, with wry humor. She also relaxed, a little; this Nemo fellow seemed friendly enough, with a humor not too unlike her own, at least so far. He certainly didn't seem like an asshole or anything, at least, or hostile.

"Azure, call me Azure. It's nice to meet you. And you don't have to apologize, don't worry--I was just a little worried," she explained, with a shake of her head. Some part of her mind grimaced at having just said 'worried' twice in one short sentence--it sounded silly--but she pushed that away.

"Can I ask what your plan was-?" and humor arched a brow, here. If she could have grinned, she would have, but her face was a beak these days. "And uh, are you new to Monoceros? I don't think I've ever seen you here."

@Nemo

Nemo

The other laughing gets him to cackle in turn- that feels good, honestly. He should get others to laugh more often.

"I'll get them to at least tolerate me," is his reply. A bit cocky, yes, but it will be seen that that sort of speech and ideas like that are not... unusual for this bird.

Tilting his head back and forth, Nemo tries out the others name, croaking out, "Azure..." before beaming back up at the other. "That's a pretty name. Does it mean something, or is it just a neat word?"

"But ah..." the question, although innocent, has him ruffling up in embarrassment- and he tilts his head sideways, twisting so that one eye faces the ground and the other sort of looks up at Azure. "I ugh. Have a flying issue, so I was trying to give myself a boost... sort of. More like trying to give myself something to glide on." His talons are tap-tapping on the ground, as he shifts back and forth. Is that weird? To do that?

@Azure

Her eyes crinkled up again in an avian semblance of a smile at his boast; she found nothing arrogant in it. And his compliment had her dipping her head in acknowledgment, smiling yet again.

"Oh, thank you. Azure's, um--blue, which... isn't very creative, I guess," she added, with a brief and self-deprecating laugh. After all, her gemstone, her eyes, both a deep, rich blue; her feathers shone with cobalt iridescence. She glanced around as she spoke, as if ensuring no dragons were on approach, before looking back to the bird. "And what about--Nemo? It's a nice name, too," she assured him.

Azure didn't often meet those smaller than her, or those not seeming to pose a threat or have some dark purpose of their own. It was nice to just... have a conversation with an unthreatening stranger, as much as it tugged at her nerves now and again. It wasn't too bad, not at all. "A--flying issue? Would it be rude for me to ask what? I don't mean to pry, I just--I've been flying a long time," she added, spreading two wings on the right side of her body, to display them. She folded them back, after a moment, continuing. "I'm not an expert flyer, or anything, but if it's something I can help with I'd be happy to. Is that--magic, then?" Her head tilted, a little. She knew magic came in all sorts of flavors--electricity, mind-magic, ice; light and plants and gemstones. She was trying to remember where she'd heard of air-magic, before--she was sure that she had; whatever the case, she didn't seem to notice the lammergeier's talons tapping on the rock below.

She herself, at least, was peacefully still; probably purely because Nemo wasn't larger. And scarier.

@Nemo

Nemo

"Blue... I think I've decided that's my favorite color, honestly. It's so... I don't know how to describe it, but I feel pretty attached to it, despite only having seen it once or twice." He shrugs his wings, and tucks his head down in embarrassment for a second before bobbing back up, looking at the bigger Gembound with bright red eyes and a curious gleam. "It suits you, you've got the color woven into your being. Very elegant…"

After a beat, Nemo seems to light up even further- eyes almost beaming with an idea. "Maybe the caves helped us meet on purpose? Who knows."

Nemo stops tip-tapping in place like a flamenco dancer, the memory of his logic behind his name flashing quickly across his mind- and he winces. Just a bit. But in the fair spirit of mutual disclosure- "My name, Nemo- it means nothing. As in, an absence of something. I... had really had the wind taken out of my sails that day, so I wasn't in the best mindset to name myself. But..." he shrugs with both of his wings, flapping a little bit. "It also has to do with my flying issue. I can't. Fly I mean. I'm physically able, but when I get too high I lock up, or I start to flail. That's why I try to fly with magic... 'cause if I think too much on flapping it makes me freak out faster."

Attempting to make a point, he pulls on his magic and tries to generate a small gust of air- hopefully just ruffling their feathers. He does so, opening his wings to attempt to use the small updraft to get slightly off the stone- but alas, its just enough to ruffle feathers and fur on both Gembound.


@Azure

The praise of her color, of her feathers, the suggestion that they were somehow fated to meet, flustered her a little. It was nice, but she was unused to compliments, and something about it made her somehow uncomfortable. She wasn't sure how to deal with it; she didn't like being the focus of attention. She gave a dip of her beak, and a "Ha, thanks. Yeah, maybe it's because there's hardly any blue around?" and little more.

The rest, though, she listened to with more interest. The name in particular she tilted her head at, thinking. "Maybe when you feel better about things, you can spell your name backward instead," she suggested, half-jokingly. "Reverse the meaning, you know? What would that be? Uhh, oh-... mean. Ohmen? Omen--wait, no--" Azure laughed, abruptly. "Ignore me, that's--a terrible idea."

Nemo spoke about how he tended to lock up in flight, though. Azure found it strange but hardly stranger than anything else she'd seen, heard or even felt, so she accepted this without question and pondered how she could help. But she had magic to hold things, didn't she, midair-? "I might be able to help you practice, if you ever want?" she offered, with a tentative shrug. "I could catch you if you fall. Magically, if not physically," she added, and then glanced briefly around.

Her eyes picked out a heavy rock a little to one side of the lammergeier, and she grasped this in her mind and lifted, so that it picked up off the ground and hovered for a moment directly in Nemo's line of sight. And then she set it down, example finished. "Just--if you ever want to try that," she added, with a nod. "So--what do you do here?"

As if Nemo somehow had a nine-to-five in Monoceros.

@Nemo

Nemo

He doesn't really notice Azure's discomfort- not at first, anyway, but as the conversation swaps topics he at least notes a change in her demeanor, and isn't really sure what to do about it, so he lets the conversation flow away.

"Maybe- it's a cool color though. I'll probably go looking for it in the future. There's a lot of caves out there, and I've got a decent set of feet. Though," he looks bashful here, "If I could use my other limbs that'd be great."

Changing his name hadn't really occurred to him- but he supposed it did make sense, it was his, who's to say he can't change it? But waiting for the right time was also a good idea- and he nods along to her as she speaks, before shaking his head at her self-depreciating tone. "No, not bad at all! I hadn't considered that as an option to be quite honest, but I'll keep that in mind now."

"Wh-?" Nemo makes a half aborted sound of shock as a nearby rock just lifts itself off the ground- no, Azure had lifted it off the ground, and he whips his head back and forth between the other Gembound and the stone as she sets it down, clearly shocked if his hanging jaw was anything to go by. "I.. didn't know there was other kinds of magic." he mutters, shaking his head as he tries to process everything.

It makes sense though, there are other rooms that aren't wind, so it stands to reason that there is magic to go with it.

"Although I appreciate you offering me a helping... float... I feel like someone else holding me up would make it... worse, somehow." He feels and looks guilty for even saying that out loud, but he doesn't want to lie. "Maybe just a flight buddy would be best."

As for what he does here- "OH, what do I do here? Heh, other than bother Glory when he's trying to be productive and flop around while I hunt, not much. I hatched here, so I haven't left much save for a few adventures out to... it was a cave full of water and life, and then I went to the room of bones for a bit. What do you do here?"

@Azure

"It is a cool color," she agreed, and she didn't just mean its visual temperature. "Anyway, you said you only had trouble flying high?" Azure asked--proof that she'd been paying attention, at least--"You could probably travel just by flying low."

At Nemo's murmur that he had had no idea about other forms of magic, Azure's eyes widened with enthusiasm. She glanced around, then bent her beak down, touching it to a small nearby stone--a dark, smooth one, picked purely for aesthetics. She tried to bring light to it--a little gift for Nemo--but nothing happened. She resolved to try again, glancing up as she did so. "Oh! There's all kinds of magic. Doesn't Glory use it when working? -My--uhh, my best friend, my roommate, kinda--Dip? I don't know if you know her, but she's Glory's friend, I think. Or they work together, or--I dunno, they've met, anyway. But to answer your other question, Dip and me make stuff! I make decorations--hanging lights, jewelry, things like that. Dip makes armor, weapons, like Glory does."

Dip had mentioned both Glory's work, and how Dip herself intended to surpass him, several times. It had been difficult to forget.

"We're going to start taking them to Monoceros to sell them, soon. You should come with us," she added, impulsively, with a friendly tone.

"Other than that, I do what you do, I guess. Sleep, find food. Not much else." She paused, glancing up a little sheepishly, though still amused, and added: "I'm trying to make this rock glow, for you--to show you; if I manage you can keep it. But it doesn't always work right. Magic in general, that is. I make gemstones with preserved flowers in them, make them glow. I've been working with glow-dust, too. It's beautiful," she added.

Then, eyes widened. "Oooh! I know something I can make you! Do you want to come back to our house with me, for a minute?" Her excitement shone in her eyes. She was picturing it in her mind already: all blue, all glowing, and very pretty. She wasn't entirely sure if Nemo was into flowers, but it didn't have to have a flower, after all.

@Nemo