Deli

As they approached the Bonebound's territory, they thought, for a moment, that it would probably be smart to keep themselves disguised. After all, they didn't want any of the blame falling on them, eventually, and the weird glow that the cloak created would probably be offputting. They didn't want anything going wrong.

Unfortunately, the spell didn't work. They paused to try it a few more times and sighed. What a time for it to stop working on them. Ah, no matter, they didn't need to stay hidden. After all, how was anyone going to figure out that it was actually them that was doing the plotting?

They didn't really step too close to the Bonebound, just paced around outside, sharp eyes flicking around, trying to see if they could spot a Gembound nearby. And, hopefully, that Gembound would be one that they needed.

@Lemonface

Lemonface was wandering around, testing out his wings, looking for something to do, the usual. He yawned and stretched out his wings, waddling about like he had somewhere to be, when in reality, he didn't. He was just hyper.

He spread his wings and attempted to fly for the umpteenth time, jumping off the designated 'Jumping Boulder' like he was a competitive diver.

Fantastically, he flopped on the floor, landing in a heap of feathers with an 'OOF!' He peeled himself off the floor and kicked a rock, squealing in pain and hopping on one foot immediately afterward.

"Stupid wings- stupid rock!", he cursed, hopping around in a circle for a few more seconds before sighing, "C'mon feathers... grow! I'm waitin'!!!"

@Deli

Deli

Eyes narrowed as they spotted the owl hopping around quite strangely. They weren't really sure what it was doing but...it was here in the Bonebound territory and it didn't look particularly dangerous. That was good enough for them.

They didn't seem to have noticed them yet so they quickly crept over so that they were behind the bird and then reached forward with their magic and grasped them tightly. They could feel their body, the blood surging through their veins, their legs and head, the wing at their side. They held on tight and forced them to stay still, unable to turn their head or anything as they began to creep forward, hand stretched out to touch them. If they were lucky, they'd get in and out without anyone the wiser to their plan.

@Lemonface

Lemonface was barely able to inhale before he was frozen, gripped tightly by something. He himself froze in fear, ice crawling up their veins. He panted weakly, barely able to do so, let alone speak, eyes darting around in his skull, trying desperately to see what the Hell was happening- who was doing this?!

He started to struggle, eyes clenching shut. No... he was Lemonface! He wouldn't be overcome by some weird magic! His wings snapped out and he shot forward, the hold on him releasing as he tumbled head over heels.

He sprang up in a clumsy mess of feathers, whipping around to face his assailant. White fur, weird eyes, two legs, two arms- run!

He ran off as fast as he could, wheezing as he tried to hop as fast as he could away, which wasn't fast at all.

@Deli

Deli

The spell was strong and the bird was frozen...but then their own strength, their own will, broke through their hold and the magic slipped away. Deli's heart leaped in their chest, eyes widening with shock, as they whirled around to see them. Shit, they'd seen. They knew their involvement! Alright, okay, time to gloss this over! Time to fix this and make it seem like a joke.

A smile lit up their face and they barked out a laugh. "Ah, shit, you got me!!" They chortled and stepped off after the bird, arms crossed over their chest. "Hey, hey, no need to freak out, I was just playin a little game on ya!" They needed to get the bird to not freak out because if they did it could risk everything. They could get in a whole lotta trouble should it end up being traced back to them. They trailed behind them, trying to figure out how to smooth this over. It wasn't hard to keep pace with Lemonface, waiting for them to stop running so they could maybe just sit down and have a chat or something.

@Lemonface

Lemonface stopped running after a bit and turned, facing Deli with wide eyes. He rubbed his face with his wing and groaned, embarrassed.

"Damn... guess you did," he said, "Uh... what the Hell even was that spell? You like.. I dunno, locked me up like I was having an awful muscle spasm or somethin'."

The vulture hopped forward and peered at Deli, blinking, "Who even are you? I ain't never seen you 'round b'fore. I'm Lemonface."

He held out a wing as if to shake hands, a mostly friendly expression on his face, "You're lucky you scared me and not one of my sibs- I'd have skinned you for that."

Lemon grinned somehow, despite his face being not at all suited to doing so. He was oddly expressive despite that, though. Maybe it was his eyes, the shit-eating expression on his face that seemed to be a permanent staple of his character.

@Deli

Deli

Relief - the bird seemed to catch onto their light-hearted attempt to calm the situation. They snickered, but not in a mean way. Laughing along with a joke rather then at Lemonface. It stepped forward, meeting the vulture in the middle, wanting oh-so-desperately to just touch him, or maybe play another little joke. Stir some chaos, as they always tended to do, but no. For now, they had to play nice.

"Sorry about that!" they laughed, a hand reaching back to scratch awkwardly at the back of their head. "Sometimes I see a potential prank and I can't help but go for it! Hope I didn't freak you out too much!" They smiled wider at the mention of their magic. Perhaps usually they would give them another demonstration, but the less suspicious they were now, the better. "Ah, it's just a spell I'm still working out. Makes you lock up and stuff."

And then the bird was offering its wing to them, in a mock handshake like how the Collector had presented to them. And, after a moment of forcing hesitation, they reached forward to touch their feathers and grasp what they could to do as least awkward a handshake as possible. "I'm called Deli! Again, sorry about that! I can leave ya alone if you want. Or-wait..." They tapped their paw on their chin for a second. "I'd like to make it up for you - you need anything dyed? Or you want me to paint you a picture or somethin? I'm good at art and stuff!"

@Lemonface

"Aw Hell yeah!!", he exclaimed, "Yo could I have like- a circle on my back, right in the middle, and my wing tips dipped yellow too? That shit would be AWESOME!"

Lemon grinned and pulled his wing away, turning around and tapping his beak on his shoulder, "You got anythin' yellow? That'd be awesome man- and don't worry 'bout the prank, s'all in good fun. Promise!"

He rubbed his head, "You got anythin' for yellow dye?"

If they came home with a cool dye design on them, Avi and Ozzie would think he was so cool! And he always wanted to please them.

@Deli

Deli

Deli's grin widened, more genuine this time, since this was something they could really get behind. Hey, it was a win-win - they made this whole thing smoothed over and got to advertise their sick tatts! "Yeah, yeah! I can do that, easy! Lemme just..." They opened the bag that was hidden beneath the cloak and began to rummage around. "Ah, don't got yellow but I can make ya some. Just hold there a sec." They turned and began wandering away, head trained down as they rummaged through the bones for what they needed.

Eventually, they found it - a bright yellow gemstone. Reaching down to pick it up, they returned to Lemonface and began to pull tools from their bag - a chunk of diamond, for one, as well as some crystal vials. They crushed up the stone and poured the tiny shards into a vial. Just a bit of water added and a vigorous shake and they had a perfectly good dye.

They held it up for Lemonface. "Here it is, then! You wanted a circle? And dipped wings? I can do that, easy!" They smiled and made a turning motion. "Turn for me, I'll put it on for ya."

@Lemonface

Lemonface hopped after Deli and watched intently, oohing at them as they crushed the gem and made the dye. They laughed and turned around, amazed.

"That was sick!", they said, "And don't draw no dicks on me- that ain't cool."

They stayed as still as possible and waited, grinning like an idiot with his wings spread, "Ho ho- can't wait to show Avi this! She's gonna think it's so cool!"

He could barely contain himself, forcing his body to be still as his mind raced with glee. He was going to look so cool when he went home, painted all nice and pretty. He hoped Avi liked his new colors, ones that matches his horns and his current fledgling feathers, black and brown, like charcoal.

@Deli