hop, skip, and tremble [o, reappearance]

[bink.]

//OOC

Although he had likely already faded from the active memory of those who had briefly met him, many were likely to at least vaguely remember him. He had showed up in the middle of Tanglewood’s forest, bleeding from the head and with seemingly no memory of who he was. His anxious nature and fragile body brought mixtures of looks his way - some of pity, some of contempt, and some of hunger. Out of fear of losing his life, shortly after being given the name Bink until he remembered his own, the crow vanished without a trace.

Some figured he had gotten eaten by a predator, and others thought he may have gone to try and recover his memories. Truthfully, he had never really left. He had been hiding on the outskirts of the territory, in a less terrifying place with more accessible (and less dangerous) food sources. The wound on his head had reduced itself to an ugly, healing scab, which would no doubt end up as a scar.

But as temperatures dropped and food grew scarce, the crow, who could barely care for himself as is, realized he would die if he stayed where he was.

With a feeling nearing shame sitting in his heart, he found his way back into Tanglewood with a mixture of hopping and fluttering. He couldn’t remember how to fly. Or did he never know how in the first place? Clicking his beak uncertainly, he lurked around the outskirts of town, eyeing the coming and going Tanglers. Although his presence had been majorly noticed, he finally worked up the nerve to call out. ”I-I’m back...”

[align=center]ATTACK IN BOLD #5163a0 - TAGS

[wormwood.]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

What had happened to their little friend Bink had... honestly not been something that had been on Aurum's mind a lot lately. That wasn't to say that the lion hadn't liked Bink. He thought the crow was fine enough, if not just a little bit more skittish than was necessary, but then again, Aurum had never been a very small prey animal in a group full of huge animals that could probably kill and chew him up in one bite. Still, for a brief time he had wondered what the hell had happened to the little guy, since Bink had appeared in a flash of memory loss and timid words, and had disappeared just as quickly afterwards. Aurum might've been scared that the Pitt had taken him at some point, but the lion found himself doubting that any of the Pittians would actually capture a little crow like Bink, rather than immediately killing and eating him. However, Aurum's fears of both the corvid having been captured or eaten were availed when he heard the small and hesitant voice of Bink come from the edge of town. Lifting his head, the angel smiled a bit before approaching slowly, making sure that Bink knew he had no intention of hurting him. Their first meeting had been plagued by Bink being terrified a huge lion was about to rip his tiny body limb from limb, so ever since then Aurum had been extremely careful whenever he ended up interacting with the small bird. Settling back on his haunches near where Bink was perched, the Captain gave Bink a slightly crooked smile before rumbling in greeting, "Hey there, Bink. Welcome back to society, little bird... where've you been? I was beginning to get worried that somebody had snatched you up..." Perhaps the male had decided to go and try to recover his lost memories? Aurum could faintly the other freaking out over not being able to remember anything back when he had first appeared, and the lion supposed that could've been a quest that had taken Bink away for a while.

template by orion

[ABATHUR .]

In some strange twisted way, Abathur could relate to the little bird.

Sure, he wasn't small, or a prey animal, but as a spider he was very widely seen as being a pest, something to be gotten rid of, even if he wasn't doing anyone any harm. He had even been chased out of a few groups before even trying to settle in, which was quite annoying to someone just trying to learn about the world. Fortunately enough, though, he ended up settling in what may have been the weirdest clan of all, and potentially one of the oddest places on the planet - plenty of phenomena to study and document, plenty of people to meet. Truly, he was having the time of his life, even if he didn't show it through his robotic and clinical actions.

It was on one such day that had Abathur marching around camp, simply looking to live life, find something to inquire into, to serve his purpose as best as possible - and truly he got his want for an interesting thing when he ran into Aurum talking to a tiny decorated crow. This gave him some pause - a rare occurrence, as established previously - and made him consider his next course of action. He was not one to consider things for very long, though, skittering over to stand next to Aurum and peer down at the comically petit male.

"Greetings," the arachnid intoned, lowering his body so as to try and be more face-to-face with the bird, not giving an ounce of the care Aurum put into his interactions due to a sheer lack of knowledge about Bink's predisposition to fear. "Why does subject have hat?"

As good a question as any, he felt.

tags - "speech"

[candorosa]

[align=center][div style="width:70%; text-align: justify; padding: 1px; font-family: helvetica; color: #2D0B08;"]Lemy could truthfully admit that before today, he had never seen both a talking bird and a giant spider gathered next to a winged lion. He had been limping about when the sight caught in his peripherals stole his attention. He had to do a double-take. For a good few seconds, Lemy was certain that it was his concussion launching its final attack and he was about to drop dead in the mud. So imagine his surprise when his vision unblurred enough for him to realize that no, he wasn't having a head-trauma induced hallucination and he was seeing what he thought he was. What the fuck? Why couldn't the Elysium have this kind of stuff? All they had were a bunch of shut-ins and snow.

So, Lemy did what any sane individual would do and made a bee-line to the trio, excited grin marring his features. Or well, as good as a bee-line he could make with a sprained ankle. "Look at you!" He squealed, tail lashing to and fro in excitement. Unfortunately for Bink, Lemy's default setting was set to 'loud and obnoxious.' And it was a setting he intended to remain in, despite the headache that accompanied his boisterous words.

Oh! The spider was asking something. Lemy closed his mouth with an audible click, enraptured by the scene before him. His white pupils flickered from bird to spider, body practically vibrating in excitement as he refrained from poking the two Tanglers. While he did want to know why the crow was wearing a hat, he was more interested in watching the two unusual creatures interact.

[bink.]

//he doesn’t actually have the hat yet! my bad, but i’ll make do
also can i say that i already Love lemy

As per his normal reaction with anything, his heart skipped a beat when one of the Tanglers going about their business stopped and began to head in his direction. The tiny crow gulped, then paused. Squinting his beady, dark eyes, there was recognition in his features as he briefly bobbed his head. Bink let the lion speak first, while he scanned over the bright fur and feathers in an attempt to search his memory. He knew this guy. What was his name again? Was that bandage there before?

Pleasantly surprised that his name was remembered, the dark bird straightened up and offered a smile. ”Wor- Worm...” Worm-something. He recalled thinking that it was a very odd name. Oh! ”Wormwood!” he exclaimed happily. ”I’m glad to see you!” Taking a few steps forward, he turned and tipped his head much like a pigeon. ”What happened to your...” the words died in his throat.

Bink’s expression turned to that of absolute horror as the massive spider skittered over on eight legs. Spider. It’s a massive spider. That’s a massive spider. As fast as he could on his own spindly legs, the crow darted and hid behind one of Wormwood’s. Wormwood would protect him from it, his heart told him. His mind said that it would kill them all. Practically clinging to the lion’s leg, he stared out at the arachnid with wide eyes. It spoke. Why does subject have hat? Hat? What hat? Shakily, he reached up and brushed his head with the wrist of his wing. To his surprise, an equally tiny leaf, presumably from a bush, fell to the ground. ”O-oh...” he mumbled, dumbfounded. Heart still pounding in his chest, he somehow got even closer to his lion friend’s ankle and looked at eight different eyes nervously and sheepishly. He wasn’t dead yet. Must be biding its time. ”I... I didn’t notice it was there.” A weak, nervous laugh didn’t quite leave his beak.

When the excited, creamy-colored cat abruptly appeared in front of him and squealed, the little corvid damn near had a heart attack. Briefly lurching on his feet as if he were about to faint like a goat, he leaned against Wormwood. ”Pl- please don’t do- don’t do that,” he managed, voice little more than a coarse whisper. As it turns out, Tanglewood had gained more members in the time he was gone. Although he was loud, this new one didn’t scare him like... like the spider. Giant spider. ”Hello,” he tried again, voice cracking. ”I can’t remember my real name, b-but people call me Bink.”

[align=center]ATTACK IN BOLD #5163a0 - TAGS

[wormwood.]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

Bink was... well, pretty much exactly as Aurum had remembered him. It had been ages since Aurum had first met the tiny bird, considering the corvid had joined – or rather just shown up on their border – only a few days after the lion had first joined. It was definitely a blast from the past, but far from an unpleasant one. Watching as Bink blinked wide eyes at him, Aurum chuckled a bit when he finally saw recognition in the tiny orbs, and his old name was stumbling clumsily from the bird's beak. Nodding his head, Aurum said warmly, glad to see that he hadn't been forgotten, even if they had only know each other briefly, "Ah, yep, you got it right! Although I changed my name a little while ago, to Aurum. Wormwood didn't really feel as though it fit anymore... it's good to see you again too, Bink." He was fairly sure he knew what Bink was going to ask about when the other male's eyes fell on his bandages, but the question was interrupted by the arrival of Abathur, who evidently scared the living shit out of Bink. Aurum let out a soft grunt as the tiny bird went scrambling behind his leg, clinging to it like an absolute lifeline to keep him safe, but he couldn't help the amused smile on his face. It seemed as though everyone was petrified when they first saw Abathur, but Bink had special reason to be, given his frailty and small size.

Watching as Bink dealt with the leaf upon his head, the lion recognized Lemy coming up out of the corner of his eye, and immediately his heart sank. Of all the people top come up next, it really had to be one of the most excitable ones in Tanglewood at the moment, huh? Sure enough, Lemy came bouncing up with a grin and a loud exclamation, and Bink went scrambling backward, leaning further into Aurum's leg. The Captain smiled and gently wrapped a paw around the small bird protectively, rumbling as he looked down at him, "As you can see, Tanglewood has gotten a few new members since last time you were here... although Lemy here isnt a joiner, he's just our very excitable joiner." He flicked his tail over at Lemy, who evidently seemed absolutely delighted by the appearance of the minuscule corvid. Aurum didn't really know what Elysium was like, putting aside his one visit as an ambassador to them, so he had to imagine that stuff like this wasn't a regular occurence over in the mountains, or Lemy wouldn't be so utterly delighted... or perhaps Lemy was just always like that.

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[ABATHUR .]

The radiation was getting to him, apparently - he could've sworn... nevermind. Hat or no hat, he was still intrigued by the incredibly small crow, which he was at least 70% sure wasn't a child. Would it be rude to ask if it had some form of dwarfism...?

The spider let out a low grunt, clearing his mind of such thoughts, followed by him sidling sideways in a very crab-like manner to keep Bink pinned down in his sights. What a strangely befitting name for such a miniscule crow, he thought to himself, two eyes fixated on the nasty looking scar on the top of his head. "Hiding unnecessary," he said, in an attempt to make peace; though he was lacking in empathy, he didn't like the idea of people avoiding him simply because of what he was, especially interesting people, like the tiny little baby crow hiding under a lion. "Will not harm subject Bink." A true enough statement, although it was missing a little "intentionally," and maybe a little "as long as you don't enrage me" - though both applied to all people, so the exclusion was less out of a lawyer-esque malice and more out of thinking it was pretty obvious.

His focus was broken by the presence of Lemy, though, who was... well, the first thing that popped into Abathur's head was "nuisance," which wasn't quite accurate. The excitement the male portrayed was certainly interesting, and made Abathur wonder if the radiation got to him, too, but primarily he was torn between dismissing him as simply another annoying person with little use to his research, and being glad that he met someone who didn't seem even mildly uncomfortable at his presence. "Greetings," he said, reserving judgment.

Conclusions drawn from insufficient sample sizes were like to be incorrect, after all.

tags - "speech"

[candorosa]

[align=center][div style="width:70%; text-align: justify; padding: 1px; font-family: helvetica; color: #2D0B08;"]//aw thank you! <3

Lemy had to admit that it was pretty amusing seeing the tiny crow scramble away from the spider. A snort escaped his nose at the sight of it. It was even funnier to see the spider assert that he wouldn't harm the crow, in an absurd way. He wasn't sure how to describe it.

He watched as the corvid brushed away the leaf on his head, his own tilting in thought. Lemy snapped out of his thoughts at Bink's acknowledgment. He stuck his tongue out in response to the corvid's request. "Sorry, sorry! Won't happen again, promise!" Lemy said, like the liar he was. He eyed the crow as it introduced itself to him, nodding along. He glanced at Aurum's motion and words then returned his attention to Bink. "Nice to meet ya, Binny! Aurie's right, I'm just visiting," he giggled, making a note of the corvid's admission. Amnesia, huh?

Lemy perked up at the spider's pleasantry. It looked...well, he wasn't sure what it looked like, since he couldn't read spider faces. The guy would probably kill it at poker. "Heya!" He replied, tilting his head as he observed the arachnid. "What's your name, huh?" He asked, reaching out a sprained paw in an attempt to poke the spider's...mandible thingies.

His attention flickered back to the little bird, his concussed mind prioritizing his lack of a hat. "Ya should have kept it, y'know," he pouted, gesturing to the top of Bink's head with his tail, "I bet ya'd look cute if ya put on some accessories." Lemy said absentmindedly, mind conjuring up images of the avian with various human trinkets.