a battery of guilt | weekly task

[wormwood.]

☆ HUNG PICTURES OF PATRON SAINTS UP ON MY WALL TO REMIND ME THAT I AM A FOOL. TELL ME WHERE I CAME FROM, WHAT I WILL ALWAYS BE: JUST A SPOILED LITTLE KID WHO WENT TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL —

To be quite honest, Aurum knew very little about Ivan's pet bird. He had been there when the eagle had imprinted upon the boy, and although he had been horrified by what it had done to its fellow hatchlings, he had also encouraged Ivan to take responsibility, just as Selby had. It was definitely odd, seeing such an unusual mutated creature following Ivan around on his way from day to day activities, but it eventually just became part of the norm, fading into the background noise for Aurum. After all, he knew a thing or two about mutations, and it didn't seem as though the dual headed avian was hurting. Or at least, if it was hurting, it wasn't alerting Ivan or anyone else to its pain. The proxy wasn't quite sure of how much Ivan actually enjoyed having the eagle around him, but at least he wasn't as unsettled and upset as he had been when the thing had first emerged. If he had still been in such a state, then Aurum probably would've taken it upon himself to go and talk to either Selby or Moth about relieving their son of the creature. Part of the lion had even thought that Winston's disappearance might lead to Ivan shoving the creature away, potentially leading to its death. It wouldn't have surprised him, considering the genuine anguish that had been on the faces of both Ivan and Selby after what had happened.

Thankfully, Ivan had a habit of surprising Aurum quite handily in various, positive ways. Today, it seemed as though he would be surprising his uncle by teaching his eagle companion a "trick," so to speak. The angel had been out for a walk when he spotted the eagle up in the trees, staring downwards quite intently with one of its heads. Curiosity piqued, Aurum had found himself slipping through the trunks of the trees before he eventually came to where Ivan was sitting, with his tail twitching to and fro. The lion opened his muzzle, intent on asking just what was going on, when the bird came soaring down, coming to a landing beside Ivan. Startled, Aurum actually took a moment to step back, seemingly processing what had just happened. After a couple of seconds, he regained his composure, a warm chuckle leaving him. Slipping by so that he would be in front of Ivan, instead of just observing, the large feline said proudly, "Nice job, Ivan. I always did think it was a little awkward for that thing to be following you around everywhere on foot... it's pretty impressive that you managed to teach it how to do that." The proxy never would've expected a feline to be able to teach an eagle to learn how to fly. At least, a feline that wasn't like he or Goldie, with their large wings similar to a bird's.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #1B1B2F; font-size: 24px;"][color=#44437F]— AURUM

#psychosocial.