Birb Watching

Another day, another completed job. Klara had comeback from guiding a few of the Historical Society members to a pyramid. She even managed to make a few bonus coins due to a small artifact she uncovered. Since she lived by the wanderer's model of never weighing once's self down with coin, she decided to reward her hard work with a trip a locate tavern. It was one of her frequent stops since being in this city and she come to really enjoy the quietness of this hole in the wall.

It did not get many customers but most of the people who came were successfully mercenaries, underground people, and she even saw a lord once. All of them kept to themselves and that peace was what made this place even better. One day, she would build up the courage to speak to them but for now, she enjoyed her own peace and quiet. "One cup and a plate of chips."  

Klara herself was dressed in her white cloak. Underneath she wore her red strap and black unitard which formed a dress with a wide belt strap forming the skirt.

Morgan was starting to find the nation of Heliohapt irritating and problematic. It wasn't the nation's hotter climate that was getting to her, at least not since she had escaped from that problematic dungeon that drew her to these lands in the first place. Nor since her transformation had allowed her to handle heats far more comfortably and accomodatingly. Rather it was due to the fact that she was without anyone to go about acting as her face for her. Of course her actual face wasn't that much of an issue, she was still passibly normal if one overlooked the feathered tufts near her ears and the sharpened teeth in her mouth. In fact even just keeping herself covered from the neck down wouldn't have drawn much attention to her.

No. Rather it was the facts like her new avian legs and the wings that had replaced her arms and hands. It made it that much harder for her to feed herself and her hungry was turning to agitation in the Knight. Today was a day of final desperation where her frustrations had won out. She had been lucky enough to find a small hole-in-the-wall tavern of sorts frequented by less than favorable types that tended to look the other way and leave each other alone so long as one didn't bother another. That was the only saving grace that had allowed her to continue to feed herself in her current state.

"I can do so many things with my body but I can't turn these damned wings back into hands."

She muttered to herself as she stepped across the threshold of the tavern she took a seat off in a corner by herself. Her now emerald green eyes locked onto the tavern's serving wench as a silent signal for her to approach. She hadn't even given the young woman a chance to open her mouth before Morgan spoke quick and sharp. "A bowl of stew. Whatever you've got with meat in it if you've got any." She couldn't hold anything like a utensil or a skewer now but she had been able to at the very least become capable of holding a bowl with the edges of her wings enough to drink out of it by herself.

Klara's reward for her hard work was going to have to wait... or at least that's what the girl thought. See, this other woman had walked up and, rudely might I add, made an order without giving the barista time to speak. The woman behind the counter turned to Klara before turning to this new person. It seemed as if the woman was trying to figure out who's order she was going to complete. Both these individuals were unknown to her but she was at least as familiar with Klara's voice. The girl was mostly quiet and tamed. This new person however spoke with an edge... one the woman did not want to be on the receiving end of. But with a deep breath, she remembered the owner's words and rules.
*Nobody causes problems. Nobody ask questions*

The woman trembled a bit but she held onto the counter for support. "One moment ma'am." The well of emotions was becoming too much and she released herself to subtlety flee to the back. With the counter unmanned, it was just the two young women at the bar now.

Klara grabbed one of the complementary hard shelled peanuts from the counter. Balancing it on the counter with a finger over the top, she rotated it around the bottom before "accidently" pushing it in front of the woman who stole her spot in line. Klara tapped the table feinting disappointment in messing up her trick. Then she pushed herself off her stool and walked over to the woman. She reached in front of the woman to grab the nut without looking at her.
"Sorry Ms. How rude of me to play with my food." The girl did not pull the peanut back to her yet though. "I get a little anxious when someone cuts me in line." It was at this point that the girl swallowed the shell peanut in her fist and completely crushed the shell with her grip alone. Then she let the pieces of shell fall out of her hand while she kept the two edible nuts inside. It was only then that she pulled her hand, now a full fist, back.

"Try not to let it happy again..." The girl then threw the two nuts into her mouth and made her way back to her seat.

The serving girl seemed unable to handle the edge of Morgan's words or the confidence in her actions and seemed to rush off to the back of the tavern, into the "Staff only" area, as subtlely as she could manage without causing a scene. The starved avian girl let loose a disgruntled puff of breath as she watched the embarassing scene she had uncaringly caused. Times like this before she had her transformation she would have simply leaned her cheek on her hand while those she ordered around tested her patience. Her new wings, however, didn't offer the kind of mobility and posability a typical humanoid's arm could provide nor did it hold as durable to support excess weight for extended periods of time. As such her typical mannerisms weren't an option for her now that she was several parts bird.

Her annoyance was momentarily disrupted by the introduction of a shelled nut landing before her on the bar counter. The sudden arrival of the small piece of food drew her attention away from her hunger and towards the teen girl who had approached her from the other end of the bar. Morgan had noticed her sitting there when she herself walked in and found herself a seat but she hadn't paid her much mind. If any at all. Before Morgan could address her in any way the girl reached in front of her to pick the peanut up in her fist. She issued Morgan a false appology for playing with her food, her fist not leaving the area before Morgan and actually seemed to squeeze tighter. Morgan got the message regardless of the rest of the girl's delivery.

Another downside of her transformation upon leaving the dungeon, Morgan was no longer as tall as she used to be. Before she had been 243cm tall in flat footware, easily able to stand well above the girl to impose a sense of wrongfulness for her actions. Now, however, she had shrunken down to a more average 183cm. Still enough to have some height over the rude girl before her but not as much as Morgan had been accustomed to using to her advantage. Regardless of her lack of height Morgan wouldn't be allowing this disrespect to stand and swiftly rose from her seat to follow the girl back to her spot this time. Seconds before she could plant herself on it the Sasan Knight proceeded to lash out with her taloned foot and kick the stool out from under the unnamed girl.

"I don't take insults kindly kid. Learn to respect your elders." She huffed before turning around and making her way back to her end of the bar. "And follow the rules. This is one of the few places I can actually get some food right now."

There was a loud whip as Klara felt her stool suddenly dive from out below her. A brief stumble followed as the girl did her best to recover from such a surprising event. To think chairs were alive and so desperate to keep from being sat on, this city was so whimsical and mysterious. This was what the girl wanted to believe but her crimson eye was able to peek out from under her hood and see the line cutter standing behind her. Oh how glorious her day would have been lifted if the fantasy was true. Now she had to deal with bleak reality.

"Insults?" The girl then turned to the stool that fell and would not get up, "I can't recall insulting you Ms. You should get better at telling stories." Klara then walked over to pick the chair up, brush it off and then plant it back to where its rightful home was.
"Though, I don't respect brats who don't know how to wait their turn and lash out at innocent stools. It doesn't bring value to my life. Those with value should be respected. And you... should learn how to grow up." Klara then turned around to face the woman. "By the way. That is an insult." A smug grin poked out from under the girl's hood.

It was at this time that the woman and an older gentlemen came out from behind the kitchen. The woman had two plates in her arms with the man behind her ensuring nothing was wrong. With a stern look, the scanned the area to see the two girls out of their chairs. "Ladies, I apologize on behalf of my staff for any misunderstandings. Please return to your seats and have a drink on the house. We don't need problems here right?" The woman dropped a bowl of stew in front of the harpy's chair before placing the plate of chips in front Klara's seat. Then she gave a small bow. "Sorry... sorry... I... I didn't forget anyone. I will work on my behavior." The man then made to mugs of beer and set them on the table next each plate.

Morgan scoffed at the impudent brat's words. She was ready to bite back about how she was more than certainly older than the girl before her, Morgan herself being in her mid-twenties, but everything was derailed by the arrival of the tavern's owner and the barmaid she had unnerved enough to go off and cry exiting from the back and getting between the their only two patrons. The owner himself apologized for the service of his staff and offered both of the girls a drink on the house each in order to sooth over any potential problems they would create.

Morgan herself walked back over to her seat, talons scraping against the stone floor of the tavern with each step. A bowl had been placed on the counter where she would sit full of stew and complete with a spoon. Without much of a care she flared her "arms" out to remove her cloak from her wings. "I don't need the spoon. Also if you could put that drink in a bowl as well I'd welcome the ease." Was her response to the owner. It was an odd sight for anyone bothering to watch Morgan. She didn't care too much one way or the other if they did if she was being honest. Using the thicker sides of her wings that had once been her arms where the feathers extended down from like curtains the Sasan Knight gingerly cradled either side of her bowl and lifted it to her mouth.

Peace returned to her as she sipped her stew and felt the warm broth and meat chunks entering her otherwise empty stomach.

Klara rolled her eyes at the interference. In reality, it was a good thing since she was not looking to get kicked out or banned from this establishment. Picking up her chair she started to wonder if she went too far. She was not apologizing, wrong was wrong, but was the consequences worth it? She puffed her cheeks before stuffing a potato chip in her mouth. Then an amazing thought popped in her head. Did that lady say she didn't need a spoon?

Klara slightly pulled back her hood to peek at the woman. What she saw made her think she was in a fantasy. The woman had wings. Was she drunk? Were the potatoes bad? The girl took a bite of another chip. She remembered the scraping sound from when her chair was kicked and as she walked back to her chair. This was all real!

Curiosity was a dangerous urge and the Fanalis had no self control when it came to discovery. Such a story, meeting a fantasy creature in a bar. The wanderer had nothing on this. Even better, such an experience would drastically increase her value. So the girl did the most obvious move. She inched her way closer to the creature to get a better look, a better experience, and more evidence of her sighting. If she was gonna drop her grudge, it had to be for a good reason.

Morgan had grown used to the feeling of eyes trained on her from a distance. Even before she had become the harpy-esque creature she now was, even far back before she had become a Knight of Sasa, all the way back to when she was that powerful young girl forced to dig out the ores and minerals of the country's mines due to the origin of her birth. She had been watched by all manner of people in her life for all kinds of varying reasons. Now it was just a lot easier to decipher what those reasons could be with her new form. She didn't even bother sparing the annoying brat a glare as she stared down into the bowl of stew she ever so carefully balanced along the edges of her new wings in her odd manner of holding.

"They're real you brat. Keep staring and I'm going to be making you pay for my meal as compensation for the show."

Her words weren't as harsh as those she had spoken when she entered the establishment but they did stand firm and loaded with a sense of annoyance. Bringing the rim of the bowl to her lips she began to drink in the tasteful broth of her stew, opening her mouth wider in order to take in the hearty chunks of meat and vegetables that added to its flavors. Somehow the cook had managed to get his hands on pork for the dish. It was almost enough to bring a smile to Morgan's face. Though a smirk of satisfaction was likely the best that would happen now that she had a proper method of keeping hunger at bay at this moment. Perhaps another bowl or two would be able to brighten her mood even further.

Klara's skipped her next breath. This woman was not human. They were something different, something magical. Given the fact that she could talk, Klara had to do whatever she could to extend this moment. The wander was going to be so jealous the next time she saw him when she told him about this. So when the woman made the obvious joke about paying for her meal a couple coins would fly out of the girl's cloak and land stacked up next to the woman. Should the woman turn to Klara, she would see the girl's eyes poking out from under her hood. These eyes sparkled with that hope and excitement a toddler before a new toy.

The girl wanted to speak but the curious cat pinned her tongue. At best, she could only mouth the words "wow" and "Harpy." Some of this was due to the girl's shyness but ultimately, she did not want to ruin the moment with more bickering, confusion, or fighting. After all, the creature did insult her but... like... was there value in holding a grudge? In the girl's heart, the answer was no. Now she just needed her brain to catch up.

Morgan sipped her soup, paying no mind to the otherwise annoying girl she had just finished her altercation with. Her hunger was subsided in the moment, growing fainter and fainter with each sip. She was positive this wouldn't be the only bowl she'd be order either. Her new physical limitations made eating that much more complicated and difficult for her to do as frequently as she used to be able to and that meant she now went farther between meals than she would like. She'd have to practice manipulating at least one limb back into its old shape in her free time to make things easier on herself.

The sound of coin hitting the counter earned Morgan's attention. Had the annoying brat actually taken her seriously and paid for her meal like she said to? She had to actually look and see, turning her head and finding a pair of eyes practically shining right at here from under the stranger's hood. The phoenixian harpy could only sigh into her bowl at the discovery.

"Fine."

She placed the bowl back down on the counter with a soft thud as it slid off the edges of her wings in the final few centimeters and caused Morgan to grumble. She really needed to do something about this whole "lack of hands" situation given how it made nearly any and every simple task more problematic than it had any right to be. She turned on her stool, her left wing moving to lay across the countertop like she would if it had still been her normal arm.

"Let's get on with it then, and I'm charging you another bowl of stew for whatever questions I need to answer or any poking or prodding you feel like you need to do."

The harpy seemed surprised for a brief moment when Klara dropped the money on the counter. Little did the bird woman know how important knowledge, experience, and just memories mean to the fanalis seeing to become the most valuable person. So when the opportunity opened itself with the price of another bowl of soup, Klara was in no condition to deny it. "Do you have a story? Where are the other Harpy? Can I meet them? Never in my life have I imagine something like this happening!" Klara found her own excitement choking her.

She took a deep breath before taking a sip of her drink. "Sorry sorry. I'm Klara." Klara put on her friendliest smile as if the the two's introduction was not nothing but trouble. For her, she knew that a good story started with a title and the name of the author.