aimsforknees: (Default)
John Reese ([personal profile] aimsforknees) wrote2024-10-12 01:22 pm

ic inbox

text & voice;
ornithologist: (198)

[personal profile] ornithologist 2025-01-20 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
Something appropriate for a reptile would be fine -- normal pet supplies -- so start with the Kwik Trip, I think?

[ Would Harold share this kind of closeness with John if they were at home? He's not sure, but he's inclined to think not. There would be no reason to disrupt the careful, delicate distance they've fallen into, the kind of thin veneer that serves as a gauzy veil to hide what he feels they both know lies beneath. Here there's compelling reasons to tug that veneer aside bit by bit. Harold hadn't said anything but he of course noticed the sudden appearance of his usual wardrobe, and it'd flustered him greatly.

He knows John cares, that's impossible to miss, but there's knowing... and there's the sudden equal footing they find themselves on here. ]
ornithologist: (161)

[personal profile] ornithologist 2025-01-23 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ By the time he returns, Harold has several hefty books laid open and a notebook out where he's taking notes. It's really so ridiculous to be living without the internet. Harold never thought he'd have to return to the pre-world wide web dark ages. At least he's old enough to know how to use a library properly, and isn't at a total loss.

The bird is, of course, still squawking away, making plaintive chittering noises from its shoebox. ]


Until I release it, I expect it, [ Harold says dourly. He loves birds but he's never tried to keep one, for good reason. ] A few weeks. Though it may settle down a bit once I feed it.

[ Harold has a plate of very plain scrambled eggs -- no oil or seasoning -- that is cooling next to his books. He can at least manage to scramble an egg on his own. ]

The tweezers, please? [ That was on the list. He's not going to put his computer tools near a baby bird; they can be astoundingly gross. ]
ornithologist: (077)

[personal profile] ornithologist 2025-01-24 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
A moment of human weakness. [ It's said flippantly but with a long-suffering self-aware truth behind it. ] I was curious.

[ Harold takes the tweezers and the plate of scrambled egg and approaches the chirping box. There's what looks like a gaping hole with a beak around it pointed straight upward that the faint screeching is coming out of. He uses the tweezers to carefully drop a piece of cooked egg into the chick's mouth, which it gulps down whole. ]
ornithologist: (098)

[personal profile] ornithologist 2025-01-24 02:39 pm (UTC)(link)
More or less constantly, [ he grouses. ] I've really done this to myself, haven't I?

[ He's not about to ask John to do this for him, but he really will be tied to his desk for a few days...

He puts the plate and tweezers down and shuffles over to take the rest of the supplies, starting to unpack. ]
According to the chatter on the network, I should be thankful it's just a bird.
ornithologist: (190)

[personal profile] ornithologist 2025-01-26 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
Wrens are remarkably vocal and have a unique song. Normally that's a charming feature.

[ Harold pauses in his unpacking to frown mildly over at John. ]

I'm the one who accepted the egg -- I won't foist the responsibility off on you. [ Extensive sense of responsibility it is. ]
ornithologist: (073)

[personal profile] ornithologist 2025-01-26 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
God forbid.

[ Harold feels negligent every time he catches John mopping. It's abnormal and means he needs something to do, which he hasn't forgotten. He keeps trying to come up with something... ]

We could take shifts, [ he admits reluctantly. ] The first few days will be the hardest.
ornithologist: (055)

[personal profile] ornithologist 2025-01-26 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
[ Of course he offers nonetheless, without any fanfare. Harold's expression is soft and appreciative as he turns toward John. ]

Thank you. It's really nothing complicated, it's just annoying frequent...

[ And he runs through how to feed a baby bird, and what temperature it needs, and how to clean up after its bizarrely tidy defecation habits, and after a few minutes it falls into something natural and easy, like it's the simplest thing in the world between them. ]