Birds of a Feather

[Gerrard]

Gerrard had a wide grin on his face, the younger hybrid chuckling when Falco came to the realization that he had been the butt of a joke. He patted his friend on the back with a claw, the griffon back to his senses as he could battle wits with his friend at a reasonable level. When the sergeant suggested that Gerrard wasn't good enough for him regardless, the architect chuckled lightly, deciding to disagree with his older counterpart.

Gerrard batted his eyes in a playful manner and extended a black talon as if he were examining his nails. "I'm far too fabulous for a scruffy old man like you," he replied in a clearly faked feminine voice, Gerrard doing his best to avoid breaking into a hearty laugh. The younger griffon was of course joking, but felt the need to clarify further for his friend. "I wasn't asking you on a date, I'm sure you could find someone right for you if you felt the need," he added with a smile, Gerrard listening closely as his friend mentioned the peculiar tastes of the black griffon.

"Do I date my own kind? What a question," Gerrard replied vaguely with a chuckle, the architect deciding to explain himself as best he can. "Well, think of it like this, if I only dated griffonesses, I might get one or two dates a year. They also have very sharp claws that my eyes are allergic to. I mean I guess I could date one if I found a patient one in Equestria. I can't really venture on to Aquellia to go dating. Anyway, ponies are great to date and hang out with. They are even compatible if you want children," he added, the younger griffon wondering what Falco thought of the notion, seeing as he didn't really like dating at all to begin with.

"Just do you know pal, when I get back to Canterlot, I'm gonna take a nice bath and drink all the delicious water I can force down my throat. It will be marvelous!" he announced, Gerrard stumbling towards the pawn shop of his friend. He did want to get his sizzling body out of the sun and into a cooler location, the younger hybrid feeling anxious about the heat.

[Bellosh]

If nothing else could be said, then at least Gerrard was his usual lively self as he persisted in egging on Falco Kestrelson. As the shop owner expected though, Gerry sounded like had a terrible time with griffon ladies, even if he did have a good point in that griffons were hard to come by in Canterlot. Shrugging, Falco saw fit to drop the subject on pony-griffon romance indefinitely.

And with that, Falco finally made it to his pride and treasure, the Gem & Trinkets Pawn Shop. [colour=#008000]“Well here’s my shop Gerry,”[/colour] Falco announced, too thirsty to speak out too loud; [colour=#008000]“We’ll be heading on into the storage room in the; our living quarters can be reached from there.”[/colour] Thus did Mr. Kestrelson enter the store, stocked as usual with diverse antiques and gadgets. Giving a brief hello to his confused-looking younger sister Harriet (who had been manning the store), Falco then asked the black hybrid; [colour=#008000]“Whatcha’ think of the place, pal?”[/colour]

[Gerrard]

Gerrard chuckled a bit as Falco abruptly stopped the discussion on interspecies relations. A lot of people frowned on them and he understood that, the griffon knowing that some were stuck in their ways. Gerrard just figured that Falco didn't like relationships of any kind. The black hybrid smirked as he took one passing glance at the large building before him.

The building was in a similar sort of vaguely western style, and elaborate sign resting above the entrance to the building. "Neat place," Gerrard complimented with a genuine tone, clearly eager to see what secrets were hidden inside it's walls. As he followed after the sergeant, Gerrard looked over all the trinkets, his keen eyes trying their best to make heads or tails of what was important. His narrow spectrum of training didn't seem to serve him very well with antiques, most of the items clearly out of his field of expertise.

As Gerrard followed Falco through his home, the architect couldn't help but glance across to the clearly confused griffoness. "Don't worry, the oil will wash right off my talons. I'm Sergeant Falco's old CO, honored to meet you Lady...," he politely remarked, telling an obvious fib for a laugh, the black hybrid far too young to have been any major rank in the military. Regardless, he did a polite bow before Hariet, offering a dark talon for a friendly shake. "What do I think of the place? Lovely place, I can see what draws all the customers in," he remarked coyly, the Canterlot trained griffon looking at Falco's younger sibling as he playfully poked his tongue out at her.

[Bellosh]

Ex-sergeant Kestrelson didn’t know whether to smack Gerrard or laugh out loud over the younger hybrid’s utterly absurd claim that he used to be Falco’s CO. For one thing, Falco very much appeared to be twice the age of the hapless plumber. Adding insult to injury, Gerry now felt he was free to flirt with Harriet as he pleased; it was like he learned nothing at all from his interaction with Mrs. Rufflefeathers earlier. To her credit, Harriet maintained an unfeeling stoic expression as she tolerated Gerry’s presence.

As for Falco himself, his expression changed from anger to that of mere annoyance as he understood that his companion really needed some rest. [colour=#008000]“Don’t mind my plumber pal sis,”[/colour] the shop owner assured his younger sister; [colour=#008000]“He just needs to sleep off a mug of hard cider he drank. Oh, and he may need lots and lots of water glasses too.”[/colour] Seeing Harriet blankly nod in response, Falco proceeded to head off towards the back room, gesturing Gerrard to follow.

Aside from serving as a storage area for surplus stock, the second floor of the back room was more or less a hub for the Kestrelson family’s residential dwelling. In true griffon fashion, no stairs led up to this part of the half-store/half-residence; the only way up or down was flight. If lady luck smiled down upon them, then Gerrard would be able to fly up there. That is, when he stumbled his way into the back room of course. [colour=#008000]"You comin' Gerry,"[/colour] the griffon shouted mockingly; [colour=#008000]"Or are you too busy drooling all over my merchandise?!"[/colour]

[Gerrard]

The stoic expression of indifference stared back at him as he peered across to Harriet. He was conflicted as to what to say as Falco started marching out of the room. The dark hybrid paused as he thought over Falco's cruel, vaguely accurate words. "I am quite familiar with the stoic expression of indifference. My best friend is perpetually stuck in such a state, and while it may be disheartening, I know that like her, you secretly must care. The truth is that I am a Canterlot Trained Irrigation Architect. I was dispatched to your humble city in a successful attempt to fix your water. And while your brother pulls us apart, I know that we secretly care for each other!" Gerrard declared in a dramatic manner, going down on one knee as he poured his heart out for her.

"Perhaps it wasn't met to be though, forgive me ma'am, I must leave," he added politely, returning to his feet as he wrapped a large black wing around his form. "Farewell mistress," he whispered before darting off after Falco, the dark hybrid quickly getting back to the side of his friend. The younger hybrid smirked a bit as Falco mentioned merchandise, deciding to throw a curve ball towards his friend. "Ya, I'll be right up there!" he declared confidently, the woozy griffon hopping up and flapping his heavy wings. With a few dangerous flaps, he landed beside the sergeant, seemingly proud of himself. "Yes, your 'merchandise is a solid six, almost a seven! Well above average. Of course, it is a bit beneath Asteria. She is a solid ten, quite the mare I must admit," Gerrard explained with a devilish smirk as he reached into his bag and pulled out a photograph of his close unicorn friend in a stunning white dress. "When I'm around her, I need lots of water to cool off," he added with a smile, lightly jabbing Falco with his elbow.

[Bellosh]

Harriet was probably going to scratch his eyes off very shortly, Falco Kestrelson mused. Gerrard was absolutely abysmal in the art of courtship, so abysmal in fact that he was downright laughable. Falco didn’t dare let a peep escape from his throat however, for fear of receiving additional retaliation when all was said and done. Observing Gerry’s embarrassing efforts, the elder griffon become more resolved than ever to never get into a relationship with anypony.

Finally, the black hybrid got around to flying up towards the living quarters. Displaying the audacity to rate his sister as merchandise, it took a visibly-fuming Mr. Kestrelson quite a bit of his willpower to refrain from verbally lashing at Gerry. Less willpower was required once the plumber dug up a picture of the mare of his ultimate affections. [colour=#008000]“I don’t see anything special about her,”[/colour] Falco dryly remarked;[colour=#008000] “In fact, she looks rather bored to me. You didn’t take this photo by any chance, did you?”[/colour] Falco would pity this Asteria if that was indeed the case.....

[Gerrard]

Gerrard could vaguely sense the growing anger in the griffoness, but was gone before his eyes could be raked. He looked over at the irked sergeant, just in time for Falco to down talk the mare. Gerrard chuckled a bit at the statement, finding such a claim strange. "Ponies have taught me to love and tolerate everyone, even dudes who like other dudes," Gerrard joked playfully as he jabbed Falco with an elbow.

"She always looks bored. Asteria thinks that expressing emotion is frivolous or something. Even then, she secretly cares about others and donates the majority of her work profits anonymously to disadvantaged children in Equestria of all species," Gerrard explained with a straight face. The usually jovial hybrid was being serious for once, not wanting Falco to think less of his best friend.

"But yes, I was the only person around she trusted to photograph her. Can't ruin her cover or anything. And besides, when you look like that, pictures just take themselves," he mused aloud, clearly infatuated with the made as he got hot and bothered. "Falco, I think I need some water," he jokingly added, smiling for his friend.

[Bellosh]

Ever since Gerrard idiotically compared his sister to merchandise, Falco Kestrelson had steadily grown less loving & tolerating of his younger companion. All of a sudden, Gerry’s never-ending elbow-jabbing had gotten bothersome as well. And now, the black hybrid mentioned how Asteria was actually some-sort of emotionless automaton or something to that effect; she may be a charitable pony, but even a romance-skeptic like Falco had to seriously question why anybody would ever be infatuated with a person who displayed no feelings whatsoever.

And so Mr. Kestrelson led the way to the guest bedroom, wanting the hapless Gerrard out of his misery while he recovered. [colour=#008000]“I think you need to be put to sleep Gerry,”[/colour] Falco deadpanned as he opened the guestroom door, revealing a spartan room with only the barest of essentials; [colour=#008000]“Now; you just take a nap on that bed for a couple hours and you’ll be up and flyin’ again in no time. That bed may not be the most comfy ever, but you’ll survive.”[/colour]

[Gerrard]

Gerrard of course meant no offense when he spoke of Harriet, but the architect had a way with words. The problem for him though was that his words were poorly chosen and their delivery even worse handed. Even in his current state, the younger hybrid could tell he wasn't exactly making any friends. "Real talk Falco, I'm uh... sorry... for what I said. I didn't mean it the way it came out," he explained meekly, the proud architect managing to force out an audible apology to his visibly irked friend.

He looked at the spartan quarters and didn't protest. While he was used to a bit of Canter lot luxury, his pride didn't allow him to complain about freely offered living quarters. "Thanks for the hospitality Falco, I won't forget it," he politely added for his friend as he took his spot on his bed.

[Bellosh]

And now Gerrard was apologizing... for claiming he needed water to drink after excessively staring at a picture of an emotionless mare. Actually the younger griffon didn’t actually state the reason for his apology, but given that his last words were about Asteria and water, such was the conclusion that Falco derived. Gerry was truly an odd fellow thought the shop-keeper.

At any rate, it was nice for Mr. Kestrelson to see Gerrard was finally mellowing down. [colour=#008000]“Now you just lay there and rest up a bit,”[/colour] advised Falco; [colour=#008000]“When you wake up, be sure to ask for some water first, or else you’ll be flying home with a raging headache. Take it from me Gerry; you don’t wanna try it. Now then partner, you need anything else?”[/colour]

[Gerrard]

While his intentions were interpreted wrong, the tired hybrid was too out of it to understand his mistake and simply assumed that Falco understood. Gerrard sprawled out on the 'bed', spreading his limbs out in every direction while he let out a sigh. "Yeah, it comes from being dehydrated. Can I have some water before I go to sleep too, please," he replied with the best pouty face he could muster, the goofy griffon failing miserably at doing so while he contorted his face awkwardly.

"Uhh, aside from that though, I can't think of anything else," he added with a yawn, the dark griffons maw opening widely as his eyes got heavy. Before any further response could be made, he was already asleep, tired from his day of work and failure.

[Bellosh]

Just as Falco Kestrelson was going to acknowledge Gerrard’s request for a glass of water, the younger hybrid fell soundly asleep. Deciding then to take care of some unfinished business, Mr. Kestrelson left the guestroom real quick before returning with a glass of water. Setting it quietly on the nightstand by Gerrard’s bed, Falco left his guest to sleep in peace as he silently closed the door. Figuring that Gerry would fly back home once he had a drink, the store owner made his way back to the ground floor relieve Harriet on her shift.

Truth be told for Falco, Gerry wasn’t that bad of a person to hang around... aside from the cider-induced unpleasantness, that was. In fact, the plumber... or irrigation worker... or whatever that black-pelted griffon liked calling himself as, had actually proven himself to be a pretty funny guy. If the two half-birds ever met again though, Falco guessed that he’d have to keep his partner away from Rufflefeather Tavern at all costs.....