You Set My Heart Aflutter (Dad/Tavros)

[raunchyJanitor]

Now that the trolls were at that age where they could fend for themselves in the human world, they appeared just as humans appeared, though not actually being human, (the labs at the Veil could be thanked for that) they worked at jobs just as humans did, and finally had places of their own to call home. Though, not all of them did. There was the exception of Tavros, who was incapable of affording a place that was also handicap accessible as most of the ones that were available were overpriced. So he lived with the Lalondes for the time being, at least until he could get a place of his own, he promised himself.


Things with the Lalondes hadn't been so bad, at first. And Tavros wasn't one to complain about things, but as soon as Rose left for college and it was just him and semi-drunkard, passive-aggressive Mom, he was bordering somewhere along insanity. Finally incapable of handling any more of that daily, mind assaulting madness, he was offered a place at the Egberts; he gladly accepted.

This was his second week, a week and four days, technically speaking, that he had been with the Egberts and so far they had been far more hospitable to him than the Lalondes ever had been. Not that Rose and Mom were rude so much as cold and detached from reacting to things like normal people would. They were like robots, almost more so than Aradia.

So far, things had been great with the Egberts. Tavros was able to find a better job as a veterinarian at the local pet hospital and they had even set up several wooden boards along a side of the stairs so the he could wheel up to the top. The only real problem was the severe slope the stairs were at that made it a rather difficult feat, but Tavros had developed some rather killer upper body strength that would have made a certain troll blue with envy.

But there had been something bothering Tavros. Every night, before he went to sleep and the house was dead silent, there was this noise coming from downstairs that made him think that he was hearing voices; animal voices. It wasn't until he found the courage to get out of bed and roll downstairs one night that he realized that the sounds were coming from Mr. Egbert's room. The closer he moved towards the room, the louder the voices became, until he could identify them more clearly as bird calls. Why were there bird calls coming from Mr. Egbert's room? He didn't seem to hear them during the day whenever he passed by the man's room. It was only at night that they really seemed to become such chatterboxes and it made Tavros very curious and eager to find out more.

Tavros rolled his chair to the side so that he could press his, only slightly, pointed ear against the door, carefully listening to the chirps.

[solarOrigins]

Inside, Robert was just finishing up his nightly rituals. He had showered, brushed his teeth, and put on his pyjamas. Now he had opened the large cage that held his three Canaries; Daisy, Ruby, and Judas. He was seated on the edge of his bed, Daisy perched on his finger while the other two flitted about the room, stretching their wings and letting out gleeful chirps as they hopped and glided from perch to perch.

Robert murmured soft words of praise and admiration to the birds, petting whichever bird chose to perch on his hand, which was often two at once since they all loved him so much.

"Hm" Robert mused as they continued to flit and flutter around him. "I'll need to trim your wings again soon"

He smiled softly as all three perched on one hand, trying to outdo each other for his attention.

[raunchyJanitor]

The unmistakable sound of high pitched squeaks and laser gun turrets of cheeps muffled through the door got the animal lover's eyebrows raising. Either Mr. Egbert liked listening to bird calls before he went to bed, or there were live birds flying around the man's room. Only one way to find out.

After at least a minute or two of eavesdropping, Tavros's knuckles tapped against the door, almost too faintly for even him to hear at first. Then a bit more bravely, he tapped again so that anyone inside could have heard the knocking. He wheeled away from the door a bit so that it didn't seem like he was barging in or trying to intrude on... whatever was going on in there.

[solarOrigins]

"Give me just a moment." Robert replied clearly, standing and gently ushering his Canaries into their cage. He pressed a gentle finger to his lips and they quieted as he shut the door on the cage.

He walked to the doorway, opening the door and sticking his head out. "Can I help you with anything, Tavros? I was just getting ready for bed."

[raunchyJanitor]

Nervously, Tavros glanced up at Mr. Egbert, ceasing his hand fumbling as his voice stumbled around with his words rather awkwardly, "I-I was, uh, won-wondering why there were, um, bird noises coming from your r-room." His stuttering had gotten better since he came to the Egberts' home, but it was still jutting all over the place from the overwhelming timidness he had developed during his time with the Lalondes.

He really hoped that he wasn't prying into anything too personal by asking this. Oh geez, he probably was. He shouldn't have come down here and asked; he should have just left Mr. Egbert to his chirping and never bothered him at this hour simply for the sake of satiating his curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat right? He wasn't even sure how that worked or what the story behind that phrase was, but he was pretty sure that's what happened to people who asked too many questions and geez! Tavros was worrying way too much over this. But that's what living with the Lalondes did to people; those little mind games they played twenty-four-seven made guests over-think everything, no matter how trivial.

[solarOrigins]

Robert smiled gently. "Its just my birds, I always let them out to stretch their wings before I go to bed. It gives me a chance check up on them to make sure their healthy and happy. I'm sorry if they disturbed you, John's never had a problem with so I wasn't sure or not if you could hear them from upstairs."

He opened the door fully, revealing himself in all his pajama clad glory. "Would you like to meet them?"

[raunchyJanitor]

Tavros was already excited the moment Mr. Egbert informed him that there were birds in his room, and even more so when he was offered to come in and see them. His face brightened up and he grinned, his voice cracking in anticipation, "Y-Yeah!" He bowed his head, adding bashfully, "I mean, uh, yes please," before wheeling inside, careful to mind the sides of the doorway.

[solarOrigins]

Robert stepped out of his way and shut the door behind them. "Jude is the only male, and he's also the lightest yellow one. Daisy is yellow and black, and ruby is the orange." he stated moving over to the large standing cage. "Shall I let them back out?"

[raunchyJanitor]

Tavros rolled up to the cage, the chirping louder than ever as he viewed each of the birds Mr. Egbert mentioned through the bars. He was just leaning over and making an almost perfect imitation of one of their whistling calls when the proposal to let them out was brought up. If Tavros had a tail, it would be wagging. "I'd um, I'd like that," he mumbled, looking over at Dad expectantly.

[solarOrigins]

Robert smiled widely as he leaned over Tavros and opened the cage. The three birds immediately flew out, chirping and trilling as they wheeled around the two men, before finally settling on Robert's shoulders. Robert chuckled, looking at them in amusement. "I suppose I'm your favorite perch aren't I?"

[raunchyJanitor]

Tavros watched the birds fly around the room, remembering the days in his dream bubble when he could achieve flight. Things were always a lot better in the dream world. "They r-really seem to like you, uh, a lot," he stuttered, beaming up at the elder Egbert. He loved seeing humans and animals in this kind of harmony, making him especially giddy as the birds appeared to be so trusting of Mr. Egbert. "How long have you ha-had them?"

[solarOrigins]

"I've had Jude since he was just an egg. I've only had Daisy and Ruby a year or two." Robert replied, coaxing one of the birds, Jude, onto his hand, and onto Tavros's shoulder from there.

[raunchyJanitor]

Tavros made another bird call when the canary perched on his shoulder in turn and he extended a finger carefully to stroke its feathers. "Who's a pretty bird?" He crooned happily, smiling at the bird. Jude quirked his head to the side and blinked at Tavros curiously before gently nudging the tip of Tavros's first digit with his beak, tweeting softly. "I'm surprised how, uh, friendly he is. Are they all like this?"

[solarOrigins]

"They are. They are wonderful companions." Robert gave a chuckle and made a small gesture towards the master bathroom. "You should see them when I turn the shower on. Its gotten to the point where I let them out before my shower in the morning and they bathe with me. Take turns sitting in my hair and preening in the spray of the shower, then they sit on the counter in front of the mirror and preen as I brush my teeth. Its really quite something."

[raunchyJanitor]

"I'd love to s-see that," Tavros smiled, his eyebrows raising as he added hesitantly, "I mean the birds! The birds showering." He didn't know why he pointed that out; it's not like there was any assumption being made that he was speaking about something else entirely. He began petting the bird's head, continuing shyly, "There used to, uh, be a bird bath in front of the Lalonde's place a-and in the morning, sometimes, there would be this flock of really tiny finches splashing around in it."

[solarOrigins]

"Well, if you'd like, You could take a bath with them now. I'm sure they wouldn't object to another shower before they go to bed" Robert smiled. "And I could help you into the tub as well, since there aren't any handrails installed at your level"

[raunchyJanitor]

Tavros's face heated up at the offer. He had never been comfortable changing clothes in front of other people, even if they insisted that it wasn't a big deal since they were, technically, the same gender. To trolls, whether they were the same gender or not didn't make the situation any less uncomfortable. "But you--you'd, uh, see me naked! And that would be, um, kinda weird," he laughed nervously, keeping his gaze solely on Jude. Despite all of the human-like qualities Tavros appeared to have, he wasn't exactly human down there.

[solarOrigins]

"You could borrow a pair of my swimming trunks" Robert offered. "And I could wait in the bathroom while you put them on. I don't mind at all." He smiled warmly at the former troll. "But only if you want to"

[raunchyJanitor]

"That'd be better, I, uh, guess," Tavros smiled back shyly. "I might take a-a little while to, uh, change though." He was enjoying petting Jude since he found how soft the bird's feathers were. "Um, if you were g-going to go to bed just now, uh, we could do this some other time."

[solarOrigins]

"Alright, then how does tomorrow sound?" Robert smiled. "We can do it when the both of us get home. Is that alright?"

[raunchyJanitor]

"Yeah, that'd be, um, good," Tavros mumbled, prodding gently at Jude's feet until the bird fluttered off his shoulder and perched on his finger. "Thanks for showing me y-you're, uh, birds by the way Mr. E." He wheeled back towards the door slowly with one hand, looking over at his wheels to make sure that none of the birds on Robert had decided to wander about on the floor. One could never be too careful around such tiny animals.

[solarOrigins]

Robert chuckled. "Any time. Come along, back in your cage." he urged the birds gently.

They took off with loud chirps, fluttering to the cage and in before he shut the cage behind them.

"Do you need any help getting back upstairs?"

[raunchyJanitor]

Tavros shook his head, reaching out for the doorknob, "I can handle it. I'm uh, a lot stronger than people think." He turned the knob, pushing the door open until it was wide enough for him to fit through and glancing back at Dad, "Thanks, um, again."

[solarOrigins]

Robert nodded. "Not a problem, and just to let you know, I ment nothing of my offer but to offer to spare you the effort, I know you are more than capable of making it to the top, but I felt the need to at least offer." He gave a small wave. "Good night Tavros"

[raunchyJanitor]

"Good night, uh, Mr. E," Tavros mumbled, wheeling out the door. He turned his chair to the side and shut the door behind him before heading up the stairs, straining mid-way due to the severe slope. Maybe he should have asked for Robert's help after all, especially when he was this tired. Eventually, he made it to the top and came back in John's old room, trying to be quiet as he shut the door and climbed back into bed.

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