The Harpy's Song

Chapter 3

Leaving the treasure prison shouldn't have been so hard.
Avocato was disappointed in not finding his son in it and what should've been easy was now more complicated thanks to Gary the harpy.

Gary wouldn't sit still if Avocato asked him to- there were times he'd have to sneak around without Gary but despite the multiple "Please stay and don't move or make a sound- I am literally begging you"s...Gary still followed Avocato like a duckling after his mother duck.

Thankfully, they were back on Avocato's ship without Avocato killing anyone in front of Gary... he didn't know why he had gone as far as to cover up Gary's eyes or make him turn away or even make sure he didn't kill with anything that made noise... perhaps it was due to Gary's innocent looking eyes, naivety being the only way to describe them. Avocato wouldn't want to be what killed the little light Gary had going on there despite his suffering.

"Don't stand too close to the screen- it's bad for your eyes" Avocato picked Gary up, who had his face pressed against the TV, from under his armpits and pulled him back to the sofa. Gary only scrambled forwards but this time he sat on the floor only, without his nose rubbing on the screen.

Avocato didn't want to compare Gary as to having a pet, that would be racist...just because his species still lived in the wild and lacked technology didn't make them animals... so he compared Gary to having another kid instead.

Currently, he sat down on his sofa, searching what harpies ate- finding they were mostly omnivorous but it all depended on their race so Avocato began to try find a race that looked alike Gary.

To his upmost disappointment...there were none.

Avocato sighed, instead deciding to, for now, check what every species of harpy ate in common. He came to the conclusion that their diet consisted of mainly insects (that explained why Gary was eating them), fruit, plants and grains... basically everything excluding actual meat as some couldn't eat it way less digest it.

"Hold on-" Avocato mumbled to himself, opening a blurry picture of an harpy that seemed to be screeching at the camera man. Beneath it, was research that read:

"Carnivorous harpies are hard to come by and much dangerous than your average harpy.
Unlike the others their features include; a pair of large wings, sharp claws to hunt, large fangs to rip flesh and their bodies tend to be much taller than an average harpy..."

Avocato glanced up at Gary then back down at the picture...
Gary wasn't even as half as scary as the predatory harpy in the picture.

"Gary" he called, watching as Gary's feathers next to his cheeks rattled- something much alike how a ventraxian's ear turns at attention from the direction of the sound.

Despite clearly hearing him, Gary didn't turn his attention to Avocato, instead seemed distracted by what appeared to be a rom-com movie that was playing in the channel, the actors breaking into song.

"Gary-" Avocato called again, standing up and crouching down next to where Gary sat "can you stretch out your wing for a second?" He asked, already reaching fowards when-

Avocato froze as Gary casually opened one wing for him, stretching it out as he kept his attention on the TV.

"What the hell" Avocato heard himself mumble, hands hovering where he had reached to stretch the wing himself before Gary had.

Did Gary understand his words?

No...that wasn't possible. It simple wasn't because...

That would mean Gary has just been outright ignoring him.

Gently, Avocato brushed his hands over Gary's feathers, noting the small shiver the smaller gave in response.
Gary was smaller than the harpy in the picture...put his wings were much bigger than the beautiful harpies he saw.

"Let me check you mouth" Avocato said, removing his hand from the dirty feathers, wondering how soft they were supposed to be if Gary was allowed to take care of them.

A small clicking sound escaped Gary and Avocato finally noticed that Gary was watching him, doe-like eyes on him.

"Please?" Avocato asked, reaching for Gary's mouth, stopping inches away, awaiting some sort of disapproval.

With a rattle of his feathers, Gary very slowly let his lips part, allowing Avocato to examine.
Avocato smiled, wanting to reassure the other as he guided his jaw to open further more as he began to examine.

Gary's mouth was what he expected, a lot human like just like any other harpy (except for the predatory ones). He had healthy looking teeth, counting out one that seemed chipped at the back.

"Oh?" Avocato leaned in, thumb raising Gary's upper lip further to reveal...

"Fangs" he mumbled, sharp canines to.be more precise. While in the picture the large Carnivorous harpy had more than a few sharp teeth, Gary's canines were sharp and-

Avocato hummed as he rubbed his thumb past Gary's gums, pausing before repeating the gesture.
The gums in the area of Gary's canines seemed softer and much more sensitive-

A small chirp as Gary flinched back at the touch, forcing Avocato's attention away.
Gary was squirming in place, his feathers puffed and cheeks red as he kept his eyes clenched.

"Does it hurt?" Avocato asked, curiously rubbing Gary's canine gingiva for a reaction. Once again, the Gary flinched with another small quiet chirp although it was added with a shiver now.

Avocato let go.

He wasn't sure what it was or what to make out of the information he got but allowed Gary to crawl away from him towards the corner of the room, wings hunched fowards to cover himself.

How peculiar...

"You must be hungry" Avocato said, standing up at last. He found himself smiling as Gary peeked through his wings with a trill of interest.

"I think I may have some things you can eat...just let me know what you like or don't like" he smiled, turning to go towards the kitchen.

As Avocato gathered some food, he found himself getting distracted by his own hand. Staring down at his thumb that could still feel the sensation of Gary's mouth.