Free as a Bird [Ulivali]

Ruairi still didn't seem to quite understand the confusion about shoes, tilting his head at the questions with a lazy smile.
"Well, there's leather encasing my foot and there's a sole," he replied, tapping the floor underneath him to produce a sound one could expect coming from a harder sole of a boot – but if that sound managed to reach Ulivali's ears with all the other noises around them, it was hard to say.
"I mean, I've always worn something. Nothing weird about that, is there? I'd say having shoes when you walk over those uneven cobblestone streets is a blessing! Can't feel good against your bare feet, can they?" Ruairi continued, absolutely convinced that shoes were the greatest thing – everyone wore them, after all! Well, Hylians did, at least.

And he might have stomped through mud occasionally.

His Rito friend had been curious about touching his beak, and was finally actually ready to act upon it. Ruairi just laughed – it had been a bit of a strange suggestion, and an even stranger request, but hey. What was wrong with being strange sometimes?
"Why not! Touch away – but maybe don't ask for my shoes next. Can't promise they're going to be clean," the Rito grinned – and considered how they were supposed to even do this. After a moment of pondering, he started to push the cups aside so he could scoot over the table to come face to face with Ulivali. With a few grunts, he had pushed himself over.

Ulivali appeared rather concerned about the description of the shoes, completely missing the tapping noise. He had not even noticed any inconsistencies in Ruairi's gait; truth be told, he hadn't been listening for it. "Yeah, the cobblestones aren't great," he admitted. "It's a wonder more Rito don't end up with bumblefoot in paved-path towns. You get used to it of course, but it's not the most comfortable."

He reached forward cautiously as Ruairi shuffled closer, grateful for the noise guiding him. His touch was light as he first landed slightly off centre between Ruairi's eyebrows, but quickly corrected himself to briefly feel the curve of his friend's beak.

"Hmm, I see what you mean, that is a really different shape than mine!" His inebriation was both the only reason he had even considered such a bizarre act as well as the reason that it likely would not occur to him how bizarre that had been until morning. He tapped the table fruitlessly for a moment before realising their drinking vessels' tree change. "Where did you put my cup, sorry?"

Ruairi had of course been happily nodding when Ulivali agreed that paved roads were a problem. No way he wanted to be walking on those without proper soles! Clearly shoes were the better alternative – and he was unable to notice just how concerned his fellow Rito was about the idea of stuffing their bird-like toes into shoes…

The sight of a Rito climbing over the table must have been a strange sight to anyone who was there to witness it – then again, perhaps it was not the strangest thing the establishment had seen. Ruairi definitely didn't seem to be worried about crawling on tables – though he was a bit worried once Ulivali's hands came closer to his face. He did close his eyes just in case, the fingers already looking for his beak in the wrong spot. It would have been quite the miracle for someone blind to have been able to do it in one try.

Luckily, his beak was eventually found, Ulivali's fingers tracing along its shape.
"Right?" Ruairi laughed – his beak wasn't really sharp like Ulivali's own. Now that his friend's curiosity had been satisfied, he slid back over to his seat and gave both his clothes and hair an adjustment.
"Coming right up, sir," he grinned as he pushed the requested cup closer – and filled his own once again. Such hard work made his throat parched!

"Thank you," Ulivali retrieved his drink and weighed it in his hand, taking another drink. The cup was just about empty. "How- how much is left in that bottle? I think I might - think I'll probably walk into a wall trying to leave here,"
Leaning backward in his seat made his head spin a little, the bird well and truly over the line into drunk now.

"I can't imagine trying to dance with shoes on," he mused, still clearly stuck on the shoes thing. "I enjoy dancing, and balance is everything. Where does your first talon go?" He shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, I'm confused by the shoes but mostly incredibly impressed that you can perform wearing them! I'd eat dirt if I tried, I'm sure. The things we can get used to doing!"

A quick swallow later and Ulivali had finished his cup once again. He resisted the urge to lay his head momentarily on the table. "...yeah, I may need your help returning to my room. Last time I was this plastered I walked off into the night and had to be chased."

Ruairi sloshed the bottle's contents.
"Oh, I'm sure we could still have a few drinks, at least!" He grinned, seeming to be more happy than worried about what that might do to the two of them. He definitely was feeling it, but it wasn't going to stop him – not when they were having such a nice evening! The Rito had to take another swig while he contemplated that.

"I do a lot of dancing, too," he mused, once Ulivali brought it up, unable to wrap his head around shoes and dancing. A strange hangup, when it was something so normal to Ruairi!
"Often you have special dance shoes! These boots would do, too, but when there's proper footwear for the act… Why not? Oh, there's even those crazy shoes that allow people to stand up on the very tips of their toes! No way you can do that without any proper support," Ruairi rambled on as he reached for the wine bottle.

"Oh, don't worry! I always get back to my wagon, no matter what!" The Rito grinned – though perhaps there could be the first time when he didn't. He already was pouring Ulivali another cup.
"You know… What even is a first talon?"

"I am... I am definitely, um. Done. Done drinking," Ulivali decided. He had somewhat bypassed the loose-beaked stage and now found himself in an oddly floaty way, albeit still a bit too confident in his own faculties given the circumstances. He shook his head at the explanation of the boots and immediately regretted the head swim it caused. He couldn't even blame this on the hollow bones when his drinking partner was of the same stock - he was just a lightweight!

"It's the, it's the back one," he answered, lifting his foot to show Ruairi and loudly smacking it into the underside of the table in the process. "Ouch."
He wiggled his back talon before lowering his foot once more. "Maybe you've just got little talons, though? I bet someone could make proper boots that open at the back too, though. Keep those feet happy,"

The sound of the cup being poured reached him as if from across a far distance. "Oh. Ah, what the hell. One, uh, one more can't hurt,"
Mildly aware of how false that statement was, Ulivali lifted the cup again. The taste was starting to be a little repetitive to him, the sting of the alcohol registering more than anything else. He made his best effort to drink it quickly; wasting the drink would be a shame.
"I definitely, definitely think it's time for me to go," he said. "Valoo's balls, you can drink more than, um. More than any bird I've ever met. And I've known some impressive ones."

Ruairi just was laughing as he poured more for his Rito friend to drink. The night had just started – and they just had to at least drink the whole bottle, right? No way they could stop like this. Even if Ulivali was basically bumping his foot into everything as he pulled it for him to see. Actually would he have done so even without the drinks?
"Mhh," he just let out a hum as he took a really good look at that offered foot, taking in all the details. It wasn't like it had ever been hidden, but Ruairi didn't really have the habit of staring at someone's feet unless they had really cute shoes on. Maybe he had registered the bird-like feet that were much larger and more… Developed than his own, when they first met and all, but he didn't really think about it. He too had those bird-like toes, but they weren't anything like Ulivali's. His were pretty huge actually… Well, compared to his.

"You're right about that! Mine are far from that kind of… Well, I don't even know what I'd call big feet. Claws. Talons. Or… Something," the Rito laughed, already busy drinking more. It seemed like he was taking a while to really process everything that had been said. The first talon… The back one.
"What back one?" He finally asked, sounding like he was totally clueless about some mysterious back talon he was supposed to have.


"Heey, it's not even late yet! Now's when the real fun starts," Ruairi grinned as Ulivali was thinking of leaving. Why had they gotten so sloshed up if they weren't going to make use of it?
"But here's a little secret, see. It's half tolerance, half just looking and sounding like you got it all together! Wealthy patrons sure love it when they can get a dolled up performer to drink with them – doesn't look too good if you look too wasted too soon, you know! I can't believe you've never had the chance, the drinks are basically never ending," he continued with a laugh, as if everyone could have had the same kind of offers landing in their laps,
"But then it often hits you all at once…"

"…Well, never mind that! Now we party!" The Rito declared, loud enough that everyone in the bar surely knew what it was he wanted to do. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea after he basically admitted that at some point he might very well be even worse off than what Ulivali was feeling at the moment. The heat of the alcohol made him burn and he just had to let that energy take him. The table shook and the cups and the bottle shook with it, as Ruairi got up. A hand was offered to the other Rito – eventually grabbing Ulivali's hand once he realized just waiting probably wasn't the best idea.

He wanted to dance. He wanted to move and sing. He wanted to go places. And he'd be pulling Ulivali along, make him partake in it all. The world was spinning and loud. There was lots of laughter, too. And probably a few near falls, at the very least. Perhaps that was why it was so confusing to eventually come to with all that just gone. It was quiet. Warm. Soft. Blanket and pillows that almost felt like a nest, perhaps? The scent of perfumes lingered in the air and the bedding. Something – someone feathered pressed up against the Rito, even warmer than the bedding but perhaps not quite as soft despite the softness. A steady, calm breathing – perhaps they were asleep?

Half of Ruairi's words were a blur, but the shake of the table sparked Ulivali's attention somewhat, and he had to put in far more effort than seemed reasonable to focus. He found himself deeply grateful that he'd had such a big and hearty meal before drinking - it was likely the difference between being awake and completely unconscious after this much alcohol. He didn't even flinch when Ruairi abruptly grabbed his hand, following through on the talk of performance. Ah well, the energy was kind of contagious, and despite the haze Ulivali found himself grinning.

"Ah, I'm sure I can still keep my feet under me," he took the other Rito's hand, free hand patting along the wall to find his staff. He used it more as support than as a navigation tool as he let Ruairi pull him along, the night finally transitioning from conversation and drinking to dancing, squawking and events that would result in several bruises Ulivali would not remember getting in the morning.

...said morning approached in a way that rather felt like spitting in the face of Time. If he'd been capable of defining what a memory was in that moment, Ulivali would surely have felt the horrid recollection of why he didn't allow himself to get so drunk; strange stabbing patterns of light popping along his consciousness in a way that surely must have been worse than the actual light he could not see. He drifted back to sleep several times through the morning, feeling the horrible floating sensation in his brain vaguely decrease each time. Finally, eventually, he woke with some degree of sentience returned to him, which might just have well have been a knife in his head for all the good it did.

Ulivali let out a rumbling groan and curled in on himself, still half asleep, before his foggy mind finally, helpfully, presented the unfamiliar sensation of... what was that? He took a moment to focus, the unwitting furrowing of his brows feeling a little bit as if he'd grabbed his head and thrown it at the wall. He definitely didn't feel unsafe, the warm nest he found himself in a welcome reprieve to the somewhat stiff blanket he had grown used to. It was soft against his feathers. When that thought trickled through, it occurred to him that he could feel it across his body. The realisation that he was not wearing clothing was what finally roused him from sleep properly, and he lifted his head in confusion. Where the hell was he?

Something stirred beside Ulivali. Small squirming, the occasional groan and whine audible through the thick blankets and pillows. Few long stretches before the shape crawled up into a small ball in the comfortable blanket nest. Ruairi wasn't feeling the greatest, either. He hadn't even dared to open his eyes once he started to return back to the land of the living, the throbbing in his head reminding him of the events that took place last night. Well, maybe not all of them, as there still definitely were blank spots he hadn't recalled, but the hangover that was making itself apparent was pretty impossible to ignore. They always were punished after abusing too many drinks, such fun nights always ending in misery and pain.

Oh well. It was definitely worth it, though.

But as Ruairi tried to get comfortable in his bed to continue sleeping the headache off, he could feel the weight beside him. Something else – someone else, in his bed. Peeling back the many layers, the Rito finally managed to break the surface and bring his face out of the fortress of softness, his eyes still squinting and his hair quite the ruffled mess. The curtains that covered the small window right by the bed let in some rays of sunlight, though for the most part they did their job in keeping the wagon dimly lit – and thank the goddesses for that. Ruairi probably couldn't have handled something too bright right now, this was already starting to feel too much. The sun must have already been quite high up for it to be that bright outside, huh…

But he was getting sidetracked. Through his squinting eyelids, he eventually did his best to focus on the figure beside him. Oh. Right. Ruairi started to push himself into a sitting position, slowly. Ulivali had been out drinking with him, and there the Rito was.
"Guess… We overdid it a little, huh!" His voice was a bit hoarse – man was he ever thirsty, his throat was parched and his tongue felt so out of place. He didn't dare to raise his voice too much, his ears enjoying the quiet. He was picking out the sounds coming from the outside, but right now, they felt so distant.
"What did I say, I always make it back home no matter how wasted I am. Must have brought you along with me, though. Funny…"

The Rito let out a long yawn and stretched his arms and back. After that, one of his legs emerged from under the covers as Ruairi raised it to give it a long stretch as well.

Ulivali couldn't help but flinch at the sound of Ruairi's speech. He knew vaguely, logically, that it was most likely a completely reasonable volume, but his ears had not appeared to receive that memo. Valoo, he could feel his companion's intonation vibrating in his nares.
"Ouch," he said eloquently. His crest was laying completely flat, and he uselessly blinked as if that would dispel the regret for his own existence that currently seemed fair in the face of his headache. He pushed himself upright with all the grace of a Goron swimming laps, feeling a terrible swell of nausea as he did so. Ulivali wasn't typically the kind of bird to go spilling his crop when unwell, but he had a nasty feeling that he was not to make good on that character trait today.

Eventually, Ruairi's words processed. "'A little' is an understatement," Ulivali groaned, lifting a hand to his head. "Still. Glad you didn't drop me off in the street, I would have had no hope of navigating."
He briefly preened some of the more egregiously out-of-place feathers along his upper arms before pausing. He was... not wearing a shirt. Or his pants. He wasn't averse to sleeping without his pants on warmer evenings, but in another person's bed? He fluffed up in shock at the realisation. "Uh. I don't suppose you know where I've put my clothes..?"

Ulivali wasn't to know he'd thrown up last night - probably the sole reason he was able to articulate a thought now - and his shirt had not escaped unscathed. He'd likely have been more embarrassed by the fact that he had, in fact, thoughtlessly removed his perfectly clean pants before climbing into the bed for no reason other than wanting to be comfortable. Probably. Surely that was what he'd done. He couldn't exactly remember.

"How... how far to the well from here? I think I'd commit atrocities for water right now..."

Ruairi kept lying on his back, his eyes often closed instead of staring at the ceiling above them – his vision was still a bit off, he felt, and it didn't feel like the best idea to keep staring anywhere. He did stretch his limbs, occasionally letting out some groans. All he really wanted to do now was to stay in bed. The Rito did let out a short chuckle when Ulivali mused that they didn't exactly overdo it a little. It wasn't so bad in his eyes, even if he was currently feeling the effects of the last day's choices. It wouldn't be so bad, with a little rest and something to drink – though despite his own thirst, the idea of getting up from bed didn't feel good, as he wrapped his blankets around him righter.

Ulivali's clothes… Ruairi had to think about that for a moment, the tightly wrapped cocoon he had started to create around him loosening up as his limbs spread out, as if he could only focus on one activity at a time.
"Oh, yeah," he hummed in a hoarse voice, slowly opening his eyes again. He had some hazy recollections, as he gently rolled over to his side.
"Well, your pants are there on the floor," the Rito spoke softly as he looked at the pile. It was common for his clothes to end there beside his bed, but the pants weren't really his style. Now where did they leave the rest?
"Oh, right right. I think we left the shirt outside."

Why? He couldn't quite remember. Must have felt like a great idea at the time. Ruairi rolled over to his back again, a part of him still wanting to stay there. However, both his throat and now Ulivali were in great need of water, and alas, he had yet to figure out a spell that would make it walk over to them while they were in bed. The Rito let out some protests as he whined and groaned, squirming on the bed as he at the same time tried to force himself to get up while also telling himself he wanted five more minutes.
"I-I should have some water left inside. I… I think," Ruairi let the other Rito know. At least it wouldn't be a trip longer than that and he could return to bed. But he still had to do it. A leg finally poked out from under the covers, the toes landing onto the floor below. He sat up carefully, feeling how his head was swimming, before he forced himself to stand.

A miserable feeling. How he already missed the bed and its warmth, as the covers slid off his naked body. Ruairi just had to make it as quick as he could, his steps a bit uneven and shaky as he hobbled over to his tiny kitchen. With shaking hands, the sounds of him grabbing a few mugs from the cupboards could be heard to the bed as it was very close, the clink of enamel against another, as well as the sound of ladling water from a container.

Soft footsteps eventually made their way back, the bed depressing from Ruairi's weight as he leaned over. His eyes had basically remained closed the whole time, so used to this routine that he could probably do it in his sleep. Still, he let out a yawn.
"Here," the Rito spoke. The water wasn't exactly the coldest possible, but at least it was water. A start.

The clinking of the mugs might as well have been a cannon shot, and Ulivali flinched. Clothing was forgotten in his eagerness to grasp the precious water, focusing intensely on not spilling it as he lifted it to drink. He was desperately thirsty, but given how his throat seemed to be incredibly eager to trigger his gag reflex on its own, he resigned himself to only sipping at it. It would be both embarrassing and a waste to puke because he drank his water too quickly.

"Thanks," he said belatedly. If he hadn't already felt a sense of solidarity with the other flightless Rito, he certainly would have started to now; the two of them sitting together, naked as the day they were hatched and nursing the self-inflicted headache of a lifetime, was more than enough. Misery delights in company, after all. "I... think I would like to sleep." He clamped his beak shut as the sensation of speaking abruptly made his stomach roll, swallowing hard. He would not throw up in Ruairi's... home? He had a vague recollection of discussing wagons. Yeah, it had to be a wagon, they'd been talking about nomadic living, he was pretty sure.

He sipped at the water again. "I don't want to be rude. But I hope it's okay that I rest here for a bit longer. I think I would not make it back to my room and also I might pass out in the middle of the road." Wait, had he said thank you for the water? The other Rito had been so kind fetching the water. He had to be feeling as bad as Ulivali, if not worse - Ulivali was at least somewhat certain that Ruairi had drank more than he had, although given Ulivali's nonexistant tolerance that wasn't necessarily the defining factor here. His head hurt. Moving sent another string of popping lights across his mind and he winced.

"Ouch." Very eloquent, as he sipped at the water again. Eager to lay back down, he drank a bit more than he perhaps should have, and squeezed his eyes shut to ward off the swelling nausea. "Din's tits, Ruairi, I don't understand how you can... how you can do this for fun."

After Ruairi had handed the cup of water to the eagerly awaiting hands, he too climbed back up on the bed to properly sit on it. His own mouth felt so dry that he probably should have taken a sip right when he got to his water container, but Ulivali's problems had seemed bigger at the moment. Still, now that he had the chance, he brought the cup to his mouth to get some water inside him. Though it wasn't the freezing cold water that would have really hit the spot right now, just having something swirling in his mouth felt good. Refreshing, even – how a night of drinking even the finest drinks made ordinary water seem like a gift from the goddesses the next morning! It was funny. Maybe Ruairi could already find that funny, but Ulivali didn't seem like he would appreciate it yet.

But the air felt chilly, when he was wearing no protective layers – especially as the water made its way down his throat. Seemed like it was cold enough to start cooling him down from the inside, after all. The Rito held his cup high as he started to wiggle his way back under the covers again. A soft laugh escaped him when Ulivali mentioned how he wanted to sleep, more breathy than anything.
"Sleep is goooood," Ruairi hummed, as he allowed himself to be buried into his bed. He propped a few pillows up against the wall so he could lean onto them and continue sipping his precious cup of water. The idea of them both just staying in the bed for the day seemed pleasant, and no objections were raised.

He had already closed his eyes, after all. Yes, this was where he was meant to be, not trying to walk around and do something while his head felt so off and the pain reminded of itself every so often. Just being embraced by the warmth. Ulivali sounded like he was struggling, in disbelief that the other Rito could keep subjecting himself to this and even find it fun. Ruairi let out another soft laugh.
"You get used to it," he chuckled. He certainly had. Perhaps one always regretted drinking too much the other day, but it wasn't like only bad things had happened. No drinks, and they would have missed out on all the good and fun, too.
"But it was a lot of fun. Yesterday. So much fun. I think… It would have been a waste if we didn't have so much fun," the Rito grinned before taking another gulp of the water,
"And now we just have to take it easy. Sleep more. Laze around. It's not such a bad thing when there's nothing more important we have to do, right? We can stay here aaaall day."

Shuffling awkwardly as he tried to work out where Ruairi had settled, Ulivali made his way over to where the bed met the wall. He managed to hit his elbow somehow and grunted his displeasure before settling in. "Used to it? I don't think I could ever get used to this." The cup was almost empty, and he finished it off and slid down the wall, body eager to become horizontal again now that he'd had a bit of water. Frankly, he thought he could drink another five cups at least, but the way his throat and chest felt like they were playing hopscotch with each other warned him that maybe that wasn't the best idea.

"It was... fun, though. What I remember, anyway. You're fun to hang out with."
He lifted a hand to his braids; he somehow hadn't lost the brass weights he'd been wearing yesterday, and rather thought he could feel the indent of one of them on his face. He usually didn't sleep with his feathers fully braided, and absently picked at them until the clasps came off. It didn't occur to him that, being in his birthday suit and all, he had no pocket in which to place them; they eventually rolled out of his loose fingers onto the side of the bed.

"Sleeping sounds like a good idea. I like that. You're smart." He considered stretching lazily, but only made it halfway into the motion before finding that he'd somehow just ended up fully laying down again. Oh well. Harder to puke from a laying position, he guessed.
"I might... talk to you again later," he decided. "Gonna intrude a while longer. Sleep time,"
His eyelids were already drooping closed as he spoke. "Thank you for such a fun night."
Perhaps later it would occur to Ulivali that his wallet was alarmingly lighter than it had been this time yesterday, but at present the wallet had been tossed aside with the rest of his belongings. Now was not the time for worry.

Ruairi was going to laugh, but the first sound he let out only made him cough, forcing him to take bigger gulps of water to stop his dry throat from getting so irritated. Was it going to be a laugh that was just amused at Ulivali's defeat at the hands of alcohol, or one where he just laughed at his ignorance as he believed everyone would be able to get used to this? He never specified, and just continued taking sips from his cup.
"Right?" He did end up saying once the other Rito agreed that they had had fun. That he was fun. Though Ruairi's eyes were closed, he did have a stupid, wide smile plastered on his face. It had been fun. They definitely had to do something like that again later. Soon? He hoped for soon, but he didn't know when the two of them would meet again, if they went on their separate ways.

Oh well. That was a problem for the future. Now, his head hurt when he tried to think about something so complicated and so far off in the future, when all he needed was a great, long nap.

"Practically a genius," the Rito agreed with a nod, embracing the compliments – and not missing a beat to bask in the glory and compliment himself, too. His body had started to sink into the soft pillows and bedding, and as the rest of the water disappeared from his cup into his mouth, his hands could just fall down onto his lap as well. Ruairi let out a yawn.
"You're welcome," he mumbled to the thanks, his eyelids feeling heavier and heavier. All of him was feeling like that, heavy and sluggish.
"We are going to have to do this again…"

Ruairi's chest had already started to raise at a much more relaxed pace. And though the wagon had gotten silent, the world outside had long since woken up and started to work…



((I guess this is maybe the end???))