The Bird Collective
In which I write a bunch of unfinished, unconnected one-shots about my dearest baby birds! Gotta practice somehow, after all.
Author's Notes
Mostly dialogue, and cuts off pretty abruptly. Just a page of Gosling being happy and an obscure lore dump; might add more to this later, but don't bet on it.
let's be real this is pretty trash i just need to warm up
Gosling's Birthday :D
“OH CYGNET!! However shall I repay you?” Gosling spread his arms with a flourish, inviting his friend in for a hug. Cygnet just looked at him blankly, not about to give Gosling the satisfaction. After an incredibly awkward 30 seconds or so, Gosling dropped his arms and sighed.
“Seriously, thanks so much. This is quite possibly the best and most thoughtful birthday gift I’ve ever been given, and I really want you to know that I appreciate it.”
“Well… I have known you for basically all of my life. It’s impossible to not get a gift that I know you’ll like.”
“I feel like you’re the kinda guy to intentionally buy me something I’d hate though!”
“After all this time, I’m still just a criminal to you, huh. I thought we were closer than that, Gosling,” Cygnet deadpanned.
“No no, I love you dearly, this just doesn’t line up with every other birthday gift you’ve gotten me in the past.” Gosling grimaced slightly, remembering years prior. There was no way Cygnet didn’t know that he would dislike “canned egg soup” or whatever it was called. Or an “aftermath of an earthquake” model. Cygnet found the most obscure things sometimes, Gosling wasn’t even sure where he got his crazy gifts.
“Well, Quid stopped by while I was out… gift shopping. I didn’t want her to suspect that I was a bad friend or anything.”
“You still talk to Quid? Aw man I miss her…”
“Yeah, of course. We never actually saved the world, just prevented the end for a little bit longer. We still need her and her sister, just not right this instant.”
“I know… Ugh, I hate talking about that stuff. It’s my birthday today! Let’s just celebrate!” Cygnet nodded in agreement and mumbled an apology. The pair began their trek toward… well, to be honest they weren’t too sure. They walked in silence, the only sounds coming from their tiny footsteps and the birds and trees overhead. Eventually they wound up by the old cave system, the one where they met Eaglet. Surprisingly enough, she was there too.
“Heya, Eaglet,” Gosling waved to her, “come to reminisce as well?”
She shook her head. “I did that yesterday, actually. I just left something behind and wanted to pick it up-- wait, Gosling! Happy birthday!” Gosling laughed almost sheepishly as Eaglet hopped over and offered him an envelope.
“I was keeping this on my person in case I ran into you, and it looks like that paid off. It’s nothing much, but I hope you like it regardless!” She put her hands on Gosling’s shoulders and gave him a serious look. “No matter how much I gripe about you guys, I still believe that you are valuable members of our little team. Keep doing what you’re doing, and we’ll put an end to all of this stuff soon enough.”
“Come on… let’s just talk about, I dunno, lighthearted stuff? None of our birthdays are really particularly happy events, in the great span of things, so I kinda just want to forget all of it and have a good time!”
“Understandable. Well I found what I was looking for, so what say we all head back? Or to wherever you two planned on going?”
Cygnet interjected, “We were honestly just wandering aimlessly, but if you want to do that with us then we’d be glad to have you.” Gosling nodded his agreement.
“Well, sure then. Let’s go!”
They wandered off again, heading for home.