Call of the Raven

Normally, he would've woken at dawn, but the sound of the mews door opening was what got him to wake. The distinctive sound of rain splattering on the grass made him realise what had happened. Blake was already in his mews by time he realised what was going on. "Ready for breakfast, Kuro?" Her ears twitched slightly and he nodded as he stepped up onto her arm. Noire had already sat on her shoulder. He wasn't too fond of the rain, so he was thankful that Blake had brought an umbrella despite how short a walk it was from the mews to the house. She had already set up their puzzle feeders and other enrichment which he was glad for. He and Noire started to work at it only for the front door to open and Blake to go over. He heard faint talking in the other room while Yang and Blake walked back to the kitchen. "Geeze, you really have some bird brains here, don't you?" Yang asked. Kuro's feathers fluffed up indignantly. "I'll have you know corvids are incredibly intelligent!" he croaked at her. She just looked at him, confused. "What's up with it?" He let out an unhappy hiss. He was not an 'it;' he was a living being just like her! How could she be so ignorant?! Then again, he had to remind himself that most people weren't as educated as Blake and Weiss on birds. It was so frustrating. Why were birds such specialised knowledge? Blake had had them with her since she'd been thirteen so they were imprinted on her. He just couldn't believe how ignorant Yang was being. "Yeah, Kuro doesn't appreciate insults. They're aura breeds, you know. They can understand you just like I do. If you insult him, he knows it." Kuro nodded, his feathers still fluffed up indignantly. "Understand. No insult! Not bird brains! Smart!" Using Valian was always annoying since he didn't necessarily understand how the grammar worked, but he got the general gist of it. He could make his thoughts coherent enough in it that people could understand what he was saying. It was an absolute insult to call him a bird brain. He was beyond furious that she'd call him that. They needed enrichment or else they would go mad. That one year without any had driven both of them absolutely mad with the lack of mental stimulation. They'd almost started plucking because they were so anxious due to having no outlets. "Okay, okay, yeesh, I'm sorry. I didn't know aura breeds could be so particular." Yang looked abashed. Not a good first impression. Even Noire looked put off and she was the calmer of them. Not that Kuro was the type to fly off the handle, but he was still quicker to anger than her. She rested her wing on his back and he glared at her. He wasn't going to calm down over this. At all. She had outright insulted him and the rest of aura breeds. "Well, they're just as capable of thought as you and I are. So watch your words around animals that are aura breeds," Blake observed. "Anyway, would you like some tea or coffee or anything?" "Some coffee would be great." Blake started the coffee pot while the two birds went back to their enrichment. They finished not too long after and Kuro landed on Blake's shoulder. She petted his head and he croaked. He always enjoyed being close to her. They were imprinted but he could still choose a mate if he wanted to. He probably never would. He and Noire were incompatible species wise and personality wise. Bonded, sure, but nowhere near compatible for breeding. Not that he wanted to take care of a mate and eggs. After the coffee was brewed, Yang and Blake sat at the table with some smalltalk. It was mostly catching up with each other since they'd graduated university. It was nothing too interesting to Kuro. He didn't care much of human and Faunus affairs in terms of education and life. Only when it impacted him and years apart wasn't something he truly cared about. So he focused on preening instead. However, he did keep an eye on Yang's body language. For the most part, she was pretty relaxed and responded to Blake well. They obviously knew each other, though it wasn't well. She seemed fairly nice at least. Plenty of humans were nice. She at least didn't seem racist or anything of the like. He was mostly worried she was racist. He would not let a racist in Blake's house. Then again, she'd probably be able to sense if someone was racist through their soul... Blake was pretty good at that. Eventually, though, the conversation and breakfast wound down and Yang bade Blake farewell. With that done, Blake looked at Kuro. "Do you two want to go out?" He glanced out the window and saw it was still raining. He shook his head. He had no desire to go out and get soaking wet. If he spent a bit of time weathering, that would be one thing, but given the choice, he really didn't want it. Blake nodded and sat him on a foraging tree in the living room. "Well, I have work to do, so keep yourself busy." There were plenty of parrot-centered toys on the tree. He nodded and she left the pair of birds alone. He hated being forced to stay inside, but there was nothing he could do about it. If it was the hose for a short time, he didn't mind the shower. Or if he got caught in a spring rain in the weathering yard. Full-on downpours though? No thanks.   The rest of the day was relatively quiet with Kuro and Noire keeping themselves busy with the parrot toys. Blake came down and made up dinner for them by putting it in puzzle feeders. Of course, he made relatively quick work of the plastic feeders since he had done them a thousand times before. Still, it was better than nothing. Bowl feeding was boring, but it was a bare necessity sometimes due to how busy Blake was.   Thankfully, by that time they had finished with dinner, the rains had let up. But it was too late in the day to go out. He sighed, his feathers flattening against his head. He had really wanted to get out that day, but he really didn't want to get out in the rain at all. Being soaked through to the skin wasn't fun and wasn't healthy for him either. So staying tucked up in the house was best for them. *"Ready to head outside for the night?"* Blake asked. Kuro nodded and hopped up on her arm while Noire hopped up onto her shoulder. They headed outside and were allowed into their mews. There was still sunlight in the day, but Kuro ignored it and tucked his head up under his wing. No point in staying awake when he'd already been playing all day. He was a bit tired especially after all the enrichment for the day...