Flyboy's flightless surprise

[Sparky]

[Refs]

   As the sun crested over the horizon, bathing the field in golden light, the sounds of work could still be heard within Cayde's makeshift hangar. The young pilot, having sent Nova out to meet the locals and run her first few jobs, decided to spend his newfound free time performing maintenance on his beloved flying machine. The sweet memories of finally being able to fly,  truly fly, up in the air for as long as he wanted was like a drug for the young blond haired boy. It was an excitement that had kept him up all night long, working, tinkering, planning. How will I show this off? How will I advertise this? What's the best way for me to do my job using this new machine?

    The first step was latching up a door to create a cargo hold in the air-frame for all the packages, which was easy enough to do. A little bit of extra flooring out of lightweight materials, and some hooks for cables to be attached as to secure larger cables. Now, as for actually getting the packages where they needed to be, the young pilot would have to actually plot out which packages would be brought where using the flying machine. It could only land on flat, clear ground, and though he could make landings in fields- Cayde couldn't take too many risks when it came to the tree line.

    Which was where planned advertising came in.

    Air shows and demonstrations, flying over towns and giving them a full preview of the air-frames capabilities. As soon as Cayde did that, and got interest on his side, the young man could convince them to flatten out a path for him to use as a landing strip. The plans were all coming together nicely, and, frankly, he was excited. 

    There was one issue that nagged at his mind though. Ever since he'd gotten his aircraft up in the air, he'd started seeing less and less of his feathery friend. Cayde always dreamed of flying high with Ava at his side. His practically lifelong companion was an important factor in many of his dreams, and though they couldn't communicate, she was still his dearest friend. He worried about her, to say the least. Ava didn't normally disappear for this long, and even if she did it was rare and not this frequent.

    Perhaps the falcon had found a mate, and she was preparing herself to leave the nest, so to speak. It was a heartbreaking thought, but Ava had always been, in truth, free to leave whenever she felt. If she decided that she wanted to find her own life, that was for his avian friend to decide. Knowing that didn't help, though. According to Miss Windess, Ava was a familiar of sorts for him. Cayde's bond with her ran deep. The thought of never waking up to her presence was heart wrenching. 

    The young man pulled off his glove and wiped sweat from his brow. I need to stop getting so worked up. He thought, reassuring himself. I've been up a while, and there's no way I'm not exhausted. I can't let my worries get the better of me. She's probably just finding some new hunting spots, anyways. Cayde pulled his other glove off and tucked both into the pocket of his jacket. With a small huff, he buttoned up the aircraft and gave a stretch. It was about time he actually went to bed. 

    The barn doors slid shut with a satisfying "thud," as a morning breeze carried with it the scent of fresh dew. It was such a peaceful, soothing morning. Good for the mind, the body, and the spirit. Soil crunched beneath his boots as Cayde stepped back towards the home, up the front steps, and through the front door. 

    Everything was as it always was. A clean kitchen, a soft carpet, the quiet second floor unoccupied as Nova spent her day out and about doing her jobs, a naked woman on his couch. Cayde smiled and sighed as he hung up his jacket and removed his boots. His socks padded across the carpet, smile lazily on his face. Nice and... peace... ful...

    Wait.

    Clean kitchen, soft carpet, quiet, unoccupied second floor, naked woman on his couch. Hold on. One of these things was not quite like the others. One of these things certainly didn't belong. Cayde's grey eyes widened in growing surprise, cheeks flushing as he pointed at the woman on his couch. 

    "Wh-who are you!? W-what are you doing in my house!?" Cayde squealed, embarrassment and panic clearly punctuating his every word.  "A-and why are you naked!?" The poor young man was utterly flabbergasted. The least someone could do while visiting was put on some clothes!

[Ava]

[Refs]

Ava, more than happy with herself and her progress at being more human, was just simply resting on the couch after a good day's work in learning how to walk more naturally. Here she was, minding her own business pampering herself with as much of the couch as possible with her naked freedom waiting for her human boy to come home and gander at her wonderful G-cupped glory amongst other things. Lady Maisha really did make her look about as good as a human as she did a falcon and that was something she'd owe her life to. Along with the lessons in transformations and just generally learning how to function in another form, Ava's progress was fairly solid. She learned how to stand, sit, walk, eat, and use hands in place of her beautiful black taloned feet. Honestly, she felt like she was doing great!

The temperature was fine this day, something she also had to get used to with the lack of her beautiful brown plumage. Honestly how could Cayde even function like this in the cold? So naked and featherless. Oh gods would it have been embarrassing for her to be like that in her animalistic form instead of her human one! But alas, she was fortunate to have good looks, even without her feathers on her human body.

Waiting for Cayde to finish working on that flying metal child of his took too long for Ava as her thoughts wandered and she felt her eyes closing. How many hours did that boy actually spend on that thing instead of her and that one cottonball thief, Nova? Too many, especially too many compared to her. She was a gods damned queen of the sky! She seemed to nod to that before finding herself waking up to a familiar voice but much more panicked.

Oh, was he done with that Mako-thing and was ready to pamper her in her new form? How would that show on her like this? She didn't have feathers to really puff out or what have you. Ava was stirred from her nap with a jolt from Cayde's shock, looking around for the intruder before realising that he was looking at her. Quickly after making the realisation, Ava regained her composure, a smile softly showing on her face and eyelids lowered slightly to give her a smug look, something that came quite naturally.

Now, none of what you're about to see here is anything that Maisha or Gale taught Ava. This is just Ava acting on her own but gods damn would Gale be proud of this.

She crossed a leg over the other, one hand moved to rest under her elbow while the other hand was just softly against her chin. "Ara ara..." Her voice was a wonderfully husky tone that dripped with something sultry. "Are you surprised to see me like this, Cayde?" That probably didn't clear anything up but she hoped the boy was smart to figure out in the next five seconds that she was in fact Ava.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "A...Ava...?" Cayde blinked, grey eyes full of shock and confusion. First of all, what the fuck did "Ara Ara" mean and why was she saying it towards him- second of all "Ava! You're a human!" Ok, let's be real here. Full honesty and disclosure, Cayde had constantly thought of what it would have been like to have Ava as a human, or just have the ability to talk and communicate with Ava in general. So, without any sort of hesitation, Cayde was upon the woman, hugging her in a big bear hug, cheerfully laughing as he repeated "You're human!"

    And then it registered. 

    "AVA YOU'RE HUMAN!" And oh did that poor fly boy fall to pieces quick. Face red as a tomato, Cayde pulled away from his naked companion, now given human form, and he panicked. The young man ran around frantically, freaking out about how she was human and was sitting there, unclothed, with her girls hanging out in broad daylight. Cayde had a child in the home now! This was unacceptable! "AVA YOU'RE BUCK NAKED!!!"
   
    It was pure comedy, seeing him rush around the room like a chicken with its head cut clean off, frantically searching the house, looking for something to use for her. Inevitably, the one idea he had came down to him throwing a towel over her body. The poor young pilot's face couldn't possibly get any redder, feeling all the embarrassment for Ava seeing as she clearly was unable to. Cayde began to pace around, calmed slightly as Ava was (at least partially) covered.

    "Ok, ok it's ok. It's fine. I can figure this out. Clothes. Clothes, we need clothes. Oh but I can't take her out into the town to get clothes because she doesn't have any! And I can't leave her here because what if Nova comes home!? I can't have that poor girl seeing this! What sort of guardian would I be!? Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear oh dear oh dear. This is bad, this is very bad. It's really good because Ava is finally human and I can hug her all I want and have conversations with her  whenever I please, but it's also really bad because I was so completely unprepared for this! I don't have anything for her, not even a simple dress! Nothing I have here can fit those massive canons she's packing. Oh dear, oh no, oh dear..." 

   Cayde rambled and rambled, almost completely separated from the fact that Ava was still there, and she could still hear him completely fine. Her ears still worked. Cayde's brain, though? Gone. Checked out. Fried like an egg. Look, he's an innocent lad. A good boy. A pure, wholesome ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. But he was still a man. And, yes, he too had needs. And seeing those weapons of mass destruction Ava carried on her person was... dangerous. Especially for a youthful and energetic young lad such as Cayde. 

    Pure thoughts, Cayde, pure thoughts. This is not the time. The blond haired pilot stopped in place, stock straight, eyes wide as one, final desperate idea came to him. With no hesitation, Cayde rushed to the door, throwing it open and screaming into the wind as loud as he could. "MISS WINDESS! MISS GODDESS WINDESS! GALE!!! MISS GALE PLEASE I NEED YOUR HELP!!!"

[Ava]

[Refs]

Ahhhh there it was. The gears in that boy's head finally seemed to be turning. After who knows how long he's openly wondered about what they'd say and do if she could turn human and there she was being amazing and making that dream come true. And he completely fell into a trap. At least one that Ava has set up. Did she plan farther than that? Who knows at this point. Cayde coming up to a full hug was a mistake, especially with her bazingas out and about. She wrapped her arms around him and he was completely trapped there. 

When he managed to struggle out of her grasp, he was bright red. She hasn't seen him like that too much aside from whenever his family managed to greatly embarrass him or his plane seemingly making up a new issue whenever he thought he worked all the kinks out. And he worked on that thing a lot. He seemed to be surprised that she was naked. That's fair. After all, humans didn't bodies full of feathers. How could they live like this? "Well... Yeah of course I'm naked. My beautiful plumage is missing in this form unfortunately."

She didn't seem to understand clothes. She thought they were just a human's way of making a fashion statement their bodies lacked. Birds had their beautiful feathers in a vast array of colours that was naturally on them, so there was no need for clothes. While Ava was in fact missing those very feathers, she didn't seem to have a need to make a fashion statement with clothes since she's already got the person she fancied. 

She was standing now, a hand on her hip as she watched her headless chick husbando running around in panic for no reason in particular. Wait. Was her being human and practically functional that big of a shock? No wait he seemed to be freaking out about clothes. And then he mentioned cannons? She had those? Ava looked around, and then figured he meant those weather balloons hanging off her chest. Were those cannons? She raised a hand, the one not resting on her hip, and cupped a boob while silently questioning it. Lady Maisha said they were called boobies, so she wasn't too sure what Cayde was going on about. The same hand released the boob and she turned her palm to face his direction as she was making a gesture to object. "Ah, no. I don't need clothes. I already know I'm quite fabulo-" ... She watched him rush outside to call the Lady of Autumn. What a weird call for someone else when there was nothing wrong at all.

Meanwhile in Avalon....

Gale was in the middle of looking at some flowers in the local marketplace, admiring a bouquet of freshly cut lillies. Their colours were so vibrant and the petals so sharp and perked up with life. She paused, hearing something but she wasn't too sure what. Now it's fair to assume that as a god, there's always people out there who says the name of the god in question all the time but it's almost always noise as it was either someone cursing their name or someone trying to bolster morale in their name. If it wasn't necessarily a prayer or some religious or ceremonial act, it was always hard to tell. The goddess didn't seem to feel any urgency over whoever it was screaming her name and went back to admiring the flowers. She was sure everything with whoever was doing that was just fiiiiine.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "MISS WINDESS!!!" He kept screaming, kept going until his voice was horse and he was gasping for air. Desperate times called for desperate measures. A flustered Cayde dashed past a toweled Ava, stumbling up the steps. The whole time, he was still vocalizing the internal panic that had erupted inside of his poor mind. "I have a child in this home, I need to get you clothed before she comes back!" 

    "Shirts, shirts, shirts." He muttered, digging into his dresser. All of them were small compared to, well, how big Ava was, and how big she was. But a shirt was still better than nothing. He pulled free a black tee and rushed back, only stopping his panic when he literally fell down his ladder and slammed into the floor below. That only halted him for mere seconds, though, as he practically leapt down the steps and threw the shirt upon Ava. He would force it upon her no matter how much she fought, she was putting the thing on. Admittedly, even when it was on, just as Cayde had known, it really didn't do much.

    It fit... kind of. 

    But the young pilot really didn't give himself time to pay attention, as he was already scrambling around the place trying to figure out where he was going to get pants for her. Now his pants really wouldn't fit Ava. At all. She was far... curvier than he, there was no way he could fit her into his pants. Admittedly, the towel and shirt would give Ava one small comfort- It was a lot warmer being in them than when she was just lounging in the nude. Sure, it wasn't complete warmth, but hopefully the now humanized falcon would get a small semblance of context towards the other reason humans wore clothes. They had no feathers, so cloth kept them warmer. 

    Right now though, Cayde was just concerned with hiding her naughty bits. Both to save his poor young mind from unclean thoughts, and to protect Nova's innocent gaze. After what felt like an eternity running around and tearing apart the house, however, Cayde collapsed on the living room floor, panting. He couldn't find anything of use and Gale was ignoring his cries for help. Some friend she was! Ignoring his pleas for assistance. He thought friends were supposed to be there to support one another in their times of need, and this was certainly a time of need!

    Cayde gasped and tried to collect his breath. "Ava, I'm so unbelievably happy you're human now. I can finally talk to you and hug you all I want, however... we need to get something on you before Nova comes home. You're absolutely gorgeous, the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes upon, no contest- that's even considering The Mako! But you can't just walk around naked, especially around children. It's impolite and also considered inappropriate. You only do that when you're doing it with the person you love, wh-when y-you're..." Cayde's face lit up bright red at the thought of the act. Someone. Please. Save this poor boy. 

[Ava]

[Refs]

Ava just stood there and watched Cayde just lose his mind. She had this confused look on her face. "Who decided these rules?", she asked while he was rushing around. She wasn't really asking for an answer, she was just questioning who decided that she had to cover up outside of survivability. Maisha didn't seem all that bothered, and the way that Gale looked seemed like she was only wearing clothes for the courtesy of people that shared this stupid ideology. 

She listened to the boy ramble on the ground, yes. Yes compliment her more. Praise the feathery queen of this house. And then it stopped. She seemed honestly clueless. "When you're what?" Because in the animal world, makin' babies is a different business than how the more civilized species take it,

Ava was startled when Cayde threw a shirt on her, but he forgot to move her arms through the sleeves so she was affectively bound up. While the shirt was loose, it still felt tight around her chest. It didn't help that her arms were also in the same shirt space. This was just really uncomfortable, and borderline suffocating. "I know you like your shirts. If you don't want me to shred this one, could you take this off of me?" She was trying to be somewhat considerate of his things. After all, how many more shirts would she just try to break through that he owned if he just kept making her wear these horrible things? 

If Cayde didn't respond for whatever reason, Ava would bow down and move in a way to stretch the shirt from the inside out and to just tear it apart. She hasn't gotten to clothes or mastering how to wear them yet, so breaking out of it by sheer force was her go to right now until she actually knew how to deal with these things. The towel was fine. It was adjustable but also very soft. It also didn't bind around her body like shirts did. She didn't know how the boy could even live with these things on. 

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "Society! Society decided these rules. A-And... y...you only do it wh-when you're with someone you love a-and you're... y-you kn-know... d-doing the..." Cayde blushed vibrantly, extremely vibrantly, he couldn't believe that he was about to say this, but Ava was certainly never going to understand what he meant unless he actually said so. "..t...the s-sex. L-love m-making... y....you know... m-making... b-babies...."
    
    Panic once again reignited inside of Cayde as Ava threatened to shred his shirt. No! She needs that on and not tattered! The young pilot jumped to his feet and clumsily pulled the piece of cloth off of her. Once again, her weapons of mass destruction had been set free and Cayde felt his soul leave his body completely. Why was this happening? This was a great, wonderful day, but also it was like an eternal torment for some past sins. He was a good boy! He behaved! He was polite! Is this because he called his sister a doo-doo head when they were children?
    
    He said he was sorry!
    
    Sucking in a deep breath, Cayde reoriented the shirt and offered it to Ava. "A-ava, please lift up your arms so I can put this shirt on you. Y...you are very, incredibly beautiful, and I'm very, very unbelievably happy that you're human now. But p-please, for the sake of my sanity, put this shirt on. P-please." 

    Oh gods, it looked like Cayde was actually going to cry. Gale wasn't coming to help him, and he's in a room with a naked woman all by himself. On one hand, this is every boy's dream, and it certainly is a shared fantasy of Cayde himself (Again, he was a boy after all). But on the other hand, he needed to actually, you know, get her to understand human habits. He couldn't just let Ava waltz around Nova with her bazingo's and tunnel of love on full display! The young pilot was going to have to figure out how to get Ava some permanent clothes and fast. 

    He'd hoped Miss Windess would have something that could help. But she ignored him and left him to his own devices and panic, and it was killing the poor man. He just wanted to enjoy the fact that his lifelong companion was actually human without all the hassle and panic and stress that now came along with it. You know, in the young man's fantasy's, he'd at least hoped that Ava seeing him dressing up in clothes everyday would have been enough to clue her in on how necessary they were. 

    In reality, she was still a bird and birds didn't really get those things. 

    Dangit. 

    Still, the young man was adamant about getting Ava in some sort of dress wear. For now, he at least needed a stopgap, as he thought of another stopgap. He could... maybe... potentially shred the curtains and turn that into a temporary dress? A stopgap for a stopgap. What a crazy mess Cayde walked into this morning. 

[Ava]

[Refs]

"Human society is boring.", Ava sighed. She watched him fumble around with words relating to the topic. Though the statement seemed to be made clear, Ava didn't seem to be too surprised. Humans were weird with their rules and things. She rolled her eyes and reluctantly lifted her arms so he could put the shirt on properly. Without her arms sharing the same space as the rest of her torso, the shirt was definitely more loose and getting used to the feeling of clothes on bare skin was something she would definitely need to get used to. She hated feeling cloth on her skin though.

She guessed she'd have to search for 'clothes' she'd like that she would actually wear. Something that felt freer than this. In all honestly, she would probably never get caught in a shirt or pants after this, the feeling was too..... strange. She settled back down on the couch, just watching Cayde in thought, who knew the boy would just lose his mind because Ava was now actually a person person instead of a bird person. Well, she was a bird person but you know what I mean!

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    A relieved sigh escaped Cayde's lips as Ava surrendered and allowed the shirt to be placed upon her. That was one less problem to worry about. The fly boy looked towards the curtains, and with a sigh, went over to them... and ripped them down. I'll just replaced these later. For now... we'll make due. The boy's fingers gently pulled free the golden colored rings that used to hold the soft, clean red cloth up over the windows. And then, with the cloth set aside and the rings in a pile, Cayde left to grab his mother'sold sewing kit. He'd make a darn dress for Ava if he had to.

     "It's not just human society. It's society in general." Cayde chastised as he set the sewing equipment down. Deft hands, trained from years of both fine mechanical tuning and cloth working, cut and shifted the soft red cloth beneath the young man's finger tips. Despite the work he was putting in, there was no attempt made at hiding the glances the boy's grey eyes stole. Ava was... stunning. Nothing could be any more true. He never in his life imagined that the humanized version of his lifelong companion would be as... well... for lack of a better term, drop dead gorgeous as she actually turned out to be. Of course, when she was in her falcon form, Ava had a regal air about her. But, this was completely unexpected. 

    Certainly not unwanted, of course.

    Years of prototyping cloth and canvas covered wings for early gliders went to good use as the young man speedily strung together the bits of cloth. There were moments when Cayde stopped, lifted the work in progress dress, and studied it's aesthetic, before returning it down to be worked upon. New elements added, even the gold rings found use at some spots . It seemed that the young pilot wanted to make something befitting Ava's regal aura. All things considered, Cayde was... exceptional at sewing. He had a steady hand, and thanks to all the times he had to help his mother pick out dresses for Kimi, he grew an appreciation for what qualified as "beautiful." 

    There were some awkward moments, like when he had to take measurements off the woman- no doubt to her unending joy- face always turning red as a beat each time he had to drift to more... risque zones. Finally, the young man held the finished product up. "There. Perfect." He whispered. Cayde rose back to his feet and approached Ava, head turned away with a flustered blush. "H...here. This should be more comfortable. I... I think." 

    Shaking a bit, the young man nervously handed off the dress, setting it in her lap. "I-I'll turn away as you change. P-please don't tear my shirt." The blond haired boy turned away from her, fidgeting as he awaited her verdict. It was by no means a fancy dress. But, given the time it took to make it, and the material required, it was more freeing than just his shirt. "L...let me know when you're redressed..." The boy quietly muttered. Hopefully she liked the dress.

[Ava]

[Refs]

"It's still boring.", she said, now laying down on the couch with a sigh just to show how boring that thought was. She knew Cayde was stealing glances though and did nothing but absolutely spoil herself with that. She looked good, Maisha would be more than thrilled to know that her work was perfect. But of course it was! Ava was already perfect, but her new found form was also just as perfect! 

Ava was a gods damned queen of this house and she knew it. It was effortless and that's what she liked the most about this. It was so easy and she could get spoiled even more so now. She waited with her eyes closed, laying there and just really doing nothing more than daydream while Cayde worked on her dress. 

She only got up when it came to measuring her, but even then she found it strange how Cayde turned red so much. She's never seen him this red before. "Is there something the matter?", she asked, leaning closer as he was measuring her bust. Maybe he had a fever? Humans turn red when they have fevers right? She wasn't sure.

Whatever it was Cayde just seemed to be just plain awkward. He went off to finish whatever it was he was making, something his sister wore? Is that what it was? Did they actually make it out of curtains? What a weird concept. It was wild that Cayde's sister never used these to begin with.

Then he handed the curtains- dress to her when he was done doing whatever it was. He turned around for her to change into it and she just held it up to try to figure out how to put it on. She knew her arms had to go in somewhere. Nope. Not there. She eventually found the end with one opening and slipped it on, three and the other end that she slipped her arms and head through. Her hair compressed from the collar flew out in a soft puff and rested back in its normal state like it should. The dress fit fine but then she sneezed. The curtains were dustier than her hair colour.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "N-no!" Cayde squeaked, blushing even darker. "I-It's just e-embarrassing... d...doing such things to such a beautiful woman. I-I'm not used to it, I guess. E-eheh. Ehem. Well, anyways, a dress made out of curtains is certainly not a long term fix. We'll have to get you a real dress, made out of proper materials soon. Oh boy, if mother knew I shredded her old curtains she would be cross with me. Hopefully I can replace the curtains before she'd ever have a chance to find out."

    Nervously, Cayde shifted side to side on his heels. The young man hadn't heard anything from Ava about her being dressed, but the boy did hear a small sneeze. With some hesitation, the young pilot nervously glanced back. A sigh of relief escaped his lips for the second time as he saw her dressed. Even if it wasn't the proper materials, and Cayde wasn't the best seamstress, Ava still made the dress look amazing.

    "Thank the gods this situation is under control finally." He stated, hand on his heart. The panic had settled, things were calm. At least now I don't have to worry about poor little nova catching Ava like that now. A small smile pulled at the corners of his lips. The young man looked at Ava and placed his hands on his hips. "Well, now that there's nothing more to worry about, we can get down to business..."

    "AvaOhMyGoshI'mSoHappy!!!" The young man practically leapt upon the woman, hugging her tight and never wanting to let go. "This is amazing! I can finally hug you and talk to you like I've always dreamed! How did you become a human? How long have you been able to do this? Are you something like Nova? Are you still able to be a bird? Oh no, what are we going to do about your clothes if you can still do that, it's not like the clothes will turn with you? Aw heck, we'll worry about that later. We can just ask Miss Windess about it! But oh my gosh, Ava you're so beautiful. You're absolutely stunning! I don't think I've ever seen anyone as beautiful as you. I can't believe you're the friend I grew up with!"

    Well, Ava, you wanted to be spoiled, here it is. Cayde, now no longer afraid of her tiddies, was hugging onto the woman, voice filled with joy and eyes sparkling. Like someone had taken stars out of the sky and shoved them into the blond boy's head. And boy oh boy was the young pilot such a cuddle monster. He was snuggled up against her with almost no regard for personal safety. Then again, the two had been together for, well, practically a couple decades. The woman, when she was a falcon, had been called his familiar. Cayde had such a deep trust for her, and it didn't change even slightly with her form. 

    "I'm so glad I can finally have conversations with you now." Cayde repeated. Quieter, but no less happy. 

[Ava]

[Refs]

She rolled her eyes. It's not like his parents or sister really visited much anyways. It'd be more entertaining to watch her freak out about him nailing a person and not realising she was the falcon he brought up. And that person just so happened to have a dress to looked like the curtains that are conveniently missing in his home. 

The thought was shoved out the window as soon as Cayde practically leapt on her and snuggling her without a worry of breaking her bird bones. Well, they were human bones now. She stumbled back onto the couch and when she was a bit less stunned and bombarded with questions, she gave a smile and wrapped her arms around Cayde. Yes, spoil the bird woman, she craved this.

"Well.... I went to visit the All-Mother to see if I could get a human form. She granted that and helped me learn how to speak and walk."  Though it seemed she only just learned the basics. "I Can switch between forms too, she made sure that I could should I want that." She was more than happy to hear and see Cayde practically tripping over himself over her looks. She was gorgeous, she knew that, but there was a separate and much more powerful feel knowing someone important to her felt that way.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Cayde nuzzled into Ava, grey eyes closing as the warmth embraced him back. This was... such a nice feeling. He'd never been held this way before. Of course, his father and mother hugged him when he was a lad, the young man wasn't treated abhorrently or anything. There was a reason why he was such a snuggle monster. But this was different. It felt different. This was someone important to him. He felt comforted. Content. This was a  sensation that the young pilot had never known, and yet, deep down had always wanted without even realizing it. 
    
    Perhaps it was the years of being isolated by himself, no friends in sight. No one to give him such affection. Maybe he was just attention starved from being so alone for so long. Whatever the case, Cayde hugged Ava just a bit tighter, snuggled just a bit deeper. The young man craved this closeness. Wanted more of it. Never wanted it to end. 

    "I'm glad she helped you." He muttered, quietly trying not to let the emotions overtake him. So much was battering his poor heart. So much joy.  It was overwhelming. Even for someone as bubbly and cheerful as Cayde, this was almost too much. "We're going to have to see about getting some sort of clothing made. Maybe see if they can make magic clothing that can transform with you." 

    Ava wanted to be spoiled, Cayde wanted to be snuggled, both were happy to give the other what they wanted. Although, let's  be completely fair, it was not hard to get the young man to praise and spoil Ava. Especially now, when there was so many more compliments on hand to bathe her in. New things to praise her about. She was a lucky woman. Although, perhaps Cayde should have been a bit more sparing growing up, childhood friend or no, the blond haired pilot likely contributed to the falcon's massive ego. Though, that was more a problem for everyone else rather than it was for Cayde himself. 

    "So what was the reason you decided to see her? This All-Mother lady? What inspired you to do so?" The young pilot shifted in the woman's arms, grey eyes shimmering as he looked up at her. He had an unyielding sense of curiosity. Of course, the boy had always wanted something like this to  happen, to talk to Ava, have a friend he could actually hold a conversation with, without having to translate squawks. But, that seemed more like a wish that he would make instead of her. What made his long-time companion decide that now was the time to shed her beloved wings, in favor for arms?

    Curious. 

    But, perhaps Cayde was looking too deep into this situation. The young pilot should just be happy with the fact that this dream actually came true. Sure, she looked way, way, way, way, way, waaay different than he anticipated, much more like a bombshell than a soft friend, but a friend was a friend and he wasn't going to complain. 

[Ava]

[Refs]

Well you see Cayde, the short answer is to have your fledgelings. But she couldn't seem to tell him that with how deeply flustered he was before about seeing some big booblins. "I know how much you kept thinking of hypotheticals where I was human, but you seemed to be so pained whenever you spoke about it. That pipsq- Nova kid gave me an idea to seek out help from the All-Mother. If she was a shifter, why shouldn't I be?" This wasn't to say Ava was just simply abusing Maisha's ability. She was truly grateful about being gifted the ability without really anything owed to the goddess. I can always change back, this isn't permanent or anything. So I can still fly on my own wings if I wanted to." Maisha seemed to know enough about wanting the freedom to shift forms and the action of missing them if it was a permanent change that prevented that from happening ever again.

But now Ava can learn to human and do affectionate human things with Cayde. And have his sort-of-human kids. She didn't have to be worried too much about Cayde crushing her when she's being a bird, or his handling her carefully. She could do all sorts of human-y things that she couldn't as a falcon. But even better, she could also turn back into a falcon to also do her favourite falcon-y activities. Like flying. And plucking morsels off the ground like free snack packs and not get judged for it. And also proving she's better than Cayde's flying machine. Don't tell Cayde that though. That would hurt his feelings.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Blissfully unaware of Ava's fiendish intentions, Cayde innocently snuggled up to the woman. The young man didn't want to leave this moment. The only time he felt this kind of joy was when he himself flew up above the ground. Perhaps the young pilot's luck was turning in his favor? Certainly a number of good things had happened within recent memory. A smile graced the boy's features as he thought about it all with a gentle fondness. 

    "I'm glad you can still transform, that means we can both fly together still." Sure, Ava might think herself better than his flying machine, and maybe in some situations she'd be correct. However, the woman was forgetting one key fact; Cayde couldn't fly like her. It wasn't as though the blond haired fly-boy could suddenly sprout wings of his own. "Next time you visit this All-Mother lady, you should ask her about the clothing situation. I'm sure if she's got the magic to turn you human, she's got the magic to make clothing that transforms with you."

    Cayde practically sunk against Ava. She was warm and soft, her words like honey. She reminded him of the sweetest memories of springtime. The young man was just a bundle of snuggles. Almost impossible for him to be pried off. If the woman even wanted to try for that, she would be met with some resistance and shimmering grey puppy-dog eyes. Let the boy get his fill for Gods' sake. 

    It didn't take much longer for the cuddle monster to be sated. If she tried to pry him off, it certainly would have taken far less time, of course. Regardless, the natural progression was facilitated by the one thing that always happened with Cayde: immediate distractions and new ideas. This next round of new ideas?

    Breakfast!
    
    Hopping to his feet excitedly, the young, bubbly pilot made his way to the stove top. "Seeing as you're human now, you get a chance to have a taste of my cooking! Well, outside of the meats I gave to you. That's different. This is different. You'll love my famous pancakes and bacon!" Were they really famous Cayde? Just because everyone who's tried them has loved them to death doesn't exactly mean they're famed. Blond locks fell around his eyes as the boy cheerfully mixed the ingredients. The secret ingredient that added just a bit more "Oomph" to the pancakes? A dash of vanilla. A tiny dash, mind you. No need to overwhelm the natural flavor of fluffy, buttery buttermilk pancakes. 

    The  scents of the morning feast drifted in the air as Cayde set to  work. His voice quietly humming a tune his father had taught his children whilst they were young. It seemed that, like most things, the boy held onto it a lot more dearly than his sister had. While the young pilot hadn't exactly thought about it, it was going to be interesting to see how things developed with Ava as a human now. Growing up, he took everything his younger sister gave him, all the hell and all the insults with a bright and innocent smile. Doubtless Ava wasn't going to let that sort of thing stand anymore. 

    That did beg the question, though, now that Ava could speak, how did she actually feel about that sort of treatment towards her companion? No one ever stood up and put a stop to how the girl treated Cayde. His mother never stepped in, and his father scolded her only up until he left before their  teen years. The  most punishment Kimi got was when Ava pranked her.