Morning in the Fields

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    A cool spring breeze rustled the trees, creating rolling waves in the long grass. There was a promise of a warm day as the sun beat down from it's position up high in the sky. Cayde wiped his brow as he looked over towards the tree line outside his little make shift hanger. Parts of his flying machine were sorted out a workbench. Some older ones had to be replaced, and had. Others just needed to be tended to, cleaned, reoiled. That was where the young pilot was at right now. 

    Dealing with the growing heat was a little bit better in the shade of the hanger. The open windows allowed for good airflow and a nice, soothing breeze. But it was obvious that summer was just on the horizon now. It's been a weird period. Ava was now... human? So there was a lot of teaching that Cayde had to do for her. Making sure she understood the bare bones was challenging enough, all while making sure Nova was being raised right. 

    Though Nova was settling in comfortably herself. The town seemed to enjoy her presence as the new apprentice courier, and with how nice the towns people were, he would not have been surprised if they were sneaking her snacks while she was out on deliveries. Still, he kept true to giving her the pay she deserved, and even bought her a whole shelf full of different books and what not for her new room. The young man still didn't know a whole lot about her, or how she came to be living her life on the street, but understood that those things came with time. When the kid was ready, she'd tell him. 

    The real challenge was Ava. While teaching her human stuff was it's own issue, the poor boy was not at all prepared for her... personality. It was overwhelming to say the least, and that combined with her... eh... appearance made it really hard not to turn into a tomato halfway through trying to teach the bird. Woman. Ava. The Ava. 

    Yes.
    
    Cayde persevered regardless. After a while it got easier. Even if he was full tomato mode. At one point, even Ms. Windess stopped by to check up. Even gave Ava some magic clothes that could transform with her! That absolutely didn't help the tomato problem! At all! Made it worse in fact! JOY!!! 
    
    Now Ava he could understand not getting the whole clothes thing. Ms. Windess was a shocker. Though it probably shouldn't have been as shocking now that the young man thought about it. Still, left a lot to deal with. The pilot turned back to his flying machine with a sigh, humming a sweet tune under his breath while putting the engine back together. Life had gotten so busy lately. Meeting a goddess, getting his flying machine to work, taking on an apprentice, Ava turning into a human. 

    Thankfully the amount of work he had was still at a manageable state. Even more so now, actually, as Nova took on the local deliveries. As for the long distance trips, he could make those in less than a day with his flying machine. So business was booming and it was still at a point where he had a good bit of free time all to himself. Cayde smiled at that thought as he shut the engine cowling. 

    Another soft breeze brushed past, rustling the boy's golden hair. His cap and jacket still hung by the doorway, pilots gloves in the compartment. Boots quietly clunked against the dirt trail as Cayde walked back out into the sunlight. Oil was still covering his work gloves, but otherwise, he was fairly clean for once. "Today's gonna be a good day." He muttered with a smile. 

[Ari]

Nova

It's been a bit since we've seen what this little runt's been up to because I haven't had the mentality to write for any of my gals, but I digress. 
Nova's been doing pretty damn well considering what her life was like before. She's got a home, a job, a brother figure, heck she's even gotten used to that pesky bird. Who apparently isn't as much of a bird anymore, at some point she came home with a human form instead of the feathered one Nova was used to seeing. 

Regardless of the new form of the avian, she's still the same as always. Cayde spends his time some days to try and get her accustomed to what's appropriate in human society. Such as, not going around without clothes. Yeah... it'll take a bit before the falcon turned human gets used to wearing clothes. And that's not getting into how Cayde acts strange around the avian's new form too. She's not touching that with a ten-foot pole. She knows enough about people to know when someone is attracted to another person, and it's only a matter of time until Cayde realizes it for hmself. She just hopes that they don't do any... intercourse, while she's home.

But enough about the possible sex those two might have. Let's talk more about the little kitten herself. Nova's integrated nicely into her new life, even managing to be friendly with a couple of their clientele. She hasn't even had to bite one person since she's been adopted! Progress!
Cayde homeschooling her has been good so far too. She's a pretty quick learner and her favorite subjects are linguistics and history. There's just something interesting about learning about the past and gaining info about how people back then survived. 
Hell at the rate she's been going, Cayde says that she might get to go to an actual school at some point. Obviously not anytime soon hopefully, she's still gotta get used to other people. We don't need this kinda feral child biting other students.

Right now, the small teen could be seen relaxing in the living room, reading a book. She was quite invested in the novel, which happened to be based in the fantasy/adventure genre. 

[Ava]

[Refs]

Ava didn’t seem to understand some human norms. She had a grasp of them, but only seemed to do them so that Cayde wasn’t super upset. Humans were too complicated, but this was still something she was willing to deal with if that got her closer to what she wanted to do. Of course, that cat brat kid morsel thing stood in the way, what with Cayde turning red and telling Ava they couldn’t do this or that especially with her around because she was so young. At least, outside of that, Ava’s learned to tolerate Nova too.

The biggest human norm that bothered her was clothes. She understood it can keep them warm, but other than that? Who decided natural beauty needed to be hidden? Unbelievable. She was at least willing to wear these green silks Gale Windess gifted. They covered things up adequately, at least she and the wind god agreed on that. Cayde? Not so much. Gods he was so finicky . She, at least her nethers, were covered were they not? Even if the fabric was breezy and a little see through, it was still difficult to really see anything through the fabric. Besides, there were many other great things about her to look at. Gold bangles, sharp wing liner markings at her eyes, her golden eyes, her dust coloured hair that caressed her face, her curves. Fuck she was gorgeous, and she very well knew that.

Ava herself at the moment was outside, sunning herself in the golden light. It only really exaggerated her tones. The sun’s light was also warm, which felt nice on her featherless skin. Why were humans awful at keeping warm?

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Sighing, the young man walked back to the front porch. The only pause came from looking back towards Ava. Gods above help him. It was hard not to blush when looking at her. Ava was stunning in every sense of the word and it made the pilot's stomach do backflips. He was completely unused to the feeling. As though butterflies had nested inside his gut. Mumbling under his breath, the young man shifted his weight back and forth. Should he say something to her? But she looked so comfortable? Things were so much simpler when she had feathers. 

    "A-Ava!" He stammered out a call. Don't mistake him, Cayde was delighted to have Ava in a form where he could have a normal conversation. It was a dream come true. But that dream certainly came with drawbacks. The worst part is that she absolutely knew what she was doing to him and that she was drop-dead gorgeous. The boy sucked in a breath and recollected himself. "Ava!" Better. "Come on in, it's time for lunch." With a small sigh, he smiled out towards her. Sweet as ever. Even through all the new emotions he had to deal with, the embarrassment, and the struggles of teaching two shifters how to be people. 

    A tune played on his lips. Cheerful and bright. Cayde made sure to pull off the oily work gloves before he opened the door, smiling as he was greeted by the sight of his apprentice. Adopting her had been a strange endeavor. Orphans were. Not uncommon in this world unfortunately. There was never a shortage of those leftover from tragic encounters. Bandit attacks, monsters, wars, so on and so forth. The process of adopting Nova had been relatively simple, if a bit awkward. Details were exchanged, papers were signed, and both the apprenticeship and adoption was finalized. Cayde hung up his gloves and went to the girl, rustling her fluffy hair. 

    With the sunlight filtering through the open windows, paired with a lovely, cool breeze, it all felt idyllic. Serene. "How was work yesterday, Nova? I've been hearing all about how the town loves having you around." So many good words were shared. How delightful the kid was, different praises here and there about her timeliness. She learned quick and picked up on things easily. "One of the teacher's at the local school is actually even looking into getting you in there soon. Apparently some of the village children are curious to meet you as well. You're playing nice with them, aren't you?"

    Nova was a quiet child. It reminded the pilot a bit of his little sister. That being said, he didn't know all the little details of what was going on in the village anymore. Once many of the smithies and bakeries learned of the speed his flying machine could travel, they had him running his goods out to other villages. A few times he even went as far as the capital. So exciting!

    Smiling and brimming with cheer, the boy began whipping up something for everyone to eat. Perhaps some blt's? Oh! With lemonade and a side of fries! Perfect plan Cayde! The boy patted himself on the back, literally, as he started whipping up the meal. Oh to be so innocent and full of life. "Oh, also, Nova, the teacher did say that she can also start teaching you how to better harness your magic and spells, so if you'd like that we can set something up for that." Without any sort of magical potential, it was hard to teach Nova how to master her own. That was somewhere Cayde knew he was left lacking, and it was obvious he wanted to find a way to better make up for it. 

[Ari]

Nova

The feline shifter accepted the ruffling of her hair, even leaning further into the touch, before replying to her guardian's inquiries, "Work was fine, nothing really special happened. Oh, but I did get a muffin yesterday from the baker! So that was pretty nice." She hummed happily thinking about the chocolate chip muffin that she had consumed earlier today. She listened as Cayde went on about getting her into school and how one teacher was willing to help her entry into school. However, she's not too sure about going to school. Even with her fast acquiring and understanding of information, she's not all that sure about if she's ready to interact with other peers around her age.

Despite her wariness over going to school, she did perk up over hearing that there was someone who could teach her how to better control her powers. Don't get her wrong, the books that Cayde had provided her on magic was insightful, but it'd be more beneficial to her if she could actually see the process for herself. She'd probably learn better that way. Realizing that she hadn't responded to Cayde about going to school, Nova spoke up, "Well I'm flattered that they'd be willing to help with entering me into the school, I'm just a little...skeptical on if I'm ready or not. Sure, intellectually I'm catching up to my age-group, however I'm still lacking socially." She admitted to her guardian/older brother figure truthfully. Despite how mature she could be at times, she was still a kid. And this kid was nervous about being around other children.

[Ava]

[Refs]

Ava looked back to see Cayde calling for lunch. She could turn into her feral form, scavenge out a meal herself. Raw meats hunted down felt best. It was fresh, it came with the feel of achievement. Some humans still hunted, but Cayde was not one of those. Ava was also one that ate straight meat, so getting accustomed to plants for food and whatever humans did to make that look and taste different sent a shock that she wasn’t sure she was a fan of. Salad? That was just a tree that was stripped naked because humans ate them. Bread? It didn’t taste like meat. There were many types of breads, but most didn’t really seem to taste strongly. She’d at least try these foods for Cayde. A large part of what he liked was weird or flat inedible though.

The bird woman got up and walked in and saw Cayde was making some, what were they called? Sand something. It was weird because they didn’t use sand in them. Might as well with whatever nonsense bread was though. Humans and their weird needs to make food instead of eating it as it was. It was so much simpler and faster to get that kind of stuff in your gut without all this fancy preparation and mishmash of other things for something they valued called ‘flavour’. It seemed like he was making something for all three, including some iced drink that looked like pee and these yellow sticks humans seemed to really value called fries. Those were at least tolerable compared to ‘salads’ and what have you.

The scent of meat caught on, but it still smelled wrong. Of course, he was cooking the meat. This poor baby boy and his weak stomach to not take raw meat. How was he able to stay alive so long with this kind of method of getting food? Well, a good bulk of “civilised” humanity for that manner. How were any of them still alive? At least while he was out or asleep or not looking, she could go out and swipe a rat or a rabbit, clean up so that nothing could be detected. Ava was probably going to do that. As for Nova, Ava figured the cat girl thing was somewhere in the middle, though largely siding with the human side of things. That wasn’t her problem. Either way, she’d look around for a mouse sneaking about to hunt later while the other two were having conversation.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    No arguments! Wonderful! Not like that was ever a risk with Nova, but still! It always astounded Cayde how well Nova could articulate her thoughts. It made her sound infinitely older than she actually was. Probably all the reading she did. Oh, he was so proud of her. Cayde stacked up a neat little sandwich on a few slices of artisanal bread. A bit fancy for a BLT, but the baker gave him them and if the boy didn't use them now, then the loaf would surely go stale. The bread was light, airy, and tasted buttery without actually needing to put butter on it. Maybe he should have gone with some melts? 

    "Good to hear everything is going well!" Cayde chimed. While plating up Nova's lunch, the young man made sure to give her a decent portion of fries. Cooked crisp and golden-brown. "Come grab your food and drink. Careful, might still be hot." Everything was taken care of in a timely manner. Bacon didn't take too long to cook, nor was it hard to give the bread a light toast. The young man made sure the plate was where Nova could reach it, then continued talking. "You're learning quickly, and you'll never get used to others socially unless you put yourself out there. If we do set you up to study with the teacher, then I'm sure she'll also help you work on that aspect as well."

    Teaching a child when completely unprepared was not something Cayde had been prepared for. The boy wasn't complaining. But he also wasn't going to deny being out of his depth. Plating up his own food, the young pilot continued. "I know it can be a bit scary and daunting. But it's also exciting, too! You get to make new friends, see new faces, learn new things! Isn't that pretty great?" With how bright and cheery he was, the young man's personality was practically childlike itself. 

    The sound of the door opening put the conversation on the back burner for a spell. Ava had, thankfully, made her way inside. Cayde saved her lunch for last, knowing full well that she didn't care for any of the toppings, or even the bread for that matter. So, instead, the boy just loaded her plate up with a pile of meat. Repeatedly he explained how cooked food was nutritionally better than raw. For, well, most people. Some sciency stuff about how it did this and that- it was in the books! Even putting that aside, raw meats tended to come with great risks. Bacteria for one. Parasites for another. Dietarily, a diverse diet with cooked or cured meats was a healthy one. Of course, Ava could still shift into a bird, which meant raw meat still suited her just fine. But if she was going to be a people, then she had to understand what being a people meant, dang it!

    Compared to Nova, teaching Ava was infinitely more difficult. 

    Tedious as it could be, however, he enjoyed the time spent with her. It was fun getting to actually talk to his long time companion. Even if she didn't quite get why clothes needed to be a thing beyond just being warm or being modest. Man, it was hard being taken serious while having the personality of a buttercup. He was patient. Patient and hard to bring down. Cayde would persevere.

    "Lunch is ready, Ava." Cayde called out in a sing-song tone. Bright and chipper. "Do you want it, or would you rather hunt down your own? I can always save this for later." Not once did the boy want to force Ava into this new situation. Despite having her own human form, the woman seemed to be comfortable as a bird just the same. The pilot wasn't going to try to take that away from her. So, the option was there. Always. Hunt your own, or take what I made. Nothing went to waste either way. Cayde just really loved cooking for people. 

[Ari]

Nova

She huffed, but didn't deny Cayde's logic. He was right about her needing to get out there and interact with people if she wanted to... possibly make friends. Even though a small part of her thinks that she would prefer being left alone, that might be the cat part of her talking though. She merely pursed her lips and said, "If you're certain, then I'll attempt to make nice with the other kids..." Nova then reached for her plate of a sandwich and fries, strolling to the table to put her plate down long enough for her to grab a drink from the fridge.

Hearing the door open, she peered to see Ava strolling in from her little tanning session. The avian was still getting used to eating other things besides meat, which to be fair towards her, is the only thing that birds like her could stomach. So Cayde gave her whatever seasoned meat he had leftover from whatever he cooked for the day.
"Enjoy your tanning? You were out there for a while." Nova asked the older woman, grabbing herself a bottle of juice from the fridge before heading over to the table to eat her lunch. Sitting down, she picked up a couple of fries and crammed them into her mouth. Chewing for a bit, she swallowed before following up with, "Your food's on the counter, unless you want something more appetizing?" She inquired politely to the avian. Now should she be a little shit and say something crude or keep to it to herself. Hmm, decisions decisions.

...Nah, she'll keep it to herself, no need for bastard-like antics right now. She's just gonna enjoy her food for now.

[Ava]

[Refs]

Even if Ava had the chance to hunt, Cayde still spoiled her with snacks. She wasn’t going to say no to that. And even then, if she was still hungry, she’d hunt something down herself. She was an adult bird doing adult human-bird things and could take care of herself, but human contact has spoiled her with a little pampering. “It’d be a waste to not eat food that’s already there.” Human or animal, she had a point. “Besides, I can always go hunting if this isn’t enough.”

She looked at Nova, unsure if the kit was trying to be snarky. “Sun’s nice out. Who wouldn’t want to be out in it?” The warmth felt especially good on her skin. “If you’re offering yourself as a meal, I’ll have to say no to not upset Cayde.”

The bird picked up her plate, holding it. Man it was weird using wings to pick stuff up and walk was so inconvenient. It was slower than flying. She settled next to the two with her plate of meats, and picked up one with her hand to eat. Cayde seemed a bit ruffled up when she tried just eating these scraps whole with just her face. And she didn’t understand the utensils. Forks do a big stabby stab but pulling them off the prongs was annoying. It was just easier to pick it up with your hands and go from there.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    So many specifics had to be explained. Hands dirty, food hot, use fork to not burn hand or not get [certain] food(s) dirty. Also no get hands dirty either. No pluck off fork with hand, use mouth. No bite metal. Of course, Gentle Cayde, patient as ever, didn't use that sort of tone. But he certainly did baby Ava more than a little bit while trying to teach her. Not really on purpose, but just a biproduct of also having a younger sibling. It was weird that with how much Ava watched Cayde and his family, that Nova was the easier one to teach. Nova. The child. The kitten. Rather than have that be a dig at Ava's intelligence, the sweetheart instead lauded Nova for being a genius. Because if Ava was smart, then that made Nova super smart!

    That's how equivalency worked, right?

    Seriously though, whoever made Ava human should have given her human lessons! At least a crash course so that the woman didn't have to be all confused over everything. Bacon, at least, was a finger food (See: Certain Food(s)). "Be nice now, Ava." A chastising tone followed a gentle bop on the woman's head. Of course the pilot would never actually hurt someone. Certainly not Ava. With a soft hum, the young man settled down in his seat with a peaceful smile. Sunlight at his back gave his hair a golden tint. Not a single bad bone in his body, and the world wished to reflect that trait. 
    
    Crispy bacon and buttery, melt-in-your mouth soft bread. "Oh I really outdid myself this time. I need to make sure to get more of this kind of bread in the future!" Each bite was a mix of different textures and flavors that went well together. Of course they did, BLT's were a popular food item for a reason. But that didn't defeat Cayde's air of positivity. After a few bites, the young man washed it all down with a swig of lemonade. Not too sour, not too sweet. Just right and altogether perfectly refreshing after a morning of hard work. 

    "I'll make sure to talk to the teacher later on. Her name is Ms. Dawner and she is a delightful woman. Very nice, super polite. According to the other villagers, she's very well-liked by her students. I'm sure you'll get on just well with her." Cayde took another bite of his food, then paused. "Jusht uh... don't bite her?" He mumbled through a mouthful of food. Both Ava and Nova, for as intelligent as they were, had some... difficulties with socializing. 

    Thankfully Cayde didn't have as many biting reports as when Nova first came to live with them. That night was. Wild. Way more chaotic than it had any right being. Actually, thinking about that night caused the pilot's brows to furrow. Still so many questions up in the air. Why was such a young kid on their own? Cat or not, it was dangerous! "You know, Nova, I don't think I ever asked this, but why were you on your own when I found you? What happened to your parents? Your mother, even?" Was Nova an orphan or a runaway? Or was her family just that bad that they really didn't care where their daughter went? What a sad thought...

    

[Ari]

Nova

Snorting at Ava's response, Nova merely shook her head, "Absolutely not. _{After all Cayde's more your taste...}" She murmured under her breath as she took a swig of her apple juice to wash down some of the BLT she swallowed. Peering up at Cayde as he went on about the school and the teacher that offered to recommend her. "No promises on not biting if someone irritates me," She chirped in response to him telling her to not bite anyone. Like, come on Cayde, you're asking too much from this former street cat.

Taking another bite of her sandwich, she paused a bit to chew her food, before swallowing and asking another question, "So what is this school? Is it that fancy shmancy Virel Academy or whatever it's called, or is it just a basic kinda school? I hope it's the latter instead of the former..." Not caring that she mispronounced Vyridel Academy, Nova was hoping that Cayde wasn't about to send her to some preppy school filled with snooty rich people. That's the last thing anyone needs.
Nova had just stuffed a couple of fries into her mouth when Cayde had asked her about if she had any parents or guardians. Pausing her chewing, she looked at Cayde with a curious, yet confused look, "I d'nno. I gueff they're dea'." Her voice muffled by the food in her mouth, she shrugged before swallowing her food so that she could talk better. "I mean, I don't really remember much of my younger years, so for all I know I could've been on the streets for a while. Why ya askin'?" While most would be somewhat curious about their parents, Nova isn't most. "I mean, I got you and the bird now don't I?" 
 

[Ava]

[Refs]

Ava gave a sharp glance at Cayde’s back. She was being nice. She declined from eating that cat child thing didn’t she? Humans were weird, she never understood their conventions. She wasn’t going to baby Nova like Cayde was, that wasn’t her offspring. Not even an egg snuck under her feathers at night would change that.

At Nova’s response, she looked back at the cat girl, but didn’t seem too bothered. She was right and who was Ava to deny that. Now it was only a question of whether the blushing boy would have caught Nova’s snide remark.

She settled down with her plate of bacon, thankful that at least humans had fingers. They were like dull, fleshy talons that lacked talons. They were still dextrous though, so she couldn’t complain too much. Oh but how she wished she had her talons in this form. Beautifully sharp and punctured into meat so cleanly, but now she had these small, flat discs that the humans called nails that could grow long but were nothing near the strength of her talons.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Blushing darkly, Cayde pretended not to notice Nova's comment. By now, there was no hope of teaching proper manners to Nova and Ava. Not in the way that the pilot had learned them. By the gods did he try, but there was only so much he could do for a street cat and a spoiled falcon. The latter of the two came as more of a shock. Ava grew up watching the family, so he'd have thought she'd pick up on some of those lessons. Instead they were treated as though they were tedious. Really starting to regret tossing Ava extra snacks before bed. The real unfortunate part was that the woman's spoiled, princess-like attitude was caused in part by him. 

    Princess-like didn't even fully fit. Ava's personality was more... Queen-like. Still royalty, but a little more up there than a princess. The young man let out a hefty sigh as he snacked on a fry. Good rhyme. Cayde was going to have to remember that one and see if he could whip up a funny little poem from that. There were a lot of things that rhymed with Fry, too. Fly. Bye. Cry. Guy. Wait he's getting side tracked. Grey eyes blinked away the wandering thoughts and focused back on his ward. 

    "Oh, no no no. It's a local school. Nothing as fancy as Vyrel. Virdle. Uhm. Hm. Now hold on a second, I should know this one. Kimi goes there and ma' sends a bunch of letters about it all the time." Brows furrowed in thought. Each little turn down the memory maze tilted the boy's expression. Vyrl? Noo, too short. Vridilel? Hm... wait, actually that one seemed close. Ah! "Vyridel! Vyridel Academy. That's right. Phew, thought I lost that for a minute. Heheh." 

    A lengthy pause filled the room. Only the sounds of the natural world outside kept it from complete silence. Without Ava hunting the skies, songbirds started coming back to the fields and forests. One such little bird fluttered down to the window sill, chirping its sweet little tweets while watching the rag-tag family. If life was a video game, everyone could see the ellipsis hanging above the boy's blond head. 

    "Oh right!" Finally broke the silence. From the window, the songbird watched the scene for a few more beats, and then fluttered off. "Oh gosh, silly me, I got so distracted. But, yeah, the school is pretty simple. No need for any sort of uniform!" Being an alley cat, Nova not needing fancy clothes probably helped sell the school a lot better. "Because it's all local kids, you're sure to make some friends there. I actually used to go there when I was a little tot! Look how I turned out." Cayde beamed a bright smile.

    Which quickly vanished as soon as Nova mentioned parents. 

    So she really was an orphan. Poor little thing. Well Cayde will look after her as a good adoptive brother should! "I guess I asked just for a bit of clarification. Still a shock to think that someone just let a kiddo like you stay on their own for so long. And also, don't call Ava 'The bird.' She has a name, and I expect you to use it just as much as I expect her to use yours." Ava definitely got a side eye after that one. The young pilot was a total sweetheart. An utter softy that couldn't hurt a fly. That did not mean he wasn't stern when he needed to be. Did being stern work out for him? Well that depended on just how much the two girls respected him. Which probably was not to that degree. "I am glad you're comfortable with us, though. I'm glad I could give you a safe place to sleep." 

[Ari]

Nova

She sighed in dramatic relief, "What a relief! I'd hate to be around those snobby pricks. I've heard from a couple of street rats that some a those kids are too snooty." She finished off the rest of her fries by stuffing them in her mouth, cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk. Chewing for a while, she took a large swig from her juice to wash down the fried potato sticks. She listened to Cayde as he went on about how this 'Kimi' went to that fancy Academy and how the school he's advertising to her was one he frequented as a child and that he turned out just fine. He also talked on about how she wouldn't need a uniform, which thank the Gods for small mercies, and how it'll be filled with local kids.
"Well I can be thankful for that at least, at least there's no uniform and no snobby kids." She muttered to herself as she went on to eat at her BLT, despite it being cold.

She watched as Cayde's face fell when she admitted that she didn't know anything about her parents, which she didn't understand. What was he sad for? She's used to not having parents, after all can't miss what ya don't have! However, he quickly got over it or just decided to move on from the somewhat depressing conversation to scold her about referring Ava as just the 'bird'. What made that scold worthy, she didn't even say it in a negative tone! Not that the scolding was really effective, but she'll abide by what he says, even if the scolding wasn't necessary.
"I mean, you took me in when nobody else even gave me a glance. Why wouldn't I be somewhat comfortable?" She knew it could've been worse for her if Cayde wasn't the kind person that he was. "You're like an older sibling, at least, I think that's what older siblings are like. And she's alright too.." See she can be polite towards Ava.

[Ava]

[Refs]

Ava seemed to look pointedly away from Nova. “Yeah, she’s tolerable, I guess.”, Ava mused. In due time the two would get along right? Right?? Hopefully, maybe, probably. As long as the little furry rascal didn’t try to tarnish her beautiful plumage or newfound human hide. At least Nova seemed to be focused on being good for Cayde so that meant her skin and feathers would be fine.

“What is a school?” She was aware of it from Cayde’s sister and parents. And uniforms? Snobby and snooty? School sounded awful. Ava was glad she didn’t have to go to this school. And look how well she turned out! She was a fully fledged bird of prey, a terror of the skies! Sure she was learning to human, but all the bird things didn’t require whatever it was that this ‘school’ thing did. She learned to hunt and fly, a bit of Cayde’s help involved but most of that was done herself! “...Are academy and school the same thing..? What’s a uniform??”, she muttered to herself. Humans were WEIRD.