2025-10-26: BIRD BROS
- Log: BIRD BROS
- Cast: Tsubasa Seki, Pernelle
- Where: Mementos - Path of Qimranut
- OOC Date: 2025-10-26
- IC Date: Weds Aug 01 2012
- Summary: Phoenix meets Pernelle and everything is perfect and nothing hurts any more.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
One might think that after getting assaulted in Mementos one night and seeing a man die right in front of them the next night, Tsubasa would skip going to Mementos again. But listen -- that second thing technically didn't happen in Mementos. That means Mementos is only as dangerous as the rest of Sumaru. Checkmate, atheists.
All that to say that Tsubasa's right back here, and they're NOT self destructive and they DON'T have a problem it's FINE they're SO COOL.
That is: Phoenix is right back here. In a feathery orange hood which covers their head and shoulders, they stand out despite the classical ninja robes beneath, with bandages wrapped up their ankles, wrists and belly. (The orange gloves are a spot of colour, too.) A dark grey mask styled like a witch's hat hides their identity, but it can't hide the MASSIVE sword they're carting around as they slay Mandrakes and Pixies in the shallows of Mementos.
They can't explore too deep on their own; they know the Boss would kill them. But they can venture out a little, and of course they want to, driven by avarice to find treasure chests. There's yen inside those things! Yen can be exchanged for goods and services!
There are also some items, but, like, what are they supposed to do with this 'Soul Drop'?! Sounds stupid. They tried using one and it didn't even DO anything!
(It didn't do anything because you cast all your attacks from HP, Phoenix...)
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
EARLIER THIS EVENING...
"HAVE AT YOU, FIEND!" Pernelle cries, pecking and kicking at a mirror with the righteous fury that creations allots to all things avian so that they may teach the world fear. But for every blow he strikes, the beautiful creature on the other side of the silvery veil meets him blow for blow. Pernelle catches his breath, feathers ruffled.
The mirror is, by technicality, on train station property. It is also, by technicality, a bathroom mirror. It will be properly disposed of tomorrow morning, but Pernelle has wandered by it tonight. And there he was! That handsome devil! Always mocking him!
"Such a powerful foe..." he says, glaring into the reflection and meeting that same glare right back. "Ha! But I see... I too have you on the ropes...!" With a sigh, Pernelle looks to the sky. "Have I been negligent in my training? Mayhaps I need to consider a new regimen. Proper Ateliers have been so far and few between this past year. Mm... what was that other curious space between space? Momentous? No... Mementos."
Pernelle squints, craning his head. "Memeeeentos," he repeats, feeling the word out in his mouth. "MemeeeEEEntos. Eeyaw, what a delightfully fun word to say! MeMENtos. Memen...TOS!"
Whoops, that was five.
NOW...
A peacock-like creature with brilliant plumage and for-real blinking eye spots perches on an open treasure chest, surrounded by the last remnants of burning shadows before they vanish. He's dressed in a rich, indigo vest with a fluffy white scarf, a tattered tricorn, and a pair of orange-tinted glasses.
He giggles wickedly, using his sparkling talons (miraculously, Yanagi's polish job has not yet completely chipped away) to sort through a collection of his spoils of war.
"Eee hee hee... yaw ha ha ha... EEYAW HA HA HA!" He eats a Life Stone with a satisfying crunch, laughter turning to omnomnomnoms.
Then he hears the sound OF ANOTHER, leaping up and spinning around into action, his train in full display and his wings spread as his hips (can you call them hips) sway in dance-like motions. "Ha HA! Yes! Another! Another!!" When Tsubasa -- Phoenix -- rounds the corner, Pernelle suddenly stops, blinking as his glasses threaten to slide down his beak. He pushes them back into place.
"You're not a shadow." Pernelle straightens, perking up. "Why, no, not a shadow at all! You are the finest of beasts! One of my own avian assembly!" He dunks his head into his pile of treasures (let's be honest, some of it is trash) and pulls out a chunk of cork bark. "Would you like a snack, my fiery feathered friend?"
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Phoenix is pretty easy to hear coming. If it's not the heft--CHUNK of a sword impacting the ground, it's the horrible SQUEEEEEL whenever the blade drags over the train tracks.
What? Ninjas are supposed to be stealthy? Sure, cool, but have you seen how heavy this fucking sword is?!
(Shiryuu called it a zanbatou... that's so fucking cool...)
But they can hear laughter, too. And so they stalk their way forward, expecting to find a circle of Pixies...
... and instead finding...
"Holy shit," Phoenix gapes. (And that, at least, is an expression which carries through despite their mask.) At some point after Pernelle finishes his own recognition, they pick their jaw up off the floor as they exclaim:
"You're MAJESTIC."
Tsubasa is gruff and cool and tough and stoic and apparently that all goes RIGHT out of the window when they see a cool bird.
A COOL BIRD WHO IS TALKING TO THEM AND NOT LIKE A RAVEN DOES IT LIKE
Stars in what can be glimpsed of their eyes through that mask, Phoenix strides forward. "Hell yeah," they exclaim. Though, examining the bark, they're forced to regrettably add: "I ain't got a beak to eat this shit proper, tho'..."
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
You're MAJESTIC.
Pernelle immediately straightens up and strikes a pose, one sparkling talon out and his wings outstretched before lowering into a deep, flourished bow that sees his pinions inexplicably gripping his had to remove it for the gesture before setting it back into its proper place.
"A discerning eye, my friend! Most discerning. Ah! But that is to be expected of one of your own resplendent taste!" He ruffles his feathers back into place as he hands over the cork bark. Phoenix points out they do not actually have a beak, and this gives him pause. He looks Tsubasa up and down closer, letting his glasses slide down again to look over them.
"All eating is proper eating! ... But yes, yes, this does complicate things. Let us see then..." Pernelle returns to his pile of treasures to rummage and peck about before pulling up a new item to hand over. "Ah! Here we are! A fruit! Presumably!" Devil Fruit, to be exact. "I should think such supple flesh will be readily rent asunder by an anthropoid jaw."
Pernelle takes a moment to crane his head around Phoenix, squinting and listening before focusing back upon them.
How curious. Is this one here alone?
(You're one to talk, Pernelle! Even if it started as an accident.)
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Seriously, man, ya think it's cool?" Phoenix plants their sword so that they can turn around and show off their magnificent feathery hood to a bird. "That's so cool, man. Like, I knew I looked good, but that just totally seals it." They sound so happy that the bird thinks their sweet digs are sweet digs.
But -- Pernelle's treasures!! "Yeah, it'll be tougher for me. This is a cool treasure, tho'," Phoenix says, of the cork bark, because evidently Pernelle thinks it's treasure and they will not deny the bird. They thoughtfully hand it back as Pernelle offers them the Devil Fruit, instead. "Aw, sweet! Looks good!"
Phoenix, who has never heard anything about not eating food in the fairie kingdom, just immediately yawns their jaw open and goes CHOMP. Chomp, chomp, chomp...
And tragically, no party members appear behind this new, bird-appreciating creature. Lo: they are flockless.
"Man, that hit the spot!" Phoenix exclaims, when the fruit soon vanishes from existence because they have consumed it entirely. "Way better than that weird drop I found earlier! Looked like medicine, but it didn't do shit, man..." PHOENIX, DON'T GO TAKING RANDOM DRUGS YOU FIND EITHER!
"Thanks, dude," they grin, with a nod to Pernelle. "Folks call me Phoenix. How 'bout you?"
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
"Think? Think?" Pernelle puffs up his chest with pride. "Nay, I know." He peers over Phoenix again, head to toe with flicks of his beak before gesturing with his wing and their everything. "And this? Striking! Stunning! Let us even say, scorching. Ha HA!" He clears his throat. "Trust me, I am an expert in matters of plumage."
Pernelle is wisely(?) not denied this day, delighting in his collection of things, many of which he will probably eat eventually regardless of any potential monetary value or their actual edibility.
The Devil Fruit, at least, is fit for human consumption. And restores a marginal amount of the energy that goes from casting from hit points to decimate one's enemies. Pernelle knows next to nothing about such struggles, but there are other ways for a small bird-man to lose health.
And Phoenix eats it with gusto! Pernelle hops back and forth from talon to talon to see such joy shared in the Eating Of Things You Found on the Floor, be it drugs or food. Tragically, Phoenix is not now bound to Pernelle's realm through accepting good eats. A shame! A pity!
"Mmn, I suppose the drops may be something of an acquired taste. You are still a peachick, yes? But life is far too short to devour that which does not satiate the soul! Cast them aside!" He tippy taps his claws. "Then I may discover where they have fallen and gobble them up myself!"
As introductions are made, Pernelle sparkles in his own way, giving a bob of his body. "Phoenix! An illustrious choice, whether made by you or by fate itself!" He sets his wing over his chest. "Pernelle. I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Phoenix."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Hell yeah! Me an' Izbushka na Kur'ih Nozhkah scorch all kindsa shit!" Somehow, Phoenix manages to pull off saying that complicated Russian name flawlessly despite not speaking a lick of Russian. That's the real power of Persona. "I'll take it from the expert!"
Because of course Pernelle is the expert in fine plumage. He is a BIRD and he can eat WHATEVER TREASURE HE LIKES and look, about this whole bound-to-the-peacock-realm thing, that's actually cool with them, sign them up for Bird World.
You'd think that Tsubasa would a Dog Person, given that their constant companion is a canine. But while they love Lance with all their heart...
Tsubasa is a certified bird nut.
"I'm seventeen," Phoenix says, "which is, like, uhh... fledgling in bird standards, I guess? But I'm already on my own," they thump their chest, all puffed up. "I jus' grew up quicker, man." Well, also there was a reason for that, but they're not going to depress a bird, that's a bird crime.
"... that's some fuckin' wisdom, tho'," they add, thoughtfully. "Way too many people worried 'bout doin' shit they hate just 'cuz they feel they gotta."
Bob!! Phoenix narrowly manages to not clap their hands to their cheeks with glee. "Hell yeah, me too!! I am SO glad I didn't punk outta practicin' today, like, it's so cool to meetcha! Man, Pernelle's a perfect name for ya, too, it's like, so fuckin' elegant, man. Completely sleek."
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
"Izubshka na Kur'ih Nozhkah!" Pernelle cries in echo, somehow also pronouncing this correctly, because he is a fancy bird and they're allowed to do that. "To scorch is the finest practice! Anqa agrees!" Some birds just want to watch the world burn?
Seventeen. Why, that's... ... Pernelle's not entirely sure what that is! A fledgling does nicely put it in bird terms. Maybe he'll have a little less 'child, adult, elderly' as his only concept of human ages with that. Or maybe, as fellow birds, it will only apply to Phoenix, specifically.
(Spoiler: it's only going to apply to Phoenix, specifically.)
"So it is, so it is..." Pernelle says with a touch of weight to his words. He is a fabulous bird, but not one blind to the troubles of life that can plague those bound to society's rules. "Much like a wood duckling, thrust from your nest before your were yet taught how to fly. But you stand here today as evidence you have persevered."
It is wisdom to spot wisdom, Pernelle thinks, preening with Phoenix's ability to spot Pernelle's own. "It is a curious affliction, to be bound to what one has... gotta. Why should your whims bow to their own? Be as you are, and eat only what you wish."
Pernelle, humans need, like, vegetables though??
Phoenix even likes his name! Pernelle bobs faster. "Sleek! My word, I do not believe I've ever been described as such! Mmn, good feel, that one. Sleek. Eeeeeeek. Eehee."
He begins to gyrate his body in circles with his growing excitement, but his head stays completely and perfectly still in a single point of space.
"Alike not merely in style, but in purpose! I too practice to assure victory in the battles ahead!"
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Fire almost did me in," Phoenix shares, "but when it did, I just rose up again. So it don't matter how many times I go up in flames... I'm comin' back every time! I took the thing what burned me and made it work for me, man!"
Hence 'Phoenix', huh?
And Phoenix, as a certified seventeen year old (indeed, their eighteenth is coming up sooner rather than later), naturally objects being called a child. They're almost an adult!! Which is... like being a fledgling.
You know, except for how they're not following their parents around for protection and help finding food any more. (What about the medical bills? What ABOUT the medical bills.)
"I taught myself! I don't need no family!" Phoenix boasts, quite proud. They pause, though, after taking all the credit, to apportion a little to the people around them. "'Sides, ain't like I don't got no one... there's some adults what don't suck, an' I got a, uh..." They pause. "... guess you'd call it a flock? A flock a me own."
Flock, gang, tomato tomahto.
"They don't tell me to be no one else," Phoenix insists. "Not like my rotten father... I'm better off without him!" Many fledglings have spoken such; Phoenix is actually right. Maybe that's why they sound so sure of it.
(Also, let's all take a moment to clap for Phoenix, who successfully just insulted their father. You'd think that would be easy! Well, it ought to be.)
"Hell yeah!" Phoenix pumps a fist, energetic in their own fashion. "All your feathers are neat as hell, you could fuckin' knock a guy out with that style! An' on top a all that, you got a cool hat!" Apparently Phoenix, as a fake ninja, hasn't heard that tricorns are the equipment of their hated enemy -- the pirate.
Sorry, Ryouhara. Birds before swords.
"I just got these digs a couple weeks back," Phoenix adds, jerking a thumb to themself to illustrate. "First time I got in here, I took three steps an' ate shit. So I been comin' back every night to get stronger... you get it, right? You get it! But man, you gotta be super strong, like... you got real bird power, man, I'm jus' an admirer out here."
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
"What an exalted outlook!" Pernelle's train feathers vibrate with his enthusiasm, making a rustle rustle sound. "You are not to be felled! Grasp the fires of passion in your own two wings and forge your path! What a wonder it is to always rise again... for those who do not fear the fall shall fear nothing at all!"
Wisdom is even better when it rhymes! So sayeth Pernelle.
And Phoenix fears even less than that, teaching themselves how to fly. "No need to humble yourself, dear Phoenix! You have faced tragedies of flame and fate and come out the other end a bird of your own making. Not to say a flock cannot provide its own delights. Look, look!" Pernelle holds up one of his clawed feet, each digit sparkling with glittery nail polish. "The power... of flock."
It is, after all, Yanagi's friendship that granted him such decorated toes.
He nods firmly and sagely as Phoenix describes their flock to not tell them who to be. "Just so! As a flock ought to be!" And then insult their father. "Fie upon thy patriarch! Cast him aside with the drops!"
Pernelle you don't even know the man! But many a fledgling has spoken such, and Pernelle supports them all regardless, for better or for worse.
He begins to preen again, beak in his feathers before craning his neck up in elegant posing as Phoenix compliments his own feathers. "Am I not illustriously iridescent? With great taste in hats?" He giggles to himself, the sound turning impish the longer it goes on before he abruptly cuts himself off.
Ninja and pirates, sworn enemies? How could it be so, when both boast such style!
Pernelle leans his long neck in to peer at Phoenix in another careful look over. "Couple weeks? Ah, a fledgling in flesh, but a hatchling in soul. Welcome, Phoenix, to the waking world." He gives a sympathetic nod. "I do get it. And while I cannot deny my own glorious power, it is... not enough." He sighs, dramatically gesturing out with a wing. "I am haunted by a devil beyond the veil... A beautiful stranger, ever protected by an impenetrable barrier... But one day... one day...!" Pernelle raises both wings to the sky. "I. Will. CRUSH. Him!"
He refolds his wings and looks up at Phoenix. "Is admiration not among the first steps to actualization? Your taste does you credit. Dress not for what you are, but who you wish to be... and watch, as you become."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Hell yeah! You said it, Pernelle!!" Rhyming wisdom is OBVIOUSLY great, and Phoenix is now wondering how this bird would go writing lyrics...
They're beaming as Pernelle insists they're a bird of their own making, though. "Man, you're so right! And oh man --" They lean forwards to investigate those sparkly talons. "Damn, nice nail job! Yeah, that's the power!!"
Phoenix nods, firmly, as Pernelle approves of whomst their flock is and is not. "Yeah! Fie that asshole!" They might not actually know what 'fie' means, but they've got the spirit.
And Pernelle preens, and Phoenix agrees: "You sure are, Pernelle!! Rock that shit!"
They rub at their shoulder, with a bit of a shrug, when Pernelle wonders about how recently they got their sweet digs. "Thanks, man. I ain't gonna drag no one down. I mean... I'm tryin'," they add, a touch more downcast, because they remember what stopped them from finishing things with the Ferryman last night, too. But they orient on Pernelle's struggle, instead, tilting their head.
A beautiful stranger... an impenetrable barrier...
oh no he found a mirror THAT'S ADORABLE, FUCK
"Don't worry, dude," Phoenix grins, thumping their chest again. "I can see how strong you are. That guy ain't got nothin' on ya."
What? They should tell the bird that the reflection is them? They would never do that. Not before they get to see Pernelle freaking out and going apeshit on a mirror, anyway. That's now on their lifetime bucket list.
Still -- Pernelle has More Bird Wisdom, and Phoenix tilts their head, thoughtfully. "Ya reckon? Man, if I could be a bird... I'd be so set, man. All right! I'll jus' keep gettin' better, an' one day I'll be a bird for real, right?!"
Phoenix, that's not how the supernatural world works.
(IF THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS HOW IS THIS GUY A BIRD FOR REAL THOUGH.)
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
Fear not, Phoenix. Stay in Pernelle's company and you will almost certainly hear the bird's idea of lyrics.
Mercifully, that moment is not now, for Pernelle is sufficiently distracted by having his painted and polished claws admired. Power! So powerful! The strongest Pernelle. "It was performed with stolen glitter!" he chirps pridefully. This makes it better.
The bigger question is, does Pernelle even know what 'fie' means? But he does find it very fun to say. Fie upon all the dads! Give all the praise to Pernelle! Pernelle thinks this conversation, as Saika or Phoenix themselves might put it, fucking rules.
"You most certainly are!" Pernelle says of trying. "Here you are, sword in hand." Pause. "Hands?" Listen, that is a massive blade. Especially from where Pernelle is standing. His vantage point does not get all that much better in supernatural spaces. Does this qualify him to be... a short king? Do not tell him that if it does. He will be incorrigible. "That is to say, you clearly have, mm, what is the word... moxie! A good word, I should think."
But yes, Pernelle has found a mirror, and in it, HIS GREATEST FOE. His eyes narrow, glaring into empty space where he imagines this VILLAIN to be. Crush crush crush!! "And yet he remains undefeated! That we met today must be fate... I am to borrow from your wisdom, to rise again and again, until my foe is felled!"
This bird is going to fight so many windows and mirrors.
"I do reckon!" Pernelle confirms, no matter how improbable that sounds. "Never let go of it... the 'you' that your heart yearns to be. After all..." He glances around the area, then stuffs his head back into his treasure pile to pull up cork bark of his own to toss in the air, catch in his beak, and swallow down.
"... Did you believe any of these beautiful treasures existed, in this wondrous place, weeks ago? There is always more discover in this world and in oneself! Look at you, Phoenix: you are already halfway there!"
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Sweet as, man!" Phoenix grins. "I steal all my makeup, too. Like, it's way too fuckin' pricey to buy legit, right?!" Who decided that one thing of eyeliner should cost three thousand yen?!
And it's true: Pernelle deserves way more accolades than Hanzou. Infinitely more accolades. That's as many as UNLIMITED CORK BARKS.
"Moxie, huh?" Phoenix grins, a hand at their hip as they pump their fist again. "Hell yeah! One day I'll even be able to lift the damn thing properly!!" Listen, it's just, SO heavy. You'd think a cognitive weapon would be lighter, but clearly this sword has the cognition of a god damn freight train.
"Don't give up," Phoenix nods, firmly. "One day that guy's gonna shatter before you, I promise ya that." Could most birds shatter a mirror while attacking it? Probably not. But this bird has a PERSONA, man. He's gotta be, like, the king of all birds.
Which also qualifies him as a short king, because he's clearly not an ostrich or some shit. Tsubasa's one, too, they would know.
Pernelle swallows some cork bark whole, and all Phoenix is thinking is: man, he is so majestic.
"Man, too right!" They say, as they think on what they knew versus what they know. For instance: this morning, they didn't know that such a beautiful bird existed. "I sure-ass had no clue there were treasure chests just waitin' in this weird psychic train station," Phoenix reflects. "Like, I got money in my wallet now, shit's crazy. An' hell, even with the monsters, like... they been givin' me silk an' clasps an' shit when I kill 'em! It's nuts!"
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
Of course Phoenix understands the hunt for cosmetics through theft! They have been too grand a presence for Pernelle to have ever thought otherwise. He nods along in enthusiasm. "That number is fake! They made it up!" He will never not believe this about currency. Riches are measured differently for Pernelle. "How am I to synthesize the perfect dust path without procuring the appropriate amount of glitter?"
What's the appropriate amount? If you must ask, you're not prepared for the answer.
Pernelle begins to circle Phoenix to eye their blade, squinting at it above his lenses again. "A heavy weapon wielded by an avian form... You will gain strength to be sure, fledgling, but perhaps the cognitive suggestion sees some advantage in the momentum of its mass... Ah, but don't mind me. Idle musing. Take such thought with a clawful of salt -- preferably stolen -- from one who carries armaments no larger than a knife!"
This bird is a different sort of warrior, but that's clear enough by looking at him. He's like, not even three feet tall.
"Shatter," Pernelle repeats, his voice quieter with awe. "Yes. Not crush. Shatter. That will be the form my power takes... To see him broken and strewn before me, he who will always rise! Yes... yes!!" There's fire in his eyes as he declares this with a great battlecry of EEYAW. He is, after all, still very much a peacock.
But as soon as Phoenix mentions silk, Pernelle's demeanor suddenly shifts. His pupils go big, engulfing his iris, as he gasps. He dunks his head back into garbage and yanks his neck back out, his jaw opened impossibly wide as a stack of yen coins is positioned within it. He drops them out at Phoenix's feet with a satisfying jingle jangle as they scatter, tapping his clawfeet up and down in a fastforward march.
"Pray, and exchange, good bird! Ah, how fortunate I had yet to eat these! If they are valuable to you, I would see them traded for your silks!"
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Glitter owns," Phoenix nods. "An' y'know the best thing? It ain't just good for lookin' sharp. You can use it to fuck your enemies up, too. So, like, here's what ya do -- first ya pick some bastard's locker door, right? Then ya rig up a tissue bag with a shitton a glitter. Stick it to the wall a th' locker with some gum or whatever, then loop the other end 'round the doorlatch with string. Tighten it up while you're closin' it, an'..."
Phoenix spreads their arms wide. "When that piece a shit opens their locker, they got glitter over all their shit! An' that shit never comes out!!"
They're laughing way too gleefully about such a spiteful act...
(Just don't ask them how one fucks up their enemies if they don't have access to their locker.)
"Momentum, huh... it sure ain't easy to stop that thing once it gets goin'," Phoenix says, thoughtfully. "An' that suits me jus' fine. Like, if a guy's tryin' ta hit me, I wanna hit him right back, right? An' that means gettin' through whatever he's throwin', first..."
And that is a MAJESTIC EEYAW. Behind their mask, Phoenix's eyes shine starry again. "Hell yeah! Kick his ass, Pernelle! You're the strongest bird I ever seen!!" Granted, their main point of comparison is Matcha, who was so small he couldn't even lift his cuttlebone without dragging it around half the time, but...
Not only is Pernelle the strongest bird, though, he's also evidently a weaver. "Oh shit, man, you like sewin' too? Sick! Yeah, sure thing!" They dig around in the underside of their hood, which apparently has pockets, because they produce a bundle of fine silk yarn in one hand and a handful of tin clasps in the other. "Fair exchange, bird," they say, as they place their prizes carefully upon Pernelle's prize pile, which is like calling him 'bro' but even better because Pernelle is a BIRD.
Thus, they pocket the yen in turn, and turn a scrutinising eye on Pernelle's peak fashion. "So, hey, do you like, magically turn on those threads when you come in, or didja make 'em yaself?" Phoenix might have magical auto-fashion, but Hyousuke sure doesn't, so it's entirely possible this is the work of a very talented bird.
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
Pernelle listens with rapt attention as Phoenix details how glitter can be weaponized. Not merely a tool of glamour and dust baths, but one to be wielded against his greatest enemies. His eyes are glittering with the lesson.
"I never imagined such an application! I have long admired how it stuck so resolutely to my feathers and to my domain, but to dust those who reject its sparkle as a means of attack..." He stares into space, eyes wide with wonder. "A locker door... But this technique could feasibly be replicated with any manner of door, could it not?"
Congratulations! Pernelle has learned something terrible.
Pernelle is also being hyped up in other ways. Kick ass! Yes! The powerful words! Pernelle does not know how to employ their power so well himself yet, but he feels it from the others that wield them so well! Phoenix is one such individual. "The strongest!" he repeats, wings spread as he allows this affirmation to soak in.
"I do fancy a bit of sewing!" Pernelle affirms in sudden glee. Does that make him a weaver? He hadn't thought of it! But his purse was a perfect creation. Phoenix kindly and generously parts with their silks, and Pernelle tippy taps even faster before smooshing his face against the bundle of yarn. "Yay! I shall return home with a bounty!" Pernelle suddenly pauses, still, thoughtful. "... But they will not know the difference if I have but a taste, will they?" He bites onto the sting and slurps like it were a ramen noodle before cutting it off with a chomp of his beak.
He clears his throat and returns his attention to Phoenix. "Oh, these old things?" Pernelle says coyly, looking over himself. "Now that you mention it, I suppose I just woke up with them! Regrettably, they vanish outside such spaces as this. But you know how it is. The changes born from within do tend to flee out in the without."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Huh... I mean, prolly, yeah!" Phoenix says, thoughtfully, and with zero remorse. "Like, maybe if you stuck one end a th' bag to the ceiling, then stuck the other on th' top a th' door... so it'd dump glitter all over someone when they walked in!"
Phoenix might not have thought through all the physics of their dastardly trap, but it is the seed of an idea which might be nourished into true retribution. And honestly, like, who cares about glitter??? They fuck girls up WAY more with good old-fashioned violence, their enemies should be glad if they decide to merely glitterbomb them.
(They haven't thought about what happens if someone gets it in their eyes. It's fine! It's probably fine.)
Don't worry, Phoenix will say ALL the swears for Pernelle. Perhaps too many swears! They haven't examined their willingness to malign bastards in the slightest, and it definitely won't come back to haunt them one day.
"Man, that's great!" Phoenix grins, when Pernelle declares himself a sewing aficionado. They don't question how he holds the sewing needle; he's a bird of great wisdom, he must have some fantastic trick. And lo -- a bounty!! "I didn't see nothin'," Phoenix assures him, when he wonders about having a nibble.
Normally, they'd be worried about a bird eating all these non-food objects, but, like... Pernelle's clearly a magic bird???? Magic birds must obviously be able to eat anything they want.
"Oh, yeah," they nod, folding their arms, as if they knew all about it and hadn't just learned about it last week. "I jus' appeared in these one day, too. But like, I don't reckon our digs would look half as sick if we weren't sharp as hell in the real world, ey? Like ya said, it's from within an' all that, sooo... ya can't make sweet threads if there ain't nothin' there."
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
Pernelle spreads his wings. "Superb! A ceiling is well within my grasp!" This is fine. The peacock is armed with forbidden glitter knowledge, but it's fine. Really. How much worse could he get when he already glitterbombs property on accident?
He himself has not examined his willingness to adorn the world in sparkles and he never will.
Glorious day! This knowledge, this bounty, and this new feathered friend who continues to be perfect. They did not even see a thing as Pernelle took the angel's share! "You are the greatest of comrades, Phoenix. Ahem. But of course, there was nothing to see."
A secret between birds.
If Pernelle were going to be harmed by his culinary preferences, he'd almost certainly be dead by now. Blessed is Pernelle, who is a bird, but also not a bird, and mostly is a magic bird. Sometimes, he still misses bell soup.
"Too true," Pernelle says of Phoenix's assessment. "Those whose hearts yearn with burning brilliance are those who will awaken and see themselves made manifest. A shame not everyone gets to enjoy a more... complete transformation through such means. Tricky are the whims of fate. But! There are other ways to let oneself true self shine through, and lucky, that! For there is no pursuit more noble than to be oneself."
He heaves a sigh. "Such a simple task on paper, but I have witnessed the struggles in practice. It gladdens my heart to see one such as yourself fully embracing what they are and what they could be."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Wreck it up, Pernelle!" Phoenix encourages him, pumping their fist again. Today, their karmic metre has slipped a little...
... into 'totally sicknasty', c'mon, there are no negative consequences for shit like this.
"I gotchu," Phoenix assures him, thumping their chest in salute. How have they got him when there was nothing to see? This is a bird mystery, for birds.
"Oh, yeah," Phoenix nods. "Like, I -- know a guy what's got a friend," they ALMOST broke their cover, but thankfully, they remembered Ichika's one simple trick! "An' he's stuck disguisin' himself with normal-ass clothes... I wanna make him somethin' what'll work better, but man, all I've ever did was alter clothin' an' shit. But hey!" They add, brightly. "I -- heard my friend got this binder from Peacock Silk what survived when I had to drag their ass outta a whole-ass fire, so I know there's gotta be a way to make shit what can survive gettin' soaked an' lit up an' shit!"
Heyyyyyyyy didn't Tsumugi do a special order for a themby's binder just last month.
"But man, I'm real happy you're into my whole thing," Phoenix adds, with an entirely genuine smile. "I've always loved birds, man... an' now I find a sick-ass magic bird who's into my whole thing? Been a lotta days what sucked recent-like... but today rules, man." They pause, and then add, for emphasis: "You made today rule!"
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
"Yeah, yeah!" Pernelle is so easily encouraged and infected by the hype around him. He wants to fight now! Wreck shit! Fuck it all up! So much so he's forgotten exactly what, but rest assured that it will be fucked and wrecked. Eventually. Probably.
Anyway there's going to be more glitter about it.
Ah, but what fortune it is to find another bird friend! Never mind that this one still has a roughly human shape. Their heart is that of bird! Bird friend.
But now Phoenix begins describing quite a curious situation. Quite a familiar situation. Tsumugi designs many things for many people, but those who have come to recognize the rules of gender are also made up are fewer and farer between: they stand out. Almost as much as someone who cannot Persona stepping into Pernelle's domain. (His? Isn't it Tsumugi's? Listen: Pernelle owns everything from the doorknobs down. That's just short bird king law, which he definitely did not make up just now.)
"You are friends with a client! One who was self-actualizing even before awakening! Marvelous." Pernelle bursts open with in excitement. "Exquisite! I can assure you: Peacock Silk's designs are of the highest caliber. If it's defense against the supernatural you seek, you will find no greater boutique!" He clears his through and adjusts his glasses. "... Of course, I do feel compelled to tell you that you can bring your baubles and materials past our threshold for such a purpose, but I understand and respect the desire to craft new plumage for your companions with your own two claws. I should love to hear of your progress, should you make the attempt!"
Alas, Pernelle cannot begin to promise or provide any of Tsumugi's secrets -- nor that of Saika and Yanagi -- but he does so enjoy to see new art.
Pernelle gasps, eyes big again.
"... I made today rule..." He looks around the area, eyes wider and wider, then begins to vibrate until his train feathers are rustling musically. Pernelle unfurls his wings, looking to his pinion 'fingers' like one might stare at their hands.
"I have... become stronger..."
Is that... what that means...
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Phoenix just has to figure out how to weaponise cognitive glitter now. They'd be unstoppable. Even more unstoppable now that they have made a bird friend with a real bird who believes in their bird heart.
But as for their 'day life'...
"Uh... yeah! We been friends a while, got pre' similar situations an' all... like, same gender shit even, ya dig?" Phoenix scratches at the side of their face, which is also pretty orange, but like, maybe that means same tanning parlour too. "So I gotta drag 'em outta shit sometimes, it's cool. Man, I never knew Peacock Silk was supposed to be magic stuff, tho'... damn, that sure is somethin'." So they can use baubles from in here, huh... that's downright fascinating.
(And, Phoenix will discover, much harder than it looks. But hey -- now they have a lead for a place to recommend Hyousuke go!)
They're lost in thought, for a moment, before their head snaps up. 'Our' threshold.
"Wait a sec."
They point at Pernelle. "Peacock." And at the yarn. "Silk." Point, point. "Peacock Silk." Point???? "YOU'RE THE PEACOCK AT THE SILK, MAN!"
Pernelle wasn't there that day to gatekeep Tsubasa from Peacock Silk, and so the fact that Pernelle is THE Peacock is downright revelatory.
"Hahaha... man, ya got me good!" Phoenix actually laughs, like, not even a dry chuckle, actual laughter. "That's gotta make ya stronger too, huh? Like, your reputation precedes ya an' shit! Oh, man..."
Phoenix huffs out a grin, rocking back on their heels. "Whaddya say we go beat up some more a them pumpkin heads and get some more silk, yeah? Bet I'll go even further with a bird backin' me up." Phoenix pauses. "Another bird!" They amend, victoriously.
BIRD PARTY. BIRD PARTY. PARTY UP WITH BIRD.
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
"Peacock! Silk!" Pernelle repeats, doing a little shuffle with his clawfeet before moonwalking off screen. Don't worry, he pops right back into it, wings outstretched. "IT IS I! The Peacock of Silk!"
Tsumugi Kujaku. Their name is Tsumugi Kujaku, the name, Pernelle, the meanings --
Well, okay, Pernelle's still the mascot. We let him have that.
He is not sure what he has gotten good, but Phoenix laughs, and so does Pernelle, in a great and dignified chortle. At least until a new offer is made.
"I love the adorable pumpkin heads! What a fine suggestion!"
Pernelle if you love them why are you so excited about violence?! You know what never mind, there shall be no question in...
... BIRD PARTY!
XP: Pernelle has given XP to you!
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