Humans are Weird - Understandable
Seventh Click rubbed his horns in frustration and squinted down at his report. His second in command, Fifteen Trills gave a sympathetic click in his direction and a quick rustling came from the other Winged’s workstation. Experience told Seventh Click that the young Winged, young enough to resent being called fluffy, would be at his side in a moment, offering to take some burden off of his back. Fifteen Trills was setting up to be a good commander in his own right and it would be a lucky wing that got him when he was inevitably promoted. Still, there were some things that even the swiftest wing-beats and strongest talons couldn’t assist with.
“I am done with my daily assignments,” Fifteen Trills called out as he scampered up to Seventh Click’s desk. “May I have some more?”
Seventh Click wrinkled his snout in amusement and held up the report he was working on.
“Let me ping an idea around your skull?” he asked.
“Of course!” Fifteen Trills declared taking a moment to scramble his wings around into the most receptive position. “What is giving you difficulty-”
“The humans and these – desire paths – the official record calls them,” Seventh Click explained. “You know the local ground cover is essential to keeping the dust down?”
Fifteen Trills bobbed his whole body in eager understanding.
“The silicate particles in the local soil are not only dangerous to breathing when in the air, but the dust interferes with sonar -”
“And the local species mix the botanists worked up is nearly perfect for keeping the dust down where it belongs, holding nutrients for the growth of plants,” Seventh Clicks went on. “Of course the humans fully agree on this, they don’t have the sonar issue -”
“Of course not -”
“But the lung issue is identical,” Seventh Click expanded, tapping his own chest cavity with a hook. “Humans know this. It has been brought up in multiple safety meetings.”
“And they know that forming these desire paths increases the silicate presence in the breathable atmosphere -” Fifteen Trills observed shrugging his wings in confusion.
“Every single one of them!” Seventh Click exclaimed in frustration. “Yet, instead of staying on the clearly marked, reinforced walking paths they insist on saving some minuscule caloric value by cutting across the more fragile planted areas and -”
There was a soft chime from his workstation and Seventh Click turned to address it as Fifteen Trills went back to his own work. The chime was a reminder to address an odd loitering pattern that someone had noticed in his wing. He stashed his work pad and hopped to the door where he dropped down and flew in a lazy arc towards the human living quarters of the base. He spotted the issue as soon as he drew near. One of the local humans had expended the time and effort to add a structure to the top of their personal dwelling. Built of the same local wood as the dwelling it consisted of a small roof, pointed well past the angle necessary to shed the local rainfall, and sturdy corner beams with thin planks between them on all four sides, angled the perfect distance to let a Winged in and out.
This was such a delightfully cozy setup that one could hardly imaging it being anything except an invitation to the Winged specifically to visit the house. Hardly, save for the fact that the majority of the structure was filled with a shaped metal noise-maker of cultural significance to the human who lived there. When the report had first landed on his horns Seventh Click had not been surprised the structure had attracted the younger members of his, and other wings, and the human inhabitant of the house had never objected to their presence. Indeed, the human had gone to great lengths to install safety measures so the visiting Winged were never startled, or possibly injured, by the bell sounding suddenly. Which safety measures hardly seemed necessary as the bell was almost never rung. Said human was currently tending to some plant in her garden, chatting with a few Winged who were collecting aromatic flower petals. Despite the comfortable domestic scene Seventh Click firmed his joints to demand an explanation from the loiterers in the structure. With a wide range of far more comfortable social perches on the base there was very little besides some mischief that could have induced so many into the harsh corners, and dry winds of the structure. It at the very least warranted investigation.
Seventh Click was greeted with the casual cheerfulness of a social wing who anticipated no censure for whatever they were doing. Something that both soothed him and made him suspicious. He struck up a casual conversation about the warm weather with the highest ranked member from his own wing and was able to quickly bring the conversation around to were he wanted it.
“With so many cooled perches around,” he said, “I am rather surprised that you enjoy hanging around this structure.”
“Nothing surprising about it,” the younger Winged said with an amused chitter. “It’s well worth it to be able to help out Rita.”
“The human owner of this structure?” Seventh Click confirmed to a general sursurration of wings in confirmation.
He was about to ask what good this Rita gained from having wings scatterings of loitering youths in her structure when one of the ones nearest the slats, serving as look out called out excitedly.
“She’s got another one by his nose!” The entire group instantly scrambled to the slats, stopping just short of being visible to the two humans below them. Seventh Click followed curiously. The humans seemed to be talking about the owner’s, Rita’s apparently, choice in planting season.
“-in the middle of summer?” The visiting human was asking. “Are you nuts?”
“Well!” Rita called out, markedly more loudly than she had been speaking before.
The scattered wing gave a collective chitter of amusement and braced themselves on the slats.
“It is said that I have bats in my belfry!” Rita declared loudly with a wide gesture of one arm at the structure.
The Winged surged halfway out of the slats and waved their wings vigorously down at the two humans.
“She does!”
“Here we are!”
“So many bats!”
“All up in her belfry!”
The face of the visiting human visible contorted in distress even at this distance and he released an audible groan while Rita double over cackling with human amusement.
Seventh Click quietly backed out of the far side of the structure and lifted off, back towards his office. He found Fifteen Trills busily checking the air filters as he hopped over to your desk.
“Were you able to determine why so many of the younger Winged were gathering in the sounding structure?” Fifteen Trill asked with a cheerful set to his nose.
“Yes,” Seventh Click said in a tone that sounded oddly dry and lifeless, even to himself.
Fifteen Trill gave a perplexed chirp and scampered over to look over Seventh Click’s wings as the older commander pulled up the report he had been working on previously.
“They gather there,” Seventh Click said slowly. “For the same reason that the human built the structure. That is, on the off chance that another human, or any sapient will do perhaps, will walk by and give the human a chance to reference an ancient human insult.”
“What insult is that?” Fifteen Trills asked.
“She has bats in her belfry.”
Fifteen Trills actually staggered a bit to the side he chittered so hard at that. The sub-commander took a few seconds to get his fur smooth and his amusement controlled before responding.
“Isn’t that a wing-lifter! I will have to join them some time!” Fifteen Trills hesitated as he sounded the still perplexed and somewhat depressed mood of his commander.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“No,” Seventh Click said, lifting the report on the humans’ near absolute dedication to energeticly efficient ‘desire paths’ as he calculated the energy required to build and mount the belfry.
“I just wonder,” he says slowly. “If it should bother me more that so often humans make no sense to us, or if it should bother me more that sometimes they make perfect sense to us.”
“I am done with my daily assignments,” Fifteen Trills called out as he scampered up to Seventh Click’s desk. “May I have some more?”
Seventh Click wrinkled his snout in amusement and held up the report he was working on.
“Let me ping an idea around your skull?” he asked.
“Of course!” Fifteen Trills declared taking a moment to scramble his wings around into the most receptive position. “What is giving you difficulty-”
“The humans and these – desire paths – the official record calls them,” Seventh Click explained. “You know the local ground cover is essential to keeping the dust down?”
Fifteen Trills bobbed his whole body in eager understanding.
“The silicate particles in the local soil are not only dangerous to breathing when in the air, but the dust interferes with sonar -”
“And the local species mix the botanists worked up is nearly perfect for keeping the dust down where it belongs, holding nutrients for the growth of plants,” Seventh Clicks went on. “Of course the humans fully agree on this, they don’t have the sonar issue -”
“Of course not -”
“But the lung issue is identical,” Seventh Click expanded, tapping his own chest cavity with a hook. “Humans know this. It has been brought up in multiple safety meetings.”
“And they know that forming these desire paths increases the silicate presence in the breathable atmosphere -” Fifteen Trills observed shrugging his wings in confusion.
“Every single one of them!” Seventh Click exclaimed in frustration. “Yet, instead of staying on the clearly marked, reinforced walking paths they insist on saving some minuscule caloric value by cutting across the more fragile planted areas and -”
There was a soft chime from his workstation and Seventh Click turned to address it as Fifteen Trills went back to his own work. The chime was a reminder to address an odd loitering pattern that someone had noticed in his wing. He stashed his work pad and hopped to the door where he dropped down and flew in a lazy arc towards the human living quarters of the base. He spotted the issue as soon as he drew near. One of the local humans had expended the time and effort to add a structure to the top of their personal dwelling. Built of the same local wood as the dwelling it consisted of a small roof, pointed well past the angle necessary to shed the local rainfall, and sturdy corner beams with thin planks between them on all four sides, angled the perfect distance to let a Winged in and out.
This was such a delightfully cozy setup that one could hardly imaging it being anything except an invitation to the Winged specifically to visit the house. Hardly, save for the fact that the majority of the structure was filled with a shaped metal noise-maker of cultural significance to the human who lived there. When the report had first landed on his horns Seventh Click had not been surprised the structure had attracted the younger members of his, and other wings, and the human inhabitant of the house had never objected to their presence. Indeed, the human had gone to great lengths to install safety measures so the visiting Winged were never startled, or possibly injured, by the bell sounding suddenly. Which safety measures hardly seemed necessary as the bell was almost never rung. Said human was currently tending to some plant in her garden, chatting with a few Winged who were collecting aromatic flower petals. Despite the comfortable domestic scene Seventh Click firmed his joints to demand an explanation from the loiterers in the structure. With a wide range of far more comfortable social perches on the base there was very little besides some mischief that could have induced so many into the harsh corners, and dry winds of the structure. It at the very least warranted investigation.
Seventh Click was greeted with the casual cheerfulness of a social wing who anticipated no censure for whatever they were doing. Something that both soothed him and made him suspicious. He struck up a casual conversation about the warm weather with the highest ranked member from his own wing and was able to quickly bring the conversation around to were he wanted it.
“With so many cooled perches around,” he said, “I am rather surprised that you enjoy hanging around this structure.”
“Nothing surprising about it,” the younger Winged said with an amused chitter. “It’s well worth it to be able to help out Rita.”
“The human owner of this structure?” Seventh Click confirmed to a general sursurration of wings in confirmation.
He was about to ask what good this Rita gained from having wings scatterings of loitering youths in her structure when one of the ones nearest the slats, serving as look out called out excitedly.
“She’s got another one by his nose!” The entire group instantly scrambled to the slats, stopping just short of being visible to the two humans below them. Seventh Click followed curiously. The humans seemed to be talking about the owner’s, Rita’s apparently, choice in planting season.
“-in the middle of summer?” The visiting human was asking. “Are you nuts?”
“Well!” Rita called out, markedly more loudly than she had been speaking before.
The scattered wing gave a collective chitter of amusement and braced themselves on the slats.
“It is said that I have bats in my belfry!” Rita declared loudly with a wide gesture of one arm at the structure.
The Winged surged halfway out of the slats and waved their wings vigorously down at the two humans.
“She does!”
“Here we are!”
“So many bats!”
“All up in her belfry!”
The face of the visiting human visible contorted in distress even at this distance and he released an audible groan while Rita double over cackling with human amusement.
Seventh Click quietly backed out of the far side of the structure and lifted off, back towards his office. He found Fifteen Trills busily checking the air filters as he hopped over to your desk.
“Were you able to determine why so many of the younger Winged were gathering in the sounding structure?” Fifteen Trill asked with a cheerful set to his nose.
“Yes,” Seventh Click said in a tone that sounded oddly dry and lifeless, even to himself.
Fifteen Trill gave a perplexed chirp and scampered over to look over Seventh Click’s wings as the older commander pulled up the report he had been working on previously.
“They gather there,” Seventh Click said slowly. “For the same reason that the human built the structure. That is, on the off chance that another human, or any sapient will do perhaps, will walk by and give the human a chance to reference an ancient human insult.”
“What insult is that?” Fifteen Trills asked.
“She has bats in her belfry.”
Fifteen Trills actually staggered a bit to the side he chittered so hard at that. The sub-commander took a few seconds to get his fur smooth and his amusement controlled before responding.
“Isn’t that a wing-lifter! I will have to join them some time!” Fifteen Trills hesitated as he sounded the still perplexed and somewhat depressed mood of his commander.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“No,” Seventh Click said, lifting the report on the humans’ near absolute dedication to energeticly efficient ‘desire paths’ as he calculated the energy required to build and mount the belfry.
“I just wonder,” he says slowly. “If it should bother me more that so often humans make no sense to us, or if it should bother me more that sometimes they make perfect sense to us.”
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