Completed Monster Behavioral Therapy [Job]

Can an unpleasant baby parrot be trained to be… not so unpleasant?

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Syka is a new settlement of primarily humans on the east coast of Falyndar opposite of Riverfall on The Suvan Sea. [Syka Codex]

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Monster Behavioral Therapy [Job]

Postby Tailyn on May 20th, 2018, 11:01 pm

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Tailyn’s Parrot Preserve
Spring 80, 518
Late Afternoon

The weather had been drizzly and gray all day, matching Tailyn’s grim and ever shifting mood. She had paid a visit to the Panacea earlier that day, and succeeded in thoroughly annoying the Akalak twin souls there with her roiling temper. She had apologized half a dozen times, paid the single bodied pair for their trouble, then stormed home. Thanks to the pair’s considerable skills, her sliced up hand was now properly bandaged and didn’t even ache, but Tai’s stormy temper remained. Upon return to her abode, Tai ignored Abanath in his usual spot and stomped over to her parrot’s perch.

Lucky stared at her with his usual merciless beady gaze. A bit of dried blood still clung to the upper part his beak.

“Why are you such a little shyte head?!” Tai hissed at him under her breath.

Lucky clicked his beak together once. The bird had fledged properly now, and was no longer a monster, at least in appearance. Under ideal circumstances, Tai would want to begin looking for a home for him, now that he was properly aged. Unfortunately, with the bird’s temperament, Tai wouldn’t be surprised if his buyer would turn Lucky into soup. And then spread the word to never buy from her again.

“I saved your life! Remember?!”

Lucky turned and looked at Tai from one eye. The expression was half dubious. Tai could practically hear the bird ‘but I wouldn’t have to be saved if it wasn’t for you, right?’.

“Shut up!” Tai snapped.

“Are you arguing with Lucky again?” Abanath asked.

“You too!” Tai retorted at Abanath.

“Shup,“ Lucky said deviously. Then he cackled.

“Why is he such a pain?!” Tai growled. “I’ve done everything by the book with him!”

“Okay?” Tai looked to see Sisi and Nobody staring over at her with concern. “Okay okay okay?”

Tai exhaled hard, willing all her anger out of her body. “I’m alright,” she told the birds. It wasn’t their fault after all, and she shouldn't be worrying them. She walked over to the paired and stroked their head feathers to reassure them. After she calmed both them and herself, she returned to Lucky thoughtfully.

“I have got to rehab this bird,” Tai said with a sigh.

Privately, in the most secret of ways that she had no plans of sharing with anyone, not even Abanath, Tai felt guilty. After all, it had been her negligence that had let Lucky fall this far. Parrots were sensitive. Tai knew that. But she hadn’t given Lucky the attention he deserved and that he badly needed. So now here she was with a poor tempered parrot. It was no one’s fault but her own. And it was her job to fix it.

Tai leaned in close to Lucky, just out of reach of where he was tethered.

“Listen close bud. By the end of today, the two of us are going to be friends. Alright?”

Lucky cackled again. The response understandably did not give Tai a great deal of reassurance.

(Words 502, Total 502)
Last edited by Tailyn on June 7th, 2018, 3:35 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Tailyn
Crazy Parrot Lady
 
Posts: 95
Words: 87326
Joined roleplay: January 22nd, 2018, 10:28 pm
Race: Human, Inarta
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Monster Behavioral Therapy [Job]

Postby Tailyn on June 2nd, 2018, 7:13 pm

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Tai had mostly avoided touching Lucky through the season that he’d been under her care. Aside from feedings, she didn’t get too close to him. Now, however, Tai had resigned herself to a closer proximity, as well as resigned herself to potential injury. There simply wasn’t any other way. So, with mixed feelings, Tai settled herself on the ground next to Lucky’s perch, just out of reach of his tether.

The bird watched her with curiosity. That was something that had always bewildered Tai about Lucky. Most of the time when a bird bit someone, it was a fear reaction. But a scared and stressed bird was easy to identify for someone as experienced with them as Tai was. Missing feathers, self mutilation, and frequent screaming all indicated an unhappy bird. But Lucky showed none of those signs. He was, to all outside appearances, a happy bird. He got along well with Sisi, Nobody and Blue. He just… liked to bite any human hands that came too close. It was like a horrible painful game for him.

Tai pulled a few slices of already cut oranges out of her bag, and watched Lucky immediately perk up. Oranges were his favorite, a fact Tai had learned early on in his raising. Tai put her falconry glove over her bandaged dominant hand, the looked Lucky right in the eye.

“Alright,” Tai told the bird. “We’re going to do this slow. Got it?”

Lucky tilted his head and mumbled something undistinguishable. Tai exhaled painfully.

“This is how this is going to work. You let me touch you without biting, I’ll give you a treat. Understood?”

The bird mumbled something undistinguishable again.

Tai sighed, raised her eyes to the sky, and mumbled a quick prayer to Caiyha in Nari, then extended a single hand towards Lucky with the orange slices held in her other hand.

Instantly, Lucky launched himself towards her gloved hand and chomped down on it. Tai gritted her teeth and struggled not to flinch. Lucky had her tense at all times, so it was a struggle, but the Inarta just barely managed it. The glove was tough enough to handle the deadly talons of an eagle, so the bite of an ornery macaw wouldn’t pierce it. Tai could barely feel the pressure. Lucky chewed on the glove for a moment, then finally let go with an expectant look towards Tai.

“Huh you tried to bite me. Guess you won’t be getting one of these,” Tai said mildly. The inarta woman calmly returned her hands to her lap and folded them together out of Lucky’s reach. Lucky squawked in protest and stretched towards the hand with the oranges in it, but was restricted by the tether on his perch.

Thoughtfully, Tai stared at the cloudy sky for a long moment, studying the patterns of roiling clouds. After a few minutes, she returned her attention back to Lucky, smiled at the bird, then extended her gloved hand to him once more. Without hesitation, Lucky launched himself forward and stabbed his beak into the hardened leather of Tai’s glove. Tai tensed, but didn’t flinch.

“Guess you don’t want these oranges then,” Tai said, and once Lucky had released her, she once more returned her hands to her lap and her thoughtful gaze to the sky.

(Words 551, Total 1053)
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Tailyn
Crazy Parrot Lady
 
Posts: 95
Words: 87326
Joined roleplay: January 22nd, 2018, 10:28 pm
Race: Human, Inarta
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets

Monster Behavioral Therapy [Job]

Postby Tailyn on June 2nd, 2018, 7:48 pm

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Within a few repetitions of this, Lucky was in a sour mood. He bit down on the glove more and more forcefully each time, though the pressure was never enough to damage the object. Soon, each of Lucky’s fierce attacks was punctuated by a furious screaming. He wanted those oranges and he wanted them NOW. Lucky kept doing the same thing over and over. He was stubborn, but so was Tai, and she was confident that with enough time and persistence that she would make progress. This was one thing she would not give up on.

A light drizzle started, much to the delight of Tai’s rainbow of parrots. Nobody and Sisi bathed themselves in the cooling rainfall, grooming their feathers and splashing water droplets all over the campsite. Tai laughed and took a break from Lucky, and spent a bit of time playing with the two well behaved birds, splashing them with water collected in her fist and watching them flutter their feathers and shriek with delight. Lucky watched the three intently, and Tai was suddenly struck with an idea. She moved her gloved hand over to Sisi and stroked the bird’s head feathers. She chattered happily, and Tai offered her a slice of orange. Eagerly, the bird took it, then brought it over to share with the cautious Nobody.

Lucky was watching. Tai could feel the bird’s eyes boring into the back of her head. After a few more minutes of playing with the mated pair of birds, Tai returned back to Lucky’s side.

Parrots were a lot smarter than most people gave them credit for. Tai knew Lucky had watched everything she had done with the friendly pair and was carefully putting the dots together. He watched her cautiously as Tai sat back down beside her. Tai had given him a hint on how he could unlock getting an orange from her. She could only hope he picked up on it.

“Hey Lucky,” Tai told the bird. “Are you hungry? You need to not bite if you want the orange.”

“Hungry,” Lucky mumbled.

“Alright, then don’t bite,” Tai told the bird, and carefully extended her gloved hand. Her fingers made contact with the top of the bird’s head. Lucky stared at her warily, but did not bite.

“Good bird Lucky!” Tai all but cheered, and grabbed a slice of orange with her gloved hand, offering it over to Lucky. He snatched it from her, perhaps a bit roughly, but not sharply enough to have wounded an ungloved hand. Tai had purposefully given him only a small slice of orange, and it only took the bird a moment to finish scarfing down the piece of fruit. After he had finished, he looked towards Tai expectantly.

“Uh uh. You gotta work for it if you want more.”

Lucky let out a disgusted sounding sigh. Behind her, Abanath laughed. It took Tai a moment to realize the bird was mimicking a sound Tai frequently made when dealing with the unruly parrot. Face flushed, Tai turned to her bird with purpose.

“Keep it up Lucky. We’re making progress!”

(Words 517, Total 1570)
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Tailyn
Crazy Parrot Lady
 
Posts: 95
Words: 87326
Joined roleplay: January 22nd, 2018, 10:28 pm
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Monster Behavioral Therapy [Job]

Postby Tailyn on June 7th, 2018, 1:47 am

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And they were making some progress. It wasn’t as if a lightning bolt of inspiration had struck Lucky and now he knew how to be a wonderful, well behaved parrot. Tai could still see the frustration bubbling behind the bird’s beady yellow eyes. There was so much irritation and and hurt burbling there, and the bird only knew one way to get that frustration out. Tai could sympathize with him. After all, how many times had she stormed down to the beach in a temper and paced trenches into the sand? Birds so frequently reflected on their owners. It was why Blue, who had once been timid and fearful, was now as stubborn and bold as the red head whose shoulder she so frequently shared. Tai could take responsibility for Lucky’s actions. It was only fair. But she could not tolerate letting him remain a poorly trained, unpleasant bird. He would never have a happy life that way, and he was her responsibility. Knowing that, Tai could only keep moving forward and remaining stubborn.

Lucky still bit the glove, just not so frequently now. He had realized he could leverage orange slices out of Tai, and had figured out how. He just wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to tolerate Tai’s touches ALL the time. Every so often, the bird would fluff at Tai’s gloved finger tips, and lunge forward, sinking his beak into the tough leather glove. Every time he did so, Tai held her temper and forced herself not to flinch. She would wait patiently until Lucky let go, then she would return the glove to her lap and study the clouds until he had calmed down. Then she attempted it again.

It was an infuriatingly slow process. It seemed just when Tai had made progress, when the tiny parrot was acting calm and well-mannered, that he would lose his collective shyke and lunge again. Tai forced herself to hold her temper, despite her rising impatience. If she couldn’t do at least this, then what was the point of her trying to be a parrot trainer? What kind of parrot trainer couldn’t rehab a young aggressive bird. So she gritted her teeth, held her tongue and kept at it.

Was it just Tai’s imagination, or were the lapses between bites growing longer and longer? It was hard to tell. If it was happening, it was such a subtle thing. It wasn’t as if Lucky was consistent after all. But when Tai took a break from Lucky to give the young bird some space, to cuddle with Sisi and Nobody, and play with Blue who had returned from her day’s flight, Tai was sure that Lucky was watching in her direction in anticipation.

“He’s been waiting for you,” Abanath said with a grin.

Tai raised an eyebrow at her friend. “I’m sure he is, but only because he wants oranges.”

“It’s not just that,” Abanath replied with a shake of his head. “Do you see the way that he’s watching you? He’s twitching with anticipation.”

“He’s just waiting for a chance to draw blood,” Tai replied.

“I don’t think so,” Abanath disagreed again. “He’s bored. And you’re paying attention to him.”

Tai raised an eyebrow sharply at that, then she turned her attention back on Lucky, gaze now thoughtful.

(Words 550, Total 2120)
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Tailyn
Crazy Parrot Lady
 
Posts: 95
Words: 87326
Joined roleplay: January 22nd, 2018, 10:28 pm
Race: Human, Inarta
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets

Monster Behavioral Therapy [Job]

Postby Tailyn on June 7th, 2018, 2:12 am

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“Are you bored, Lucky bird?”

Lucky tilted his head, puzzled by the light tone of voice that Tai took with him. It wasn’t something he heard often when she spoke to him. Usually when Tai talked to him, her tone had an edge that she couldn’t quite control.

“I guess I’ve maybe been a little...neglectful,” Tai mumbled. She kept her voice low, so not even Abanath could hear.

The bird blinked his eyes at her. He seemed almost...quiet. Thoughtful. It was an unusual demeanor for any young bird, let alone Lucky.

“Here,” Tai said. “I’ve got something for you. Do you want to come take a look at it?”

Tai pulled a tiny chunk of driftwood up out of the sand. It was about dice-sized, light, and soft. She offered the object towards Lucky, laying it flat in the palm of her gloved hand. The bird surged forward to grab it with his beak, and yanked it backwards onto his perch. Immediately the bird began chewing on it, picking at it with his feet, and passing it back and forth between beak and foot.

“Bored huh?” Tai murmured, and sat down next to the bird to watch.

Lucky was almost methodical in his examination of the object Tai had given him. He was curious. Thoughtful. He also of course thoroughly wanted to destroy the piece of driftwood and was working furiously towards that goal, and with each crunch of his beak Tai winced in sympathy. Within a very short amount of time, the toy Tai had offered him had been reduced to a soggy, crunched up piece of junk. Lucky spat it out on the sand and looked towards Tai expectantly.

“Good boy!” Tai said, not sure why she was praising him, but somehow happy.

“Look at you! Chewing on something that’s not my hand. Guess I need to put more stuff out for you to play with.”

Hesitantly, Tai reached forward with her gloved hand. She watched the bird tense up, but her finger tips touched the bird’s head without incident.

“Good boy!” Tai cheered again, and offered Lucky another slice of fruit.

The young bird ate it happily, and as Tai watched him cheerfully chowing down, she felt a strange surge of affection. And also a compulsion that was, quite frankly, a little alarming.

But who was Tai if she didn’t take risks?

Tai took a deep breath, then reached out her non-dominant, ungloved hand. She extended her palm towards Lucky placatingly, held her breath, and waited. The bird looked at her curiously. There was no tension in his body, just quietness and calm. Tai took a breath and let her finger tips graze the crown of his feathers. Still he did not move.

“Good bo--” Tai said, starting out so happy, and ending in a yelp of pain as the bird predicatably lashed out and sliced her hand.

Tai didn’t give either the cackling Lucky or the laughing Abanath the satisfaction of her reaction. She stormed out to the beach, probably to stomp divots in the sand while her aerie laughed at her.

(Words 518, Total 2638)
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Tailyn
Crazy Parrot Lady
 
Posts: 95
Words: 87326
Joined roleplay: January 22nd, 2018, 10:28 pm
Race: Human, Inarta
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets

Monster Behavioral Therapy [Job]

Postby Tailyn on June 19th, 2018, 1:14 am

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Grades are here!


Tailyn

XP Award:
  • +5 Socialization
  • +5 Birdkeeping
  • +5 Observation

Lore:
  • Location: The Panacea
  • The Panacea: Run By Akalak Twin Souls
  • Lucky: Bloodthirsty
  • Birdkeeping: Calming a Bird With Pets
  • Lucky: Poorly Trained and My Fault
  • Birdkeeping: Bribing Birds With Food
  • Birdkeeping: Patience
  • Sisi and Nobody: Well Behaved
  • Birdkeeping: Teaching By Example
  • Lucky: Badly Behaved Because He’s Bored
  • Birdkeeping: Speaking Softly to Calm
  • Birdkeeping: Entertaining a Bored Bird With Toys
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User avatar
Tailyn
Crazy Parrot Lady
 
Posts: 95
Words: 87326
Joined roleplay: January 22nd, 2018, 10:28 pm
Race: Human, Inarta
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets


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