While I Pondered, Nearly Napping {Edward}

[MIKAEL GAVRAN]

Crisp, cool air made for an even nicer afternoon. It wasn’t dreadfully cold, a sweater-dress and leggings ought to do the trick. When Mikael zipped up his boots, he found himself wondering a little bit. Come fall and winter, he tended to wear more female clothing. The choices were much more plentiful than slacks and some sort of turtleneck. But when it came to spring and summer, usually his wardrobe took a more masculine approach. For just a few moments he felt very insecure about himself, and twisted a curling iron through his blonde hair, Marilyn Monroe style.

Slowly, Mikael rose to his feet, and tugged a scarf off one of the arms on the coat hander near his bed, and gave a low, careful whistle. There was just a loud, heavy flutter, before he felt talons pressing cautiously into his shoulder. He turned his head, and smiled at the black raven on his shoulder. Edgar, his best friend, and precious creature.

Most people underestimated the size of ravens, because they are often mistaken for crows. But ravens—ravens were a larger species, much larger. Mikael smiled, and without fear nestled into the smooth, inky feathers. The bird let out a low croak, which Mikael recognized as a sound of affection. “We’re going to the park, today.” Mikael smiled, and kissed at the bird’s side until the arm went up, and Mikael could lather the soft, feathered body with kisses as well. He laughed when the bird nipped at his nose playfully and he strode to the front of his apartment and down the steps.

Normally, he would have taken the car, since it was a bit of a long walk to Central Park. But it was too nice, and Edgar tended to flutter inside of the car. So, walking it was. His boots tapped in a steady, quiet rhythm down the sidewalk. Edgar crowed loudly, and Mikael shrugged his shoulder. “Go on, then silly bird.” He murmured, and reached a slender finger beneath Edgar’s feet, to which the raven stepped on him. With a careful toss of his arm, the bird launched off of Mikael’s fingers and fluttered into the trees. Still, Mikael continued along the sidewalk, listening to the flapping of wings. Birds sounded the same for the most part—but his Edgar always had a distinct sound, a particular crow that Mikael could pick out of a crowd.

He continued, walking carefully through Central Park, listening to his bird that wasn’t far behind. This nice day, this sky—it was lovely. He envied Edgar sometimes—what Mikael wouldn’t give to be able to fly up into the sky. The Raven that possessed his mind was use to taking to the sky, and being up high. To be trapped in a body incapable of flight was dreadful, debilitating, and utterly frustrating. Mikael rolled his shoulders, and crossed his arms over his chest, holding himself while still clutching a small, gold-paged book. He could feel that antsy crawling up his neck, wondering if there was a teather that could release him to fall into the sky. He had nothing to tie him down anymore, and yet he felt trapped. Like he wasn’t free.

A saddened expression came over Mikael’s face, like his head was aching and hurting. He pressed his unpainted lips into a thin line, and blinked his warm, deep blue eyes at the cloudless sky while issuing a sigh. When sad, go to Poe. Mikael smiled, and looked down at the old book in his hand, and flipped through the pages. He loved Poe, and whenever he felt ill, or saddened—the morose, fantastical stories always made him feel better, comforted even.

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Tags: Rufus / Edward / Olley / Mikael
Notes: BAWW. His book.
Outfit: Mikael's Outfit!
Song: Sarah Smiles by Panic! At The Disco

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[EDWARD PEARSON]

❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂Edward normally avoided the park like the plague; he remembered parks vividly from his childhood. They were crowded places, that reached levels of sound that left little room to think, and...well...When he was younger, much younger, his mother was accustomed to taking him to the lakes or ponds of his local parks to feed the ducks, and even the swans and geese if he was brave enough. That had all faded with time of course, and by six he deplored any attempt to drag him out of his comfort zone and into hell again.

His hatred hadn't subsided, even within the fifteen years between then and now, and still he ignored the temptations of the zoo in Central Park even with the promise of magnificent beasts such as polar bears and snow leopards. Wild horses couldn't have gotten him anywhere near those penguins, not even at the promise of a 4-D theatre. Which was a ridiculous idea anyway...

Today however, he was going to be late getting back, and that was Not Good; with capital letters. Essay papers could not just be handed in whenever he felt like it. Going through the park was the only option. A last resort. His desperate, final bid for actually getting this damn thing marked. He'd worked too hard on it to let it lie, unused and unneeded on his desk.

So he flew through the grassy expanse, dodging the joggers and families as best he could, muttering quick apologies to those he didn't quite manage to avoid. He felt out of place, moving at this pace; it didn't half show off how naturally clumsy he really was, but he took sanctuary in the knowledge that nobody here would ever see him again, and at the speed he was going, who'd recognise him anyway?❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂

And one man in his time plays many parts.

word count:308
mood:Happy ^.^
tag:Mikael
credit:jacksome111@caution 2.0!
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[MIKAEL GAVRAN]

Now, Mikael wasn’t terribly stupid. He was well educated, studious and clever. However, he did get distracted a bit easily and had a few lapses in judgment. One of those lapses would be Mikael deciding it was a good idea to open up his book and start reading the thin, gold-leafed pages while he continued to walk. Perhaps it was a little vain to assume people would move out of his way, but he never thought of it with any meanness. People would simply move out of the way, and he could enjoy the walk in the park plus his book. Plus, he was awfully good at listening to footsteps and where they fell, knowing when to stop and sidestep.

As his eyes danced over the words of The Black Cat, he felt an ease begin to crawl through his shoulders. His loose curls bounced on his shoulders while he walked. He had a strange gait that made him roll smoothly with each step, however the heels of his boots made a sharp staccato against the concrete walkway. He had just gotten to the truly horrifying part where the narrator gouged the eye of the feline out when he heard the quick footsteps of someone running. It wasn’t the even paced footfalls of a jogger, it was more frantic, panicked. It grew louder, and louder—Mikael had only a moment to think of the Tell-Tale Heart’s beating growing louder and louder when he realized that person with the frantic footsteps was getting closer.

His head snapped up just in time for the person who really was not paying attention to collide into him. Though, collide was a gentle term. Pummel, steamroll, pulverize if you will. Either way, Mikael issued a sharp yelp while he book hit the ground with a muted thud. His own staccato steps went irregular as he stumbled on his feet, regaining his balance at the last second by reaching out and clutching at the stranger’s arm with delicate, pale fingers. His eyes were wide, surprised, and his heart was racing. Mikael was not the sort that liked surprises, especially not the physical kind. Quickly, he released the strangers sleeve and continued to stare as a strange pressure began to build between his brows.

Mikael shut his eyes, hearing a fluttering above head that seemed to dimly echo in his own mind. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” He murmured quietly, his fingertips kneading at that pressure in his forehead. Much like his appearance tended to be, Mikael’s voice teetered to either side of androgyny. When dressed like a woman as he was now, it seemed to have a softer, gentler, more womanly quality. However, when in slacks and a button up without makeup—it seemed to emphasize the gentle strength to his voice, and give him a tone of masculinity. Over the phone, Mikael’s voice would be hard to place a gender on.

His fingertips turned to his hand as the mounting headache grew. Perhaps headache was the wrong word for it, because it didn’t hurt. It was uncomfortable, like someone was squeezing his head between two large hands. He dropped his hand finally, and looked on the ground, spotting his book. Cover up, spine bent, and pages to the cement. “Dear.” He sighed, and almost slowly crouched down to pick up the book before rising back to his feet. He turned over the book, checking the spine for damage. He did his best to hide the slight horror that glanced over his eyes, when a single white scar marred the name of the author on the front. Crap. And this was a difficult edition to find. “Didn’t mean to get in your way.”

[/b] Mikael didn’t look at this stranger—it wouldn’t be fair if he saw the frustration in those gentle blue eyes. Instead, Mikael looked up to the branches where a large black raven was watching him with beady eyes silently.[/blockquote]

Tags: Rufus / Edward / Olley / Mikael
Notes: BAWW. His book.
Outfit: Mikael's Outfit!
Song: Sarah Smiles by Panic! At The Disco

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[EDWARD PEARSON]

❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" he ejaculated, spinning round with all the left over energy to face the person he'd just almost flattened. "Really sorry, but, I well...essay..." he peered at the book Mikael was carefully picking back up, and his brow furrowed slightly. That was gold leaf; not easy to find on current books. He sighed a little, slowly his breath and rubbing his brow a little. Taking a little step forward, he asked quietly, "It's not damaged, is it?"

His brain was furiously telling him to make his apologies and flee, he had to hand the paper in...he really did. But...well, he'd damaged someone's book. Someone's special edition book. Leaning forward a little, he read the spine, wincing a little at the scratch. Poe; not at all his preferred reading, but good enough. "I...oh, look, I'm sorry..." he checked his watch, starting to panic a little. Weighing up his options, he decided, "Uh...I'll pay for the damage, or even try and find you another one like it, but I really, really have to go..."

Biting his lip whilst he danced from foot to foot, he finally decided, "Come with me to hand in this essay, and then we'll sort it out, would that be alright? I haven't got that far left to go, but I've only got five minutes to get there and I really want to help you fix your book because it's a lovely copy I wish I had one like it and I don't know any other way of doing it," he babbled, barely breathing, conscious of every single second he was losing of time. If the stranger said no, there was honestly nothing he could do, and that'd be a shame. But it was an odd request, he supposed. Not the usual way of meeting someone new.❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂

And one man in his time plays many parts.

word count:322
mood:Happy ^.^
tag:Mikael
credit:jacksome111@caution 2.0!
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[MIKAEL GAVRAN]

This poor guy. Mikael felt bad about getting quite so upset over his book, but Poe was precious to him. This book was precious. It was old, it meant something to him. So when he looked up, he waited until the anger had ebbed from his eyes. This man was speaking complete and utter gibberish, and it was somehow endearing. "A little." Mikael spoke in that soft voice again, and turned the book over to reveal the scratch on the cover of the book. He didn't even know how to go about reparing something like this. Could it be repaired? Would it look tacky with a thin line of nailpolish to cover the white mark? His fingers gently traced the battle wound his precious book was now sporting.

"I don't know how to fix it." He wouldn't know how to go about fixing it, so he wouldn't know how much it costed. But Mikael wasn't the sort to turn down someone fixing their errors. He felt bad, but this man was scatterbrained. He made an error, and it had to be corrected. Mikael would do the same had he been in the same position--but he was a little more careful with things. Especially since this man seemed to be like a racing horse rearing at the gate, waiting for it to drop and take off.

Mikael's eyes lowered watching his feet for a moment, then nodded. "You should have e-mailed it, you can do that right?" He asked, and started to walk in the direction that Edward had been moving. There was an agitated caw from above-head. They were barely in the park, Edgar was upset. A smile crossed over Mikael's face, and he whistled a short pitch in response to the caw. "I'll go with you. After you turn in your essay we can think of how to repair it. But I feel I should get the name of the man who almost flattened me to the pavement. My name is Mikael, and you are?" Just after Mikael had introduced himself, he felt the pinch of talons in his shoulder as the large raven landed on his shoulder.

He looked completely unphased by this, and even raised a hand to stroke the bird's breast. "This is Edgar, he's a friendly fellow." Mikael murmured while still walking. Well, this man was in a rush, right? Must not dwadle!

Tags: Rufus / Edward / Olley / Mikael
Notes: BAWW. His book.
Outfit: Mikael's Outfit!
Song: Sarah Smiles by Panic! At The Disco

[EDWARD PEARSON]

❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂Starting a light jog to keep up with Mikael, he started to reply, "I always do my final copy on a ty-" but he couldn't finish. That...thing. That gigantic scavenger resting on Mikael's shoulder and staring at Edward with that huge, black eye. Edward stopped dead in his tracks, feeling his heartbeat and breathing start to get faster. Why would anyone in their right mind let someone like that so very close to their face? Scenes of terror ran in a loop through his mind as he tried to force himself to carry on moving. The essay. That was what was important.

Slowly, he forced his feet to move forward. Taking the deepest breath he could, he managed to mumble, "I-I'm Edward...err...nice to meet you...and," he gulped,"and Edgar..." Keeping his distance, at least two metres away at all times, Edward had to struggle a little to keep up. His mind kept telling him, 'The essay, you have to get it in on time, never mind what else,' but it also kept telling him, 'ARGH BIRD,' so it wasn't entirely helpful. Eventually, he decided he better say something.

"So...a raven, huh? W-why exactly?" Oh that was rude; his brain quickly chastised him for it. You couldn't just ask people why they owned ravens. "Sorry, I didn't mean it to sound quite like that..." he quickly said, rubbing his temple a little nervously. This was going horrendously badly, it really was. But he had damage to make up for, and well, it was to a book. He simply couldn't leave it scarred, no matter how much this stranger now terrified him. No matter how much his fight side was losing to his flight side. No matter how much that jet coloured eye seemed to be staring right into his very soul.❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂

And one man in his time plays many parts.

word count:318
mood:Contented
tag:Mikael
credit:jacksome111@caution 2.0!
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[MIKAEL GAVRAN]

Edward. A nice name, respectable name. But he seemed to be a little choked up. And he was lagging behind a bit. Mikael's brows knitted together slightlyy and gave a glance to Edgar as he walked, coming nose to beak with the bird. The shining black beat opened, and a black tongue delicately poked at the tip of Mikael's tongue in a tiny birdy-kiss fashion. Mikael smiled, and slid his fingers beneath the feathers on the bird's neck, stroking the skin beneath.

"Oh, it's no problem. Ravens are usually a common pet, but I'm glad you could identify him. Most people think he's a crow." Mikael almost seemed to spit out the word crow. Maybe he was biased, but ravens were much more magestic. Elegant, demure. "It's a...very long story, best not shared with polite company."

[/b] Oh yes, Edward. Nice to meet you. Well, you know the book in my hands? I happen to be a character in this book, the Raven, to be exact. So, I was inspired to have a pet raven. That'd go over like a fart in church.

"I'm just a very big fan of Poe. I rescued Edgar when he was a chick. We've been inseperable ever since. He's really quite friendly." He glanced at Edward again, his eyes taking in his demenor for a moment and tilted his head slightly. Was he afraid? "Does he make you nervous? I can send him in the tree instead if he bothers you. But he won't hurt you as long as you're gentle." Mikael offered a smile along with his words as they moved out of Central Park, the campus not that far off into the distance. "I'm not entirely sure I can take him into the campus anyway." That was a lie. Mikael had rushed into Campus to retrieve things and his grades with Edgar riding on his shoulder silently.

It was almost funny, if Edward was afraid of Edgar, how would he respond to the fact that Mikael was a bird-incarnated? It was almost worth telling him just to see his expression. Mikael turned his head as he passed through the gates to the campus, and smiled to himself. No, that was be horribly rude. Plus--he wanted his book fixed. Blue eyes glanced from beneath his bangs at Edward, amusement sparkling in the blue spheres.[/blockquote]

Tags: Rufus / Edward / Olley / Mikael
Notes: BAWW. His book.
Outfit: Mikael's Outfit!
Song: Sarah Smiles by Panic! At The Disco

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[EDWARD PEARSON]

TAG: Mikael Gavran NOTES: --- WORDS: 362

Finally slowing down, having allowed himself to take the lead slightly as he guided them towards his professor's office, he nodded a little, "Yeah, I'm a little sc- birds are terrifying. Especially ravens. Just...it's the way they look at you. People don't look at you like that, no animals do, except birds. It's really intimidating." Edward had never been quite so open about it before, but he felt Mikael would understand for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't laughed out loud as soon as he'd realised. After knocking on the door to said office, he turned back Mikael and continued, "They sit there and say nothing while figuring out your soul, or at least that's how it looks. It makes me uneasy."

It had taken him far longer than it should've, and he'd only managed with seconds to spare, but the essay was in and acceptable to be marked and so Edward no longer had to worry. Now he could take his time, figure out what to do about the frankly beautiful copy of Poe's works, and perhaps talk to the stranger a little more. He even relaxed a little, despite the still-present threat. It couldn't do anything terrible while its owner was watching it, right? He was safe for now, wasn't he? It still wouldn't stop staring though...those eyes. Those terrible eyes, just watching, just learning and knowing and figuring him out. For a while, Edward just stood there, transfixed by them, falling further into the inky darkness.

And then his brain started working again.

He turned to Mikael, smiling some despite being nervous, and finally said, "So, uh, Starbucks coffee while we talk about what I can do about your book? It's the least I could do." Frankly he was dying for a warm drink himself anyway, just to calm down a little, so the friendly gesture would presumingly be good for them both. He had the whole afternoon off from writing any more essays anyway, so why not spend a little time getting to know someone new?
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QUOTE: The Raven, Edgar Allen Poe
CREDIT: Erika, yo. Don’t steal or I’ll sick demonic panda bears after you. :3

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[MIKAEL GAVRAN]

Mikael listened closely as Edward explained his fear. It made him look back at Edgar, looking at his eyes curiously. The shining black beak clicked a few times at him, and Mikael shrugged his unoccupied shoulder. He had in fact walked into the school with the bird silently riding his shoulder. It already gained him a few strange looks, but at this moment he was focused on nothing but Edward and Edgar. He waited outside of the room while Edgar turned in his paper, petting the inky black feathers to occupy his time before looking up when he was reminded of Edward’s presence.

“So you injure my book, fear my bird, and you ask me on a date?” A crooked smile crossed over his lips while he straightened up a small chuckle sliding from his throat. “I’m teasing. Two brains working is better than one. Maybe, as a thank you I can help you work through your fear. Edgar is no more harmless than a baby chicken.” To that, Mikael received another ruffle of feathers, and those beady eyes blinked at him as though they understood what he said. They did—but there was no need to let Edward in on that information.

“Plus, I can respect a man that drinks coffee. It’s the ones that are hooked on sugary sodas that you have to watch out for.” An all too serious face crossed over him while Mikael nodded sagely, and walked out of the school at Edward’s side. With another large shrug, the talons on his shoulder tightened for a moment before fluttering up into the trees overhead. There was no cawing, no chirping—just a large fluttering sound as the bird followed from tree to tree. “Sometimes I think Edgar has figured out my soul.” He murmured, his boots clicking on the ground while he kept pace with Edward. “But the companionship is nice, it’s not entirely too awful to have a pet, or a friend that’s figured you out entirely. Isn’t that why people have cats and dogs?” He mused curiously, his eyebrows raising while he glanced sideways at Edward, expectant for his own thoughts on it.

Tags: Rufus / Edward / Olley / Mikael
Notes: BAWW. His book.
Outfit: Mikael's Outfit!
Song: Sarah Smiles by Panic! At The Disco

[EDWARD PEARSON]

TAG: Mikael Gavran NOTES: --- WORDS:251

Edward shifted from one foot to the other as Mikael was speaking, more pre-occupied by the Raven than Mikael himself, but when his brain eventually registered what had been said in response, he spluttered slightly, turning bright red and starting to say, "No, I didn'-" when the other started to talk again. He blinked a little, before nodding at the cliché. It was true enough. He couldn't stop the skeptical look that flashed across his face when the topic of curing his phobia arose, but he was willing to give it a go.

"Chickens are just as bad; they actually literally attack people. At least Edgar only stares at me. Chicken farmer as completely crazy..." He stopped himself short of extending that to all bird owners; offending the bloke was the last thing he wanted to do. Offending people at all wasn't high on his list.

He could agree entirely with the coffee sentiments. He'd given up on fizzy drinks when he was nine, finding them far too sugary for his liking.

He lightened up substantially when the raven had gone back up into the trees, realising he'd been holding his breath for some time. Raising an eyebrow slightly at the idea of an animal companion knowing your soul, but he couldn't deny that it seemed to be the reason people did have pets, and he nodding again, "I suppose so...isn't it weird, knowing something knows you as well as you know yourself?"
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QUOTE: The Raven, Edgar Allen Poe
CREDIT: Erika, yo. Don’t steal or I’ll sick demonic panda bears after you. :3

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