Tyvan was about to start his second lunch on a pleasant Wednesday afternoon when his peace and serenity were dashed by a discordant mechanical bell.

He closed his eyes and sighed wistfully. The proper procedure was to answer the office phone with alacrity and intent. However, he was torn between his obligation to professionalism... and his still pristine burrito, its tortilla wrap toasted to the degree in which he preferred.

He waited another three seconds. The phone kept on.

Bah.

“I’ll be back for you,” he muttered.

And so, Tyvan Valorum, wealthy and successful businessman-- yet a slave to an inanimate object on his office wall... exited the break room to stop its accursing ringing.

“Who is this and what do you want?”

“What are you doing on Saturday?” the voice responded.

Merlin.

Tyvan didn’t want to talk to Merlin. He had more important things to do.

--and every time they had a conversation, the resulting affairs were odious to excess.

Yet... that was the nature of her role as ⟦Oracle⟧-- and the reason he paid her.

“I’ve nothing planned,” he said. “Is that all? I’d like to hang up now.”

“You should keep the date open,” Merlin cooed. “Something interesting might happen.”

“I don’t like the implications of your request. I refuse your request.”

“Oh, that request is not on my behalf, Lord Protector. I’m not interested in you in that way.”

“...I don’t understand what you’re insinuating.”

“--but I know someone who is,” Merlin said-- completely ignoring him.

“Someone who... is what?” Tyvan asked, his frustration steadily rising.

“Huhuhu~”

Merlin’s muted laugh.

That bothersome woman had a predilection for using it to accentuate her vexatious demeanor.

“There is a better question,” she said.

Tyvan sighed aloud, his patience holding on by the barest of threads.

“...Who is interested in me, then? ” he asked-- “And is there a moderate to pressing reason why I should care?”

“That, Lord Protector... is a secret.”

“Merlin, I’m in the middle of lunch.”

“It’s almost 3 in the afternoon.”

“I’m in the middle of second-lunch,” he said, more insistent. “I have a burrito in my break room waiting for me.”

“Carne asada, right? That place does a really good job of toasting the tortilla shells.”

Tyvan held the phone receiver at length, glaring at it with suspicion.

“Oho~ Don’t look at me like that, Lord Protector,” Merlin said. “I mean it when I say I’m not interested in you.”

Tyvan frowned, clenching his teeth. “Merlin... are you my telephone?”

Silence reigned for several seconds.

Did that mean... he... was... right? But if she was a telephone, why were her services so expensive?

“I’m not a telephone.”

“Ah. Of course not.”

“Have you read this week’s issue of the Arkham Enquirer?”

Tyvan glanced at the side of his desk. Briar Rose had arranged a series of subscription publications into an upright magazine holder-- which included a copy of the Arkham Enquirer.

The Enquirer specialised in covering unnatural occurrences in Archangel, though... in a sensationalist and largely fictitious manner. Nonetheless, a nonnegligible amount of the articles within held a spark of truth.

Upon the cover of the most recent issue was a blurred and heavily shadowed photograph with the headline: Winged Alien Descends.

An alien? The imagery brought to mind an archetypical winged angel.

--but the arrival of a divine being was highly unlikely. Cataclysmic events generally had a herald or three. The destabilisation of mana was easy to detect and difficult to conceal. Also, ❴The Towers❵ would have been whipped into a collective frenzy to worship it, manipulate it, or... otherwise, somehow incite it into slaughtering them all.

No-- In all likelihood, it was no angel. It was something lesser-- if equally distasteful.

Tyvan wanted nothing to do with it. Unfortunately, it was his duty to act as a neutral intermediary, (as he did for that cad, Alexei.)

“Is this person or group of persons arriving soon? I can arrange to provide them with a visa, but I'll need to discuss--”

“Dude, read the article.”

Tyvan narrowed his eyes. Why didn’t she advise him of that earlier? He was a very busy man-- who was also very hungry.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He skimmed the article. It detailed a faction war with opposing sides arguing for and against public disclosure of their existence. Tensions were high and the situation would inevitably crescendo into greater violence and numerous deaths.

And considering those creatures were preparing for war, he was determined to not be a victim, unaware.

“Soon,” Merlin said, “the winds of change shall sweep through Archangel. I don’t know exactly what the fates have in store... but I can speculate.”

“And you... surmise it may happen on Saturday?”

“You’re. so. smart, Lord Protector~”

----------------------------------------

Boof.

School done. Schooling was did.

As soon as Shay got back to the Elysian Heights, she went looking for Tyvan...

--and she found him standing in the middle of the courtyard. He was dressed down, wearing a plain, light-blue, collared shirt; a dark green vest; and... a white hard hat? He stared down at a clipboard and on the ground, all around him, were a bunch of shopping bags from the local hardware store.

So... he was busy. But he didn’t look that busy? Hopefully, he wasn’t so busy that her plan failed before she even started it.

As she walked toward him, something shiny caught her eye-- up on the roof?

“Tyvan, are those... solar panels?”

He looked up, raising his eyebrows a tiny little bit in surprise. “Oh, Shay. Good afternoon.”

“Uh. Good afternoon.”

“They are not solar panels,” he said, the corners of his lips curving up ever so slightly. “They’re reflective sheets. They keep away birds.”

“...Uh. Why? I mean-- why do you want to keep away birds?”

“Birds are pests,” Tyvan replied simply-- maybe a little smugly.

“N... no. Pests are things that eat our plants or burrow into our walls. Birds eat pests.”

Tyvan narrowed his eyes. For some reason, his emotions were easier to read than on most days.

“Not everything birds eat are pests. Birds prey on perfectly respectable members of the animal kingdom. Innocent. Innocuous. Upstanding members of natural society.”

Shay smiled awkwardly. What was she supposed to say to that? Tyvan sure had strong feelings about birds.

Suddenly, he winced.

But... why? Did something happen? Shay looked around for what it was.

Across the courtyard, the door to the common room swung open. A certain, red-haired Korean maid stepped outside, yawning and looking up.

A few other tenants stepped out of their dorm rooms to look outside, too. Some walked onto the courtyard grass-- also looking up.

“Uh. What’s happening?”

“I installed three ultrasonic emitters on the roof,” Tyvan explained. “I don’t know why, but if one is activated, so do they all.”

Shay put a hand to her chin, resting her elbow in her other hand. “And... what is the purpose of our newly installed ultrasonic emitters?”

“To repel... things,” Tyvan said.

He looked away. Was he was hiding something? Was it embarrassing??

“To repel things like... birds?” she asked.

“To include birds, yes.”

Shay found herself smiling. She was about to discover a fun little fact about the guy she liked.

“Tyvan,” she said, “are you scared of birds?”

“No, of course not.”

Despite his expression not changing much, his voice had an obvious uncertainty.

“Tyvan, are you lying to me?”

“I don’t lie,” he responded flatly.

Hmmm...

“Do you... sometimes lie?”

“Never,” he said. “And I would never lie to you.”

Oh. Ohhhhh. Shay reeled from Tyvan’s glorious declaration. Bravo!

Honesty was a super attractive trait.

“Buuuut...” Shay grinned. “Do you sometimes... omit the truth?”

“...I don’t like what you’re implying.”

“Well... are there some birds you’re scared of?”

Tyvan made a troubled face-- so, visibly, he looked very slightly agitated. “I wouldn’t classify those things as mere birds.”

Aha. She was getting somewhere!

“Is it something that flies?”

“I’d like you to stop now, if you would.”

“Is it... made of metal?”

“What?” Tyvan crossed his arms. “No.”

“So it’s not airplanes,” Shay said. “But it has feathers, right?”

“I’m hungry,” Tyvan said. “Are you hungry? I’ve a craving for an uninterrupted burrito.”

Oooh. She’d kill for a plate of tacos.

Getting food was a great idea! If they went out together-- just the two of them, that fit her plan perfectly.

BUT!!!

--she was about to have a breakthrough in learning something super-embarrassing about her crush! And she knew so little about Tyvan, that she couldn’t drop the opportunity.

“What you’re scared of-- does it have a beak?”

Tyvan sighed in exasperation. “I’m not scared of... owrrrgh~”

He trailed off with a weird noise.

But that was something to go off of.

“Is it... owls?”

“To be quite clear,” Tyvan huffed-- “No. I am not scared of owls... However... I do have a strong disdain for such... vicious creatures.”

Shay tilted her head, “Are there owl or... bird-people in Archangel? Like part of ❴Sleeping Forest❵?”

“I don’t know any, personally,” Tyvan nodded. “But I’m assuming there are. Law of probability.”

“What about harpies?” she asked, “Half-woman, half-bird?”

Tyvan raised his eyebrows, “Oh, I’ve had very pleasant interactions with harpies.”

Shay pursed her lips. That was somewhat ironic.

But anyway, with that wonderful and elucidating conversation complete, she could move on to what she really wanted.

“Did you want to get something to eat?”

Tyvan’s eyes drifted away. That was his thinking face!

But it was too late for him. He’d already fallen for her trap! That was a question he could ONLY say yes to!

And once she got him alone, it was only a matter of time before he’d agree to go on a date with her!