The Nun That Ate The Canary

The Nun That Ate The Canary (But not in a lewd way you sicko)



	It seemed a bit early for the day to begin winding down, but who would've minded on a weekend anyway? Hallia hopped onto the recliner and settled into it like a nest, the fabricated pink hand hovering over the bend of her wing gripping a book. The next few hours would be dedicated to nothing but absolutely nothing. Just a chair, a mystery novel, and a canary with every bit of free time. A pleased sigh rose from her throat as she slumped down further and pulled the book open to the rough bookmark, which was just a torn piece of notebook paper.
	Between the first sentence of the page there was a distant vigorous knock at the front door. To her distress it continued on for several more moments without being answered, the coincidence was all too convenient and well-timed. Hallia groaned at the universe and set the bookmark into place once again before pushing herself up and trudging towards the entrance.
	Mary continued frantically knocking at the door and calling in until it was opened beyond her reach and replaced with a disgruntled bird. They stood for a moment at odds until the cat lit up again. "Wow, usually nobody opens the door for me!" She said before shuffling past and began calling for Petunia once again without invitation. That was probably why, Hallia thought to herself and shrugged while walking back to where she had left off doing absolutely nothing.
	"What? What's all this about?" Petunia appeared after having been disturbed from whatever she was doing. Mary approached briskly and immediately placed a hand atop her shoulder with an exaggerated grin.
	"Good god, girl. When was the last time we've hung out and hit the town? I was just thinking to myself this morning 'Oh, goodness me! Poor Petunia has been hard at work for so long, she must be feeling so tired and dull! Ah, I should pay her a visit and invite her to let her hair down like the thoughtful friend I am. A day of unwinding will surely do her good!'"
	Blank face communicating that she was unfazed by the overzealous voice-acting and energetic gestures, Petunia

promptly removed the hand from her shoulder and stared into the abyss that was Mary's conscience.
	"What do you want this time?" She said, raising an eyebrow.
	 Mary slumped down to her normal self and dropped the unnatural smile. "I'm super bored and I don't have any other friends to go out with." Petunia pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled.
	"Okay. First of all, I'm too busy to just goof off whenever you want. You can't just walk into my house and expect me to be free without warning me like a week earlier. I already have the next three days planned out with no space for you." She crossed her arms in a reserved posture and tapped her foot impatiently.
	"Oh come ooon! I know you're not a stuffy prude all the time, it's not like the work is going to run away while you're gone. And you already know that I haven't used my calendar since Julgust anyway."
	"No I didn't." Petunia replied.
	"The model was too hot for it to be worth it to turn to the next month." Mary glanced up and thought of toned muscles for a moment before continuing. "The point is it's supposed to be like one of those movies for hormonal teenagers where you're the responsible good girl who studies all day and I'm your ironic bad friend who convinces you to do something stupid so that you'd live a little but I end up getting arrested so-"
	"Mary, you already have my definite answer. You're going to have to get arrested with someone else for today." Petunia said plainly before turning away and leaving to avoid the counter-argument. Mary groaned and rolled over the back of the couch dramatically. Usually the good girl movie strategy always works, maybe she should have referenced the one where they find true love or something?
	Motion suddenly caught her eye as Poppy fluttered about the room with a feather duster and a careful scrutinizing eye. Plan B was to be set into effect at once.
	"Oooh, Poppy!" Mary called while dismounting the couch and hurrying towards her. "Poppy, do you remember the last time we went out together? Got to see a show, had lots of fun, we even helped convince a girl to drop a personal philosophy that was holding her back in life!"
	"I'm not going to be the one to hang out with you, Mary." She barely even turned from her meticulous cleaning to say before promptly returning her focus. As she began to move onto the next room, Mary followed in close pursuit.
	"Why not? You didn't even let me try to convince you, that's not fair! I still have six other lines that I haven't tried yet!" She trailed closely behind and constantly motioned to catch Poppy's attention, but the selective hearing of a mother was too powerful even for someone even as persistent as her. After a few feet the opossum finally decided to pry Mary away and turned to her.
	"Ever since that concert I am wholly convinced that nobody can bring you anywhere without you getting into trouble. Besides, I have constant work to do as well. I'm a mom, remember?" She said before continuing on through the house uninhibited.
	Mary groaned louder and animatedly collapsed on the floor. A sound in the corner of the room caught her attention, Hallia stared disgruntled from a recliner. She guessed there might still be a plan C, also that she might need a more efficient way of making plans. Wait, plan C could stand for Canary. That's pretty funny. "I can't even get two paragraphs in." Hallia said under her breath and mentally braced herself.
	"Come on, pleeease? You are the last feasible companion and I am desperate for the plot to progress at this point. You're in the title, you know." Mary enthusiastically groveled at the foot of the chair awaiting for the inevitable negative response. Hallia slid the bookmark into place once again and set the book down on the arm of the chair.
	"Why would I be the one that goes with you?" She said settling in further into the cushions. "From the sound of it, nothing good could come of this."
	"Is everyone this pessimistic all the time? I'm not trying to convince you to rob a bank with me, (though I did try that once), it's just a day out. You know, the one where you try to have a social life?" Mary recovered from her kneel and crossed her arms. "Have you even left the house in a week?"
	"Yes." Hallia replied. Mary just nodded.
	"For anything other than groceries?" Her smugness grew by the second.
	"... I am perfectly okay with that. Besides, isn't your fun getting arrested or whatever?" She shot back. Mary snickered and turned away. "What?" Hallia said, stretching forward.
	"I mean, you're not going to change if you think that enjoying your time around the city is getting arrested. Complacency is the agent of failure and champion of sloth, you're never going to find someone who loves you if this house is all there is. At this rate you may as well stay a background character." She spoke to the wall.
	Hallia's face eventually fell pensive as the words processed in her mind. It was the last kind of thing she expected to hear, something reasonably wise that triggered the weighing of doubt and examination of possibility. "You're not actually a nun, aren't you?" She finally replied.
	With a stupid grin Mary turned back to the canary. "Nope, I read that once from a fortune cookie. So are you coming or what?"
	The impression fading promptly, Hallia fell quiet to contemplate her options in an agitated state once again. After a brief moment of consideration she shrugged and sighed with an adequate answer. "Sure, I guess? I mean, at the very least it won't be a boring use of my time."
	"Finally!" I thought I was going to have to resort to quoting stuff from smut I've read." Mary shot towards the doorway and beckoned frantically for her to come along. "Hurry up, we're burning enough daylight as it is!" With a deep breath, Hallia escaped the massive gravity of her recliner one last time and awkwardly ran to try and catch up.


	Through the gaps between giant leaves and higher colonization peeked a violet midday sky onto the bustling market district of Canopy. Lively crowds of people made the transit on foot through the veins of the city past bundles of complexes and organized architecture. Thousands of faces of a thousand kinds shambled past each other, any species you could imagine of any occupation, appearance, nobility, anything goes. It would be far too easy for someone to lose themselves in the capital of the Fenneclands.
	For someone to truly feel at home traversing the winding streets, it would take a vast amount of experience and knowledge. Unfortunately, a vulgar cat dressed as a nun was actively the greatest guide around. That meant that Hallia had to pay additional attention from the air just to keep her in sight at all times. Traffic in the sky at this hour proved more dangerous than anything which Mary so effortlessly passed on the ground.
	Eventually enough after too many near misses Mary stopped in a less populated square and signaled for Hallia to come near. Landing was typically questionable task for an avian without supporting toes, but she managed well enough for a shaky entrance. For someone who subsisted on scotch and junk food, Mary demonstrated a surprisingly higher amount of agility and spryness on a regular basis.
	"Alright, where are we going from here?" Hallia asked her once they both caught their breath. At first she raised a finger and took in a sharp exhalation, but there was nothing to follow.
	"I dunno." She said with a blank expression and relaxed.
	"Wha- Why were you so prepared to drag someone up here if you didn't even have any places in mind?" Hallia kept from speaking too loud as to not draw attention. Mary just shrugged.
	"I said I wanted someone to hang out with, I never said anything about knowing what I was going to do. Aren't you the mayor's assistant? With all that tricky official paperwork I would have thought that you'd be able to read fine prints." She said.
	Hallia averted her gaze and fumed for a moment, listening to the vague chattering of the city around them. "We're all the way up here already, we may as well see a movie or something."
	"No no, now you're just missing the point." Mary began. "See, there aren't any girly movies where the the plot is so boring that they just 'go see a show'. That's horror movie stuff, and I don't plan on dying first today. Didn't you hear my description to Petunia?"
	"No?" She replied.
	"Then it's settled. We're going to the bar!" Mary exclaimed before taking off without any room for argument. Caught off guard, Hallia barely had time to take to the air again and catch up before she would have managed to turned a corner.
	The pursuit this time around was far less hectic there onward due to the lack of diffusion from the main street, besides the abruptness. She guessed that was a big part of the reason why nobody else spares the time to hang out with Mary. It wouldn't be so much a pleasant afternoon on the town as it was a race to stay caught up, and that seemed to be a notoriously difficult task which more often than not lead to trouble.
	Another stop that was came to was still a short ways from the actual bar. Hallia dropped down to the ground and immediately shot a glare in Mary's direction. "I didn't even get a gasp of say in this before you ran off." The canary said as they walked the rest of the distance.
	"Because your idea was dumb. You can't honestly say you'd have the same blast watching a dumb movie as you would being drunk and surrounded by burly men. Besides, you can just pirate it later like I do." Mary turned and swiftly pulled open the glass door. "Oh, you're old enough to drink, right? I suppose that's pretty important."
	Hallia nodded and entered behind a little less flair than Mary exhibited, who had their arms out and waving. The scanner above the door would have already picked up the signatures on their IDs, she wouldn't have been able to enter anyway if she were under-aged. At first glance the bar seemed to have far more dignity then the nun who frequented it. Polished dark woods reflecting warm colors and lights, seemingly very clean and refined, classic rock of some kind permeating the air, there wasn't really a single trashy aspect to it. The stocky ram behind the counter seemed to mirror this contrast as his face fell low at the very sight of the cat.
	"Hello, Mary." His voice was flat and unenthusiastic, he knew exactly what kind of bedlam might take place this afternoon.
	"Heya, Tom!" Mary dragged Hallia to a stool and hopped onto one herself while winking. "Me and my friend here, we're going to each need a Hellfire Foxtrot Omega. One on the rocks."
	"It's still called a Saffron but alright." He said before lethargically turning to prepare the drinks. Mary spun around in waiting and began to scan through people present, probably looking for recognizable faces or at least anyone attractive. Chances are anyone else who was familiar with her already knew she was there, nobody else dressed as a nun would walk into a bar so blatantly.
	"So Mary. How'd you pull such a young one in today? Did it cost?" The bartender spoke behind himself while mixing components. Hallia's face flushed with blood when she promptly imagined what he implied. "No, no no no."
	"Nah, I just employed my famous begging-on-the-floor technique. With a face like this, anything is possible." Mary flashed a toothy grin, Hallia thwapped her on the shoulder. "No, it's nothing like that. We're friends. Just, friends."
	The ram laughed and slid the drinks across towards them. "Begging must have really worked out then, huh?" Hallia groaned and kept her blushing head low, there wasn't any hope of salvaging this. The best she could do was take it on the chin and hope nobody including herself remembered it.
	At least now she had a drink to help that process along. She could see immediately why they were called Saffrons or omega firestars or whatever, the liquid was an incredibly blaring crimson color through the clear glass. It reminded her of what blood would look like if it were transparent, hopefully it wouldn't taste like it. Mary swiped the one without ice and downed a huge gulp before trembling in her seat with a shaking breath as it went down.
	Hallia looked back at her drink skeptically and raised the bend of her wing to grab it. A voice of reason in the back of her head rang that it wouldn't be clever to start drinking all that hard with Mary around. It'd probably be best to retain most of her judgement so that everything that sounds like a bad idea would remain so. Still, with the drink right there it couldn't hurt to at least have a little. The ice clinked around as she lifted the glass to her beak and poured a small amount.
	Her willpower was the only thing that kept her from lurching forward and spitting the burning liquid from her mouth. Begrudgingly she tilted her head back higher so that she could manage to swallow the fire and cringed the whole time it traveled downward into the core of her body. Hallia panted desperately and clutched her chest soon after she had finished the sip, tears welled in the corners of her eyes.
	Mary slapped her on the back while laughing hard enough that she choked. Hallia would have probably given a swear back if there wasn't lit jet fuel still clinging to the insides of her neck. She tried, but all that came was a pitiful cough and the severe need to clear her throat.
	"Oh man, I didn't know you were such a lightweight Hallia. Petunia's downed a whole glass of that in one go before and she only cried for half an hour." Mary chimed, taking another courageous swig and shivering.
	"You're saying that, guh... Petunia's actually been to a bar with you before?" Her voice still hoarse, she cleared it a few more times. "Wait, a whole glass?"
	Mary nodded and sighed, her breath already smelled so heavy with alcohol that you could have gotten a buzz just standing next to her. "Would you believe that she's worse than me? You'd think she'd have a light stomach but good god you haven't seen her go kegging with a pining crowd. Some of the stories I could tell you, she would wring my neck for each of them and they'd still be funny."
	"I never would have thought Ms. Quibble used to have a wild side. I can barely imagine her touching a drink to begin with." The thought reminded Hallia of the glass in her hand, she put it back down so that she wouldn't subconsciously take a sip and start dying again.
	"How do you think someone like her could have met someone as fun as me? Her type always bottle up their nasty little urges and spill over when they touch the smallest drop of alcohol. That's the reason you haven't seen her any bit drunk." She gulped down another round of Saffron before continuing.
	"Petunia, she didn't have a very easy childhood. What could a curious, growing girl possibly get away with when their stuffy mom could just read their mind? Like you steal cookies from the jar and as soon as your mom walks into the room four minutes later you're grounded. It's just unhealthy."
	"Ah. That's... worse than I thought." Hallia said. Mary nodded in agreement and took another drink.
	"Her mother's lucky star was brutal all up until Alvus cut their contact off. By the time Petunia was allowed any freedom she already passed the point to know what to do with it, imagine a structural collapse in slow motion. You know most of the time I was the one making sure SHE didn't get into any trouble." She raised her glass to her lips only to find it empty, her eyes set on the second. "Are you going to drink that?"
	Hallia followed her eyes and shrugged, sliding her Saffron across the counter. Mary didn't hesitate to swipe it away and push more of the vicious liquid down her throat.
	It was surprising how tame the evening was going so far, though it was leagues from over with Mary still going through so many drinks. Even then it seemed like Hallia overestimated how unpleasant it would all be. Maybe she really was just a shut-in? She certainly did feel bad about being so prepared to write the invitation off as nothing but trouble, this wasn't so bad.
	"It still kind of sucks, though." Mary spoke up from beside her. "It's been so long since Petunia willingly went somewhere with me. I understand being busy, and I understand growing out of this kind of stuff, but..."
	A dash of emotion crossed her face which seemed frighteningly genuine. "I helped that girl come out of her shell, now I'm a nuisance that appears like a rainy day. Sometimes I literally just want to go for lunch, you know?" She leaned forward and finished off what was left of her drink, bracing herself the whole way through. Finally she set the glass down and breathed through her nose a few moments.
	"I'm making this movie super lame. It's getting so sappy that Petunia might even watch it when nobody else is around. Lets go bet on pool players until I can hit on one." Mary pushed herself up from her seat and scurried off towards the far end of the bar.
	Hallia was suddenly beset by a temporary silence beside the two empty glasses. One of which used to be filled with ice as well as alcohol, both downed without a second thought. To be fair it would be difficult to care about the ice cubes with the intensity saffrons seemed to offer. Perhaps Mary might be going a little overboard in that aspect, but it didn't seem that out of the ordinary to transition into adultery and gambling afterward. That at least will manage to be entertaining in itself. Turning in place, she dismounted the stool and made her way to where the action would take place.
	The pool table had already gathered a modest crowd before Hallia found a comfortable corner to observe. A game had finished not too long ago, yet another would begin soon judging from someone fiddling with the glowing side panel which projected into the air. Surely enough the previous scores were cleared and the magically created balls reset into position from the pockets. Mary could be seen in the distance scouting whoever seemed interested in joining the next round, either searching for broad shoulders or skillful demeanor.
	Those who did express an intrigue chose one of the set cues which were designed to interact with the holograms, they could play pool upside down and the table wouldn't act any different otherwise. Coded by color. the cues entered players into the roster for the round.
	To be honest, Hallia couldn't express much interest in the game itself. It was the slinking Mary did through the crowd which ended up catching her eye. Comparable to a thief was how she moved about, yet her purpose seemed to be whispering into people's ears and riling a competitive air. The pot would grow the more she convinced people of haggling or boasting, the flashing of nibbles was more than enough to light that fire.
	That was really the most surprising part, that people could fall for Mary's blatant advances at forcing bets. Hallia was near enough in earshot to hear some of the professional techniques used by a gambling master and psychological guru. It was so obvious what she was doing that maybe her victims felt like she was harmless and would let their guard down to humor her or play along. The real question was whether it was an intention of hers or not to be so simplistic. Such was solved rather quickly when Hallia spotted her take a sneaky gulp of somebody's drink while their back was turned to focus on the game.
	"Yo Hallia." For only a moment she glanced away before Mary materialized beside her. "You want in on this or what? That big wolf guy totally has a winning streak going on behind the scenes that he won't tell anyone, people actually believed otherwise."
	"Ehh... Nah. I'm not too big of a gambler. I'm also not carrying any spare money I'd want to put on the line." She replied plainly, it even felt a little dull on her own tongue.
	"What, don't trust my wise predictions? It would be like a free paycheck landing in your pocket, but whatever. If you're lucky I might spend some of my vast winnings on something for you." With that Mary deftly slithered back between the growing audience. Though it was an honest answer, a twinge of regret sparked in Hallia's chest. Maybe she was supposed to be practicing releasing restraint this whole time, so far she just looked like a sober stick-in-the-mud. It was like Mary took someone out only for to act like she was alone the whole time.
	As time passed, the conclusion was set that listening to Mary's financial advice could be more wisely exempt from the act of humoring her. Even judging by the initial cheering of the crowd it could be gathered that people were not losing as much money as was so accurately foretold. The burly wolf in a leather jacket slumped into his chair and put his drink adamantly to his lips in defeat from, of all people, a ball python with one eye. Soon enough Mary returned with a reserved expression and merely muttered "Mistakes happen to everybody."
	"Hey, turn around!" Called out a dreary crow woman who had been trailing Mary for some time now, the end of the pool game signaled an opportunity. She flipped her around and examined her with a sharp eye. "I knew I recognized you, you're the skank that slept with my ex-boyfriend three months ago."
	"To be fair, I sleep with a lot of boyfriends." Mary said in response, backing away defensively. The crow took a step forward to maintain the confrontation. "Then you stole his wallet and mailed it back two weeks later missing three hundred nibbles and a gift card."
	Mary held up her hands in a passive manner. "Yeah, I think of it like the price for infidelity? I make it my mission to weed out those who would be unfaithful to their partners and bring justice upon them. Justice just happens to look a lot like money, you know?"
	"I was already aware that guy was an ass. That was my money you stole, though. If you don't want trouble then I'd like it paid back in full." The crow's talons tapped excitedly against the wooden floor. Mary took another step back and found the corner of a table. "Woah, woah, can't we talk about this? You've got working lungs and a good head on your shoulders so I think we can talk about this."
	"Would you like to talk about the interest on that three hundred, then?" The crowd which was present began to migrate attention to the shouting, some people looked like they started making bets already. Hallia suddenly realized the usefulness of alcohol around Mary and regret not powering down a bit more of her drink. Even the bartender behind the counter let out a very audible groan.
	"You know justice comes with an unlimited guaranteed zero percent APR, right?" Mary twisted around and took a perilous leap over the table behind her, dashing on all fours towards the exit. "HALLIACOVERTHETABOKAYBYE!" The crow called out and started after her, but by the time she really got moving Mary already burst open the front door and took to the streets. Once outside herself she shot into the air and left the space of an awkward silence.
	Besides shuffling and a few disappointed murmurs in the background all that was left in void of the action was hushed classic rock. Hallia took seat again at her original stool in the front and leaned forward onto the counter-top. In the calm she could think more clearly about how... impressive that jump was? Mary was halfway to wasted and she slid around filled glasses and chairs without knocking a single thing over. It probably took a disturbing amount of skill and experience to have that kind of dexterity.
	Regardless, it was already assured that the crow had no chance of catching her. She had already seen that a leisurely sober pace was already nearly enough to be lost on corners. A full sprint through alleys and back streets was more than what was needed to lose even an avian species. Later after the chase was over Hallia could do a quick search to see if she could find Mary again, quick feet or not she still stuck out like a sore thumb.
	"Sorry, but uh," She looked up the the ram bartender who sported a new vein of stress in his neck. "You'll still have to pay for both of the drinks, you know."
	"I figured." Hallia said, pulling the bend of her wing back so that she could reach into a pocket for her money. The best idea she's had all day was bringing it along, second to deciding not to join in on pool bets. Her glowing hands fidgeted with the wallet until she unveiled a bit over the due sum. A tip was definitely earned for anyone who had to regularly deal with Mary and remain so sane.
	Eventually the charms of the bar did wear thin enough that she grew tired of classic rock. Hallia pushed up from her stool and lethargically made her way towards the door. The initial burst of chill which ran through her feathers woke her up immensely once past the glass and outside. She took a great gulp of the refreshing air into her lungs before extending her wings and leaping forward.
	The waning sun pierced through Canopy, adorning everything in view with deep stretching contours of shadow. She squinted against the occasional stray ray of light which flashed against her eyes to keep scanning for a nun possibly shambling through a street. Mary still wearing black in the sharp darkness behind a building might be the factor she could pass over without a diligent gaze.
	The search ended up not lasting five minutes with Mary appearing in plain sight laying on a bench with her coif off. Hallia landed beside her and awaited several moments for any notice to be taken. Seconds passed until Mary finally screeched and jumped three feet into the air, she landed with a thud and noticed how little of a threat the canary was in front of her.
	"God Dammit! Don't do that!" she said before again collapsing onto the bench and overtaking a large amount of it. Hallia giggled and hopped up with what space she had, settling down without a word next to her.
	"Let me tell you an important life skill anyway; running away while drunk. Master that and you'll be able to accomplish anything you've ever dreamed. I must have made it like six blocks before that chick even made it out the door." Mary sat up with a sigh and gathered her scattered thoughts. "You covered the tab, right?"
	"Yep." She replied neutrally.
	"Good, I already lost all my money on that wolf guy. Oh!" Mary dug around in her pockets for a moment and exclaimed as she unveiled a plastic gift card to a diner with an unfamiliar name. "It took being chased out of a bar to remind me that I had this! I have no idea what this place is anyways, but if I knew I had this I would have probably bet it as well." Hallia couldn't help but crack a smile, still there wasn't much to say.
	Mary lowered the card to her lap and gave a weak laugh which tapered into an awkward silence. "It might just be the alcohol talking, but I still feel kind of bad for all that happened."
	"What for? This evening turned out pretty much how I expected, and it was still enjoyable at least." Hallia said.
	"That's just it, you expected it to roll downhill and it did. I don't want people I give a shit about to write off my company as an impending disaster every time I want to do something with them. At this point you won't have a second thought about that either, I just proved your hunch to be completely true." Mary stared down at the gift card, turning it over again and again. She suddenly shot the arm holding it sideways towards Hallia without glancing up. "Take it."
	"Hm?" She looked down at the plastic like it was practically sanctified.
	"Take it. You already paid for the drinks, and I can't pay you back with anything else. It was my idea in the first place to come up here." Mary said solemnly. A transparent hand hesitated a moment in the air inches from her hand, Hallia pushed the card away.
	Mary finally looked up with a face contorted softly with confusion. "...Maybe this is the part where you think I'll light up, happily take the money and be on my way like I was satisfied just making an attempt? I'm not so predictable that I'd do that all the time, you know. Most other days sure, but not today." She stubbornly held the card out again.
	"Mary, it's fine." Hallia declined her offer again and spoke before there could be a word in edgewise. "First of all, I don't mind covering the drinks to begin with. Secondly, we're going to need that card for the next time we go out and I trust you slightly enough to not bet it away."
	"The next... what?" She replied.
	"The next time we go out, yeah. Since neither of us know this place we could go see if it's any good. The only real rule I'd give is not getting into federal trouble."
	Mary's face slowly began to light up like a sunrise until what remained was the natural goofy grin. "You know we'd need more cash than this card could possibly have on it, right?"
	"Of course. I can cover that as well, I don't need much." Hallia mirrored the smile warmly, the distant setting sun drawing shadows on their faces. "But seriously, no breaking any real laws when we're there."
	"No promises." Mary chimed back. The air was still heavy with tension even now, nothing but the constant hum of the city filling the space between the conversation. Neither could search their minds to find any more words to utter. "Oh, to hell with it. Come here." Mary caved in after long enough and lunged in to lock Hallia in a hug.
	She reciprocated as best she could, which was to say not too well while actively being crushed to death. It ended up being a touching scene nevertheless of the smell of alcohol very blatantly on her breath.
	"Why'd you have to go and let me have your whole drink? Now I'm all sappy and soft and shit like one of those movies that Petunia would cry to but not tell anyone." Mary finally released, Hallia took in a sharp gasp of air and began assessing her broken ribs.
	"If you're in the same room with her she'll try to stifle it and thinks it works. Everyone watching the movie notices her doing it, but nobody has the heart to call her out on it." Hallia said hoarsely.
	"Wow, I actually end up laughing at those scenes. Not because of the movie but because Petunia's just breaking down from some little thing." She replied before letting a short span of silence in. "But seriously though, thanks."
	"No problem." Hallia figured that was meant to encompass all of today and not just the gift card, it still felt sincere. Mary was right about one thing though, this was definitely not the kind of conclusion she could have possibly expected. There was never going to be an absolute knowledge in predicting what she would do. Instead of the bitter outlook Hallia had hours earlier of how things would turn out, all they did was sit together on a bench at dusk and watch the shadows lengthen.
	"Welp, if I stay in one spot for too long that crow might actually find me eventually. I'm going to head home." Mary broke the surface of the silence once again, sliding off the bench and starting in a direction. She slid the coif over her head and gave a quick wave behind her. "See you later, loser."
	Hallia began to raise a wing to wave goodbye until she realized Mary wouldn't even have seen it. Already out of earshot, she watched as the cat wavered slightly from being drunk and turn a corner out of sight. Once more the sleepy buzz of Canopy was apparent while she stood up and hopped down from the bench lazily. A moment more the absorb the scenery, then a messy stumble into a powerful leap as she began the flight home with a warm heart.


	Eggton's tones grew darkest as the sun danced across the unseen horizon, a final band of light slowly inched up the far wall like a clock counting down until the crimson sky turned black. Hallia effortlessly navigated in the air through the small town and touched ground on the lawn several feet from the Quibble residence. The few steps between were quiet and atmospheric.
	Just opening the door brought a flurry of warmth and familiar smells to her senses. Forth-most distant clacks and the scent of cooking told that dinner was on the way already. Farther into the den Alvus slouched on the couch glued to whatever program rung on the TV, beside him Lily was buried so deep into a book that she almost disappeared behind it's mass. Everything was just as she had left it.
	"Oh, you're back." Petunia poked her head in from an adjacent room to see who was at the front door, silently hoping that it wasn't Mary returning with a case of whiskey. "Where'd you go, anyway? I thought you said you were going to spend the rest of the day doing nothing but read?"
	"I still am; I went out with Mary." Hallia replied, shutting the door behind her.
	"Wait, you actually took her offer?" She stepped out fully from the room she was in and closely examined the canary. "You don't smell or look like you're obscenely drunk, do you have any warrants or mobsters out for either of you?"
	"Of course not. Well, Mary might have to lay low from that bar for a while but otherwise we're clean. Surprisingly enough I had fun." Hallia said shrugging. "Actually, sometime soon Mary might come down again. We found out about this diner off to the side of Canopy we'd like to try. Would you like come along when that time rolls around?"
	"That's still not a specific date, and lack of planning is a good reason why I didn't take her invitation in the first place. I can't really plan a space of time for something that's random, and there's no telling if I'd even have the spare time to begin with..." Petunia crossed her arms thoughtfully, closing her eyes to mull over an imaginary calendar. "Ugh. Maybe is the best I can do."
	"Aw come on, you already steal most of my work anyway. I can personally compensate for anything that gets blown over by the tiny break. You can't deny that it would at least be entertaining." Hallia put on her best grin just as she envisioned Mary would.
	Petunia turned away for a moment before finally snapping. "Oh alright! But there is nothing the either of you could say to convince me to touch a single drop of alcohol the entire time."
	It was settled, they went their separate ways back to wherever they were needed in the house. Hallia thought herself needing to complete the absolutely nothing she started a few hours ago and made her way back to the chair. The book still sat on it's arm with the bookmark on the same page which it had started today. She hopped up and settled down into it's imprisoning cushions with a slow exhalation, she sent her hand to retrieve the novel and opened it to where she left off, eyes hungrily beginning to absorb the awaited passage.
	"Hallia!" Petunia's distant voice rang again from several rooms over. "We're out of milk! Do you think you could run out real quick and get some more?"
	She had never before sworn so violently beneath her breath and started laughing at the same time.