Private Eastern Brisshal Meeting some lovely friends again

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby's ears perked up at @Chako's remark. "True, but we are cat-people, and we do have some extra game stats, I guess." Ruby tilted her head, pondering. "My hearing and sight are really good." She said, then grimacing at the mention of health.

"Yes, uh... It is good to not gain extra pounds for eating too much honeybread cake." The Felis cleared her throat, eyes shifting embarrassedly as she reminded herself of her IRL weight increase.

Rubbing her chin, she looked at @Bluebird, with her eyes turning to the tree she pointed at. Ruby's ears perked up, turning completely at the direction of the tree, while her eyes became wilder and attentive at that direction until a smile grew on her lips. "Oh! You are right, they are chickadees... I think." Ruby's ear twitched again, but her focus on the singing of the birds was disrupted by Bluebird's joke.

Ruby snapped her head at Bluebird's direction, blinking for a moment before giggling and nudging her friend. "What? I'm not like a bat at all! Even if we are one letter of the alphabet away!"

 

[Chako]

Chako had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the mention of in-game stats... Like, yeah, it was true, but it was so immersion-breaking to talk about it openly! C'mon, Ruby! Don't ruin it!

"Oh, birds!?" Chako's ears perked up, "Yeah, I can hear them!

"As for me... Other than hearing, I smell things a lot better over here too... And things also taste amazing...! Like, even when eating the same stuff I eat back home, it still tastes way better!" Not like Chako did eat proper food in Arcia often anyways, as she didn't have that much money on her, but it was still wonderful when she could.

And well, Chako was also relieved Ruby and Bluebird didn't overthink the health comment.

And after that, Chako nodded frantically together with Ruby's words, "Nothing! Alike! Bats are ugly! Me and Ruby are lovely! We're completely different!" Humbleness? What was that? Was it tasty!?

@Crimson Ruby @Bluebird

 

[Bluebird]

"I would dare say that any with a normal tongue would find the fruits of Arcia that much sweeter, Bluebird said, looking down at her own plate. Her budget in the other world didn't allow for premium produce, and even then it was all so painfully processed. "One cannot beat food produced by human hands!"

And with those words, she emptied the last few sips of her teacup and set it to the side. Just in time to hear Ruby and Chako's opinion on bats...

"What? Bats are sweet creatures" She put on a look of mock offense... though there was a bit of truth to her frown. "They are small and soft, and protect us from sickness. Such a thing could never be ugly!"

Bats swallow sickness and hold it within them, she had been taught once, long ago. Give them thanks, but never touch them, lest the sickness escape.

And now it had been years since she'd last seen a bat. She wondered if they were still in the other world at all...

@Crimson Ruby @Chako

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby's ears perked up at @Chako and @Bluebird's exchange, and at first, she simply tugged the little cat's cheeks in an affectionate tease. "Now now, we are lovely, but so are bats, no?" She grinned.

"They may not be as lovely as us, but they have their own charm..."

Her eyes then shifted to Bluebird, nodding.

"Bats are also very kind, they take care of little bat babies when their parents are away foraging fruits, and even adopt orphan bat babies too when it is needed." She added to the compilation of trivias, almost making it look like some bat propaganda. But none of that was a lie.

"I will admit the part of protecting us from sickness is news to me though. What exactly do they do about it?" She couldn't help but ask and wonder, tilting her head in curiosity as she waited for her friend's elaboration on that matter.

 

[Chako]

"Would they really...?" Chako pondered as Bluebird talked about all food in Arcia being tastier... "Well, if you say so, I'll believe you." Not like she had any way to check anyways, "I agree that homemade food is the best though!" Definitely better than hospital food for sure. There was hardly anything bought at stores that Lisa could actually eat that she really enjoyed... So eating what her mom made for her was usually much better.

Stop thinking about Lisa. You're gonna ruin your own mood. Chako told herself. This was the world where she didn't need to care about anything that troubled Lisa, after all. It was a waste to keep on thinking of Earth while she was in Arcia.

That said... Chako couldn't get what Bluebird and Ruby were both getting at with the bats thing, "There is nothing sweet or lovely about bats!" Chako pouted as her cheeks were poked, "That's almost as bad as saying spiders are sweet and lovely because they get rid of flies. Them being useful doesn't make them any less ugly!" Did she know anything about bats protecting them from sickness? Not really, but she had no reason to doubt Bluebird's statement on that.

As Ruby elaborated on the stuff of them taking care of their young, Chako had to relent a bit though, "I guess they're nice to their own kind at least..." She mumbled.

She was surprised at Ruby not knowing the sickness part though... She did know the trivia of them caring for the young and orphans, so Chako figured that Ruby had probably scoured through the whole Wikepedia article on bats at some point to memorize this kind of thing... Or maybe she just lived near bats at one point, that was probably more likely.

She had no comment to make on the matter though, so she just looked at Bluebird and waited for the explanation with perked up ears... Before she realized it, she had gotten kinda curious about this one.

@Bluebird @Crimson Ruby

 

[Bluebird]

"Bats eat the bugs that carry illness and ravage our crops." Bluebird's voice took on an almost singsong quality - like she'd told this story a dozen times before. "Perhaps their faces may be ugly, but the purity of their spirit shines far brighter."

There was an oddly distant look in Bluebird's eyes as she said that. She was elsewhere for a moment, remembering the last time she had spoken such words...

A strong blink, a flutter of wings, and she was back in the present. "There are many things that are 'ugly' in this world that do good, and many beautiful things that do harm. So it is always better to judge by what they do."

Bluebird clapped her hands together. "But I am not here to speak sermons. I would hate to see our lovely meal grow cold and stale!"

@Crimson Ruby @Chako