A Small Surprise [Autumn & Marko]

Snoring. Well more like squeaking, since the noise itself came from a rather small moogle with a blue pompom. However he was moving. Not on his own of course, he had fallen asleep laying on the back of a large white chocobo. The bird wandered aimlessly through the city, carting the courier about without a care in the world. Now the large bird was since recently Marko’s travelling companion. The bird also tended to get rather motherly toward the little moogle.

Marko turned over, and as he turned he slipped off of the chocobo’s back. He landed on the street with a thud (though remained asleep for now) facedown, his pompom the only thing that caused people to walk around him. It took the white chocobo a moment or two to realize that her passenger was missing, before she turned around, warking very loudly as she walked back toward the moogle.

The bird leaned down, placing her face right down next to Marko’s and opened her beak. With a deep intake of air the oversized bird let out a very loud “kweh” causing several people to stop and stare at what the heck the bird was doing. Marko rolled over again, pulling his ears down as he muttered “five more minutes…”

As the cool water splashed in his face, Marko jumped up in surprise off the ground only slightly higher than the woman stood. He was yelling things in his still sleepy stupor but that was brought to a quick halt when the white chocobo grabbed his pompom in her beak to hold him about eye level with the red mage. He blinked, looking at the girl and seemed a bit annoyed. “Hey! What’s the big idea splashing me with water?! I was having a nice nap!” His attention shifted, sniffing as he tried to brush the water out of his fur with his hands. He looked at her, as his eyes started to water from the mint. “Ooh…this smells nice!” He swung himself around and up. The white chocobo let go of the pompom and Marko landed after a quick backflip on the bird’s head.

He shook his hands out and held his right one out toward her. “Hi, I’m Marko!” he told her happily, introducing himself as if none of the events from a very short moment ago had even happened. He had a huge smile on his face, was he just really friendly? Or was he masking some horribly appropriate revenge plot that was formulating in that little noggin of his?

“You thought I passed out?” The moogle paused. “Hahahahahaha!” He fell back and rolled down the neck of the chocobo to start rolling around on the bird’s back. The bird fluffed up her feathers and swung her head around, picking the moogle up before plopping him down on the ground in front of Autumn. She also gave a rather disgruntled wark. Marko blinked and looked up toward Autumn still smiling.

“Oh that’s a cool idea!” he said, taking the water from her to drink while shaking her hand with his paw. He took a gulp and let out a very happy and refreshed sigh. With another motion he walked around a bit, over to the chocobo’s side where his bag hung. He reached inside and pulled out a bar of chocolate to hold it out to the girl. “Here you go Autumn! ‘Cause you shared with me!”

He was definitely being friendly, and in his head since she shared her water he could forgive her for waking him up so suddenly. Not like Autumn would ever had known he was until now (for that extremely short time) planning to get her back.

“But you gotta!” he whined, flat out placing the chocolate bar in her hands. “I have plenty!” he said, giggling slightly as he shook the messenger bag around his shoulder a bit. “Oh! Before I forget” he muttered, pulling out another chocolate bar. He unwrapped it and tossed it over in front of his chocobo. The bird’s eyes lit up and it warked happily as it snatched the chocolate bar from the air. The bird swallowed the candy in one gulp and let out a very loud and very happy kweh, its eyes sparkling slightly.

Marko laughed and looked up between Autumn and his bird. “See, Popo likes chocolate too.” He had a huge goofy grin on his face as he spoke. Though if you wanna pet her you gotta ask her he stated flatly, glancing up at the bird.

‘Popo’ blinked and looked at Autumn, leaning down to stare the girl directly in the eyes. The large white bird nudged forward, placing its beak against Autumn’s nose before quickly drawing back. Popo the Chocobo drew in a deep breath and basically yelled in Autumn’s face. “Waaaaark!” she said, before laying her head sideways on Autumn’s shoulder.

Marko looked at the bird and his jaw dropped, though it didn’t last long as he started to jump up and down. “Oh, oh, oh! That means she likes you!” he stated, that grin still on his face. “But…I don’t think I need anything” he said, answering the girl’s question.

The chocobo let out a rather contented sound as Autumn petted her on the top of the head. Popo even went so far as to rub her head against the hand affectionately, gently pecking the girl on the side of her arm to say keep doing that.

“Uhhhh…maybe in a little bit!” Marko exclaimed with a smile. “If Popo has too much chocolate within a short period she gets really hyper and loud.” Of course his smile remained the whole time he spoke, though as he talked about her, the white chocobo fluffed up her feathers and turned her head away from Marko as if she had just been grievously insulted. Then again, if anyone knew the words hyper and loud it was the young moogle.

It just meant if he was calling someone else either of those two things, it was really bad. When Autumn asked her question he stopped and thought about it, holding up a finger. “One sec!” he said, jumping with his bag up onto the large bird’s back. He started going through his stuff and then looked up to her. “Nope! I don’t have to stay for much longer!” he smiled still. “I had to deliver some mail but I did that not to mention I was lost before even getting here so now I gotta figure out how to get to a place called ‘Balamb Garden’.

He made a face, like someone had just poked him in the side. He hated actually admitting he was lost.