Open-minded though she was, Alaine still viewed the birds as little more than pets to her large-eared pupil. They were not Luperci, and although they were close to her gods, surely they were capable of only as much reasoning as the smartest prey. Birds had an intelligent look about them - Something about their beady eyes, that made her think of Elvira - but when their beaks opened and out flowed words, the woman was stunned.
"... Oh!" The gentle exclamation of surprise was followed by an instinctual stiffening of her frame, poised with such an intense rush of shock and curiosity that she was spellbound and silent. Emerald eyes widened impossibly larger, pupils darting between the two birds who had spoken - Yes, spoken. Words! Real ones, of the language not of her heart but of her mind. For a moment, her sense of rationality tried to label the event as a strange party trick; Perhaps Zeke had taught them to mimic such sounds, in response to a certain question. But the harder she looked, the more intelligence she saw in avian eyes. Besides, her pupil would not lie to her - He was not the sort to find amusement in such deception.
As if for affirmation, the woman's gaze turned then to the straw-hued young man, before darting back to the birds. "Well, I... Well!" He had truly shocked her, a thing impressively difficult to do these days, and something his father had not succeeded in doing for a long time now.
Swallowing hastily, Alaine sought to revive her absent manners. "Thank you... Zola?" She was having a conversation with a bird. The urge to laugh bubbled in her throat, but was mercifully contained. Perhaps they had thought her rude for speaking about them so insolently - But she was, after all, a Luperci, and thus in some way superior to the feathered friends of Ezekiel de le Poer. "How much do they know?" She asked of him softly. The bird's glossy feathers reminded her of Gabriel, and she wished they would come closer so that she might observe them better.
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