Chapter 9

Getting to know the people Part 2

Disclaimer

I do not own Rio, nor any element inspirited by Battlestar Galactica, Crysis, Mass Effect or any other series.

After Rafael left the three macaws on their own, they didn't really know what to do. There were at least thirty to forty birds in the room, but all of them seemed to be engaged in a conversation with one another. The crowd knew very well that while Blu was a very intellectual bird who certainly proved himself worthy of leading an expedition, he was not exactly the most social bird, so they decided to not bombard him unless he initiated.

"It is quite lively here, isn't it?" Ripso commented, observing the flock of birds who were either drinking or talking to one another. While this was not alien to him, he didn't get many of these back at home. War time didn't allow for long periods of rest between deployments.

"Yeah. Well I truly believe they earned it. We had been working really hard the past few months." Blu spoke, agreeing with the blue macaw's observation. He too started to relax, knowing that everyone is practically safe from any harm for the moment. He wasn't the party type but this sort of relaxation will probably do good for him too.

"Hey! You two want to get a drink?" Jane semi shouted towards the Spix macaws, who didn't even notice that she left them. They turned their heads towards the source of the sound, only to find the Lear's macaw sitting at the bar table, waving at them. Ripso looked at Blu, as if asking for permission.

"Don't look at me, you are free to go, this is a party after all. Do what you want. I need to find Jewel so I cannot join you." The macaw looked at him with a confused look.

"You sure?" The pilot asked, but it was very clear it was just a bad attempt at trying to dodge social interaction. A move that was all too known to Blu. But he decided that Ripso did enough and should absolutely have some rest.

"No. You are not going to do anything tonight that is duty orientated. That's an order. You are dismissed." The blue macaw tried to speak with a very authoritative voice, which was not exactly something he was too familiar with as it was not his style, but it seems to have worked. Ripso nodded once and stepped aside, walking towards the bar. Blu turned around and headed towards the exit, attempting to find his wife.

Meanwhile Jane was observing the scene from about ten meters, drinking a cocktail of some kind. She couldn't hear or understand them, but they appeared to have made a small conversation after she yelled at them. Blu turned around and went towards the opposite direction, while Ripso joined her at the table.

"Blu went to find his wife for something." The macaw told Jane, grabbing the chair next to her and sitting on it, looking at the bartender, waiting for his turn. A second later the male scarlet macaw turned towards the duo, waiting for an order.

"The strongest stuff you got." Ripso ordered, followed by Jane. "The usual, please."

The bird nodded his head, turning around to prepare their drinks. Ripso's expression changed to a sadder, much darker one, not even looking at anyone just the table in front of him. Jane noticed it pretty quickly.

"Hey, what's wrong? You were so cheerful a minute ago!" The Lear's macaw questioned, curious about the sudden change of mood. The pilot took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts.

"This just feels wrong. My whole unit is still on deployment, who knows, maybe having a fight somewhere right now. Depending on the Alliance, if they know what happened then I'm labeled as missing in action or killed in action."

"In the latter case my friends and probably whole airwing already buried me, and I'll be another name on the Fallen Heroes monument back on Earth. Which means people I hold dear are emotionally hurt. And here I am drinking alcohol and supposed to have fun when they are grieving." He vented, still not looking up, his expression otherwise unreadable. Jane didn't really know what to say to this. She did note however that Ripso clearly had mood swings, which may very well indicate psychological problems. Most likely PTSD or some other type of trauma.

"It is not your fault. It is probably your Alliance's fault for not securing that device properly. If anything, you are a victim here." She commented, trying to be supportive for the macaw. His body twitched slightly, indicating whatever she said must have had some sort of effect. She decided to continue.

"You crash landed in water. Healed up in a day and immediately got into action, helping us save a member who would have very likely died if we didn't get back in time. It is a hurricane outside, so even if you wanted to you couldn't work right now." She added, attempting to reason with the pilot. This seemed to work as he finally looked up, looking at her in return. His facial expression still unreadable though.

"Most of the stuff we will do in the following days will need a lot of your time and expertise, so it would be wise to let go a little. You are not useful if you are tired. Regardless how used to it you are from being in the military. Technically, you are not in the military right now."

"If our society and its values survived the attack as you mentioned, I'm one hundred percent sure that everyone you know would understand the situation if they knew about it. And would probably want you to relax while you can." Ripso looked away for a moment, thinking about what Jane just said. He realized that she is right, he will be of little use if he was a wreck. "Yeah. You're probably right." He responded, agreeing with the female.

The bartender finally returned with their drinks, serving them at the same time. "Have fun!" He said, before turning away to serve other customers. The macaws picked up their glass and clinked them together.

"Cheers!" They both said in union before letting the alcohol filled drink slide down their throats.

With Blu

Blu looked around the entire camp, but simply could not find his wife anywhere. He first tried to find her in the hangar, since that was the last place he knew she definitely stayed. After having no luck there, he looked inside storage, the kitchen and even went to the communication tower room but found it empty. There was only one logical place where she could be, but the medical wing was in the same direction and he decided to visit Pedro.

The macaw entered the medical wing and searched the rooms one by one, as he didn't know the room number where his friend was located. After looking around for a while he found the room he was looking for and peeked through the glass. Pedro laid on the bed, breathing in and out peacefully, while reading some sort of book. He was still hooked up to an IV and multiple equipment was monitoring every vital sign known to bird.

After shifting his gaze to the side, he spotted a male flamingo dressed in conventional medical clothes. He decided to knock on the door, grabbing the bird's attention. Once he looked up and saw Blu, he immediately got up and moved towards the door, opening it as silently as he could.

"Blu. Nice to see you are in a good enough shape to move around. You came to check on Pedro?" The flamingo asked, moving to the side to let the Spix macaw inside. Blu walked inside, directing his sights on the cardinal once again.

"Thanks, and yes, I was looking for Jewel but since this is close I decided to check up on him." Blu explained, closing the door which the cardinal noticed after moving his eyes from the book he was busy reading.

"Blu! Nice to see you come by." He greeted the blue macaw, happy to see a visitor. The doctors told him about the whole rescue mission but made sure to keep every information about the future pilot as vague as possible until he is fully healed.

"Pedro. You got us all worried there. You owe me a helicopter you know." Blu joked, walking next to the cardinal's bed. "How you feeling?"

"When I first woke up it felt like a train hit me. Guess it was not that far off from the truth. But I'm fine now, even though I'm a bit slower thinker now than usual… Heard Rafael is planning a party."

"Sorry pal. We'd bring you if we could. But knowing you're OK is great, we had to do something." Blu wanted to apologize but got halted by the cardinal before he could finish. "Nah, don't sweat it. I'm too tired anyways. Have fun and relax!" The blue macaw smiled, happy Pedro understood.

"Thanks buddy. I'll leave you be for now. We need you back soon so get all the rest you need." He said his goodbye and wanted to walk towards the door before he remembered they were not alone in the room.

"How long is your shift?" He questioned, turning around to face the doctor. The doctor looked up from the papers, raising an eyebrow at the question.

"How long? All night." He replied blankly, putting the paper back, to focus his attention fully on the Spix macaw. Blu was surprised by the answer, so he decided to question it further. "But don't you want to relax with the others?"

"The two serious cases since the expedition started was only when that Ripso guy ended up here and now Pedro. Let's be honest none of the medical professionals had a lot to do. I volunteered to stay for the shift, looking after the patient while the others have some much-earned rest. Plus, shifting wouldn't really work unless you want a drunk doctor to look after Pedro." The flamingo reasoned, earning a nod from Blu. The macaw walked up to the door and opened it up to leave. "Thanks. You'll get a day off once this is done then."

The two birds said goodbye and Blu closed the door, satisfied by the care his friend is receiving. He continued down the hall, leaving the medical wing and arriving shortly after in front of his bedroom. He knocked on the door twice but got no response other than silence. He knocked once again but got the same result.

Blu decided to open up, and not surprisingly the room was pitch black. After his eyes adjusted to the darker environment he scanned the room again but found no trace of anyone. The bathroom was closed, meaning no one was inside there either. The macaw shrugged and closed the door, a little bit disappointed.

He turned around and walked all the way towards the end of the hallway. After turning a left corner towards the conference hall, he saw a single bird about twelve meters in front of him. It was none other than Jewel, who was glued to her phone, looking like if she was searching for something. It must have been important because she did not even acknowledge his presence.

Once she passed him, Blu turned around and followed her. He grabbed his own phone and decided to check his messaging app. Indeed, Jewel was looking for him, asking people if they saw him or not. Some of the responses were fairly accurate while others were straight out weird. He typed in the chat room himself.

Looking for me?

Yes! Where are u?

Look behind you.

Jewel turned around and came face to face with her husband. "Where were you?! How long have you been following me?" She asked, not getting how Blu could have sneaked up behind her so easily. He chuckled, showing the phone in his hand, using his other wing to point towards it.

"You were too focused on the phone to see me. I was coming from the opposite direction." Hearing the explanation Jewel became a little embarrassed making such a mistake. The irony part was she was the one who enforced the strict no phone during work policy. "Alright, you got me. But what were you doing there anyway?"

"I was looking for you. I thought you would be at the hangar but that was empty. I looked around until I ended up at our bedroom but that was empty too. I guess we just avoided each other." Blu explained, earning a small nod from Jewel. He shortly added.

"Well… I wanted to find you to ask if you want to come to the conference room? Rafael organized a neat little party after our successful rescue mission. Jane and Ripso are already there. Last I heard Rafael and Daniel are looking for a way to set up some music." The female macaw almost jumped at excitement hearing the question.

"Of course Blu! Silly, what made you think I wouldn't want to go? You ready?" Blu didn't see her this excited in a long time, and instantly forgot anything that he might have wanted to do. He extended a wing which Jewel gladly took as a sign of conformation. To be on the safe side he answered the question verbally.

"For you, I'm always ready. Let's go." The blue macaws walked down the halls and corridors, closing in to the conference room. Soon enough the stormy background noise which they got so used to that it was practically undetectable slowly faded away, giving room for the much more pleasant sound of music, although it was muffled.

"Looks like they figured it out. Sounds like it's not live music but that's not a big deal." Blu commented, starting to see lights randomly flashing on the wall opposite to the conference room's door. It appeared the spotlights were reconfigured to do light shows. Rafael was certainly not joking about the party part. The pair arrived at the door, now being able to see inside the room, which now looked like a typical night club.

The moment Blu opened up the door, the previously muffled music turned into crystal clear melody, temporally deafening the macaws until their ears got used to it. He stepped to the side, allowing her wife to go in first. She smiled at the gentleman gesture, taking the lead and stepping inside.

Blu swiftly followed her, now fully enveloped by the mood of the party. The music's rhythm stimulating parts of his brain that were now in a constant battle with the conscious mind to just burst out dancing. This phenomenon was a well-known and documented across several bird species originally native to South America. It was largely a part why everyone considered South American birds to be the 'kings' of music and dance. After combating their urges, the macaws calmed down and went deeper into the crowd.

The couple bumped into Denis who was talking to a female scarlet macaw. The female stopped speaking to greet them. "Hey guys. What is up?"

"Hi Jasmine, Denis. We just got here, nothing interesting yet. How is the party going so far?" Blu replied and asked the duo, hoping for some feedback and possibly learning of something that happened in that relatively short amount of time they were not here.

"At first it started really slow, lots of people were unsure if we should really do this. But let me tell you Daniel knows how to pick music." Denis answered his question, making sure to erase the concerns the blue macaw might have. The scarlet macaw felt her talons were empty, so she excused herself. "Sorry, I'll go grab a drink. Be right back!"

The group nodded and let her go, but Blu was still curious about the blue and yellow macaw as his past was not really well known. He was working for the firm the expedition hired to provide the security, and according to them he was one of their best operatives, right after Daniel. That was certainly a great feat, outclassing eagles as a macaw is nothing to be ashamed of.

"I never really got a chance to ask this, but what made you consider to become a security officer?" The blue macaw asked, legitimately curious about the answer. Denis didn't even think too much about the question before answering. "Simple. I like guns. Security pays good, I get to shoot guns at bad guys. Was not a tough decision to make at all."

"Never would have thought that. You don't seem like a gun fanatic, you are always calm. Then again maybe that's just an American stereotype I was picturing of gun owners." Jewel exclaimed, surprised by the reason. The blue and yellow macaw chucked at the thought, but not too surprised at the reaction.

"I was surrounded by guns my entire life. My dad was ex-military, we had like fifteen assault rifles home. Learned to aim and shoot when I was five. I won shooting range tournaments when I was ten. Tell me any kind of gun's name, I shot with it." He listed his achievements proudly, taking pride in his expertise. "Dad always told me the importance of self defense. The one day he didn't bring one with him, he got shot dead in front of our house by a burglar. I swore to never make that mistake myself."

"My condolences. That is horrible." Jewel replied, thinking about what the macaw might have gone through. Instead he almost snorted, raising both blue macaw's 'eyebrows' at the strange reaction. "Nah. He was kind of an asshole, typical narcissist. Always bossed my mother, siblings and me. He had it coming. Still, I don't intend to end up like him anytime soon."

"OK, that is one way to look at it I guess. Any plans what to do after this whole thing is over?" Blu questioned, attempting to hopefully shift the conversation to a more pleasant direction. Thankfully it worked, because Denis nodded his head.

"Yeah. Going to buy myself a flat somewhere in the capital. I realized with my pristine record, I could apply to become a Sentinel. That would be a dream job… But I'm quite thirsty myself, going to get something to drink. I wonder where Jasmine went. See you guys later!" The blue and yellow macaw explained his future plans but also excused himself. The three macaws said their goodbyes and parted ways. The blue macaw pair wandered deeper into the crowd, looking for their next set of birds to speak to.

It didn't take long until Blu managed to spot Rafael talking with Daniel near the DJ table. He gently nudged Jewel to grab her attention, pointing a wing towards their direction. Jewel nodded her head, as the music and crowd's volume made understanding speech a hard thing unless the people were literally centimeters from each other. The couple snaked between birds in a zigzag pattern until they finally reached their friends.

"Hey Jewel, Blu. Glad to see you could make it." The Harpy eagle greeted the Spix macaws, who finally got close enough to understand each other.

"Hi Daniel. I see you guys got the music to work properly." Jewel pointed out, looking around to find the speakers in the room which blasted music in all directions.

"Yeah. I put together some fancy music playlists while Rafael got the cable management under control. If we can't have live music at least we can enjoy some classical and modern tunes." Daniel answered, placing most of the accomplishments on the toucan who was too humble to accept it.

"Nah. I just helped out the audio guys, they did most of the work. The sound system almost fried the whole electrical grid because there was a short-circuited board in one of the audio controllers. We replaced it and now it works wonderfully." Rafael explained, before changing topic and directing the conversation towards the Spix macaws. "How are you feeling Blu?"

"Good. Still a little sore but not much I can complain about."

"A few shots of vodka or a fine bottle of wine will take care of that for you." Daniel commented, attempting to invite the macaw for some drinking. He became a little nervous hearing what the eagle had to say. "Heh. I don't think Jewel would like that." Blu said, earning a look from his wife.

"You can drink, just don't end up wasted like you did three months ago." Jewel said, with a half smug, half grin on her face remembering the event in question. Blu became almost offended, trying to come up with something to say but Rafael stepped in.

"Come on Jewel, that was not fully his fault. He was my wing man on the wedding after all. And you know my father, he will not stop until everyone has some alcohol in their system in a wedding where he is present. Plus I think both me and Eva supported it a little more than we should have." The toucan defended the macaw, tying to shift the blame partially on himself.

"Ah, just kidding. I got tipsy too so no worries. Besides, we had one of the most hilarious conversations that night. I just want him to be functional tomorrow. Anyways, speaking about Eva, what do you know about her right now?" Jewel asked, interested about what her friend is up to as well as how is she holding up. Jewel knows very well how hard distant relationships can be.

"I spoke to her before the storm hit. She didn't take it too well but I managed to calm her down. I told her we go back as soon as the hurricane is over, but you can't really blame her for being worried. This storm is no joke." Rafael answered, thinking about his wife back in Rio, which is just outside the hurricane's reach, meaning she is safe from harm.

"Did you two manage to buy that apartment near the beach she was dreaming about?" Blu questioned, remembering something Rafael spoke about a few weeks prior. The toucan was delighted to answer the macaw's question. "Yes, we got most of the money but had to get a loan to pay off the last bit and to afford the necessary renovations. But once we get through this we should be golden for a long time."

"Have the prices normalized since the last time I looked at them?" Daniel joined in the conversation, finally got to a topic where he could properly engage in. Rafael nodded his head in conformation. "Yes they have. In fact, we waited out the price drops until we bought our apartment. Unless this storm does damage to Rio I believe houses should be affordable by the time we get back home. That reminds me, Blu, Jewel, what about your house plans?"

"Oh, well we are not too sure yet. We thought about moving up to my parents for a few weeks in December for a little winter vacation. After that we are going to come back to Rio and find a place to build the house. Probably near the jungle that has a direct view to the sea." Blu replied, getting an instant comment from Jewel in the process.

"A location like that is going to be terribly expensive honey." The male acknowledged the comment and agreed with it. "It will be. But if this job won't be enough to pay for it then nothing will." Blu humorously said, resulting in a laugh from the whole group. Once the laughing died off, the macaw continued his questioning. "What will you do after this is done?"

"First off I'm going to find the smart guy who thought it was a great idea to leave us here in this and have a little chat." The toucan explained, placing a noticeable tone on the chat word, disguising the true intent behind it, but it was not too hard to figure out what he might have thought. "Then I'm probably going to speak with Nico and Pedro and open up that samba club they wanted to do for a long time now." Both blue macaws were surprised by the news that Rafael just told them.

"Club? They are serious about that?" Jewel asked surprised, thinking they were only joking about it. Then again, unlike most birds here they didn't really give an answer to what will they do with the money. She reasoned the funds of both birds would be more than enough to start multiple clubs even in downtown Rio. She is going to have to question Nico about that if he will not be too shaken up.

"Of course they are. You two know how well they sing, they will blast in the music industry in no time." Rafael reasoned with the macaws, earning a nod from both of them. There has been a pretty big gap in the industry for the past few years. Making Brazilian music more popular in the world would boost bird's opinion of Brazil, which might help more countries to side with it regarding the importance of fossil fuels and pollution. And who doesn't like samba?

"True, well in that case if you need any help with the logistics don't be afraid to call me up. I'm glad to help." Blu offered his help which the Toucan gladly accepted. "Thanks amigo, I'll be sure to call you if I need something." He reassured the macaw. Jewel noticed the harpy eagle was rather silent, which was not that surprising, after all unlike Rafael neither she or Blu knew him before the expedition.

"Daniel, how are things between you and Sarah? You don't really speak about her or anything really." The eagle blushed slightly, putting a wing behind his head, looking around, avoiding eye contact while he collected his thoughts about the matter. Jewel's sudden interest in his life was not something he was that prepared for.

"Well uh… Things are good. I think the relationship between us is serious but she still has to finish her doctorate, so we are going slow. But this whole expedition and communication cut off is a little bit unfortunate, I'm not too sure how things are right now." Daniel admitted, the whole expedition known each other pretty well, but he never really elaborated a lot on his personal life. The group understood and decided to not question the topic further.

"And what about your personal plans? What will you do after this is over?" Blu asked next, interested in the response, hoping he will stay with them. Daniel was an excellent security officer, an asset that is useful in any expedition. The eagle didn't really think much before answering the question as straight forward as he could. "I like working for the Security department, would not trade it for anything. I will stay, so if you decide to do another expedition I'm in. Besides, this whole Ripso thing is a once in a lifetime experience."

"Great to know. If there will be another job I'll definitely be contacting you." Blu stated, happy to know he can rely on the eagle for further work. Now with that over, Jewel quickly looked around the crowd, trying to find somebody but failed to do so. "Does any one of you know where Nico is?"

"He should be somewhere near the bar, I told him to get some drinks. Poor guy didn't really take the alien thing too well, hopefully the alcohol can help him deal with it. I told the others to watch out and don't let him get too drunk though." Rafael answered Jewel's question, pointing towards the bar which happened to be close to them. The macaws quickly searched through the space, looking at every bird they could see. They soon distinguished a small yellow patch that turned out to be the bird they were searching for.

"Ok, we'll go check up on him. Have fun!" Blu stated, waving towards his two friends. Rafael and Daniel waved back, after which they turned their attention to other places.