The Great Easter Egg Hunt

Beau was in a new place today. It was full of flock and some non-flock. It was loud and exciting. He decided to speak up so the flock would know he was there and was excited too.

Everyone had gathered for the annual Xavier Mansion Easter Egg Hunt. People who normally did not live at the mansion but were somehow affiliated with the X-men had started arriving at sunrise. A small prayer service was held in the chapel, attended by a few faithful, but now everyone was together in the living room. The cockatiel was shrieking his head off, screaming over the crowd in his metal cage in the back of the room, his crest up, his body clinging to the door of his cage, occasionally striking the metal bars to make a loud, unpleasant sound.

"Why did you ever get that?" shouted Lorna Summers, trying to get Bobby's attention. "He's more trouble than you ever were."

Bobby bit back a sarcastic reply. "You just answered your own question!" he yelled cheerfully.

He was being left out. Flock got to come and go out of his cage. He wanted out too! Flock might get lost if he didn't get out and help them find their way back!

Heads were turning as Beau increased the pitch and tempo of his screams, sounding like a pitifully tortured birdie. He flapped his wings, excited by the attention, and continued banging on the cage door as he shrieked to be let out.

Logan cut through the crowd and extended his claws. Silence fell. "Get the doors closed," he growled as he walked over to the cage.

Flock that was fun to preen came to his cage. Out? Was he getting out? Beau chirped a soft, rising trill.

The doors to the living room shut as people scrambled out of the short man's way. He retracted his claws once he got to the cage door and couldn't keep the smirk off his face upon hearing Beau's quiet chirps. "Wondering what's goin' on, huh?"

Oo, he was going to get Out. He was! He clung to the side of the cage and waited for the door to open.

The bird's "question chirps" stopped as Logan opened his door and took the animal out on his hand. The bird immediately started climbing up to his shoulder.

Got to go to the place next to the flock. That's where he belonged. He climbed the long way up to the flock and gave it a friendly nibble before settling in to preen his feathers.

He growled a little as the bird bit him, then started nibbling its gray chest feathers, yellow head moving furiously through them.

"Good thing I don't believe in biting back," he breathed as the announcement was made that the eggs had been hidden all over the first floor, and that only people with powers that wouldn't help them find the eggs or who were willing to wear power inhibitor collars ("this means you, Jean" could look for them.

The crowd cheered. Beau got scared and flew crazily around the room.

Loud noise. Scary! Too many people, too much not-flock. Get away! Scared!

The animal landed behind the couch, his claws scrabbling for an instant on the windowsill above before he fell. He hissed and complained as he landed, almost inaudible over the sounds of people leaving to start the hunt.

Logan sighed. He wasn't going to be part of the hunt for two reasons. He'd helped hide some of the eggs and he wasn't turning his senses off for anyone. That meant he had to retrieve the stupid bird.

Beau hissed in the dark place. Scary loud noises were all around him from scary not-flock and he hid.

"Come here, you." The protecting couch was pulled out from the wall and a hand reached for Beau.

Bite it!

Logan grabbed the bird, despite the painful bite it gave him, and pulled the hissing, biting animal up to his shoulder again, plopping him down there, then heading to the kitchen for a beer.

Beau slowly came back to himself from the scary place. Flock was there. He was in the Beau place. The scary not-flock was gone. He relaxed and turned to preening his wing again.