Xisuma's Parrotsitting [HermitSteal AU]

The jinx of the century

Xisuma was not very excited about being called to the principal's office twice within the same week. Parrot didn't tell him about anything bad that he did nor something he needed an adult to properly cover up. Then again, he did return a bit disheveled and drenched in cold sweat, so something must've happened while he was out with his friends.

Truth be told, Xisuma isn't the most fond of the people the boy hangs around. In his book, they're all bad influences and Parrot is following in their footsteps with his threatening gun violence. There was one instance when he caught the boy chatting with a teenager double his height down the street and it was easy to tell that it wasn't simple chit-chat flowing between them.

Parrot didn't tell him who the teen was but he'd find out eventually. That red suit and equally red hair would be hard to miss.

Anyway, the reason he was called was because of a broken window. A window that was broken by a football hitting it too hard. Xisuma was impressed that someone managed to kick a ball so hard that it shattered a double-glazed window on the first floor. He knew Parrot couldn't kick that well, having hollow bones that were fickle and easily damaged, so it was easy to tell that he was a mere scapegoat.

At least, I was an easy fix. Xisuma offered to replace the window himself during class time, hoping that his willingness would shine some light on Parrot. The principal, while apprehensive at first, agreed after some consideration and further persuasion by the voidwalker.

It wasn't the first time he replaced a window. Having to look after young, rowdy, troublemaker Xanthus had its perks. Replacing their neighbor's backyard window when a ball would mysteriously find itself inside the house was a common occurrence.

With that, he called his work and told his boss that he'd be a little late. By 'late' he meant at least one hour. Thankfully, his boss was understanding, though Xisuma lied about why he would be late.

He wrote down dimensions, went to the store and returned with his toolkit in hand. One of the teachers was kind enough to help him carry the glass panes up the flight of stairs.

Whilst he worked on replacing the shattered pieces, Pearl –a dear friend of his and the school's cleaning lady– passed by. She stuttered in her walking, antennae twitching, broom almost falling from her hands by seeing him sitting on top of the cabinet next to the wall.

"What are you doing 'ere?", she asked curiously, though Xisuma could hear her knowing smile even with his back turned to him.

She was one of two that knew of his newly adopted son with an interest in firearms. The other one was Grian and he only learnt of all that because Xisuma wasn't sure what avians could eat.

"Just replacing a window", he answered, looking over his shoulder for a moment, chuckling. "Apparently, Parrot broke it yesterday."

"I don't know how the kids managed to do that but I gave them a nice, ol' scolding for causing property damage", the cleaning lady said with an amused grin on her face, giant, moth wings fluttering against her back like a cape.

"Did you see who it actually was?"

A hum came before the answer.

"I didn't but Mr. Marriott insists it was Parrot with his feeble avian legs. Obviously, it wasn't him; he only came inside to retrieve their football", a pause, "The rest of the kids were outside."

Internally, Xisuma sighed. He doesn't know Marriott very well but that first time he was called in, he could tell that the teacher wasn't very fond of the avian. It also didn't help that Parrot had the aura of a delinquent stuck on him like gorilla glue despite his innocent, feathered face.