A Whole New Story

Chapter 6

The next day, Dipper awoke to the sound of chirping and the flattering of wings. He groaned quietly in protest, but when the sound didn't stop, he opened his eyes to see a blurry image of bright blue and dark brown feathers. After a few seconds, his vision cleared, and he saw the same Steller's Jay from yesterday staring at him and chirping. "Shh!" He immediately hushed the bird, hoping that it didn't wake the entire household. "How did you get here?" He gently sat up and petted its soft feathers. As he looked around his room, he saw his window slightly open and sprinkles of dirt in a line toward his bed and on his shirt. "Did you follow me all the way here?" The bird simply snuggled into his finger, enjoying the pats. The action caused Dipper to giggle.

"Alright, alright. I bet you're hungry. I'll be right back, stay here." He gently placed the bird on the desk near the window and left the room. He quietly and briskly made his way to the kitchen and took a few peanuts and berries before returning to his room. Since the sun had not risen yet, everyone was still sound asleep except him.

He quietly opened and closed the door to not startle his guest and made his way back over to the desk. There, he found the animal fluttering around but not flying off the cold surface. "Here. Hopefully, you eat these. You're not picky, right?" He placed the unsalted peanuts and berries on the desk and petted the bird.

The Steller's Jay simply hopped over to the food and picked out the peanuts before devouring them, then moved on to eating the berries too. It left two berries back and picked them up in its beak. Dipper looked at it confused until it hopped over to Dipper's hand, nudging it slightly and dropping the berries in his palm. "No, no... It's alright. I'm not hungry." The truth was that the burnet didn't know what else the bird ate and simply didn't want to risk eating the berries. However, the bird kept staring at him expectantly, so he took a deep breath and ate them. The berries were sweet but had an odd smell... which disgusted him a bit, but he managed to swallow. He forcefully smiled, and the bird seemed satisfied. It flew into his hand and laid down to sleep.

Dipper took this opportunity to do some research. It was clear that it was a normal animal rather than a magical creature, but that was all he knew. With his free hand, he entered the description of the bird into a search engine on his phone. After scrolling for a bit, he found a website that had what he was looking for. It was slightly difficult to type with his less dominant hand, but he managed to discover a few facts about the bird before it woke up.

According to its dark brown and bright blue feathers and its black crest, the bird that decided to follow him most likely was a Steller's Jay. The species was known to have excellent memory and are somewhat greedy since they occasionally raid other birds' nests. They're very social and tend to travel in groups with other Steller's Jays or other species of birds. They're known for being bold, intelligent, and noisy and they tend to grow to a maximum of 13 inches with a weight of 150 grams. They eat sunflower seeds, nuts, berries, and suet. 

Some characteristics of the species confused Dipper. The Steller's Jay that was sleeping in his palm was less than a day older than a fledgling, meaning it had recently learned to fly and was now transitioning from dark brown feathers to black feathers. Also, the bird was not even 10 inches yet and was extremely light. But that wasn't what confused Dipper. Why was the little guy alone if they traveled in groups? And why did it force him to eat the berries if they were greedy? He shrugged. Maybe it had something to do with the bird still growing and thus, being impressionable?

His alarm chimed loudly and he hurriedly dismissed it to not wake the sleeping animal. He smiled in relief when it rubbed its head against his skin but didn't wake. How would he do this? He needed to go eat breakfast... Could he skip? It's not like anyone would come to wake him, they never did. Yes, that's what he'll do. He'll stay in his room until the bird wakes. Until then, he would decorate his room since he had no time over the past few weeks to do so. 

Dipper had placed the bird on his pillow and quietly cleaned the room. Then he locked the door to his room with the sleeping bird still on his pillow so he could go to town and get a few items for the room and sneakily throw away the containers of cleaning products. When he returned to his room the bird was still asleep so he went through the items he bought and began placing them around the room as he pleased. There were a few packets of sunflower seeds and nuts that he placed in a drawer at his desk,  a few lamps with incandescent bulbs so he can have some light at night to read and some warmth for the bird, and a few nature-themed decorations for the room itself - fabric flowers and fake vines for the walls, and some vases with actual flowers to help give a sweet scent to the room. He was satisfied with how cozy the room felt, and he was sure his new friend would like it too. He finished decorating around three o'clock in the afternoon and decided to take a relaxing shower. When he returned to his room, in a new attire and tired, he was greeted with the fluttering of wings and chirping. "Look who's awake." He chuckled and petted the head of the bird. 

Should he name it since he's technically keeping it? Hm... maybe? This counts as a pet, right? Like how Mabel has Waddles? "Hm... what should I name you Mr. Sleepalldayafterwakingme?" The bird chirped happily causing Dipper to chuckle. "Hm, how about Jay? Do you like that?" The bird tilted its head and stared at Dipper. "No? Alright, alright. Guess that was too simple, huh? Hm... let's see..." The bird continued to stare at him expectantly. After a few seconds of thought Dipper had another name that he liked,  "What about Topaz? It's a cool gemstone, I think it suits you. Right?" The bird simply nudged against his finger, wanting heat pats. "Then it's settled. You're officially Topaz." Dipper patted the bird as requested before reading until he fell asleep.