? The Caged Bird ? [Rebooted Reader Insert]

"...er, Connie how do you tell if they're still breathing?"

You grunted softly, coming out of your nap from a concerned voice sounding overhead. You would've looked up, but you felt too warm and cozy to lift your head.

"Check the gills, they should be moving."

Wha-?

You suddenly felt an abrupt rush of cold against your neck, as well as something gently brush against your neck, and gills, causing a bit of discomfort. You grumbled softly, leaning away from the bothersome touch, letting out a long weary yawn.

"Oh! There we go!" Steven chuckled softly, quickly pulling his hand away. "Sorry to wake ya, bud. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

I was okay. You thought, with an inward huff. You went to stretch out your limbs, only to find that they were bound up. Looking down, you found that you were swaddled up in a soft, plush blanket, still cradled in Steven's arms. While it was admittedly cozy, such constrictive wrapping was almost as suffocating as your egg was. Grumbling in protest, you shuffled and squirmed slightly, pressing your arms out for a bit of elbow space at least. "Oh! Are you okay, little bud?" Steven fretted, leaning back a bit to let you squirm more. Your struggling grew more intense, as you started to squeak in protest, which put the boy on edge. "Connie, I think they might-!"

With a bit of effort, you finally manage to unwrap yourself from the cushy restrictions, your wings instinctively flaring open as you stretched all for of your limbs out, letting out a long yawn.

"Oh. I... guess you're not a fan of being all wrapped up, huh?" Looking up, you found Steven's face staring back down at you, a small smile of amusement lightening his face. You tilted your head at him.

It was bizarre; he looked so close to you, yet he was so different at the same time. You looked at your scaley hand for a moment before looking back up at him. Clicking to yourself curiously, you reached and tugged at his blue top, pulling yourself up onto his chest, to see if he had any scales or something of the like. But he seemed to lack those entirely.

You reached a tiny hand up to feel around his neck to see if he at least had gills, but even those were absent. He chuckled softly, lightly brushing your hands away. "Yeah, I don't have any gills like you do."

You tilted your head at him, surprised at the answer. How could you expect to stay under water without them?

Without thinking, you reached up and gripped his cheeks, squishing them gently in your tiny fists. So soft without scales... you thought, idly pulling them to form a smile onto his face. And malleable to. You started giggling to yourself in amusement as you played with the boy's face, making him giggle as well. "I think they like me."

You grumbled softly, as he brushed your hands away again and you settled back down into his arms, curling up against his chest.

"I got the bottle ready."

Turning your head, to get a look around your landscape. It's clear that you've been brought into a den of sorts, but with was rather brightly colored and closed in. Where was the wind? Where was the sound of the sea?

Steven noted your baffled expression and rocked you gently to relax you. "Don't worry. You're just in my beach house. Nothing bad's gonna happen in here." He reassured.

His beach house. You repeated inwardly. That's what he calls this?

You hear soft, approaching footsteps, and you look back over to the kitchen to find Connie approaching, holding a baby's bottle in one hand.

"I added a few drops of fountain water into just in case." Connie stated handing the bottle to Steven. Steven nods, shaking it a bit to ensure its mixed well.

"Cool." Steven looks back down at you, and adjusts your weight to cradle you in one arm, whilst holding the bottle in the other. "Here. You must be hungry after all of that."

You grumbled, looking up at the two caretakers briefly before looking back to the feeding bottle. You sniffed at it tentatively before pulling it to you mouth and drank from it. Steven smiled especially wide when you relaxed against him.

"Aw... I think they're purring!" Steven whispered giddily, feeling the vibrations of your contented purrs against him.

Connie sat on the couch beside Steven to further inspect your small form cradled in Steven's arm with interest and adoration.

"I... can't believe this is real. I'm actually looking at a siren..." She whispered. Her eyes squinted, studying your abnormal features. "It's so... bizarre..."

The Steven lifted his brow and looked at Connie in interest. "This is really a siren?"

"Yeah, I've read about them before in greek mythology," She states, squinting her eyes as she recalled the details of them. "They were originally described to be half woman, half bird creatures. You know, before the mermaid stuff." She knitted her brows, suddenly looking confused. "But... this one's... literally a mix of the two." Connie placed a hand on her chin, contemplating the your small form in his arms. "They have the wings and talons... and the tail and gills." She poked lightly at one of your feet.

"Yeah..." He looks back down at you. He knew he should've been surprised or at the very least unnerved by this, but he only found himself intrigued with this.

"So... it's basically a hybrid?" Steven concludes with a shrug.

"Yeah... pretty much." She slowly confirmed. "We should read a bit more about them just to be safe." She squinted subtly, gently running a finger gently over one of your wings, which were still quite underdeveloped. "After all, sirens were said to he dangerous."

"Really? They... don't even look that dangerous." He mutters, as he observed you finish off the last of the milk, sighing in satisfaction as you pushed the bottle away and rested your hands on your belly. He sets the bottle aside and adjusts your weight in his arms, and held you out so that you would rest in his forarms. "In fact... They're kinda..."

A small smile stretches his lips, as he peered down at your tiny form in his embrace.

"Cute..."

Connie smiles at the display before spares a glance outside of the nearby window, idly watching the ocean. "So... how do you think the gems will take it?"

Steven looks up from you briefly, to look over at the direction of the warp room, wincing in worry at the thought. "Uuuh... hopefully they won't freak out too much."

"Y-Yeah." Connie frowns, looking troubled as she looked back down at you. "Well... we can't just release them now with them this tiny..."

Steven himself frowned. "And we can't just give them up to an animal shelter or a zoo either... I don't think they'd know how to handle them." he muttered, looking back down at you, who had succumbed to sleep. He held you close, and you instinctively snuggled against his warm belly with a purr.

He couldn't quite place it, but there was something about how small and vulnerable you looked in his arms that made him feel oddly nostalgic.

Connie looked up at him quizzically. There was a period of silence as he contemplated you.

"I... think we should take care of them."