? The Caged Bird ? [Rebooted Reader Insert]

"She should be here any minute now..."

Steven relaxed against the couch, idly staring out of the large window, as he held you on his belly, lightly playing with your wings. "...I wonder how you got here." He suddenly wonders out loud, watching the rolling ocean. "If sirens lived near cliffsides, does that mean your parents are near-"

Squeeeal! Squeak!

"Huh?" He was brought back to attention as you began to grow restless in his embrace, squirming and wiggling to get free. "Are you-?" He grunted as you pushed against him with your hind-legs, pressing your tiny claws into your belly. "Oof! H-Hey, take it easy, little buddy." He cooed softly, tightening his grip on you a bit more. "I'm only doing this so you don't get yourself hurt." Even if he saw no harm in letting you roam the beach house for a bit, he didn't want to risk you breaking or chewing on anything with the gems away. "Just a few more minutes, and I'll let you go." You chirped and cooed in protest, clicking and hissing as you pushed against his belly, shaking yourself in an attempt to get his arms off you, inadvertently whipping your tail against his belly in your struggles.

"Ah- Ow- He-Hey! I can't let you wander just yet!" He almost sounded pleading as he struggled to contain you. "If you break something, pearl might-"

With effort, you succeed in wriggling your way out of his grip. Once free, you shook yourself off and turned around, looking him in the eyes with a small pout.

If it's one thing you cannot abide, it's being restricted.

Seeing how you did immediately run off, he chuckled and decided to submit in hopes of keeping you busy. "Okay. Now what?"

You stared for a second in thought. I must punish thee. With a mischievous snicker, you reached out and started to play with his face like the night before, squishing and kneading his face to make all sorts of silly faces, making you giggle to yourself.

"Oof.. is this all ya wanted to do?" Steven asked, his voice sounding funny from having it stretched into an abnormal smile. You give a cheerful dolphin squeak in response, whipping your tail side to side in amusement. He snickered in response. "You know, you remind me a lot of myself when I was a kid... so much energy..."

ROAR!

"EEK!!"

Your face play was abruptly halted as a of light pink appeared in the room and at once, two distinct figures leapt out of the large portal, prompting you jump back, clinging into Steven's face.

"Ah, Connie!" Steven sounded relieved as he picked you up, cradling you as he stood up from his spot. "Great timing. They were starting to get a bit antsy."

"Sorry I'm late," The girl huffed, adjusting the straps on her weighted bag. "Had to finish up a few college applications for today." She then directed her attention to you, who was snuggled up in Steven's arms. "How are they? Did they sleep well?"

"I think they slept great! They're so full of energy today!" He beamed, looking down at you, who had suddenly gone wide-eyed and ridged. "A bit... jumpy, though."

"Everything's still new to them, so that's understandable." Connie noted, leaning forward slightly to get a better look at you. She frowned, realizing just how tensed you were. "You okay there, little one?"

But her question didn't quite reach you. you were too fixated on the massive pink feline that stood before you. Your mind was almost scrambled at the mere sight of the thing. Not only was it 10× bigger than you or Steven, but you also sensed an unearthly aura around it. It seemed puzzled at you, leaning forward to sniff you, but you growled defensively in response, pressing yourself deeper into Steven's chest.

"Oh, don't be scared," Steven assured, petting your back and wings comfortingly. "It's just lion. He's not gonna hurt you."

Lion? You thought incredulously.

That's a lion??

Are lion's SUPPOSED to be this color??

Connie's eyes flickered between you and lion, and her eyes flashed with realization. "Oh, that's right, we never introduced them to each other yet."

"Oh... Yeah." He chuckled awkwardly, before gesturing to him. "Uh... siren... meet lion. Lion, meet siren." Lion chuffed in response, and shot Steven a questioning look. "Since they're still a baby, and we don't know where their parents are... they'll be staying with us for a while!"

He grunted in acknowledgement, his face softening slightly. Directing his attention back to you, he had a a calmer, more placid expression as he dipped his head briefly with a slow blink. You relaxed slightly. He seemed peaceful enough... After all he was letting your second caretaker Connie ride on his back...

Slowly, you gave a nod back to the lion.

"Whew, that's a good sign." Steven sighed with relief at the civil reaction between you both. "Maybe they'll become best friends now." Connie muses as she hopped off the lion's back. She gave a brief stretch, before gesturing to her satchel. "I did some reasearch on both species of sirens last night. I brought the notes with me. There's... actually a lot to them."

"Sounds great." Steven said with a smile. He then grunted as you started to squirm again, wanting to get a closer look at the odd pink cat, as he sniffed at your outstretched hand with interest. "Come on, let's head to the dome. At least there we won't have to worry about anything getting broken."