A few moments passed as Nevin made his way back to his shop, the corvid still happily perched on his shoulder, swaying back and forth slightly as he strode along the street to his front door. He unlatched it and quickly ducked inside after making sure that there was no one trying to follow close behind him, perhaps a member of the menagerie trying to get a little payback for the chaos that the bird had caused. There was no one though, and the amused bird ducked down in an impressive display of flexibility to avoid the doorframe. As soon as the door had closed behind them the bird swooped off of his shoulder, landing on the counter with a slight scrabbling of its claws, then turned around and watched as Nevin locked the door.

“Now then. You. What are you? And why do you keep saying you found me – were you looking for me??” Nevin's tone was dark as he watched the bird at this point. There was no reason for anyone to be looking for him in a manner that led to them 'finding' him. Well. Maybe? He frowned and flicked his eyes across the glossy black feathers of the bird, the last half inch of each covered in a dark red hue. The man from the menagerie had called it 'rust' red, but to Nevin's eyes, even in this dark shop, he could tell that it was more accurate to call it the color of dried blood. Maybe this strange corvid was somehow a gift from Avis, or her.... disagreeable master?He couldn't remember all of the varied names that she had referred to him by, but they hadn't generally been positive. No, it wasn't likely that this came from him, but maybe she had sent him the bird as a reminder of their friendship and a gift? He'd have to send her – a long, drawn out series of pan-pipe flutes playing interrupted his thoughts smoothly, and he stared at the bird with a deepening frown.

“You could sense the – What on earth is it with everything and its kin being able to sense me? Especially corvids?” This was ludicrous! Stare was the first person in years who had seen through him – and she had had the benefit of her ability seeing that his soul was horribly mangled – then there had been the incident with the cat woman in his shop, and now this! A bird had apparently detected him from a distance and had come looking for him! It took an immense straining of self-control for Nevin not to fly off the handle at the bird, which had tilted its head to one side, before trilling again. He looked up at it, and it trilled those flute notes again, ruffling its wings as it twisted its head to the other side, staring at him.

“.....I will... give you the benefit of the doubt, for now. Your name was...?” The bird piped up a short series of notes, curious. “Names are how we identify each other.” A long, drawn out series of notes that made Nevin's brow scrunch up as he tried to keep track, finally leading him to cutting the bird off with a sharp shake of his head. “Look. I cannot use that in conversation to identify you or call for you.” A curious trill. “No, I can- wait.” Nevin's eyes widened.

“How can I understand you?”