(This is a Solo, forgot to type that in the title.)

Nevin was tapping his graphite stuck against his notebook, not really seeing the notes he had been working on for the last half hour. It was somewhat late at night, and the only light the alchemist had to work with at this point was the flickering glow of a candle that was sitting beside his hand on the desk. The dim lighting wasn't responsible for his distraction though - that was to be blamed on the ruckus that was going on outside.

The walls of his shop had been muffling the noises for a while, and it was only in the last few minutes that they had gotten loud enough to actually be distracting. His eyes were now trained out the window, wondering if whatever was going on out there would go by where he could see it - to satisfy his curiosity about it if nothing else. But that didn't seem to be in the cards tonight, as the sounds stayed on the other side of his shop, moving back and forth along the street from what he could hear.

He tried to get back to work, convinced that whatever was going on out there wasn't as important as the formula he was trying to build - or the symbols he was currently trying to decipher, as the case may be - but every time the graphite started to mark the page again there was a fresh surge of noise that broke his concentration once more. A long, frustrated groan slid out from his lips - Nevin was sure he'd been on the verge of a breakthrough in understanding one of the runes, but now it was gone. Magical comprehension didn't work the same for everyone, so he was forced to work on this on his own and now-

”Would someone CATCH the ruddy bird already!?” The shout rang out from right outside of his window this time, and Nevin looked up in time to see a red-and-black blur shoot by the open shutters - and what was with the faint trill of someone playing a flute? - barely visible in the weak glow of the candlelight. Moments later a few people ran by, one holding a lantern that was shining brightly in the dark gloom, another carrying a large net on a stick - like an oversized bug-catching net, to Nevin’s untrained eye.

Alright then, whatever this was, it was going to be at least amusing. Watching grown men get run around in circles by an animal always was. Nevin pushed away from his desk, closing his notebook and tucking it into the hidden alcove built under his chair. He didn't need anyone who might wander into his shop while he was out checking out this debacle to stumble upon it. This precaution was second nature to the man at this point - even if he was locking up his shop, he didn't want any of his secrets being spilled to random thieves.

Nevin pulled back on his gloves - immensely glad none of the people pursuing the bird had looked in his window - and walked to the front of the shop, unlatching the door and slipping outside. He locked the door behind him and turned around, his dark eyes widening in surprise as he looked out at the street.