November 12, 2022

A crow is watching Oleander sleep through the window. Oleander stirs a little in his sleep. The crow caws loudly. Oleander snaps awake and stares at the crow. "Hello??"

"Hey, come out here man you gotta see this," The crow says with an accent and hops off the window seal into the yard. Oleander fucking blinks and pulls on his coat and boots, heading outside. Oleander walks out, looking around for the crow in confusion. The crow is out in the snow. It's hopped over to a rock.

He walks over to the rock. "What do I need to see?"

"Come er don't be shy man" The crow gestures for him to come closer with a nudge of it's head. He comes closer and bends down. The crow is looking down at a butterfly wing on the ground. "You see that? That's what I'm talkin about."

"Um... the butterfly wing?" Oleander reaches out to pick the wing up.

"Yeah! Yeah! Butterfly wing. Tho- that's not what I'm seein ya know? yeah?" The crow nods. The small wing is delicate.

Oleander is gentle and places it in their palm. "What are you seeing then?" They ask, tilting their head

"I'm seeing a business opportunity, how long has it been since you've seen one of these fuckers layin out for free?"

"...butterfly wings?"

"You could sell one-a deez babies for a pretty penny yeah? You followin? I wanna see you nod I can't tell if you're following with that confused look ya got there" The crow gestures at Oleander with its wing.

Oleander nods, "How can you talk?"

"I'm loosin ya mate, come on stay with me here" It flaps its wings "That wing will sell good right?"

Oleander nods. "Yeah, right-"

"Now if you got to where these suckers are comin from you could have em all to yourself right? You'll be rich if you played your cards right, yeah?" The crow nods.

"I don't think butterfly wings sell for that much honestly-"

"Not with that attitude it won't. Get some marketing for these bad boys and you've got yourself a foundation. Next you should consider buying the property they come from. Really keep 'em to yourself ya know? No competition"

"Alright.... but butterflies migrate- they don't stay in one place"

"Tack em- follow em- take it all along the way. This is your life now, your livin yeah?"

"What????" Oleander stares in confusion

"Stick with me man" The crow nods, waiting for Oleander to nod back.

"No hold on, what do you mean this is my life now?!?"

"This is how you make a livin. This is how you provide for yourself."

"Um... okay," He nods.

"Walk with me, walk with me" The crow gestures with its wings as it starts walking. They pace in the yard.

"You have loved ones ya?" the crow asks.

"Uh... yeah"

"Ya wanna provide for em yeah? Make em proud of ya, proud to know ya?"

"Yeah, yeah." He just decides to go along with it.

"You can't do that if you can make a livin on your own. that wing is a ticket to a better life for you and them."

"Okay- alright. So what now??"

"You see that on the shelf at a store but what's gonna make you wanna buy it huh?"

"Uh... the salesman???"

"And that would be you, yeah?" The crow looks over expecting a nod.

"Uh... guess so?" He nods.

"How ya gonna convince them? Easy tell em everyone has em. Tell em it's their ticket to respect"

"...okay..." Oleander nods.

"They get in their heads and can start bumpin that price up. You can make even more"

"...right. Why are you telling me this?” He's getting a little dizzy from walking around in circles.

"I'm tellin ya there's an opportunity right there you're not takin. Not to mention more than that. You've seen plenty of rare things around here. Why do you not use em for your benefit?"

Oleander thinks about it. "Not a horrible idea actually. But where would I sell them? I don't know if you know this but the world is kind of ending?"

"Trading and selling is the same concept, different items yeah? That hadal for example. Unlimited blood source and if you play your cards right it's unlimited resources"

"Hadal? Do you mean Lock?"

"Yeah, hadal blood is very rare ya know? You gotta use it while you got it"

"She's a person, my friend i'm not using her," Oleander sneers a bit.

"You gotta toss aside those morals if you're gonna make people proud."

"I'd prefer to keep my morals then, thanks."

"And what if someone else doesn't? They will pocket the change right under your nose"

"I don't really need money to be honest???" Oleander says, putting his hand without the wing in his pocket

"So you're just letting that chance go to someone else?"

Oleander huffs. "Yeah pretty much! If they wanna ruin their life then go ahead."

The crow huffs back and shakes its head "They are ganna play you like a fiddle. See ya with the other risen yeah?" The crow takes off and disappears into the trees. Oleander crosses his arms and walks inside.

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