One of the downsides for becoming some of the more exotic animals is that one can be less desirable as a mate. Lord Chumley is a prime example. His love of Lewis Carroll inspired him to become a dodo Animalian and bring back the bird from extinction. However, the dodo's awkward appearance, flightless nature, and being a synonym for 'idiot' has made it hard for many people to take the new Lord Chumley seriously, let alone see him as potential mate material.
Another such person is Leslie, having chosen a frigatebird for a more flamboyant image. And Leslie soon found out that he had a smaller dating pool than he expected. There were other gay men who converted, but many of them were being drawn by their new heterosexual instincts and the few that weren't already in relationships. And not many women were interested in becoming seabirds, let alone one that looks like it was just caught in an oil spill. Leslie tried to play off his loneliness, but he started to worry that only someone crazy would ever want him. He had no idea how close to the truth he was.
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Mateless or not, Leslie was still going to continue with his goal: being the first avian bodybuilder. There were already plenty of representatives of the other major Animalian groups, but birds were conspicuously absent. And if Leslie was going to convince other birds to be bodybuilders, he had to show that he was one himself. As such, he spent a lot of time lifting weights, as much as he could with the pandemic going on.
Leslie was on the bow flex at the moment, something that was a little tricky with the wings on his back. Then he heard a female voice gasp and say, "You're perfect." He looked up to see a somewhat middle-aged woman dressed mostly in black, including a black beret on her head which was at a noticeable angle. She had her fingers together at an angle, like looking at a picture. "Such perfect plumage and with just a splash of color. Oh, I can do so much with this," she said.
"Er, excuse me?" asked Leslie.
The lady seemed to notice he was looking at her. "Tilt your head, please, I want to see you in profile," she said.
"Pardon me, but who are you?" asked Leslie.
"Oliana," said the woman, "But my friends call me Ollie."
Leslie lifted an eyebrow, "Ollie's a boy's name."
"It's gender-neutral," said Oliana.
"It is not," said Leslie.
"Well what's your name?" asked Oliana.
Leslie hesitated before saying, "Leslie."
"And your point was?" asked Oliana.
"Well, what exactly are you doing?" asked Leslie.
"I was looking for inspiration for my next work of art and I've just found it," said Oliana, holding her fingers at an angle again.
"Er...I'm not sure how good an actor I am," said Leslie.
"Actor? Why would I need an actor?" asked Oliana.
"For that film you're wanting to shoot," said Leslie.
"Oh, I'm not a director. I'm an artist," said Oliana.
"An artist of..." prompted Leslie.
"Oil painting," said Oliana, "So many people overlook oil paints over modern mediums these days."
Leslie didn't know much about current art trends to really comment on Oliana's statement. "So you want me to model for your painting?" he asked.
"I don't think I can ask for a better blackbird," said Oliana.
"I'm a frigatebird," said Leslie.
"Ooh, exotic. Even better."
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Leslie had a few misgivings about 'Ollie', especially since she was one of those 'idle-rich' who recently moved to Animalia. Leslie at first suspected she was of those wannabe artists who had a lot more enthusiasm than actual talent. But when he saw her work, he had to admit she showed some talent. But there was a very obvious motif to her art. Most of her paintings were mostly black, or very dark colors. Ollie insisted she was just using various 'shades of black'. It made details a bit hard to make out on her painting, until light was shone directly on it.
Leslie's inclusion in her paintings did add more color with his red neck pouch. He found himself posing in various ways, which wasn't something he was unused to. After all, a big part of bodybuilding competitions was lots of posing. It was a little tiring to hold the same pose for hours at a time. During one of their painting sessions, Leslie finally asked, "Why are so fascinated with black. There are more brightly colored birds."
"Anyone can do colorful birds," said Ollie dismissively, "Personally, I think too many colors is garish. Black is always sleek and in style. Few people really bring out the beauty of darkness."
"Still, there are panthers you could ask to model for you," said Leslie, "And ravens are pretty common."
"You're an uncommon bird. That makes you more interesting," said Ollie, "Besides, I like you much more than any of them."
Leslie smiled. This wasn't really his idea of how he'd meet someone who was mating material, but he knew better than to be picky.