Swamped

You suppose you might have better luck if you say things it's heard before. Fortunately, you know Simone's turns of phrase quite well. She always says "Listen up!" when she wants someone's attention, and you know she's said it to the sandy-mocker here more than a few times.

"Listen up!" you say.

"Already heard it from the boss," the sandy-mocker says. It almost sounds like Theodore said it himself.

So you're on the right track, but you may need to narrow this down. Simone's said it a lot, after all...

Ah, but usually she says it with a name. She's probably said it to the sandy-mocker here, so if you just say his name with it, well, you might hear something recent.

Now if only you could remember the damn bird's name.