My Little Bird | Blue Eyes (Under minor grammatical editing)

Chapter 27

I woke to the sound of Blue Eyes' snoring. I turned over in his arms and kissed his throat. I laid in his arms as I basked in the fog of sleep. When Blue Eyes' snoring stopped, I knew he'd be waking up very shortly. I had gotten used to his sleeping mannerisms very quickly, and I was thankful that he didn't do anything that woke me up at night. True to my guess, the simian's grip on me adjusted and strengthened slightly, signifying that he was awake. I nuzzled into his chest as a good morning greeting, and he breathed deeply before resting his mouth against my forehead.

"Should we get up?" I mumbled.

"No." He grunted.

"You're so lazy." I sighed.

"Not lazy. Just selfish." He adjusted his grip and I felt his large hand splay out over my belly. I laid my hand over his, enjoying the warmth from his palm.

"I'm hungry." I mumbled, feeling an empty ache in my stomach.

Not a second after I uttered those two little words, Blue Eyes was up and I was suddenly in his arms bridal style. He placed me down, took my hand and led me out into the village. I lifted a hand when the sun shone in my eyes, but Home Tree's broad branches gave me relief very soon. Apes were just starting to get up when we arrived at the slab of food that early risers had spread with fruit and vegetables and nuts and all sorts of goods.

Three hours later, I looked up to see a Gorilla Guard escorting none other than Alexander through the Gates, protecting him from the curious and energetic children that swarmed him. Since the peace treaty had been finalized, a few brave humans had chosen to visit the ape village. Of course, there were rules, there were no weapons of any kind permitted. The humans were to respect the village and its inhabitants, no harm was to be brought, from human or ape. And last but not least, if a human is asked to leave the village, they must leave.

I had been timid of this new occurrence, and I still was. I've been trying embrace this, but I was still frightened and mistrustful of interaction with other humans. I was used to Malcolm and Ellie and Alex, but I didn't know these other people, and I was afraid of running into a familiar face. A part of me was terrified that one of them might recognize me and rough me up, but the rest of me knew that that was a completely irrational fear. No one could hurt me. I had friends all over the village and I knew that even apes whom I hadn't made the acquaintance of would defend me, at least I hoped. And Blue Eyes wouldn't tolerate it either, especially not now that we knew I was carrying our child. Ever since we found out, he had been extra protective of me. I was completely safe and I knew it.

I still couldn't get over my mistrust of new humans though. I was polite and I tried not to stray away too much, not wanting to come off as rude. A few had wanted to speak with me, and while I wasn't personally comfortable with it, I was an ambassador and I knew that I had to act like one. They mostly just asked what it was like living here and how I was doing and how they were terribly sorry about the mishap with 'that idiot, Carver'

Alexander was a frequent visitor, and had made many friends in the village. Like they had me, the apes were changing Alex for the better. He had been coming out of his shell little by little, and he was much more talkative now. He was trying to learn to sign again, and he was coming along very well. He had inspired a few humans to try to learn as well, so a few apes had taken to teaching them how to communicate through gestures, and in return the humans helped them with verbal speech. I liked knowing that this peace treaty had gone so well. It was better than I had hoped. I had only expected us to coexist peacefully beside one another, but now we were mingling and creating friendships. In my wildest dreams it couldn't have gone so well. But then again, it wasn't like this had been going on for years, it had only been two months.