Jayleen quietly preened herself by the casserole that was cooking by the oven, making sure some of her chocolate brown feathers found their way into the thick layer of Parmesan cheese. She cackled wickedly, and shuffled away behind the red curtains that covered a window above the washbasin. Jayleen had heard the familiar footsteps of Kenneth coming her way, she was excited to see his reaction to her "gift"
She heard the foot falls cease and silence fall, here it comes... Jayleen thought, hardly able to keep her giggles inside in anticipation.
"Jayleen!" Kenneth yelled, stomping around the kitchen and moving chairs.
She could no longer contain herself and burst out laughing, she felt a warm hand seize her. Then plunge her into cold water, Jayleen flapped her wings and kicked-causing water to spill all over the kitchen. After a few seconds she was removed from the water and placed on the table, soggy and cold. "You jerk!" She squawked, puffing out her damp feathers and shaking her body to rid herself of excess moisture.
"Are you mad at me?" Kenneth said softly, wiping his moist eyes with his dirty white sleeve. He was hurt by all this spite, he couldn't understand why she would be so unkind.
Jayleen was silent, ordering her feathers as they should be.
"Lately you have been taking my things, destroying things, waking me up at ungodly hours to get you things.... I have been patient with you, but this needs to stop." Kenneth explained, leaning against the counter and closing his dark eyes.
"Because-" Jayleen began, hopping down from the table and walking across the floor. "I want attention, silly hawker."
"I give you more attention than anyone should give an animal." Kenneth said, staring down at her.
Jayleen clicked her beak, "whatever, meanie face." She hissed, puffing up and shaking herself as she walked away. "I am not an animal." Jayleen grumbled, turning the corner and vanishing from view.
"What is all the yelling about?" Mab asked cooly, casting her shadowy gaze over the scene. "Nothing, M'lady." Kenneth said with a low bow and a reassuring smile.
"I know you are lying, you will have to live with that." Mab said in a low tone. She was in a peaceful mood today, she felt like nothing could shake that.
"Jayleen has been crossing me out of spite lately. I was upset with her. "
"So you tried to drown her?" Mab muttered, pointing to the water spilled around the sink. "I only wanted her to snap out of it, like one might do with a drunk person-" here, Mab interrupted him "apologize. If she will not apologize in return, be the bigger person."
After Kenneth left, Mab set about cleaning the mess up. I should follow my own advice... I would not want to follow a hypocrite. But he just irritates me so much, why do I even resist my feelings for him?
She wrung the rag out over the sink, listening to the twinkling of water. Best not to think about that, emotions only hinder a leader. You need to focus on numbers, how to find more involved in the arts?
"Mab!"
She ignored him. "Mab. Mab Mab Mab Mab!"
Mab slammed the sopping rag into the sink, "what the hay do you want, Ridder?" Mab hissed, turning to face him. There goes my tranquility.
"Hi." Ridder grinned, setting a crate of sprouts on the table.
Mab rolled her eyes, "what is that?"
"It is a form of greeting. A shortened and informal form of 'hello' which could also be said-"
"Shut up, I asked what the plants were." Mab retorted, plunging her hand into the frigid water to retrieve the rag. "Tobacco, it took me a week, but I finally found somebody with sprouts."
Mab looked over her shoulder as she cleaned. "You stole those, didn't you? Nobody in the mid western Fae Kingdom sells it."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Ridder shrugged, walking around the table and standing behind Mab. He waited for her to finish her task, Ridder knew she was biting her tongue about his thievery. When she was done cleaning up the mess, he wrapped his arms around her.
What the heck is he-
"I am sorry for being angry with you the other day. " Ridder said in a somber and sincere tone.
