Wings

Dominance

Used to be part two of three in a massive chapter, now a little baby chapter.

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DERRICK

Struggling to speak from underneath a muzzle, I mumbled, "Are you sure this won't end badly?"

My still-peeved handler led me from behind, his hands on the lead attached to my mitted-and-bound paws. I guess he was still pissed about the whole ketchup thing.

"Yes, Derrick, just don't attack him. He's very relaxed." Luka grumbled. The rest of the journey through the familiar halls was cast in silence. Halfway through our walk, we came to a security checkpoint. Luka dropped my hands, deftly swiveled in front of me, stuck a tiny hand in my face, and commanded stiffly, "Still!"

Yep, he's still mad about the ketchup thing.

One key card swipe, a fingerprint scan, an iris scan, and another key card swipe caused the temperamental security door to burst open with a deafening screech.

"Was all of that really necessary?" My muffled voice asked.

"We're exiting the solitary units and entering restricted." Luka responded apathetically.

As we continued, I noted curiously that the cells' doors all had windows. Flashes of mint-green clothing and feathers peeked my curiosity and I slowed a bit to get a peek. A little finger poked me in the back.

"Keep walking." Luka prodded. I complied wordlessly.

Another security checkpoint loomed into view, and my handler repeated the process from earlier.

Before he swiped his key card for the second time, Luka sent a stern expression my way, and extracted a taser from a slot on his belt. He waved it around in front of my face to get my attention. "Do you see this, Derrick?" I nodded warily. "You're going to see some avians milling about in this section, and if you stop, hesitate, pull me, or acknowledge them, I will not hesitate to tase you. Do we understand each other?" I nodded again. "Good." Luka sighed. "I don't know why they choose to put the socialization room in the unrestricted section. Bad planning."

One final swipe of his key card, and we were in. The unrestricted ward began in a short hallway lined with cells that opened up into a massive great room, where more than half a dozen birds lounged, sang, ate, and played.

A jubilant trill sounded out. A young, dark-skinned bird dressed in violet bounded up to Luka with no regard to me, but Luka's jerk on my lead told me to stop.

"Lu Lu~!" The little girl cooed delightfully. "I missed you!"

Luka's cheery voice met the girl's enthusiasm. "Hey there, Diasha! I've got an assignment, but we can catch up soon, okay honey?"

My feathers ruffled. Honey?

Diasha dashed behind my human and poked her head out, her dark brown eyes peering up at me. "Who are you?" The sparrow asked timidly. The top of a fluffy afro came to my waist, but arched, gray wings reached higher. She looked maybe ten.

"His name is Derrick." Luka answered for me, and I shot him a glare. "He's coming here for some socialization, so you'll be seeing more of him soon."