Upon These Wings

Transitions

My life changed yet again. Every other day, two or three guards would escort me to the apartment and leave me to spend an hour or two with Dark and Anti. They started out just as awkward as the first meeting had been, but the more time I spent with them, the more at ease I felt. Neither did anything to make me feel overly uncomfortable, and Dark promised he wouldn't influence my emotions without my permission. I found I was actually comfortable with him.

Anti was another matter. He had a tendency to burst into a random fit of giggles that left him glitching, and if it got bad enough Dark would shock him. When I asked about it, Dark explained that the electricity not only ensured the he could control Anti, but that the electricity helped stabilize his atoms. He did not elaborate.

The thought that they gave a madman control over another madman frightened me.

Even so, Anti didn't act out the way he did upon our introduction; he mostly kept to himself, sprawled on the couch or lounging on the patio, or sometimes puttering about in the back garden, muttering at the plants. Wherever he was, Dark wasn't far, and if Dark went somewhere else, Anti was quick to follow. I refrained from commenting on it since Anti seemed to be trying to be casual about it and I was afraid to antagonize him.

Dark showed me gardening tricks and gave me a tour of their little growing plot. They had tomatoes, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins (apparently Anti loved Halloween and pumpkin carving was one of his favorite activities), and peas - not beans. In the small orchard they had apples, apricots, and pares.

"We'd like chickens, but they don't seem to think we can take care of animals," Dark said.

I privately agreed.

In the lab, the complexity of the tests and exercises they gave me increased. We worked in an enclosed outdoor arena a little bigger than the garden outside the apartment and I was grateful for the space. They were wanting me to complete spins and dives, testing the flexibility and strength in my wings. I didn't understand why they wanted me to do these things since I was never going anywhere, and when asked all Dr. Gibson would say was "Enrichment."

"To keep your brain from melting," Jada translated when the doctor had turned her back.

Since the incident in the wind tunnel, Jada and I were never left unattended, usually only interacting directly when a frowning scientist was looming over us. I hoped I hadn't gotten her in too much trouble; she was supposed to be an impartial researcher, not making friends with the subject. I still couldn't help but be hurt by the sudden distance.

Another new development was Jakes' more frequent appearances. He was taking much more interest in my 'training'. He unsettled me and somehow I always knew when he was watching, even if I couldn't see him right away. The others looked at mean like a test subject; he looked at me... with loathing, maybe? Like he was sizing me up for a fight.

A few weeks passed like this when, after a particularly intense exercise with a lot of diving and sudden direction changes, my two-person escort led me upstairs instead of back down to the lab.

"Where are we going?" I asked, thinking longingly of my simple shower.

"You've been moved."

"Moved where?"

"To main living. You've passed your recent medical exams and have fully recovered from the procedure."

We came out on the second level, one I'd never been on before. The halls were reminiscent of a hotel - or what little I could remember of hotels. The carpet was an ashy gray with dark red wall paper up to the waist and then light gray to the ceiling. There were chairs in the corner with a small table between them. A row of wood doors with a gold number on each of them lined one side of the hallway. There were keypads to the left of each door jamb. I stared with wide eyes as my escorts led me down the length of the hall to a door numbered '33'. There was a peephole just under the number and while one of the guards entered a code on the keypad, I realized the peephole looked in, not out. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

The door clicked open while I was busy being disgruntled with the idea of being spied on - I knew there were cameras everywhere but this seemed more personal - and the door swung open. "Welcome home," my escort said, beckoning me in. I clicked on the light as I entered and was surprised to see a rather lush accommodation. The walls were a gentle blue, not dissimilar to the color of the sky, and the carpet a rich brown that brought out accents in the mostly evergreen comforter on the king-sized bed. A plush reading chair was tucked into the corner with a small table between it and the bed. I noted the chair was a similar style to the wing-friendly chairs I'd seen at Dark and Anti's apartment. I expected I'd be able to curl up in in quite comfortably.

A three-shelf bookshelf on the wall to my left sported a few paperbacks, all of which were either about birds or flight. The closet doors, which took up the wall immediately to my right, were full-length sliding mirrors.

The door behind me clicked shut, making me jump. I stared at it for a second before wandering further in. I thought it was very cozy and immediately felt at home.

A second door stood opposite the one I'd just entered and thinking it was a bathroom I opened it; I was sweaty from the day's work and wanted a shower.

Instead, I found myself looking down into Dark and Anti's living room.

"Good evening."

I turned to see Dark coming out of his room, two doors to the right of me, on the other side of the bathroom. "Um, hi."

"I was wondering when they'd move you in," he said casually, making his way to the stairs and heading for the kitchen.

I followed. "You knew they'd bring me up here?"

"Of course. That's why they had you meeting with us. They needed to make sure we'd get along." He peered into the oven, which I realized was on.

"What's for dinner?"

"Tuna casserole," Anti said from behind me, making me jump. "When did you arrive?"

"Just now."

"They've officially moved her in," Dark explained. He glanced at me as he stood back up. "Shower's upstairs."

I pursed my lips. "Are you telling me I stink?"

The corner of his mouth twitched in what I came to accept as his usual smile. "A little."

I conceded and headed back up the stairs, peeking in my room for a towel, which I found on the top shelf of the closet, which was already stocked with my usual outfit.

In the bathroom, I hesitated. I was used to showering in an open room at this point, but that was usually with doctors present, not two men I was still getting to know. There was no lock.

"Um, there's no lock," I called.

"Of course there isn't. They need to be able to get wherever they want whenever they want," came Anti's exasperated reply.

"We know you're in there," Dark said. "We won't come in."

I nodded - even though they couldn't see me - and turned the water on. They'd always respected what little privacy I had; besides, it's not like I had a choice.

I was pleased to find a rain head fixture in the shower, which had enough room for me to stretch my wings out a little. It was much easier to wash them without getting them soaked in this style of shower, as opposed to the lab showers I was used to. I relished the hot water, humming quietly as my sore muscles relaxed.

Once out of the shower, I joined my new flatmates in the living room to preen my wings while we waited for dinner. Anti studied me intently while I worked, but I ignored him, content to enjoy being fully clean.

Dinner was amazing, as usual - Dark was an excellent cook - and after we ate I retired to my room, enjoying the soft quiet of being on my own. I sank into the mattress with a sigh. It was worlds away from the old spring bed I'd had in the basement, and I fell asleep quickly. Maybe things here really weren't going to be so bad after all.