Summer Birdie

K

Knowing full well that it was too late to stay out, ynwilling to let you go, Birdie carried you home. His arms carrying you bridle style as you tightly wrapped your arms around his neck. This new type of stubbornness made your heart skip, as the sweet young boy you knew in the past had now changed to this independent young man. This change was somewhat thrilling to you. The two of you soar through the air, his crimson wings were much larger than before and strong enough to carry the weight of you both. You knew he was stalling for time as he circled around the sky gently cradelling you in his arms. At first you thought he wanted to show you the city in a new light as the city streets gradually began illuminating before you eyes, lights flashing on one by one sparkling underneath you.

"It's beautiful." You say, staring in amazement at this new perspective of the city.

"It is..." You hear him breathe. Through the corner of your eye, you see him staring at you, making you blush. At first you thought maybe he was looking passed you to navigate his flying, but after another two glances, you see that his gaze had never left you imprinting the image of you into his mind. You see from the whisps of your hair it was turning pink too and you blush more visibly.

"What's the matter?" You hear him teasing as you avert your eyes for the third time. "Getting sick of me?"

"That's not true!" You look back at him, his face was so close, your noses touching.

"It's not?" He smirks. You quickly turn away, embarrassed. He's doing this on purpose! But why am I so nervous? You think, feeling your heart racing in your chest. Maybe because I'm so high up, the thought of falling is petrifying...You try convincing yourself unable to face the facts of what could really be the cause of your heart wanting to leap out your chest. 

Finally landing on the driveway in front of your house, Birdie puts you down but doesn't let go of your waist. You gaze up at him as he pouts. "Just...a little longer?" You couldn't say no to his puppy eyes. "Shall we head inside?" You say, he nods and waddles closely behind you holding onto your shirt as you walked to the door to unlock it. So precious! 

"Is your mother in?" He asks politely taking off his shoes and helping himself to the guest slippers in the shoe rack. You couldn't help but watch him as he tucks his wings closely to his body so he doesn't knock anything over. "What?" He asks, catching you staring.

"Oh- nothing." You say, grabbing your bag that you discarded at the front door earlier and bringing it inside. "Mum's at work until late." You sigh, opening your bag to check if you had anything important left to do today. Other than signing up to club activities, nothing major. You leave it on the table, wash your hands and put on an apron. "Would you like a tea?"

"Yes, please."

"Red or green?" You have to ask, your British-ness resurfacing.

"I'll try red." You lay out the table, setting the pot of tea in the centre with the milk and sugar on the side for him to help himself. "How many sugars should I add?" He asks softly.

"I normally have two tea spoons." You say rummaging through the fridge and grabbing some ingredience. "Any sweeter and it's no longer tea." 

You hear him sipping on the tea quietly as you go about your business. After preparing the rice, you go on to descale three mackerels ready for grilling. Whilst its grilling, you prepare the vegetables and chicken for the stew, quickly slicing up cucumbers for a side salad and last but not least the miso soup. There was still some left over so you re-heat it.

Turning around you realised that Birdie had cleaned the table, leaving enough space for three. You couldn't help but smile. "Mum won't be back yet, so I'll be leaving these on the side for her for when she gets home."