That night, Kairen really did show up with a hot dog, a strawberry, and disinfectant spray. I flapped down from the perch, sat on the bed, and turned my back to him expectantly. He still seemed hesitant around me, but he approached and got to work treating the raw patches.

“Why did you want me to come tonight?” he asked a bit later, parting some feathers on my wing to get a better look at the missing feathers.

“Kairen wants me to leave. Why?”

He looked at me contemplatively, “Why wouldn’t you want to leave? They treat you awfully here. If I just accidentally let you escape, the worst they could do is fire me. But if you stay you’ll keep getting hurt.”

“I could leave with Kairen’s help, true. And I would be hurt less, true. But just because I would be hurt less doesn’t mean I would hurt less. I was born here. Not in this room, but in captivity just the same. My ancestors were born in the wild, they could survive escaping. I couldn’t. Simple.”

“But there are people out there who care for poisonbirds to the best of their ability, people who would help you!”

“People who help look the same as people who hurt.”

“But—”

“Besides, where would I live? I need to stretch my wings. A place like this is designed for us, but if I were in the wild I would just be found and dragged back to captivity. Where could I go where I could still stay indoors but also fly but also trust that the humans were the good humans and not the bad ones? It’s better to tolerate these circumstances, for now at least.”

“For now? As in you might escape one day?”

“Hot dog,” I stated rather than asked, “Please?” I added as an afterthought.

He passed me the hot dog, and I chewed and swallowed. I looked at him expectantly and he passed the strawberry as well. It was gone in seconds.

“Kairen will not lose me or quit his job. Kairen will help me.”

“I suppose I can try but I don’t know how I could help you learn survival skills?”

“No. Kairen will bring me food.”

“Food? Do they starve you too?”

“Kairen is dense. No. I will eat human food, just like the other poisonbirds.” I didn’t have to specify which “others” this was, as recognition glinted in his eyes.

“You’re trying to kill yourself through hot dogs,” he stated, finally coming to the correct conclusion. I nodded.

“But once again, I still think you should try to get away first!”

“Kairen will leave now.”

“Eclipse, listen to me, please.”

“Kairen will leave now!” I said, adding a hiss for emphasis. He left the room quickly, taking the trash from the disinfectant and hotdog with him.