The process of finding my room would likely have been easier if any of the hallways were marked or had any sort of decoration. All of the walls were an identically boring shade of off-white and the only thing that may have differentiated them was the doors, which were also mostly identical to each other, just possibly spaced differently.
Once we made our way to the stage, we had to backtrack, because we had entered the correct hallway at one point, but I had no way of recognising it. Eventually, we made it back to my room.
Lawson opened the gate for me, but I hesitated about going inside.
“Oh. Uhh, let me see how this is on here,” Lawson said before fiddling with the gate. I watched him as he worked for a bit, and then he pulled one of those tools that I had occasionally seen humans with that had multiple tools all attached to one handle. He extended one of the smaller tools, and poked at the gate some more, and within minutes of arriving at the room, Lawson had the gate off of the hinges. Both of us entered the room, and I looked around and was both relieved to be somewhere familiar and apprehensive about being here again after all of the torture.
“I don’t know if you’d want it, but we could put curtains up so it’s not just bars? Get you a little privacy but without a door that you could be locked in with?”
“This sounds good,” I cooed, more pleased with the idea than I had meant to convey. Lawson chuckled that same chuckle that by now I figured was his signature laugh.
“Well then, I’ll have to arrange that. In the meantime, are you okay with the room now that the gate’s off? Or do you want something else? I can provide the new furniture you wanted, but probably it’ll be best to pick stuff out online and I can go get it for you, but that might take some time.”
“The room is good for now... Can I get a beanbag? Or a couch?”
“Why not both?” he laughed. I frowned.
“Wait, what’s wrong?” he asked, noticing my displeasure.
I didn’t respond. I was disheartened that he would mock me about this after I was warming up to him.
“Hey, really. What did I say?”
I almost instantly closed myself off from him again, not knowing how to tell him what I was thinking, even if that deep part of me didn’t feel scared to because of Krim.
“Eclipse… Do you... not... want both for some reason?” he asked, looking at me with sincerity.
I stared, confused that it now seemed like he was really offering me both seats.
“Lawson will buy both?” I asked tentatively.
“Of course, I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it!”
“Oh,” I said with a small, embarrassed and confused coo.
“I’m confused, what was the issue?”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why would Lawson offer both?”
“You seemed interested in both and I want you to be comfortable.”
“...I thought Lawson was mocking me. I asked something of Lawson, and Lawson offered me more than I asked for. If I would’ve asked something of anyone before and gotten an answer like that it would’ve been sarcastic. They would have given me nothing.”
“Well, I guess I’m sorry? I know trust will take time, but if you want to talk I’d be happy to listen. And in the meantime if you need or want anything, feel free to ask because even if you don’t agree to help with my experiments, I still want you to be happy and comfortable. I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to… Well, other than not allowing you to endanger others, but I have a feeling that won’t be a problem.”
I didn’t know how to respond to him. The only other people in my life I could remember facing me with this type of equality and consideration were my mother and Kairen.
I spread my wings in a brief stretch, then flapped my way up to my favorite spot on the perch. From the top, I looked down at Lawson, who had a wide grin on his face.
“I wish I could just let you fly free out into the world, let you go back to your roots.”
“Lawson is like Kairen. Thinks I could survive on my own.”
“Kairen?”
“Kairen was my old trainer. Brought me human food at night when I was trying to kill myself. Wanted me to escape, but didn’t know how to help me after I told him I couldn’t survive on my own.”
“He was one of the ones that Mr. Darl fired?”
I nodded.
“I could try to find him if you want to meet him again? Did you like him? I figure he was at least one of the better ones if he actually helped you.”
I was sure the expression on my face was not expressing my excitement, but Lawson seemed to notice anyways, as he chuckled again, and stated that he would find Kairen and bring him here.
I cooed a bit, and gave him a whispered, “Thank you.”
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