"Of course, little prince." Nicodemus replied over his shoulder as he arranged a small platter of bread and cheese and grapes. Turning gracefully, he made his way back to the main room where Lumi was. He set the platter down on a heavy wooden table and reached a grape over towards the girl. "Yummies, Lumi." Immediately she extended a hand, took it and smiled excitedly. "Thank yeh Fah!" "You're quite welcome." Nicodemus' eyes traveled the room for Zion. "Yummies, Zion." He said, the words declared as permission to eat.
"We've run out of seed for the little ones, I'm afraid. I'd like it if you two went to the market for me this afternoon. Get two barrels?" He asked this as if it were even an option to say no, which of course it wasn't. Lumi chewed on her grape and nodded silently, smiling at the idea of getting dressed.
A grin swiftly spread across the spider's face as Nicodemus agreed. He would've danced if he had the energy for it, but he didn't want to disturb the birdkeeper or flightless one. Instead, he beamed as he followed the man back over, waiting for his turn to have a bite.
It couldn't come quick enough, with Zion practically bolting over to the small amount of snacks for the two. Instead of stuffing everything into his mouth, however, he took a piece of cheese and dipped a fang into it, lathering his tongue against the cube. He soaked in the flavor, adoring its firm yet smooth texture along his tongue.
"OUTside, yes. We'll gO, thank you."
He finally bit into the cube properly, munching it down to smaller bits before sucking on its remains. Golden irises searched for the spot his normal garbs were either hung or folded, anticipating having to dress himself into them.
"Two barrels of sEEd. FEEd the bIRds."
Echoing Nicodemus' words, he sung them as he dashed off to the wardrobes, lightly running a claw upon its exterior before opening the men's' of the two. Having no idea of 'style', he picked up the first two articles he saw and plopped them onto his head, waiting for the birdkeeper to agree that they were fine for wear.
Nicodemus smiled proudly as Zion ran off. He gave the young man a few minutes to pick something on his own before standing and walking after him.
"So handsome!" He remarked as he entered the room, touching his index finger to his chin in an observatory pose and looking Zion up and down. Nico let out a shrill, pleased little laugh before looking into the wardrobe himself. "May father help you, little prince? I have some suggestions to help you pull off that look. We'll make you dapper indeed."
Stepping back, he held up a dark set of waistcoat, undershirt and trousers. Gently, he helped the boy into them then gestured to a nearby mirror. "Look at you! A fine young man." Nico crouched down and grabbed a set of black polished shoes beside the wardrobe. "Remember how I taught you to tie these? Show me if you remember."
Hearing the compliment, Zion posed proudly, giving a side-glance of himself through the mirror nearby. He eagerly got dressed into Nicodemus' suggestions as soon as they were prepared for him, feeling the smooth and unfamiliar fit. Warming to the clothes, his face tinted a light pink while he watched himself spin through the mirror. Only one pair of arms showed through the arm holes as the extra pair folded at his back. He looked clean, nice, just like Father. Everything he aspired to be.
Having his attention drawn back to the man, Zion nearly gasped before dropping to his knees. He collected the pair of shoes then proceeded to fiddle with the untied strings.
"I remember, yES!"
Slipping them onto his feet, claws slowly moved each tie in a methodical pattern. Bows rested atop each shoe: proof of his accomplishment. He straightened himself up, holding a posture seen most around the market. It wouldn't be his first excursion, after all.
"I will sAY lIke this: Two barrels, please? And, and MOOn-- Lumi will say like: 'Thank!' Yes!"
Feeling a bit more daring, he ran over to the women's wardrobe and plucked bloomers and a dress for Nicodemus' approval.
Nico chuckled. "Yes! Marvelously done. Oh? What a beautiful dress you've chosen. Little Moon will love the feel of this set. Let's go get her dressed as well." With a slight wave of his hand, the man turned and left the room.
Lumi looked up as she heard the men return. Her silver blonde hair was soft against her skin as it cascaded down onto her knees, and she was running her fingers through it as she waited.
"Zion has chosen a beautiful dress for you, sweet." Nico said, drawing near to her.
Following closely behind the birdkeeper, he held up the dress and bloomers for the flightless bird to see. They were light in hue as they were almost weightless. Something that would not bother the girl who'd become accustomed to only the paleness of her skin. He didn't intentionally choose something that she might enjoy, rather chose something he felt Nicodemus might have picked.
As he reached the velvet couch, Zion draped the clothes over the backrest, leaving them for Lumi to change into.
"I can HElp. BeST in tIes."
He nodded to himself, offering his assistance, but not forcing it. No, he'd never get between Father and his birds.
Nicodemus stepped back and gestured welcomingly. "Please do."
Lumi reached her hands up for the dress to be slipped over her head then stepped into the bloomers, holding onto Nico for balance.
"Am ah pretty Fah?" She asked quietly when they finished dressing her, patting her hands down into the fluffy ruffles all around her.
"A most beautiful swan." Nico replied with a warm smile. He looked at the two with an expression full of love.
Was it love..? He thought so.
"Come get your kisses." The man said, waiting for each to draw near enough to give them a tender kiss on their head. After they'd done so, he handed each a small bag of coins.
"As always, you're to tell anyone who asks that you're married. Remember to hook your arm into hers, as I showed you Zion. A good gentleman thing to do. Speak well, be confident. Don't allow anyone to follow you home." Nico touched their cheeks fondly for a moment before straightening and heading towards the front door. "Don't touch anything hot, Lumi. Stay away from dogs if they have them at the market."
As he reached the door, the Birdwatcher reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a set of ornate keys, opening the locks one by one. In a few moments, the doorknob was turned, and the lush colorful forest was revealed to them.
Stepping around the table where snacks sat atop, he plopped a grape into his mouth before fully assisting the young lady. He tugged on each of the sleeves, making sure they were secured in place before moving back. He felt pleased with himself, and it easily showed in his expression. Caring for the flightless, same as the birdkeeper. It would remain there, even after a kiss to the forehead and a newfound bag of coins joined his hands.
Zion nodded enthusiastically at each of the instructions, though they were mostly repeated for Lumi. He'd been out there several times more than the bird, and had grown more accustomed to what lied beyond Home.
As Nicodemus turned to unlock the front door, Zion shuffled the bag under his shirt, allowing his extra set of hands to hold onto it. They felt stiff within the confines of fabric, though the spider dared not complain. He loved the silk too much to rip or remove it.
Using one of his first set of arms, he grabbed hold of the young fledgling, mimicking the instructions. Gentleman. If that was what he wanted him to be, Zion would learn to be one. If he was lucky, he could hear about it or ask around the marketspace, given they didn't receive any strange looks for the inquiry. He had to keep practicing his speech-- it only improved above ground, as he reverted back to his animalistic tendencies when surrounded by darkness.
"Yes, FatheR. No hots, no dogs."
Walking outside with Lumi, he winced at the first ray of sunlight to immediately hit his eyes. Yet, he continued to stroll further away from the home, keeping hold of the flightless in case she decided to fly off. When they put some distance between themselves and the home, Zion whispered to the girl,
"No worries FatheR. If EXtra in bag after bird feed, bread?"
"I love you, my children!" Nicodemus called to them as they set out into the great wide world. He watched them for a moment, leaning on the doorway. His smile faded into a concerned frown to himself before he turned away and shut the door. The clicking locks could be heard from within.
Meanwhile, Lumi held Zion's arm close in hers and leaned forward to hear him whisper. She blushed at the idea of such naughtiness, going outside of Fah's orders was forbidden- but he hadn't exactly said not to get a treat, now had he? "Yeh are a naughty spider." She said to him quietly with a smile before reaching her other hand round and poking his cheek in playful punishment.
"Aye, bread. Mmm." She leaned her head on him as they walked.
The birds were singing and darting here and there in both the trees and the thickets nearby, grand flora all around them swaying and rustling in the breeze. Lumi could just make out little slivers of sunlight that pierced through the treetops and glowed upon the ground. The smells outside were delicious. Full of pure, unfiltered and untamed life. And the sounds? Unmatched. She felt close to tears by the majesty.
"I am yeh wife!" The girl suddenly said happily. "When Fah reads to meh in ah storehbook, I learn abaht man and wife. 'S what theh call them when theh marreh. Man and wife. Then theh kiss." Outside of the home, a bird could chirp as much as she wished, and Lumi loved to talk. Her extensive vocabulary was thanks to Nicodemus' frequent storytimes with her.
In their playfulness, Zion pretended to try and chomp down on the finger which poked him, snickering. She'd agreed with him, so perhaps they could even bring some back to the birdkeeper if the deal of birdfeed offered enough for the three. Although, considering he normally had a plentiful amount of bread for himself, perhaps he could find another gift to give the man? It wasn't as if he understood the true concept of currency: the fact that he wasn't using his own funds to do so.
The spider was taken aback for a moment as Lumi piped up, happily singing with the rest of those with flight. One could hear them all around the two, chirping happily- communicating- just as the young woman decided to. He took in the scene around them, breathing in the warm yet dry air. He was so unused to it where he could've swore it hurt him-- but it was only from his wariness of the unknown.
"Kiss?"
Zion inquired, a tad confused. He leaned down to Lumi as Nicodemus would've done and lightly pecked her forehead. He hadn't known much about this "married couple" that Father or Lumi spoke of, but a kiss he could do. A gentleman-like hold he could accomplish. He grinned afterwards, as if he'd proved it.
"Is easy. Married is easy."
Lifting his head proudly, he spotted a squirrel running along a branch overhead and halted their stroll. His senses tingled: catch it, eat it! As the hairs on his back stood up, he had to calm himself down-- to hunt was not gentleman-like. Not as a married couple. If it was still there when they returned, then perhaps he could catch it...
Even as he thought so, he felt the swelling of silk from under his tongue. One small opening of the mouth was enough for the web to launch, snatching the prey mid-scurry. It stuck to the branch and leaves, squeaking and squirming to try and free itself to no avail.
"Later-snack after market."
He chuckled nervously, moving forward once again. A slip like that was fine there, but not so much as they neared the market. The birdkeeper trusted them.
Lumi beamed as she felt his little kiss, then pointed to her mouth. "Heah, Zohn. Theh kiss heah. On meh lips." She turned to look at him, watching without seeing as he caught his snack for later. "When yeh make tha' noieese, what ah yeh doin'?" The girl inquired, watching his pale blurry shape of a face. She'd heard him string his prey before, but never knew for sure what was going on.
Turning his full attention to the chatterbird, he sought to somehow explain it to her.
"Making web, like Father. I use web for prey, rats and... furry rats. And flightless."
He rubbed at his throat, self-conscious about his unusually extra amount of speech. Switching from a gremlin-like way of talking to something more upper-worldly like felt rather odd in general.
"From out of mouth. Spit. Not like Father. Thick, not handsome."
He made a mental note to show her when they returned to the captured prey, lest something else got to it first before he came to collect.
"At Market, they sell thinner web. They say it's for fish. But fish taste gross, why catch with web, yes?"
Lumi giggled at that. "Ah've never had fesh." She said. As they walked, the girl's foggy eyes lowered and her fingers picked at Zion's sleeve. There were many things she desired to say, but knew that even he would be a threat to her if she dared. There was no true sanctuary for her, no true friend to confide in. It was Nicodemus that was her world, and if she wished to keep all her fingers and toes, and all other parts of her in tact, he would have to be her world until she died like the rest. There were days that she prayed to the empty air that she would catch a grand disease, or perhaps even a cold would be enough, to help her pass in the night and end this horrible life. Lumi often wondered if this was how life was for all others. But if it was, why was she constantly aching and desiring something else? If this was a true proper life, one that should fulfill her every need as Nicodemus promised it should, why was she always wanting wanting wanting. And not at all wanting him, as he thought she was.
Why did they have to return to the Aviary, to her small iron cage that smelled of the corpses it had held over the years before her? Why didn't their storybooks ever mention being kept cold and naked in the dark for eighteen years? She wanted with her whole heart to ask Zion if he wondered the same, but she kept it locked in that heart for now.
Eventually, the bustling sounds of the market grew louder and she started to see the fuzzy colors of tents and pop-up shops and of the buildings that stayed put. Lumi held tighter onto Zion as they were slowly enveloped by civilization.
Choosing to ignore her picking at his sleeve, he continued forward, leading her along one of the only paths away from home that he knew.
The market was bustling, plenty of customers wandering about with some children running to and from their parents and playmates. Some of the older children looked to be helping out their parents and elders sell wares, while others were haggling, talking prices. There was a few vacancies for shopfronts, but some still seemed to be setting up. In between some of the pop-up storefronts were doorways, signs hanging above them of their different uses. Some were housing, some restaurants, and some stores, themselves. From what Zion could tell, he recognized a few faces, but many were new since he'd last been allowed loose.
Unable to find the bird feed immediately upon entering civilization, he more tightly held onto Lumi and strolled in confidently. As Father always instructed. If you looked like you belonged, then no one would question you.
"Sweet potatoes, three for one! Turnips half off!" "Beef on a skewer! Getcha lunch while it's hot!"
Deals were offered, yelled to the crowd in each direction they went as they walked further, further in. Was anyone looking at them? He couldn't tell when he had tunnel-vision, but the alluring smell of meat... Charred, fresh meat...
He leaned down to his 'young wife', whispering in her ear. If they were to get anything after the two barrels, he had to calculate through what little knowledge of numbers he knew.
Lumi perked at the sound of his voice and put her finger into the little bag she'd been given. After a few seconds of touching the coins, she said "Ten." It was hard for the girl to focus when they were so heavily immersed in people. People that were not crying, not screaming, and actually seemed quite happy. She stared wide-eyed as a tall figure passed her. The stranger smelled like the earth, like he'd been traveling. Like he'd possibly been on an adventure. For just half a second, Lumi felt herself pull away from Zion towards the man, in desperate longing for rescue -like the maidens Nico had read aloud to her about.
