Seeing Wings of Green

Chapter 14: Up Close and Personal

Some time later, the sound of heavy approaching footsteps roused me from my drug-induced slumber. Still slow-moving because of the drugs I had unintentionally ingested earlier, I managed to remove my head from underneath my cast-bound wing and was immediately blinded by a bright light; as I figured that my cage's cover had been removed at some point during my dream-less slumber. Once my eyes adjusted accordingly, I lowered my head, pressed my good wing tight against my body, and let out a loud hiss of shock. I had an unwelcome guest. The Kymari male that was sitting next to my cage looked up from his hand-held gaget (that faintly reminded me of the smartphones of old) and briefly regarded me in an almost uninterested manner before he went back to fiddling around with his de-constructed device. This was the same Kymari male who had appraoched me after the Sicora fight. I knew I had heard one of his companions call out a name as he drew closer to me, but I was struggling to remember the name that had been said and the drugs I had been unwillingly given weren't helping in the very slightest either.

I remained where I was- curled up in my faux fur nest under the heat lamp- which thankfully, was in the furthest corner away from the imposing Kymari. The drugs I had injested earlier still hadn't worn off completely, so I was left unable to stand much to my annoyance. At most, I could move my head and tail and if I tried hard enough, I could ellicit a couple of twitches from my good wing. While I waited for the tranquilizer to wear off, I decided to use that opprotunity to get my first good, detailed look at my new surroundings while I kept visual tabs on the Kymari that was unfortunately sitting on the couch and directly next to me.

The space I was in reminded me of a large living room. From where I was, I was able to fully see the room in its entirety. There was a decent-sized, light grey couch flanked by two chairs of the same color (one of the chairs had a colorful quilt that had been neatly folded and draped over its back); all of which faced a large, rectangular coffee table that had been crafted from polished, smoothed wood and some type of metal. On one side of the couch in a corner of the room sat a trio of different large, potted plants that obviously weren't native to Earth and in front of the plants was a side table made of glass and the same metal that had been incorporated into the coffee table. A small, colorful, ceramic dish on the side table seemed to hold something fragrant that was burning rather slowly; some sort of inscense, I reasoned. On the other side of the couch was a matching side table; though on which both a thin, non-slip, rubber-looking mat and my cage had been placed. So much for trying to rock the cage off of the table in an attempt to get it to break so I can try to escape. I thought dimly before I went back to observing my surroundings.

The flooring was made from some sort of light-colored hardwood that reminded me of the White Oak floors that my Real Estate Agent aunt had all throughout her house. There was a multicolored, woven area rug under the coffee table and a small, relatively simple light fixture that hung directly above it. On the exposed red brick wall behind the sofa, hung a large, colorful, abstract painting that was flanked by a pair of simple wall sconces and further illuminated by recessed lighting and I wondered briefly if those Kymari-crafted bricks were any different from the old Human-made bricks. A large, pane-less window on one of the walls adjacent to the brick wall let in an ample amount of natural light and offered a great view of the city. 

Across from the window was an open, arched doorway that led to another room that- what I could see, anyway- must've been a kitchen. Across from the seating area, tucked in the far corner, was what remided me of a small bar; complete with a sink, three metal bar stools, and an extensive collection of nice, expensive-looking, presumed-to-be alcohol bottles that were on display in a glass cabinent behind the bar itself. Above the bar hung three simple light fixtures to offer light to anyone who might be enjoying a drink there. A small, metal spiral staircase led up to a loft area; the purpose of which eluded me, as I was unable to clearly see past its' decorative metal railing.

The ceiling of this dwelling was quite high from what I could see; around twenty-five feet or so in total and around fifteen feet where the loft area was. I still didn't know if I was in an elaborately decorated apartment or a nicely furnished house, which was important information I would need to know in order to plan an efficient escape once my injured wing had fully healed.

The still smoldering inscense tickled my nasal cavity and the back of my throat; which caused me to let out a series of brief sneezes. Once the sneezing fit had passed, I held my breath and tensed up as I now turned my attention to the Kymari and silently hoped that he either didn't hear me or chose to ignore me. Unfortunately, the opposite was true. At the initial sound of my sneezes, the Kymari had set his gaget down on the coffee table, looked over at me with what seemed to be a sense of contemplative curiosity before he looked over at the smoking inscense dish and then back over at me as I had begun to shake my head and paw at my face as another round of sneezing began. Whatever was smoldering in that dish really irritated my respritory system and thankfully, the Kymari seemed to pick up on this; as he slowly got up, walked over to the inscense dish, and smudged out whatever had been buring in there with a moistened thumb before he walked over to the window and opened it slightly by pressing an unseen button to allow for some circulation.

As he made his way back over to where I was, I silently hoped that he would take up a seat in a spot that wasn't so up close and personal to me. Of course, that didn't happen; as he resumed his previous spot on the couch right next to my cage and went back to fiddling with the same piece of technology as before. Of all the seating options that were clearly available, he just had to go and choose that one. I thought as I narrowed my eyes at him for a brief second out of irritation. Just what are you- My annoyed thoughts were interrupted by the rumbling of my stomach as it- yet again- demanded food. With an out loud sigh, I slowly managed to get up and cautiously inched my way over to the refilled bowls by the cage's door and much to my dismay, this brought me closer to the Kymari.

I had known that the Kymari were quite large in theory, but seeing one up close and in detail really drove that fact home. He had to be around nine or ten feet tall and not an ounce of fat was visible on his toned body. His long, jet black hair was pulled back in a sort of loose bun; probably to keep it out of his eyes as he worked on cleaning and re-assembling his gaget. He wore glasses; similar to the kind that Human jewellers or watch repairers wore when doing fine detail work or while working with small parts. I was strangly fascinated by his movements and decided to watch him work for a little bit. He was humming quietly to himself as he carefully picked up and cleaned the assortment of small machine parts that had been spead out neatly across the coffee table in accordance with their size and shape. I was amazed that such large hands and fingers were capable of being so gentile and careful. He clearly knew what he was doing; whatever it was, anyway.

My stomach demanded my attention with another growl, and I was broken out of the strange trance-like state that watching the Kymari work had put me in. I quickly cleared the meat from the food bowl- though left the veggies untouched this time- before I moved on to the water bowl and proceeded to completely empty it once again. My headache from earlier had since faded to a midly annoying, dull throb. As for my wing? It still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as it was when I had first awoke in this cage. With a final glance at the still-working Kymari, I made my way back over to my constructed nest under the heat lamp and proceeded to curl back up; this time however, I made sure that I was facing the Kymari lest he decided to try anything.

Much to my dismay, drowsiness was quick to move in once more as my vision started to blur around the edges. The pain in my wing and the residual pain in my head had started to fade along with the willpower to fight off the tranquilizer in order to try to stay alert and awake. Either the water or meat is definitely drugged. I concluded right before I quit resisting and finally submitted to the power of the tranquilizer.