Caged Wilderness

Chapter 2.

Teres spread her wings, cooing at the monster encouragingly. Although he was clearly a male, there was nothing flirtatious in his movements, so she allowed them to continue. His fat finger lightly ruffled her feathers, pulled out the old ones and scratched her where the new feathers were beginning to grow in tubes. It lacked the precision, care and attention of any member of her flock, but it was as good as she could get at the moment.

After a while, his fingers explored more. They would lightly rub the tiny feathers on her cheeks and arms, slide over her hands and preen the long feathers on top of her head. It seemed to be their preferred place. Teres didn't mind, just enjoying the affection and attention she was getting.

Aorra had been much better at this, far better, but she didn't know where Aorra was. Perhaps, still with the flock - she hadn't heard his voice from any of the other containers. That's where she hoped he was, anyway, soaring around free and wild, enjoying the power in his wings. Did he miss her? Probably. Did she miss him? Probably.

He'd been a good male. He would've made for a wonderful mate. He was careful and kind and very attentive. However, they hadn't even began nesting together, merely exchanged introductory affection and gifts, so forgetting him was easy enough. Perhaps, had they known each other for longer, she'd be dying from a heartbreak, which seemed to be the case with Arror. Sometimes she would see Aorra in her dreams, remember his soft voice and his gentle touch, but as days passed by and blurred together, the heartache slowly dulled to an itch.

One day Teres woke up in her tiny container and moved towards the bars. She was hungry, and it was about time her giant came to feed her. She tilted her head, and when she heard his thundering footsteps, which she could already separate from everyone else's, she grabbed the bars and let out a trill to get his attention. The others from her flock stirred, even Arror twitched his wings, but nobody else made a sound. Whatever. She was hungry, and the monster was feeding her. He never really hurt her, and he was very careful. Surely her growing attached to him wasn't that surprising, was it?

Not a minute later did he walk in with a smile on his face, and for a moment fresh breeze ruffled the feathers on Teres's head. The the giant closed the exit with a loud click and took out a big red fruit from his pocket. Teres scooted away so as to allow the monster to put the food inside, and it unlocked the barred door. However, instead of setting the fruit down, he just held it in his hand.

Teres tilted her head and looked up at him. Wasn't he going to feed her? The giant smiled and said something gently, turning the fruit in his hand. It looked delicious... But...

The monster moved his hand deeper in the container, making Teres snap and hold her hand up threateningly. Another coo came from the giant, and she watched as his fingers pressed on the delicate fruit, ripping the thin skin. As soon as the scent hit her, she inched towards the hand, then glanced at her acquaintance. There was no malicious intent behind his eyes or his smile. He just wanted her to eat.

Hesitantly, she reached out and took the fruit from his palm. It was warm, where he'd been holding it, warm and smelled like him. His fingers gently stroked the side of her wings as she settled down and began munching on the fruit happily. It was delicious.

Soon the giant pulled his hand out and stepped away, and Teres let out a coo, suddenly missing his touch. With no room to spread her wings, no chance to get close to any of her flockmates, she was craving for any contact possible. So she moved towards the bars and watched the giant feed others. Most of them snapped or hissed at him, a few merely hurried to the back of their container, one of two allowed him to touch them. Arror barely even stirred when the monster opened his container.

The giant let out a worried murmur and rubbed Arror's white wings. No reaction. Teres yipped to get the attention of her flockmate, but he didn't as much as flinch.