Vol 4 Inside Cover

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The tea was set up and the party had started and the guests were here. But Maria had almost forgotten to close the window, so she was being discreetly scolded by the staff while Kyoko and Kanae carefully handled the teacups and glanced in a mix of trepidation and curiosity at the birds.

"As long as you understand, Miss," one of the servants said, and Maria brought her attention back around enough to nod.

"I know. They'll escape if I let them out and the window is open."

It was almost a weekly occurrence, actually. Maria always forgot and always had to be reminded. She'd tried at first to argue that the worst thing that would happen would be that the birds would just get away, but her grandfather had quickly corrected that.

"They're not meant to be outside here," he said firmly. "They're pets. They expect to be fed and watered. They don't know how to live on their own. And this isn't their natural climate. If we want to take care of them, we have to keep them inside."

While not one hundred percent convinced that this was true, Bluebell had a nasty bite to her and Lilylove would eat anything when she was let out to wander, Maria did understand the idea. These were house birds, not outside ones.

She just also understood why they might, occasionally, want to soar through the window and fly away.

Maria danced back to the table and jumped into her chair with a not particularly ladylike plop. "Sorry about that. Are you enjoying your tea?"

"Oh yes," Kyoko responded. "This set is absolutely gorgeous."

The sparkles dancing in her eyes and the tender way her fingers stroked the porcelain cup spoke volumes for her delight.

Maria was glad. Her honorary sister didn't always have nice things to look forward to.

"Do you always eat with the birds?" Kanae asked, taking a short sip, her eyes never leaving the hanging ring by the window. Two of the birds were sitting comfortably on the ring, but the others were scuttling across the windowsill.

Kyoko looked over at Kanae, glanced at the birds, and put her cup down in its saucer without even making a clink, which Maria found amazingly impressive. "They aren't really eating with us. And I'm sure they like to be out of their cage."

"They do," Maria sighed as she sipped her own tea, shaking her head for just a little extra drama. Like Grandfather said, you had to establish a proper baseline. "They love it so very much. It's almost impossible to get them back in later."

Kyoko's cold-eyed friend hummed, taking another short sip of tea. "I see."

"Can we play with them?" Kyoko asked, hope in her eyes revealing the restraint in her voice. "Would they… do they like that?"

"If they want to be pet they'll come to you," Maria said after considering the question. "They don't mind you coming near them either. Or if they do, they'll fly away."

It took another moment for Kyoko to realize that had been permission, and when she did she stood up and took achingly slow steps towards the window.

"You're not gonna startle them," Kanae rolled her eyes. "They know you're here."

"I'm just being careful," Kyoko said, pouting a bit.

The birds weren't in a particularly playful mood, and shuffled away as Kyoko got nearer, but she still stood, watching them closely as they flapped their wings and chirped.

After a couple minutes, she said, "I wonder what it's like to be a bird…"

"Irritating," Kanae suggested, eyes drifting to the large cage in the corner of the room. "Brief."

That earned a scowl from Maria as well as Kyoko, but Kanae didn't seem particularly wounded by the disdain. She just stared into her cup, waiting for Kyoko to finish her thought.

"It's not like you've never thought about it," Kyoko challenged. "Everyone imagines what it's like to fly."

"Yeah, but not to be a bird," her friend said, putting her own cup down so she could cross her arms. "They're different. You can fly without having bird wings. And you can be birdlike without flying."

"You can?" Maria asked, surprised. "How?"

Kanae shrugged. "It's a description, isn't it? That some people use. They'll compare a person to a crane or a hawk. Or a chicken."

The last one came with a sharp smile and made Kyoko wince and pout again. "Yeah, but no one compares people to birds like this," Kyoko said, gesturing carefully in the general direction of Maria's pets.

"Of course not," Kanae huffed. "Who wants to act like that?"

Kyoko looked thoughtful for a moment. "What if… what would it be like? To be acting like one of these birds?"

"Does it matter?" Kanae asked, picking up her cup for another sip. "No one does, right? You can't think of anyone."

"No. But what if someday…" she chewed her lip for a moment. "Someone told me I should look for inspiration for acting in everything."

Eyes narrowed, Kanae said, "They couldn't possibly have meant birds."

"Maybe they did," Maria came to Kyoko's defense. "You never know. Maybe some people really do act like pet birds. Or a character would."

Shaking her head, Kanae said, "How would you try and act like those?"

She apparently immediately recognized it was the wrong question. Kyoko's posture shifted, her head cocked, and her arms came up at her sides. After some tentative attempts at crooking them into a wing shape, she shook her head and just kept them slightly bent as she started to strut back and forth in front of the hanging ring.

Kanae groaned and Maria laughed in delight.

"Come on," Kyoko laughed. "Try it."

Kanae didn't move, but Maria instantly jumped out of her chair, trying to imitate Kyoko's movements. They were awkward and jerky, but it was fun, and soon both of them were laughing, trying to outdo the other in overly dramatic bird whistles and clucks.

Kyoko had just folded her arms into makeshift wings again and was starting to make something more like chicken noises when the birds on the windowsill jumped up and flew past her, circling the ring. Gloryrose swooped right past Kyoko's face, making her flinch back a bit, though she kept smiling. Maria just laughed and laughed.

"Come on, Moko-san," Kyoko giggled. "You do it too."

"Absolutely not. I have a reputation as an actress to maintain."

Maria bobbed over to Kanae's chair and braced her elbows on the arm of it. "Come on. We're here to have fun. No one cares about your reputation here. And no one's going to see you."

"I will," Kanae muttered, but there wasn't a lot of heart in it. And she was already standing up.

She'd just taken a pose, arms for wings, back curved forward, head bobbing, and let out a particularly accurate screech when the door flung open and Grandfather appeared, freezing as he heard the noise.

There was absolute silence. Everyone froze.

Glimmermist fluttered over and landed on Grandfather's shoulder.

He smiled and Kanae groaned, burying her face in her hands.

Surprise! I am actually still working on this. Some of these covers are really a challenge...