Birds Of A Feather

Chapter Four

   From the moment I saw Alma Peregrine, I was hooked. Her voice was music to my ears and her smile could thaw the coldest of hearts. Alma looked way better than I could have ever imagined. After she finished reading to the children, they ran off to play, and our gazes met. At first, I tried to play it off, doing what a real bird would do; eating from the bird feeder. I tried to look as inconspicuous as possible, but there was one small problem, I was an eagle. Of course, Alma saw through my façade instantly and made her way over to me. She ran a skilled hand through my feathers and ruffled them, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I called out happily, letting her know I was pleased with her actions. She smiled at me, and my heart melted. Soon, I decided to shift back to human form standing across from her.
   "Alma Peregrine, delighted to meet you Desiree"
   She extended her hand to me, which I gladly took. Our grasps lingered, making the handshake a bit longer than expected, but not awkward. Her hand was soft and warm, just like when she was ruffling my feathers. Eventually we let go and I instantly missed the contact.
   "The last time dear Abe sent me a photograph you were just a tiny tot"
   She smiled.
   "How did you know it was me, was I really that obvious"
  I asked playfully,
   "I was hoping to sneak up on you"
   She laughed, which made my heart skip a beat.
   "I saw you on the ferry, and you should know, nothing around here escapes my notice, darling"
   I nodded intently, also staring at her as she spoke. My dark brown eyes met her blue grey ones as we became locked in a sort of trance, neither one of us wanting to look away. I saw something in her eyes I couldn't quite place, which bothered me but nonetheless I kept staring. Soon, she looked down to check her pocket watch and frowned.
   "Your brother should be arriving soon. We will continue this chat later, there is a matter I'd quite like to discuss"
  Again, I nodded,
   "Of course, I'll just uh...go see the children"
   I winked and without another word, shifted and flew off to watch the children play. And maybe join them, if they wanted me to.
   I found some of them in the garden, and landed on a dinosaur topiary bush to observe.
   Claire and the twins stopped to look up at me for a second, seeming a bit unnerved by my presence, but otherwise they were unbothered and continued playing. I stared at them for a while, and chirped quietly to myself. They seemed happy, and at ease with the world around them. Not worried about anything really. What I would give to feel that way. To be a kid again would be amazing.
   I had been fazed out for a few minutes when I was startled by a large thud, accompanied by Millard and Hugh staring up at the topiary I was landed on. Miss Peregrine was here now, which in my trance I completely missed her entrance. She was escorting Jake around the property, introducing him to the children, and giving him a tour. She glanced up at me, then slightly below where I was standing and tilted her head as if she was telling me to do something. I hopped over to the edge and looked around and what she could have wanted and saw a soccer ball stuck in the mouth of the topiary. Scooting closer to the edge, I tried nudging the ball, but lost my balance and ended up fluttering away, only to come back and try again.
   "Millard look! That bird is getting the ball down"
   Hugh said.
   "Is she an Ymbrene"
   Millard asked
I squawked happily as I finally got the ball down, then landed and shifted back to human form. Millard and Hugh ran up to me quickly,
   "Thanks for the ball, Miss..."
   "Desiree. Desiree Portman"
   I finished, shaking both of their hands firmly.
   A soft voice from behind me called out,
   "What kind of bird are you"
   I turned to see Claire, who was now clutching at the hem of my short dress.
   I smiled at the small girl,
   "I'm a Verreaux's Eagle"
   She smiled at me then darted past me to Miss Peregrine, who's approach again I hadn't noticed.
   "You've met the children, I see"
   She eyed me and smirked.
   "Yes, most of them anyways"
   Our eyes met again, but she looked away quickly this time.
   "I was wondering if you would walk with me, there are some things I'd quite like to discuss"
   She looked anywhere but my eyes, and a shadow of a blush crept up her features.
   "Of course"
   The children grumbled, but a stern look from Miss Peregrine put a stop to the moping.
   "She'll be back to play with you soon. Run along now children"
   That seemed to cheer them up, and they ran off to play.
   Alma and I walked a few meters away from them, so not to be overheard, before we started talking. We talked about more professional things at first, mainly how she viewed me as a colleague more than as one of her children, and how my responsibilities will reflect as much, but soon, the conversation turned towards more personal matters..
   "It has been quite some time since I've spoken with another Ymbrene... or any adult really"
   I looked at her and smiled,
   "I imagine so. And how does it feel"
She looked at me for a moment, then looked away. It was a rather strange question, so it's no wonder she took a while to answer.
"It's refreshing, I suppose"
She looked at me again, but this time, she didn't look away when our eyes met.
"You're not what I expected, Desiree"
I laughed in response, "Better or worse"
She glared at me for a moment, then her gaze softened. She had a glint in her eyes as she took my hand, "Better. Much better"
I smirked at her, deciding to push my luck a bit further,
"Well, I'll say the same about you, Miss Peregrine. You're certainly not what I was expecting, but in a good way"
She blushed and turned away.
"And what exactly were you expecting, Desiree"
I was taken off guard by the question, and had to think of a response that wouldn't do too much damage in terms of my feelings. Eventually I responded,
"Well, certainly not the beautiful woman that is standing beside me"
Alma tried to keep a neutral expression, but the furious blush that burned across her sharp features betrayed her. She squeezed my hand, then released it. I decided not to test her any further, out of fear of getting hurt.
"Thank you, Desiree..." she stared at me for a moment before continuing, "Dinner is at 5:30, will you be dining with us"
"Uh, sure I guess" I replied nervously.
Alma smiled at this and gestured for me to follow her.
"Wonderful, then you can help me with the cooking," she beamed.
I followed after her silently, and with a million thoughts whizzing through my mind. Surely my flirting hadn't went over her head. Alma didn't seem like the oblivious type. Perhaps she was ignoring it, to save me the embarrassment. Whatever the situation, I needed to remain calm and refrain from blushing and flirting while helping cook dinner. It shouldn't be too difficult, I would just follow instructions and keep my head down.
When we got to the kitchen, Alma set me on the task of peeling a massive carrot. Which was totally fine with me, because the less contact we have, the better. The only problem was how I would go about peeling such a large carrot. A regular peeler would have me there for hours. Alma must have noticed my predicament, and handed me a large chef knife. Her fingers touched mine, and lingered for a few seconds before she smiled and went to prepare the turkey. Wether she did this on purpose or not, I couldn't say at the moment. I lowered my gaze to the giant carrot and started peeling as a smile formed on my lips.
As we cooked, I noticed her glancing over at me every one in a while, with a small smile. I also have noticed the subtle sway of her hips as she moved around the kitchen that wasn't present before our chat. Though I could be over exaggerating things, and that's just how she walks normally. For that reason, I chose not to engage and finished peeling my carrot, this time focusing intently on ignoring Alma.
When I was done with the carrot, I started shelling the giant peas, all the while still ignoring Alma. Why everything was so large, I had no idea. But whatever works for Alma is fine with me.
Soon, all we were waiting on was the turkey that was in the oven. We stood across from each other, leaning on adjacent counters. I knew she was staring at me, but I was looking anywhere else.
"I appreciate the help, Desiree", She said.
Still refusing to meet her gaze, I replied, "No problem, Miss Peregrine"
She was starting at me even harder, and I could tell I was getting on her nerves. She moved to stand beside me, but I still didn't look her in the eye.
"Polite persons make eye contact with those they are speaking to," She scolded playfully.
"Oh really," I asked, "I didn't know"
She opened her mouth to say something, but a buzzer went off just in time. She instead glared at me, then took the turkey out of the oven.
"We will continue this later," She said.
I smiled at her and responded, " I look forward to it".