The Confectionary Chronicles || HP/SPN

Lollies and Loki- CH34

A/N: Happy International Fanworks Day!

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:

The day Vashti finally started 'speaking', Hermione almost started crying like the proud mamma she sort-of was. She'd been growing more and more concerned about Vashti's lack of speech as months had passed and her little phoenix who wasn't quite so little anymore remained silent other than her beautiful songs and battle cries, concerned that the violent death Vashti had experienced before she was even halfway grown had hurt her in a more long-lasting way. Vashti had still been very capable of communicating with her chirping, singing, crooning, and sharp beak, but when Vashti began to 'speak', the relief Hermione felt was astronomical.

Phoenixes didn't talk out loud like a parrot might, they spoke within people's heads– though only within the heads of those they chose to communicate with. Because of the scarcity of phoenixes, who had been rare even in the Founders' Era, the texts Loki had supplied her with were all very vague about their communication and Hermione suspected that the translations of the old writings should have been more along the lines of how phoenixes could only communicate with the minds of their 'Chosen', not with those they'd 'chosen to'. Phoenixes bonding with a person didn't appear to be common knowledge at all, however, so she supposed the mistranslation was forgivable.

Vashti's first words had been a complaint that day's impending rain– apparently, she'd been woken by her instincts demanding she 'sing' about the rainstorm approaching and had wanted to keep on sleeping. All the grumbling in such a sweet, chiming 'voice' had been very amusing to hear, and Hermione had been relieved that although Vashti hadn't been actually talking until this point, her development was still on track and she was capable of 'speaking' and understanding full sentences.

Despite the complaints that had started everything, sleep had been forgotten by both of them after that as they instead spent the next several hours figuring out how their communication worked. It turned out Vashti was capable of not only singing but of speaking right inside her head, as well as of sharing her senses with Hermione. Witnessing a literal bird's eye view of Henningsvær as Vashti flew above the small town to see how far she could go while still talking to Hermione (they hadn't found a limit yet) was breathtaking, if slightly headache-inducing as her brain wasn't quite accustomed to viewing things from the angles a bird's eyes saw things.

Hermione could also show Vashti what she saw, though not by projecting her thoughts/speech/senses inside Vashti's mind the way Vashti projected her thoughts/speech/senses into her head. It was more that she could push the words, images or emotions at the link, and Vashti could 'tap' into the link.

Hermione had already started a notebook recording everything she'd discovered so far and all the discrepancies between their different experiences and their ideas of why (Vashti was certain that phoenixes must have minds too complicated for humans to brush against without possibly going mad, but as humans were a far simpler species a phoenix could brush against their minds without issue, a theory which made Hermione smile but she wrote it down anyway, projecting her amusement to Vashti as she did so). Hermione had a suspicion that her notebook would never be seen by another living being, except perhaps Loki and his family if any of them were interested, and she also suspected that that protectiveness she felt was the truth behind why there was so little information about phoenixes available– any who actually knew anything of value were too protective to even consider publishing it where someone who might use the information against phoenixes could read it.

After thoroughly exploring their ability to communicate, they'd spent a few days sharing some of their favourite experiences from their own perspectives, opening their senses to each other so Vashti could experience casting magic, sparring with Hati and Váli, and swimming through the water of lakes and the ocean, while Hermione learned what it felt like to soar through the skies, burn bright with the fire that simmered under 'her' feathers, and feast on Vashti's favourite puréed berries mixed with honey and Hati's mead with a phoenix's sense of taste (experiencing the thoughts/feelings/senses of a mildly tipsy phoenix was also an interesting experience).