Family Secrets

"I'll go too," Hugo said quietly, offering a small smile as he spoke. Ronan's gaze travelled to the stairs, and he started up them, meaning to ask Juliette if she wanted to come too. Rounding the corner, he bumped into Jupiter, who only grinned before passing him up and disappearing down the stairs. "Me too," Jupiter said. "I might as well." They bounced slightly as they entered the kitchen, smirking knowingly at Kennedy.

Ronan paused outside Juliette's bedroom door, knocking lightly before peeking around the corner. "Hey," he greeted her. "You wanna go look at some birds?"
 
Absorbed in her failing to come up with anything good, she startled at the knock at her door, but straightened as Ronan peered in.
"Hey," he greeted her. "You wanna go look at some birds?"
She blinked, shocked, then gave a nod. She hoped that because this trip was for him that maybe it was okay that he was inviting her. Did Kennedy and Eva give approval of it though?
"I just have to change. I'll be quick," she murmured, and closed her book, using an index card for a bookmark. She bit her lip, not knowing how to go about finding out if it was really okay that she go or not. Asking them directly was a bad idea, checking their expressions didn't always work and wouldn't be inconspicuous at this point. But..
Just as Ronan was about to leave so she could change, she called, "Ronan?"
She gulped. "Are you sure I....do you think Eva or Kennedy would be..upset...if I went with you?" her sentence got quieter as it went on. Her heart was racing and she wasn't exactly sure why. She didn't meet his eyes.
 
Ronan beamed in delight as Juliette answered, and he turned to bounce back down the stairs. He stopped as Juliette called for him, and turned back around to face her. At her question, he could only blink in surprise. "Why would they be?" he asked, taking a small step forward into the room. "I think they'd be more disappointed if you didn't. You're family. You should be included in things too."

"Besides," he said. "I want you to come. Maybe you'll like it. Birds are cool." He was quiet for a moment. "They like you, you know. Eva and Kennedy. We all like you. Eva and Kennedy just want you to feel safe here, thats all."
 
At her question, he could only blink in surprise. "Why would they be?" he asked, taking a small step forward into the room.
Juliette leaned slightly away, expecting sarcastic reasons to follow. ..But they didn't.
"I think they'd be more disappointed if you didn't. You're family. You should be included in things too."
The internalized the first sentence; that's the answer she had hoped for. But when he continued with a statement like that, Juliette's heart jumped into her throat. She stared, eyes wide, too shocked that he would actually say something like that real confidence to then analyze it.
"Besides," he said. "I want you to come. Maybe you'll like it. Birds are cool." He was quiet for a moment. "They like you, you know. Eva and Kennedy. We all like you. Eva and Kennedy just want you to feel safe here, thats all."
Juliette just stared, frozen for a moment. The words took longer to process. She didn't know what to do with them. "Uh-um," was all she could manage while her eyes searched for anywhere else to look. The words bounced around in her head, risking vulnerability. Which she could never afford. "I-I'll meet you downstairs," she mumbled, then moved to get out of bed so she could put on actual clothing. But the moment Ronan actually left, she paused, just standing in the middle of her room dumbstruck. She shook her head. It couldn't all be true.
He had said she was family and sure she was related to one member, but what does that actually mean? Not much, in her experience. Besides, who could actually want you?
How could they like you? They don't even know you beyond the fact that you're prone to freak outs and like to read all by yourself like a loser.

And safety...
Doesn't exist. Not for you. Feeling safe is useless when you'll just be proven wrong again.

Juliette put on a gray long-sleeve and a dark green, long-sleeved shirt over it. There was a numb swiftness to her movements and a blank expression. Jeans, holey socks, too-small sneakers and her thickest sweater...which wasn't very thick because of the secret pockets, but it would have to do. She needed to dress warmer, she'd learned after last night's fiasco in half-melted snow. She took a deep breath. Her ribs still ached a little. Did they really want her to go with them? No. not worth it to hope so. But they would be more disappointed if she didn't. Juliette clenched her teeth and closed the door behind her before meeting everyone downstairs.
 
Once everyone was ready, the group headed out. As they stepped into the store, a large white cockatoo let out an excited screech from it's perch on top of the cage. The bird fell forward off the wooden perch and dangled by one foot, letting out a high pitched, drawn out "Hiiiiii!" as the door closed behind them. Kennedy gave the bird a wary glance.

"I know you," she said. "You bite. I'm not falling for that one again." The bird's yellow crest feathers fanned upward, and it bobbed its head vigorously as if agreeing with her. It hopped back into an upright position and strutted forward, examining Ronan from it's spot on the edge of the cage. "Hi," the bird said again, this time in a whisper. It was silent for a moment before continuing with "Want a nut."

Ronan grinned and took an almond from a bowl on a nearby countertop. "Hi, Snowy," he said. "Why are you whispering? Is it a secret?"
The bird bobbed its head again and took the almond in its foot before starting to devour it.

"I wouldn't give him a nut," a voice said. An elderly man came hobbling around the corner, a small smile on his face. "He's whispering because he thinks he can get what he wants if he sneaks." He reached out to scratch Snowy's head. "Smart bird. Sneaky, but smart."
"Hi Greg!" Ronan chirped, slipping past him to a large tree stand with several green conures clambering around. A few of them were eating a mixture of vegetables out of a dish, and every so often would wipe their beaks off on the branch before continuing their meal.
 
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Nobody seemed to have any obvious objections to her going with them when she got in the car, so she made herself tiny and unnoticeable. She flinched at the loud screech as they entered the bird store, but otherwise kept quiet and out of the way. Its large beak and the strange way it could talk was kind of creepy, so she didn't approach even before Kennedy mentioned that he bites. Ronan seemed to get along with it fine but Juliette decided she liked Ace better, so she wandered further into the store, towards more of the birds in cages.
She assumed Greg was the owner of the store and Ronan was also friendly with him. He must come here a lot. Regardless, Juliette didn't leave her back to the store owner as she wandered past the chattering budgeriers, swift canaries and whistling cockatiels. They were certainly pretty to look at, but all of the different calls and chirping seemed to echo in her head unpleasantly. She wished she had brought her mp3 player. She would have had room for it in all of her pockets, which were useless now that it seemed the only things sold here would be birds and things related to their care. There weren't even candy bars by the cash register. Nothing worth pilfering.

Eventually, Juliette stopped in front of some shelves with only a couple of cages on them, all labeled 'Quarantine'. Her gaze landed on a small, gray dove in a cage with no perches. It blinked up at her, sitting still, unlike all of the other birds which never seemed to stop moving. It gave a brief coo, softly, and ruffled its feathers. She wondered what was wrong with it. Was it sad because it was caged? She had only seen doves outside in parks before. Why was this one here, all by itself?
 
(I'm alive! my laptop charger died right as i started feeling better. the struggle.)

Ronan laughed as one of the conures hopped off the tree stand onto his arm, and he spent a few minutes scratching the bird's head. Catching sight of Juliette gazing up at the quarantine shelf, he slowly leaned back towards the stand to edge the small green bird off his shoulder. "What are you looking at?" he asked, making his way over to the girl. Hugo followed after him, his gaze trailing up to the caged dove.

"A lady brought him in the other day," Greg explained. "She'd had him from a baby, but she probably didn't take the best care of him, given what happened to him. She had a few other birds and for some reason decided to try to cage him with one of the others. They didn't get along well and the bigger birds bit all the toes off one of his feet." The man let out a sigh as he spoke. "So he'll be in there at least until the bite heals. He's still got his beak and one foot so he should be able to climb around and perch on some level. But his leg has to heal before he can re-learn all that."

He reached through the cage to scratch the dove on the head. "He'll get to spend some time with the smaller birds once his foot heals. For now I've been keeping him in the cage. He comes out and sits on a little blanket on my desk sometimes, but I can tell he wants to be with other birds."
 
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(i'm alive too! School hit me like a sack of bricks and I forgot to leave this tab open to remind myself that you had responded. I'm sorry I'm very forgetful sometimes)

Juliette bit her lip as Ronan approached, Hugo following behind him. Their proximity still made her nervous and she hated it. So she stayed put, and answered the question by keeping her gaze on the bird.
The shop owner chimed in, coming closer as he explained where it had come from. She felt bad for the poor little thing. It must have been in a lot of pain. Juliette made herself as small as she could without stepping away from them. His finger looked so large in comparison to the tiny bird's head. She wondered how he managed to care for them all without hurting any of them.