Lia had spent the first part of the morning getting the ingredients she needed for the rest of the day. With an array of herbs and veggies and an assortment of meat laid out before her she was starting to feel a little more prepared. She looked down at the bird at her feet, and scooped him up. Heaving him onto the counter with a grunt of effort. He had been almost little when they had first met, but the boy was growing fast. “We are going to need some stairs for you at this rate” she teased.

The routine of bird and wolf in the kitchen was becoming a familiar one. “Here, I picked these for you, if you want to see how easy they are to pluck the petals and spread them” she suggested. Working around the bird as pushed rounded blobs of meat onto sticks she had cleaned, and sorted them over the small fire she used for cooking in the kitchen. She didn’t want to cook them through, just put a bit of charred taste on the edges.


Speech

Each time it seemed Zephyr finally fell into a routine, something changed. The castle was slowly losing its mystery and novelty with every day that passed, it even appeared to be growing smaller - that, or Zeph was growing much faster than he felt he was. Even the way Lia scooped him up onto higher surfaces was changing, and he grasped the counter edge with his beak to assist her in hoisting his weight. He folded his wings tightly against himself to take up less room on the countertop, reaching for the bundle of flowers Lia offered him and placing them between his talons. "We won't need stairs when I can fly!" He gave back with an excitable wiggle of his tail feathers. Already larger than most of the companion birds of the castle, Zephyr felt that day had to come soon. Right?

His adoptive parents wedding was coming quickly and with it, Zephyr was knee-deep in further knowledge and understanding of the wolf world. He didn't quite understand the concept of the celebration between mates, but he did want to contribute to the festivities as the other pack wolves were. Zephyr had gained permission to be a 'flower-chick' - whatever that was - and Lia had collected for him some flowers to practice with. He glanced down at the bundle, tentatively grasping a pedal with his beak and tearing it from the flower, flicking his head and watching it float down from the counter and onto the floor. Lia was busy cooking, but Zeph knew that the fire-toned female was a good multitasker. He watched her as she worked, turning the flowers over in his talons. "But why do we throw flowers?"

"Zephyr"

She laughed at his enthusiasm, knowing his ability to fly would come soon, and then they better all look out. “If you fly in my kitchen, Mister, you’ll be in trouble. One gust of wind and all my ingredients will be on the floor” she pointed out to him. Scolding him only in jest. She pretended to shake a paw at his beak before turning over her roasting meat.

She did indeed see his petal fall delicately to the floor. “It’s pretty, and it's symbolic. But mostly, it's a tradition. Art and Briar are going for a big traditional wedding that the whole pack could enjoy. That means lots of colours and food and cheer. You get to throw the petals, because you are very important to them, and central in the wedding.” She explained, hoping she wasn’t making a mess of it.

She pulled one of the roasting sticks off the fire and pulled a rolled up ball off the stick. It was hot in her paw, and she blew on it a few times. There were herbs pressed into the meat, and while the outside had a good charred look to it, the inside was still gooey and tender and raw. The way wolves liked it. “Here, try this” she said, lightly tossing the meat at his beak. That in itself had almost become a tradition in this kitchen.

Speech

Lia's playful reprimand brought slow, taunting flaps from the chick's under-fledged wings, an evil grin on his beak. "Just you wait! I'll be flying so fast you won't even be able to catch me!" He insisted. His head tipped back, staring up at the spacious ceiling and imagining how much fun it would be to swoop down and steal bites of Lia's gourmet meals. The reminder of food had his stomach beginning to grumble, though the handmaiden was already chucking a morsel in his direction. He caught it in his beak and swallowed.

"Mmmm!" The fledgling raptor had never been one to turn down food and had a heavy appreciation for the fire-kissed wolf's cooking skills. "Is good, but it's always good." He commented with a sharp bob of his vulture-like neck. "What's 'tradition?'" It made sense that the wolves wanted pretty things for their special day, it even made sense that they'd want the rest of the pack to enjoy it too, but beyond that, the wedding was still a mysterious and complex concept to Zephyr. For most wolves he'd likely not even attempt to understand the celebration, but Briar and Artorias were important to him and he loved them unconditionally even as they indulged in silly, weird rituals like weddings.

"Zephyr"

Lia lightly flicked his wings as he flapped them. Disturbing her little pile of basil leaves. “Menace.” She said, but there was no bite to her words. She loved the little (or not so little) chick like family. She didn’t feel terrible teasing the boy, especially since he had started to sleep in her room, and followed her around the kitchen like a lost lamb.

He caught the food as she threw it, and she pulled the rest of the kebabs aside to share with the pack. She thought they needed a little more something, but wasn’t sure what yet. She had time to perfect them before the wedding. As the kebabs cooled - she made sure she placed one within reach of Zep - she pulled out some potatoes and began to mash them. “Tradition is like… a way of things that get passed down. Like Art and Briar will have this beautiful wedding, and eventually their kids will have weddings much like this. And then their children's children…. These halls will remember many weddings to come.” She explained as she mashed the potato onto a bowl of minced meat. She pulled off some of the mash, and tossed it towards her taste tester. “I don’t see any petal-tossing going on over there”


Speech

Zeph's beak fell open in mock horror as she flicked at his wings, aiming to bat at the offending paw as she did so. "You're the menace, hitting a child." He accused, though his tone was equally playful. Lia had become a central part of his odd family - companion to his loving guardians, provider of delicious food, and a warm body to nest beside when the expansive castle grew cold.

At her explanation of tradition the hatchling gave an indifferent shrug, though a thoughtful frown was on his beak. Maybe Artorias and Briar's biological children would one day wed, but he couldn't imagine finding a partner for himself in a wolf's world. Somehow the distinction was painful, though he concealed it as best as he could to spare Lia the regret of her words.

She reminded him of his job and Zephyr pointedly grasped a petal in his beak and tore it from the flower with a precision that was satisfying, tossing it gracefully off to the side. "Are you going to get married, too?" He asked with a tilt of his feathered head.

"Zephyr"