Day seven.

Quite happily, she slept in. After stealing a blanket she had slumped upon her sofa and slept with a full stomach, after eating all of the food and not feeling nauseous after. It was much more suitable to sleep in her clothing, and so she had for the past few days including this one, and had a single set of clean clothing left. When she began to become aware she noticed that fresh candles had been set into the room, and lit to signal it was day time. There was also the keen knowledge that a figure was there, and he was already keenly pouring through the pages of his book.

For a while she just looked at his pages with her eyes half closed, blinking in the light. Then she sighed, once her stance became too uncomfortable and she leaned over to grab a bottle of water close by.

“Morning,” he said in a low voice.

She grunted a reply, pushing herself up into a seated position, the blanket falling around her shoulders. Tugging it fully back up she uncorked the bottle, and began to glug the cold liquid. Vitruvion said nothing more and returned to his writing. Once she was done she shoved the stopper back into the bottle and dumped it back on the ground before staring at her feet. It took her a moment to speak.

“I am bored. I need something to do.”

“Like what?” he replied, lifting up a page and narrowing his eyes at it.

“A book,” she answered. “Brer brought me books when I … then.”

He raised his eyes and looked at her for a moment, before inclining his head and setting the page back down. “Very well,” he stood up from his seat, pulling straight his clothes. “Any other requests?” He paused, “reasonable ones.”

“I want to go outside,” she said, tightening the blanket around her. Then she added, as a salty afterthought, “please.”

Pursing his lips slightly he gazed at her before answering. “I will consider it.” And he nodded once before striding out of the room, a small click occurring before he got to the door and pulled it open.

“Fuck OFF!”

Stare seized. Quickly she pulled the blanket around her as if it was a shield, tugging it up her neck and over half of her head. Vitruvion began to bellow as the door slid closed and she could still hear him shouting loudly. Clearly there was some controversy outwith her small world of the past week, and spectators to come see the captive kenku, but kept there for entirely protective reasons.

It kept going, the yelling, for a long few seconds. Stare curled up onto the sofa, sighing as she felt like she belonged in a freak circus, and was nothing more than the latest oddity. There was some comfort in the fact that Vitruvion did not consider her such, but then he was the one keeping her detained in the initial instance. There she remained, in her quiet comfort until once more the shouting began again.

A book was slid onto the sofa before her as the door was shut. Glancing at the cover she saw that it was one of Brer’s old romances - something she had actually read before. Curling her hand around it she tugged it underneath her form but did not open it just yet.

“I have sworn extreme punishment on any of them that are still remaining the next time the door opens,” he growled angrily. “And my wrath will be great.”

Remaining where she was she ignored his comments, but hoped that the threat would be taken seriously. Out of the corner of her eye she watched him take back his seat, then lift up the paper once more. Eventually she dragged the book from underneath her and opened it, sitting up onto her elbows to begin to read.