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“I told you, Orin, it wasn’t meant to be like that.” The soft voice was almost too quiet to be heard above the rustling of the leaves. A cold wind blew through the trees, matching the chill which ran along his skin. “And what exactly was it meant to be like, hm?” The stallion’s gleaming eyes, usually cheerful, were narrowed and dimmed. His lips curled in disgust. “Was it supposed to be some sort of prank? A joke to make you feel better about the circumstances? Because I certainly feel like the butt of a joke right now.” “Orin, no, you know I’d never do anything like that.” Tiny wings flapped urgently. The bird, a supposed friend and bonded, fluttered closer in an attempt to catch the other’s constantly shifting gaze. Orin scoffed. “Do I know that? I thought I did and then…” He gestured towards the branch of an apple tree where the reason behind their argument rested- a female bird with her brood.
Orin had thought the day would be like any other. He would wake up, tend to his duties in the orchards with the same gusto as always, come in and clean up, and then he would relax in whatever way he chose for the rest of the evening. Nearly half of his day had gone according to plan. The crisp morning air had greeted him, bringing him fully awake to begin his chores. He had been in the middle of pruning some weeds from the fenceline between the apple and orange orchards when the…surprise had arrived. Baird, his bonded, had not initially been with him at their arrival since he had sent him off to report something to his family. Imagine his confusion when the larger female- the apparent mother- began to ask questions of Orin. “Excuse me, this is the orchard Baird lives at, correct? Is he around? And you must be Orin, yes?” It had taken a moment for the young stallion’s brain to register the questions. “Umm…yes…who are–”
“Elise!” Baird chose that moment to return. “Hey! What are you guys doing here?” “Eeee! Papa!” The smallest three birds flew excitedly at the purple bird. It was at that moment where everything Orin thought he knew was metaphorically thrown out of a window. “Did they just…call you papa?” His mind reeled. Had they not sworn to remain bachelors until both of them were ready? Had they not promised that, if one should happen upon love, that one would immediately tell the other so they could speak about it? Now, here, right in front of him was potential proof of those broken promises. “Y-you LIED to me?! How long have you had a family?!” The next forty minutes were a blur. Baird swore up and down that he had not meant to lie, but that it never felt like the right time to approach Orin about the situation. It had all happened so fast too. One minute he was a bachelor…the next he had kids; although, he promised that Elise was not a permanent fixture. They had a fling and that was it. For her part, Elise backed up Baird in that regard, claiming that she liked the male bird but not enough to be a one-bird sort of girl. The only reason she even showed up to the orchard today was because the kids had finally learned to fly and wished to see their father.
He gave an unamused snort. Of course, a fluke was the singular reason Orin came to know Baird's secret. Would Baird ever have told him otherwise? Where once he might have said most assuredly yes, now he could not be so sure anymore. And if his bonded could lie about something like this, what else might he be lying about and hiding? Could Orin ever truly trust him again? “I think you need to go with them for awhile,” he finally said after a moment’s silence. “I need some time to myself. Some time to think.” “Orin–” “No, Baird, I don’t want to hear your excuses. We made a PROMISE. We said we’d talk about stuff like this. Just because the time never seemed right doesn’t give you an excuse. You could’ve found a time to tell me. We work in the orchards and talk all day. There was time somewhere in there. If you had said something, you’d know that I would’ve been happy for you. Heck, deep down, I probably still am happy for you despite feeling so hurt. I mean, they’re beautiful kids. I can’t argue against that. But…this is big. I can’t just brush it off like some of our other arguments. I need to deal with it in my own time and way…and that requires you not to be here. Not until I’m ready to talk. So…go…please.”
With that, the peach-colored stallion turned away from his friend. His head hung low as he maneuvered through the rows of trees, working his way home. He wondered how a friendship that had prided itself on no secrets had ended up with such a big one. He also had to wonder if the two of them would ever be able to reconcile. In his heart of hearts, he imagined they would, yet it would not be for some time. Not until he was ready.
FIN
WC: 888
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