"The water is almost ready." The candle scared the master of the house a little and he looked quickly away from the bird. He really should not stand here and stare at the unconscious. Even though he wondered why Ashes was so fast this time because when he wanted to bathe, it always felt like it took forever. Maybe he was just standing too long in the corridor.
Not important, because now he dispelled these vain questions and stooped down a bit to get into the bathroom. One of the few rooms in which he couldn't stand upright. He even sat more on the ground to wash himself with the bathwater. Unfortunately, he didn't fit in the tub. Only in summer could he swim in the lake behind the house.
"Could you still get his clothes? I've already washed them and they should be dry now." Because he would feel uncomfortable if the little black object was watching the stranger and him all the time.
As here was better lighting in the bathroom than in the hall, and since he probably didn't pay attention to it, he now noticed that the bandage had fallen off the bird's head. Was probably still in the basement. Carefully he stroked with his paws, which look really huge by the little bird, some soaked feathers to the side. Still, it didn't look as if the wound got open again. Relieved, he sighed, not wanting to take care more of the intruder before this starts his punishment.
He carefully put the little guy in the water. Of course, he tested the water beforehand so that it did not get too hot. Now he tried to see if there were any broken glass left. But as he gently combed the plumage, nothing came out. He probably had to do this procedure all over this body, not just a small part of the back. At least he got the glued feathers clean like that. He also had to go slowly because he didn't want to inflict any more pain on the unconscious. Not so easy, with this size difference, but he did his best.
A few moments passed in silence, except for the splash in the water, which he caused several times. The question came up, since when was the last time he saw a bird. So not only pictures in books, scrolls and other stuff, but a real and lively one. Probably several years have passed since this happened. And it was only a brief meeting in the woods when he collected firewood. He really didn't want to scare anyone, but in the summer he couldn't walk around with the cowl. His partly bristly coat was already too much at this time of the year. He told the others in the house nothing about the brief meeting between the trees. He was aware that they all hoped for a visit, and he was the only one who drove it out.
In the beginning, he wanted to chase the others out of his house, for which they entered unasked. But after that one night.. The bad headache came back to him and he grimaced and stopped working. He knew for a fact that there was a time when everything was different. His appearance was different. But slowly everything in his memories blurred. Was he once such a small and petite creature as in his paws? He looked at the yellow bird again incredulously. This suddenly looked back anxiously and maybe a little confused.
"Oh... I.." The monster immediately jumped from the smaller one, causing it to plunge into the water. The tub was not quite full, but it was still wet around it now.
"Now that you are awake, you can end your bath alone. Towels are already over there." The master of the house quickly found his normal tone again, but did not look at the other and pulled the cowl more in the face. There was a knock on the door and it was immediately opened by the bigger one.
"Here, I have.." Ashes didn't manage to finish his sentence.
"Wonderful." With that he pushed the candle into the bathroom, only to step into the hall himself.
"Keep him company." And the door was closed.
"He's just busy our master." Gave the candle as an excuse for the taller one, as the bird stared strangely at the closed door.
"Hm." Chuck nodded a little absently, then stared at his wings. When he awoke he didn't dare to open his eyes. He also thought he would end up in the pan for a moment, but then he remembered that he had gotten something in the basement, which made him smell slightly sweetish. The bathwater also had a pink color. But he didn't think that was the bizarre thing. It was the fact that this monster had actually just washed him, that was messing him up so much. With those huge paws, one would think that everything that comes into contact with it breaks instantly. But the creepy Something cleaned him so carefully, yet thoroughly, that he could actually get out of the water now. Clean and without further injuries.
Chuck dared to open his eyes when nothing happened for a moment. Almost motionless, the beast held him over the water, which he first recognized. Slowly he looked up into the still terrible face, but it didn't look at him. It glanced aside, as if something had happened that he had not seen. And then it was noticed that he was awake and immediately got dropped.
"Here's a towel." He heard from the left and luckily he wasn't too concerned with his thoughts, because the talking object would have held the cloth almost over his flame.
"I'm sorry." It apologized immediately, but the bird saw that it wasn't done on purpose.
"We do not often have guests." Asches added and was happy about the current one and that he could help. Albeit with little difficulty.
"Somehow that's a pity." Said the yellow one and really meant it that way. A beautiful property like this actually earned many visitors. But then he quickly thought back to the owner, who probably prevented that. That was when the monster really belonged here. Maybe it needed a shelter and killed the real owners. But that does not explain these living things. On the one wing, he couldn't imagine that this big something belonged here, because it almost bumped his head when he walked out of the bathroom. On the other wing, why would the monster take care of the house if it wasn't his. Although he didn't see everything from here yet, the used rooms were kept in better condition than the entrance area. Probably also because of the winter. His guest room was also cleaned and nobody could convince him that everything was done by these enchanted creatures. Or was there more magic here?
When he put his clothes back on, he noticed that they somehow smelled fresh.
"Who washed that?" He inquired of the smaller one, although he already knew the answer. By the way, they both stepped into the hallway after Chuck let the water out and made sure no dirt was left. Because he didn't have to annoy the master of the house even more. At least he could try to avoid it.
"Oh, I hope you don't want to complain. The master just wanted to clean it after it got dirty in the woods. I'm sure he.." The bird stopped the candle, which was about to apologize for the monster. Even if it did not quite know for what exactly.
"Everything is fine. I just wanted to say that my things never get so clean with me." Because washing clothes and removing stains requires patience, which he usually did not possess.
"Yes, the master can do many things very well." He nodded at it and in a way didn't want to know anything specific. Still, there was that curiosity in him that wanted to know more about this place and its inhabitants. After Asches mentioned what was going on in the basement, he simply had to ask questions.
"How long have you all been living here?" That's just bursting out of him, even though he didn't even know if the monster was ever far enough off the floor. Maybe this one was listening to them right now. But it didn't really have a reason for it. Surely it has gone so fast earlier because he was a burden. Chuck was supposed to be the one to escape here. But he saw, for now, that's pointless.
He noticed that the other no longer hopped beside him. The object next to him stopped a few steps behind him and looked down at the ground, a little oppressed. He didn't like that.
"I shouldn't have asked that. It's none of my business either."
"That's not it. You may ask me what you want. It's just ... that's me ... well, yes the others too. That we don't know how long we have been here. Everything is so... black in the head. I know there was a time before... here. Nevertheless, I don't remember exactly what was there... or who was." Now the to bird it was also clear why he had messed up the mood, but he was more than sure that this house had a secret.
But should he really poke around in it and look for more answers? His job was to flee here and then marry the girl. Or not? He wanted to be free of debts, but did he really want to marry Gale? So far he wasn't in this place and yet found it was exactly what he needed. Even if he was afraid in the beginning. He still got that a bit when the monster was in the room. Nevertheless, he got the time here to think again about everything reasonably. Nobody here asked for anything from him. At least until now, because he knew sooner or later, the beast will give him a punishment for the broken rose.
"I'm sorry." He said and tried for the time being to change the subject. It also didn't seem so easy to speak of the master of the house, because most of the answers related to this. Strange, but the candle didn't really seem to be afraid of the monster. If he hadn't seen the big thing himself, one might think it's about a nice guy. On the other wing, he caused the trouble here and maybe this only makes the giant angry.
Nonsense, as rude as he was with him, it certainly pushed everyone like this around. Although in bathroom just happened quite the opposite of before. Even his bandage on the head was certainly put on him carefully. As he wanted to touch it, he realized that it was missing. He hurriedly looked into a shiny vase in the hallway. The wound also seems to heal so well.
"There you are." The candy bowl hopped in their way.
"What are you dawdling around? The soup is getting cold." Complained the creature and hopped into the kitchen, which wasn't far away.
"I can fix that." Said the candle with a smile and hopped in the same direction. When the yellow one arrived in the room, he also spotted the pretty figure again. He also saw something blue, which he thought he had seen in the cellar, but it suddenly hid.
"I heard what happened. Are you okay?" The lady from the musicbox inquired as he sat down at the table set for him. Only one plate means probably that he ate alone. Somehow he wasn't really happy because the theory that the giant is a bird eater didn't really want to leave him. He thought that if the guy consumes normal food and gets full, he will be spared. Chuck shook his head, because the monster had more than one opportunity to devour him, but still did not do that. And what if he was to be fattened?
"Is he still in shock?" The singer inquired of Asches who had just climbed onto the table.
"Actually, he was just quite talkative." Answered the dish of sweets and made an indignant look, because the food was still not touched.
"Would you like to eat something else? Maybe he would rather.." But the dancer was quickly interrupted by the bowl.
"He gets this in his beak what comes to the table! We are not here.."
"He really doesn't want to eat me, does he?" It burst out of the bird, then they couldn't possibly lie to him. The magical items came way too decent for that.
"Of course not. This thought must have come to you already. I know your first encounter and the ones that followed weren't exactly friendly, but believe me, the master is a vegetarian." The female-looking creature sincerely explained.
"At least as long as you're not stuck in his apple pie. He's really into that stuff." He suddenly heard a younger voice and a blue ball rolled in his direction.
"Round!" The little lady wanted to sound admonishing, but she smiled nonetheless, because the master really loved the cake. Even if he would never say it aloud.
"I'm sure I will stay away from it." Chuck added with a smile and he turned the ball curiously a bit. That made it laugh.
"Your feathers tickle." Brought the toy out. The bird looked behind the music box and saw two more blue things. One hid hurriedly again, behind a large bowl on the table, when his eyes were noticed.
"You don't need to be afraid of me." He explained as kindly as possible.
"They're hiding because they know they're in trouble because of the incident in the basement. The master has expressly forbidden them... That's an outrage." For the bird simply pushed aside the orange-black bowl, which found no end to its preaching. Ashes then had to laugh with the ball. Of course they tried that secretly.
"Come on, guys. He really doesn't hurt you." The dancer also had to smile, but quickly tried to distract herself with getting the other two out. That happened then too. A neatly-sewed doll and a nutcracker hopped tentatively in Chuck's direction. Both mostly decorated with the color blue. The nutcracker looked a bit ashamed to the ground when he finally stood in front of the guest.
"So now we are all present and can really introduce each other. You already know Sweets and Ashes, even if not by name." Thus, the lady from the music box began to point at the two when speaking.
"That didn't came to me sooner, sorry." The candle apologized and bowed.
"Still, nice to meet you." He added, and the candy bowl next to it, crossed his porcelain arms.
"Pah, as if I immediately untie my name to every stranger." It came still disgruntled out of the dish.
"And these are Round, Dolls and Cracker." The three small blue objects bowed.
"Cracker, don't you want to say something to our guest." The lady tried to bring up a certain topic.
"It was not my intention.. That in the basement.." But the yellow one interrupted the Nutcracker by taking it in his wings and smiled at him.
"It's already ok. It was my fault too. I was not allowed to go down there, but I did it anyway. You see, we're both to blame." He explained, because he always hated it to get a stand-up play from adults as a child. It was not different now.
"And.. you really are not hurt?" The little one now looked at him closely and glanced at his head.
"Don't worry, that was there before." With that, he put the little blue something back on the table. This now looked visibly relieved.
"My name is Stellar by the way. Just in case you still want to know that." The lady mingled in again. But she thought it was good, that everyone got along." The bird looked at her for a moment thoughtfully. Every name of these magical beings had something to do with what they are. Or not? Maybe they all chose the names themselves.
"I'm Cuck." He finally gave out, because everyone was looking at him and he didn't want to be rude. The food was already really cooled, but it didn't bother him to take it anyway. It tasted that way too good. After chatting with the objects for a bit, while he ate a bowl of soup and a dessert. Sweets didn't like to give him the pudding because this thought he didn't deserve it. He left out the question of whether the others also take food. It was kind of rude too. Still something burned on his tongue, because the dancer forgot someone when she introduced them.
Because he was afraid again to collide with the monster in the corridor, he also voluntarily washed the dirty dishes off. Whereby everyone looked at him in astonishment.
"What?"
"Wow, you're really fast." The candle was the first to find his voice again.
"Yes, as long as you do not break anything." Added the candy bowl. Ok, a glass would have just fallen down, but that can happen anytime to anyone.
"You're going to be a great help here." Stellar seemed more excited about his ability, but the bird still hoped he didn't just have to do household chores. He had rarely felt like home for that and the property here was much larger.
"What's...his name?" At some point, Ashes, Sweets and three little ones had to leave the room, because the black and orange object thought, they all couldn't deal with him all day. They still had other tasks here. The children were reluctant to let go of the kitchen at the thought, but the bird promised to play with them later. The music box was the only one left with him because, as he saw, she couldn't move on her own. She must have heard his question in the silence, but she didn't answer immediately.
"I don't know and we really tried to find clues to the owner here. There is nothing. At least nothing personal. He just doesn't talk about it."
"That's why you all just call him 'Master'." She nodded and he didn't know what to do next. Chuck looked at the window. Outside, the snow raged back and forth. He walked to the window and from here he could look perfectly at the entrance and a little bit at the conservatory. A little he cursed now, that he wanted to have the rose. Just so he could impress a woman he didn't really want to marry.
Suddenly he noticed that someone was running around outside. The homeowner, who else. There was a lot of wind blowing outside, even the monster had to raise one arm to protect his face from it.
"Why does he go out in this weather?" Actually, he thought that only a moment, but then the question came out of his beak like from alone.
"To take care of his plants. Or he brought in new cut wood from behind. But actually I thought, there is still enough down by the fireplace." As a matter of course he carried the box also to the window, so she can also look out.
"I'm surprised that he goes in so often when his flowers are so important to him. It's getting cold in there in this snow." He looked at her shortly afterwards, but the lady continued to look out of the window, smiling slightly.
"In the conservatory there is of course a small oven and he makes sure that all his plants are well. In the entrance area are the specimens that have nothing against a little cold." The bird didn't really understand her facial features. How could she smile when she looked at the monster?
"Why are you staying here with this something? I mean, if he loses control, that's your end."
"You think you saw what it looks like when he's angry? He was much worse. He devastated entire rooms in a short time, as if it were the lightest thing in the world. Your guest room also suffered once."
"Yes, but who.." But she already knew what he wanted to ask.
"We certainly haven't cleaned up and repaired everything by ourselves. What I meant by that, he could go on a raging state like that, but he still would never hurt us. Of course it was not less scary because not seldom did he inflict pain on himself. Sometimes unintentionally and at other times..." She didn't complete her sentence and she didn't have to do it for the bird either.
"What do you think, does he let me go after a simple punishment?" Of course, the dancer was aware that the yellow one wants anything but staying here. He still feared the master and only from up here, he dared to look at him. At least what you saw from the cowl.