"Hello? Vivian, Diaglo! Are you still in?"

The familiar New Zealand accented voice followed by a knocking against the tree trunk sounded, making the young spix macaw pair raise their heads. Vivian broke into a wide smile and she got to her feet. "Orton! Hold on I'm coming," She made a beeline to outside the hollow with Diaglo following. The duo was immediately greeted by the jolly second leader who was given Vivian a hug, and then ruffled Diaglo's head. But then Orton wasn't alone…

The hyacinth leader Nicholas landed next to Orton on the branch and he wore a tired smile. Diaglo was staring in awe, the first time he's ever seen the main leader of the flock up close. Amidst the entirely blackish blue feathers, the yellow rings around his eyes stood out and they resembled slightly dark yellow versions of the eyebags Eduardo had, clearly from sleep deprivation and age. But despite that, Nicholas still wore a friendly smile like the leader he is.

He held out a large wing to the newcomer. "You must be the new bird, the one Vivian had saved from the river. Diaglo, am I right?"

Diaglo nodded slowly and shook the elder's wing. "That's me." The hyacinth nodded in understanding and he withdrew his wing with a sigh. "I apologize for not getting to meet you sooner.. There were flock issues that needed seeing to. Being the main leader it is my duty to see to those, especially when it involves the members of my flock." Nicholas looked away sadly and Diaglo immediately knew what it was.

"It was the missing birds, including Balthazar and Vinnie, isn't it?" Diaglo said quietly with sympathy in his eyes. The adults and Vivian looked at him. "I.. I'm so sorry about what's happening." He put on a positive look. "But look, I'm sure they'll turn up. Or if not, maybe the birds here might find them too." He consoled. Orton gazed at Nicholas with the same hope and assurance in his eyes. "Diaglo is right, Nicky. And besides, Balthazar and Vinnie are smart, they know the jungle and they passed the survival training. I'm sure they'll turn up."

When Nicholas still looked uncertain, Vivian decided to try lighten things up. She tugged at Orton's wing. "Say, Orton? Do you have any plans for today?" She glanced at Diaglo with a smile, the latter looking in wonder. "I wanna show Diaglo the Watering Hole at the strawberry guava tree ring. Maybe you'd like to come with us?"

This made Orton perk up, and then he nodded immediately. "Why of course! I'd be delighted to go with you and Diaglo," He held Nicholas' wings with a knowing expression. "I know Nicholas would need it too, so he's coming with us as well." The hyacinth blinked and opened his beak to protest, but Orton looked pleadingly. "Please, Nicky?" He brushed his wingtips against the hyacinth's cheek. "We need this. I can't stand to see you so exhausted - You need to rest. And Diaglo will need the chance to get to know you better,"

He gestured to the two spixes ahead and his grey eyes softened with love. "Now, I suggest taking a break. Do it for the kids... And for me," He whispered the last three words with a gentle nuzzle. Nicholas couldn't help but smile lovingly at this and he held Orton's wings in his. "Alright, you persuaded me." He smiled in seeing Orton's gleeful look. "Seriously how can I ever say no to you?"

Orton smiled sweetly and brushed his beak against Nicholas' cheek. "You know me so well Nick..." He looked at the two spixes before the quartet lofted off into flight.

Vivian and Diaglo had flown up ahead due to Vivian being extra excited at taking Diaglo to the hot-spot while Orton and Nicholas took their time flying being the youngsters. The two big birds were chatting joyously, apparently talking about flock life and sweet things that occasionally made Orton fly up close to Nicholas and nuzzle the side of his partner's face, gaining a smile full of love from the hyacinth.

It was as if the two were a couple, and Diaglo felt joy in seeing them. He wondered…

"Are they mates with each other?" Diaglo whispered to Vivian who had also been watching the leaders behind them. The spix girl could only shrug and fly on with a look of confusion. "I can honestly ask myself the same thing. They keep telling us that they're just best friends with a passion, but I'm really surprised they're not mates by now. It's just so obvious that they're meant for each other look at them!"

The two spixes looked over their shoulders to see the leaders behind them. Just like Vivian had mentioned, it was indeed obvious that Nicholas and Orton were in love. They were flying so close to each other and Orton would frequently brush his wing against Nicholas' with a playful kiss-like touch with his beak. Same-gender couples are pretty rare in the Amazon. Even if they deem themselves as not, Diaglo considered the two males as a pair and they weren't the first he's seen - In the Blu Bird Sanctuary he's met a female greenwing macaw who's mates with another female, a scarlet macaw, and they have adopted orphan chicks to raise themselves. They're a very friendly couple despite the judgement they receive and Diaglo was fond of them.

The girl sighed as Diaglo continued to fly beside her. "I always wondered what living with another would be like, maybe another boy of my kind. But I've never met another spix macaw for a long time, I never thought of getting into one as a result."

Diaglo had blushed slightly and he turned away to hide his pinkness. "I'm sure you'll find your guy someday," He smiled at Vivian. "There's a fair amount of males out there you can meet. You should find yours given the time,"

"What? With these things?"

Vivian chortled and flicked at her brown head feathers and adjusted her purple glasses with a talon. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Not even the boy macaws in Arco Iris find me a feeling. Maybe it's because I look different. Or maybe it's because I'm the only one coming from a family with human history." She looked at Diaglo. "Mom's really lucky to have met dad, a wild macaw who accepts her as she is. A chance like that, it's a plain miniscule, especially since Amazon locals have loathed humans for nearly their entire lives."

Diaglo flinched. Vivian was right in that one. Not all wild macaws are as compassionate and accepting like his mother Jewel and Vivian's father Vicente. It's likely that Vivian will definitely have trouble finding a male to like her just for the way she is...

And speaking of like, Diaglo felt drawn to Vivian the longer he got to be with her. Her violet eyes, brown head feathers and the glasses - He loved them, especially when he himself needed the four eyes at most. But yet.. He couldn't bring himself to Vivian. Of course he can't! They've only known each other for nearly two days after all.

"Diaglo? Hey you still with us?"

Vivian snapped her talon in front of the distracted male spix. Diaglo gasped and blinked in shock. "W-What? Yeah I'm still here, just thinking of things!" He assured with a nervous chuckle. "What is it?" Vivian simply smiled and gazed up ahead. "We're nearly there. Take a look in front of you!"

Diaglo did just so and his gold eyes widened. "Cheese and sprinkles... " His lower beak had lowered in a gape and Vivian, Orton and Nicholas had swooped on ahead into the paradise.

Regarding the LGBT implication: This is my first story to ever involve a pair of such and Nicholas and Orton's bond is based on that of an actual relative of mine and his partner. I wanted to try writing it out considering that I support the community and to show my relative that I care for his decision. So if there's any problems regarding this, I recommend you at least tone it down when you put in reviews, just to be safe and to prevent sparking offense.. there might be LGBT community readers who might see those comments and the last thing I want is them to be offended or hurt because people hate them for their sexuality.