Fly Away, Away on Coloured Wings

Iris counted the cracks in the sidewalk absentmindedly. A tea warmed her hands and the sun chased away what would otherwise have been a chilly day. The wind swept through and reminded her occasionally that it was not as warm as the sun would like people to believe. She had remembered to pull a knitted hat over her head, keeping in the warmth and protecting her ears from the chilling breeze.

"Iris!"

The shout of her name drew her attention away from the sidewalk, turning to look toward the main gates to the Philadelphia Zoo. Luke was making his way toward her with a blinding smile on his face. He was dressed down compared to her, wearing his jacket from work that had a nametag clipped over the left side of his chest.

Smiling, Iris stood up from her seat and reached over to where she'd kept Luke's preferred coffee in the cardboard tray. "Hey, Luke. Black, as you requested," she started, holding out to tray. He reached forward to take both and stepped in closer until he was able to lean forward and ghost a kiss across her chilled cheek.

"Thanks, Sweetie. Hope you weren't waiting for too long?"

Iris flushed at the caress of lips across her skin, the sensation steadily becoming familiar. "No worries, only a few minutes. It was nice to get some fresh air away from work. How was your day?" she inquired as she reached up to gently tug on the collar of his work coat. The coat itself had the name Kevin stitched into the fabric, but the alters also had an additional clip-on name tag whenever they were working and covered over Kevin's name so as not to confuse anyone that tried to read it.

"Pretty quiet today," he shrugged, turning to face the entrance he'd appeared from while holding his arm out to her. She smiled as she looped her arm through his snugly while taking a sip of her perfectly cooled down tea, saving her tongue from scalding. "Middle of the week is always a good catch-up time for us."

"It's usually the same at the store," Iris responded casually as Luke tried to wave at the man operating the entrance gate, still holding his coffee cup and making it more of a 'cheers!' gesture. "Jess went home sick this morning so it was a bit short staffed, but it couldn't have worked out better than on a quiet day."

"Aw, she alright?" Luke asked immediately, concern colouring his tone and drawing his brows down. he hadn't even met her and he was already concerned for the young woman that worked with his soulmate—who clearly cared for the other woman.

Iris smiled at his worry and squeezed his arm comfortingly, and happily. "Just a start of the flu, I think. She tried to work but I think she was starting to turn green so I called her a cab, told her to take off tomorrow and let me know if she needs more time."

Luke leaned down suddenly and pressed a soft kiss against her hair. "I'm glad you've got a friend there, Sweetie."

Iris smiled against the warmth that took over her cheeks. She turned her face in to press her cheek against his shoulder, inhaling the delicate smell that clung to his jacket. It was an interesting mix of scents—some of which she recognized from her time with BT and Barry. Finally, she forced herself to turn away from his chest and looked at the many pathways that split away from the main area of the park, leading to the various enclosures.

"So, where would you recommend first?" she asked instead, looking up at him through her lashes as she smiled invitingly.

"Oh, the Tigers! No brainer!" he answered immediately, motioning to a path to her right.

Smiling at his enthusiasm, she allowed him to guide her along through the quiet Zoo. The combination of a weekday and a cooler day had most people staying away—occupied with work or preferring the warmth of the indoors. It gave them plenty of space and allowed them to linger in front of the enclosures as Luke told her stories from the past decade working at the Zoo. She listened avidly as she leaned against the railings, or into his side when the wind drew her to his warmth.

Some of the other people working at the Zoo paused in Iris's peripheral when they spotted them. She wanted to look, wondering what could make them pause, but she forced herself to remain with her focus on her soulmate. She was sure that her soulmates' situation made it impossible to date so it may make for a strange sight to see Luke—or any of the alters—with a woman pressed into their side tightly.

"I mean, I love animals—they're beautiful, and Barry loves to sit and draw them when he can—but I'd never try and crawl in with them," Luke was saying as they were sitting at the bench in front of the large Gorilla enclosure.

Iris's eyes widened as she looked away from the enormous beasts to where he remained to her left, an arm draped over the back of the bench to encircle her shoulders. "Someone tried to what?" she demanded, shock colouring her tone as clearly as her expression conveyed.

"Oh, yea," Luke answered, looking over with a matching look of disbelief. "We have to make regular rounds along the perimeter fence because kids come along and cut the locks, thinking they can sneak in sometime through the night. Nothing's happened while I was here, but I've heard horror stories of kids sneaking in, thinking the animals were tame and getting badly hurt."

The look of horror on his soulmate's face had Luke paling, immediately tightening his arm around her shoulders so he could draw her in closer. "Not here, Iris. We're really careful about preventing that."

Nodding slowly, she tried to remove the mental image of some poor teenager getting mauled by a tiger because they thought the animals were somehow tamed. "That's terrible," she mumbled, looking back toward the Gorillas. They were huge, and easily capable of harming some unsuspecting kid that might wander into their domain.

"Sorry," Luke winced. He hadn't meant to say something so horrifying; it was just a constant concern for them at work and had slipped out. "Iris, I'm sorry."

He slipped his hand under the hefty weight of her braid, his hands somehow still warm even against the windy chill, to wrap the comforting weight of his hand at the back of her neck. Iris didn't acknowledge him right away, still looking over to the animals she had previous thought majestic. However, once the warmth registered and settled, she leaned back against the comforting weight as she heaved a long sigh. "It's not you, Luke. Nothing you did."

Turning into his hand, she smiled in reassurance while scooting herself closer to him on the bench.

Luke ducked his head bashfully. "Can you tell I'm not very good at this while dating thing?"

She had suspected at her soulmates had as little amount of dating experience as her. It was heartbreaking to have it confirmed, though. Even those with soulmarks would date the odd person or two before the met their destined one—or multiple. "Luke." Her stronger tone drew his focus, meeting her eyes with the beautiful blue against whiskey. "I've never dated. Not once." Admitting it aloud pulled a burden from Iris's chest that left her smiling at his shocked expression. "With how I grew up, I never wanted to open myself up to the chance that someone would hurt me. BT was the first person to ever take me out to dinner—on a date or otherwise."

Luke's lips parted to speak, but words seemed to escape him and he simply gapped at her for a silent moment.

"I'm just as clumsy at the whole dating thing," she assured, angling herself on the bench to face him better while she placed a hand on his chest. "So, we'll fumble along together. And if someone messes up, there's nothing wrong with that."

He continued to stare at her in shock for a moment more before his expression transformed with the blinding smile that he sent her way. It lifted the weight that had settled over her chest and Iris was powerless against smiling back.

"So, where would you recommend we go next?"

"Aviary?" he proposed, still smiling brilliantly.

Iris bounced where she sat, her smile growing from reassuring to pure happiness. "I love birds! Yes!"

Luke stood quickly and hauled her up to her feet, getting a chirp of a laugh from Iris before he was turning them in a new direction and walking her down another path that led toward some of the housing structures.

Majority of the birds were tropical, requiring a warmer climate. Iris was quite pleased by that since she was able to shuck off her coat and chase the chill from her bones. Luke stuck close by, but he let Iris flit from display to display, reading the plaques in front of each enclosure as she looked in at the brilliantly coloured birds. Iris smiled as she watched the birds fly around their habitats, darting in and out of the trees.

There was an option to go in and stand among the birds, but she opted not to—unable to shake the thought of the birds flying overhead and possibly messing her coat.

"Do you have a favourite?" Luke asked when he came to stand in front of the Rainbow Macaws, the large parrots currently preening as they pulled their feathers delicately through their beaks. She stared in awe at how gentle they were with such large, sharp beaks.

"Hm, I don't think I have one. They're all so beautiful. Such magnificent colours. Do you have a one?" She glanced at the tall man over her shoulder, seeing that his soft blue eyes were settled on her rather than the enclosures. The attention made her cheeks warm.

Smiling down at her, he gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her over to another exhibit. He'd noticed it when he'd been in a few days before to replace a rusting hinge on one of the employee access doors. The enclosure was a bit smaller, as were the birds inside, with bright balls of gold fluff flitting about inside.

Iris leant into Luke's side as she looked down at the placard. Golden Palm Weaver was titled above a small summary of the birds. The picture showed a smaller bird with beautiful golden feathers and a crown of whiskey reddish gold encircling the face of the bird.

"The reddish hue around the face reminded me of your eyes," he answered semi-sheepishly.

Iris blinked in surprise for a moment, looking at the picture of the bird then up at the little creatures inside the enclosure. She hadn't noticed the similarity before. It brought the flush back to her cheeks as she fought against the bright smile that wanted to break across her features. "They're beautiful," she mumbled bashfully. His arm tightened around her shoulders, pulling her in closer to his side as he repressed the urge to chuckle at her timidity.

"So why do you like birds so much?"

Her head came to rest against his chest as she continued to watch the small birds in the enclosure, her expression soft.

"They can fly," she answered. "Their wings and their feathers are so beautifully composed, it's amazing to think that something like that happens naturally." Her head bowed slightly in the next moment, obscuring his view of her face. "And their marks are beautiful. Everyone always talks about the brilliant or intricate colours and marks being so pretty and attractive."

Luke's heart broke a little.

Turning to press his lips to the top of her head, he inhaled the soft scent that wafted off of her hair. "I can't teach you how to fly, but I can assure you that your marks are gorgeous; we all love them. Scars and all."

They spent the next thirty minutes looking over each of the individual bird enclosures and the plaques situated in front of each. Luke never let her stray too far from his hold, keeping his arm around either her shoulders or her waist as she read the plaques to him or gushed about the beautiful colour of each of the birds.

The staff that passed them by would greet him with either a silent nod or a brief shout in greeting on their way passed. Iris always ducked her head down or turned away to pretend as though she was reading or marvelling at the birds. These were his coworkers, people who saw him day after day, and she wasn't sure they even knew he had met his soulmate.

"They know about you," he finally declared when he'd noticed her duck her head down the third time.

Whiskey eyes snapped up to him, coloured with her surprise.

"I mean, how can a guy not brag a bit when he finds his girl?" he admitted bashfully, then stuttered when he realized what he'd said. "Not that…not that you're mine or anything but-"

Iris took pity on him and gently snagged the edge of his coat, tugging him down just enough to ghost a kiss against the corner of his jaw. "Only if you're mine, too."

His cheeks flushed against his will, but the smile that lit up his face made it easy to ignore the burning in his cheeks. "Every bit of me, Sweet."

Again, Iris ducked her head down bashfully. However, Luke could still see the beautiful rose colour that had taken over her cheeks. At least they matched, blush for blush.

Continuing to tour throughout the rest of the Zoo, Iris's hand stayed fitted snuggly inside Luke's. He never relinquished it, even when he would move to point at something, he lifted their joined hands and only freed one finger with which to point. It made Iris's pulse speed erratically, her happiness manifesting with the simple gesture.

Her fascination with the colouring of the birds continued on to the snake enclosure as well; although, she refused politely when the handler told them it was nearly feeding time. They were beautiful animals, but she was not sure she could stomach seeing a baby bunny—dead or not—being fed to the long, elegant creatures.

They finished their journey back at the front entrance where they had started, Iris smiling tiredly as she leaned heavily into his side. Starting the day with work and then following it up with several hours of walking throughout the Zoo had leeched away the last her strength. Luke had no complaints, however, and leaned down to press a kiss against the top of her head whenever the desire struck him. The city was dark around them when they stepped through the front gate—Luke sharing a short wave with the guard watching everyone come and go—and Iris made an adorable attempt at supressing a yawn.

"It got colder," she mumbled into her coat collar, leaning into him more.

"Nice and warm downstairs," he assured, leading her to the entrance she had used the past days when staying with her soulmates. The entrance she and Barry had shared their kiss in front of as the snow blanketed them. "Patricia cooked something for dinner, left me instructions to throw it in the oven but warned me about peeking under the lid."

Iris laughed softly to herself, imagining Patricia's neat, meticulous writing expressing her warning clearly. She had no problem picturing what the letter would look like. Her mark had appeared so many years ago; she has since traced her finger endlessly over the words on the back of her palm. Iris was sure she could identify all of her soulmates' printing at a glance by this point—whether she knew the name to each mark or not.

"So you didn't peek?" she teased, tipping her chin up so she could meet the softness of his gaze. He looked so happy, the streetlights catching his dimples in shadow as he smiled down at her.

"And call on Pat's wrath?" he joked, recoiling slightly as though the very thought was frightening. "I'm not that curious."

Iris laughed again, ducking her head to press her temple against Luke's shoulder, welcoming his warmth and feeling his body shake with his own mirth.