*Andy Icarus*
I stared at the strange man in the burgundy coat as he pulled item after item from what seemed to be thin air, out of his burgundy coat. I was amazed at how such a small pocket inside his burgundy coat could fit into it. After pulling the five items from his coat pocket, the strange man raised his head, extending an arm towards me. His hand held out.
"Felix and I'm terribly sorry about your Phoenix," Felix sincerely apologised although it wasn't his fault and the Phoenix did not belong to me. The fault was mine for being so clumsy. None of this would of happened if it wasn't for my clumsiness. I extended my arm. Shaking his hand. Parting my mouth. Preparing to speak. To introduce myself.
"What's a Phoenix?" The idiot interrupted sounding genuinely confused. I was wrong. If anything it was this idiots fault the Phoenix had escaped, not Felix's, not mine. My face tensing, I turned towards the idiot. My body tensing as I turned towards him.
"The flaming bird up there," I replied, my irritation with the idiot showing in my voice. Pointing my index finger towards the ceiling. Where the Phoenix was still circling the glass chandelier. Had this idiot been living under a rock his whole life?
"Anyway, just shut up and help me," I exclaimed shaking my head in a side to side motion as I took the lighter off of Felix. As I opened the lighter case Felix handed the idiot a pair of baking mitts with a grin. I watched the gesture. Feeling strangely awkward as Felix did. The flame flickered out of the lighter. The heat of the lighter warming my hands. The Phoenix paying no attention. Continuing to circle the glass chandelier. The flame isn't strong enough to attract the Phoenix. I need more. I ripped open a drawer of the reception desk. Hesitantly handing the alight lighter to the idiot. I gathered papers in the drawer scrunching them into to ball as I did so. Placing the scrunched balls of paper on the desk forming a pile. Hopefully the pile of scrunched paper balls would generate enough light, long enough to capture the Phoenix's attention. I turned back to the idiot with the lighter.
To my astonishment the idiot had somehow managed to set the baking mitts alight. The baking mitts thrown onto the marble floor as he urgently stomped on them. Trying to extinguish the flames. I squinted at the idiot. Had he not flicked the lighter back off when I handed it to him? Unbelievable. This man lacked all common sense. I was beginning to regret handing the lighter to the idiot and not to Felix. I raised my head to check on the Phoenix. It was no longer circling the glass chandelier anymore. It was gliding down towards the pair of set alight baking mitts. At least the idiot had gotten the Phoenix's attention. I pulled the idiot out of the way. Stopping him stomping on the alight baking mitts. He slammed into the desk of the reception as his weight shifted from my pull. Saving him for the second time today. The Phoenix dived happily into the alight baking mitts. Ruffling it's feathers. The Phoenix calming itself as it bathed in the heat of the flames. Putting me more at ease. I breathed in a breathe of relief. Air filling my chest. With the Phoenix not in a panicked state it would be easier to capture and safely transport it to quarantine. Where it should've been.
"Nobody make any sudden movements, nobody make any sound, we don't want to startle it" I said slowly inching closer to the Phoenix. Felix and the idiot nodded as they watched me as I got closer and closer to the Phoenix. The Phoenix ruffling it's yellow-orangish feathers in the flames of the alight baking mitts. Focusing more on the baking mitts than it's surroundings. This was the perfect trap to catch it and take it safely to quarantine. Perhaps I could even avoid Madam Angora's fury and punishment. She always thought up the cruelest punishments. The nursery had very little tolerance for mistakes and Madam Angora made it very clear. The bare tips of my fingers touched the tips of the Phoenix's wings. I expected the flames of the Phoenix to burn, scald my skin but it's feathers only tickled against my bare skin. Sending a different kind of warm sensation through my body. The kind that warms your centre.
"Ah, Ah, ACHOO!" Someone sneezed. The idiot.
"Sorry." The idiot murmured behind me. The Phoenix lifting it's head focusing back on it's surroundings. Forgetting about the warm underneath it. It's eyes widening as it sees me. The fiery wings under the tips of my bare fingers shake aggressively as it takes back to the air. A deafening shriek from the Phoenix stinging the eardrums in my ears. I cover my face with my arms as sparks from the Phoenix's wings rain down on me. Illuminating the air around me with pint-sized sparks. Some of the sparks burning pint-sized holes in my clothes. Some of the sparks tickling my skin. Other sparks setting the fabric of my clothes ablaze. Fire spreading across my clothes. In a panicked hurry, Felix took the fire extinguisher off of the wooden reception desk. Quickly extinguishing the flames before they could become a fire. The white froth cold on my skin. With white froth in my hair and on my face I watched as the Phoenix bust through a closed window. Shattering the glass window as it escaped into the night. Into the busy city. Into the capital city of Ryone. Out of sight. This was bad. Very bad. How was I going to explain this to Madam Angora? I would lose my job and the only place I had ever known as home. I would lose it all. I turned my head to the idiot. My head heavy and my eyes watery. It was all because of him. The idiot staring at me. His mouth hanging open at what he had just witnessed. It was entirely his fault but no one would acknowledge that. I would be blamed. Used as a scapegoat and thrown onto the streets. Ryone Royal nursery, after all, had no tolerance to mistakes. My eyes grew more and more sore as I resisted against the tears. Refusing to give into my emotions. Denying the inevitable tears that were sure to come, if not now then later. If anyone should be punished for this unfortunate incident, it should be me. I'm an idiot.