Near midnight, Cal visited Adonis' room. The metal hummingbird seemingly dozed on its perch. Its head bobbing and snapping upright. It seemed more natural, more like the creature it was modelled from and less like a robot. Adonis sat cross-legged on the bed in a loose silk shirt and black shorts. He was reading a novel but looked up and followed Cal's gaze. He said, "I updated its programming. It's more birdlike now."
"You made it?" Cal asked. Perhaps, Adonis was a quiet genius.
Adonis chuckled and said, "Heavens, no. When I first bought, it could squawk and fly around via a remote control. But I put a camera in its forehead and synced it to my desktop, so now I can fly it from the comforts of my room to deliver letters and such, and I made it more birdlike."
"Interesting. There's a bird like this that's programmed to deliver mail."
Adonis waved his hand dismissively. "They are all shit. They short circuit in the rain, or they crash into trees. My bird is a little sweetheart; does whatever momma says."
"You mean 'whatever daddy says'. You are a guy."
"She can't tell the difference."
"What's her name?" Cal noticed the tiny transparent lens buried in the hummingbird's forehead. He stroke her wings, which fluttered at his touch. The bird purred and shook her head as he rubbed her back, but her eyelids stayed closed.
"Adoni."
"After her mother?" Cal asked.
A smile played on Adonis' lips.
"Not a bad a name." Cal sat in the soft, cushioned chair by Adonis' study desk. "So this is what you get up to when you lock yourself in your room."
"You know, it's entirely inappropriate for a gentleman to visit my room so late in the night," Adonis said.
"You did invite me, and I'm technically your boyfriend—I've pretended to be yours twice so far."
"Perhaps."
Cal said, "To be honest, I haven't had any opportunities to make friends."
"Why not?"
"Most of my spare time is spent studying or working."
Adonis dipped his head, eyes half-closed as he mulled something over. Cal doubted the boy understood such worries; his father would save him before he went broke. He had never survived off one cup of instant noodles a day for weeks while saving money for a pod. But Cal didn't hate Adonis. Cal had come to accept that life was unfair. Some people were born with more. Others with less. And even if Adonis had money, as a gay guy he got bullied a lot. His life was also hard.
Adonis said, "Well, we can be friends. I'm young, but I can be wise at times."
Cal said, "I thought we already were." He spun the chair, so he faced Adonis' bed.
"Maybe we were, but now we have made it official." Adonis paused then asked, "So what's the plan? If the soldiers approach me, what do I do?"
"Do you have a family lawyer?"
Adonis nodded.
"Contact him and fill him in. Don't tell him you are guilty; claim you are completely innocent. Like you said, there is nothing to trace the flier back to you. If they do arrest you prematurely, you want your lawyer to be prepped enough to get you out quickly."
"I'll call him in the morning."
"And no more revolution songs."
Adonis smirked; his eyes playful. He said, "No more revolution songs; I'll be a good boy."
Something about the way Adonis spoke struck Cal as sarcastic, so he said, "This is serious, Adonis. You could get in a lot of trouble."
"Sir, yes, sir." Adonis raised his hand to his forehead in salute. "Serious business, sir." He dropped his hand and winked. "You don't have to worry about me; I know when to lay low. I have a pretty good survival instinct."
"If you had a good survival instinct, you wouldn't have gone to meet that guy in a dress."
"That's a low blow. Not nice, my friend."
Cal threw up his hands in a gesture that meant 'So what, it's true.' After saying his piece, he went back to his bedroom and prepared to sleep. He digested the info he learned that day. His playful gay boss was actually a musical and tech genius. And no one seemed to care; his mom and dad didn't try to nurture his talents. They treated him like shit. Neither did Adonis seem to have any intention to be famous or to work with technology; it looked like he did things to entertain himself. Cal sat on his bed, massaging his forehead. If he had Adonis' talents and looks; he wouldn't have to be a manservant. A matter of fact, he wouldn't need to finish school or enter Relar.
He heard the sound of wings fluttering and a small bird chirping.
He followed the noise to his door and opened it to see Adonis' hummingbird clawing the floor; a rolled-up letter in its long beak. It looked up at him with its sapphire eyes. Cal bent down and removed the roll from its beak gently. When he opened it, it was a doodle of a swirly pile of poop. "Very mature," he muttered.
The bird stayed at the door.
"What do you want?" Cal asked. The bird took flight and landed on Cal's study desk. Its beak pecked a pile of papers.
"You want me to write back to you?"
The bird nodded.
"Unbelievable. You want me to respond to a pile of shit." Cal went over to his desk and took up a pen. He ripped a piece of paper in half and drew a circle. Beneath it, he wrote, 'Thank you for the drawing of poop; I'll hang it on my wall and sign your name beneath it.' He tapped the cool metal head of the bird, and its beak opened. He rolled his letter tightly and put it inside the bird's mouth. "Take this to your master." Chirping, the bird hopped off the desk and flew out of the room.