[color=silver]When Rhayela spoke of the orchards she'd been to as a child, Caw's beady eyes lit up with glee. He'd hidden in many places during his short life, none of which he'd found very pleasant. If only he'd had trees ripe with fruit to weave among, he wouldn't have minded staying hidden forever! Briefly, he wondered if it was appropriate to ask her to show her home orchards one day - or if that would be too presumptuous of him. He'd never had friends before, and did not want to come across as rude. Come to think of it, was calling her a friend too presumptuous as well? From what he knew of her, he did not believe she minded, yet...

For all the hundreds of books he'd read, when it came to the rules of socialization and human interaction, Caw still felt like a fledgling. 

The bird had yet to make a decision one way or another, when a familiar voice broke Caw from his thoughts. Sebastian. He'd heard their conversation. Caw lowered his head in shame, hood slipping to cover the faltering gleam in his eyes. He expected a scolding - but instead, received a promise. They'd get to go to the nearby orchard; they'd be there in a few hours, in fact.

Caw snapped his neck upward to look at Rhayela, borrowing her exact words once more - this time louder, accompanied with a small chirp.[color=cbd5e0] "Lovely!"[/color]

Though the rest of the trek did not take that long, it [i]felt [/i]like an eternity. Part of it was excitement, certainly, but there was also a more tangible reason; Caw's talons were not made for long travel on foot. So when the offer came to ride part of the way, he could only resist for so long before he ashamedly accepted. 

When their destination came into view, both Rhayela and Caw became kiddy. She turned to him excitedly, and he returned her enthusiasm with a happy caw, straightening his back and craning his neck to peer ahead.[color=cbd5e0] "It is!"[/color] he repeated after her, then slipped into a tone of someone else:[color=fdc68a] "Finally!"[/color]

Caw slipped off the horse and gave it a small series of bows as if to thank it for its service, then skipped ahead to see the orchard from up close. Most of his life had been spent in places that had a distinct lack of colour; murky harbours, damp severs and a castle so old it must've been built before anyone knew a thing about colours. So to see such a display of vibrancy felt... surreal. He'd been around his fair share of magic, yet he didn't hesitate to say this was the most magical thing he'd ever seen.

He simply [i]had [/i]to go and touch it all.

Caw scrambled to the closest tree, one that bore fruit he'd never seen before. Without even thinking it was bad of him to do so, he stood up on his tiptoes to try and reach for one. Failing that, there were some on the ground, and he certainly wasn't picky. He took one, two-- and then looked around for Rhayela.

He found her among the flowers, doing something peculiar. His head tilted, Caw approached to catch her putting a flower between the pages of a notebook.

[color=#635143]"Yours,"[/color] he offered, holding out one of the fruits he'd picked. It was difficult to smile with a beak, and the tone he had borrowed was low and grumpy, yet he hoped the shimmer in his gaze conveyed his excitement to share what he'd found. He'd heard that food tasted better when eaten with friends. 

Flopping down onto the soft grass, he got ready to bite into his own share and pointed at the notebook. His voice was a mixture of a noble and an urchin. [color=#f2c4fc]"What [/color][color=7ea7d8]are you[/color][color=#f2c4fc] doing?"[/color] 

Before Caw could continue or bite into his fruit, he overheard a familiar voice talk to one of the other members of the group. It was Sebastian, advising the dwarf against taking any fruit - as they were not theirs. The implications drew colour from the kenku's face - figuratively, at least. They weren't supposed to take them. It was [i]theft[/i].

[i]He'd promised not to steal.[/i]

Aghast and afraid his misdeed would be spotted sooner or later, Caw scrambled to his feet and back to the tree he'd taken the fruit from. When he'd stolen before and had been scolded for it, he'd been told to put the item in question back. So, panicked and not really thinking, Caw got back onto his tiptoes and started poking an outstretched branch with his fruit, desperate to get it to stick again. It did not.

[color=#94cecc]"I[/color][color=fdc68a] put it back, put it back,"[/color] he mumbled to himself frantically, even though fulfilling that promise wasn't going terribly well.[/color]