Chapter Text
Tuuri ran a hand through her crest, trying to smooth the silky grey feathers out. They always seemed to stick up at times like this. She glanced over at Lalli. His crest was smooth, as always, and his wings were pressed against his back. “It’ll be fine, you’ll see. I bet this guy’s really eager to meet us.” she whispered to him, trying to avoid being overheard by the people pressing in around them.
He replied with a grunt as the sliding doors of the boat opened and they rushed out into the terminal. It was hard to see through the throngs of people, but the illuminated timetables and hanging loudspeakers still crackling from the last announcement drew Tuuri’s eye immediately. It was only when she was nearly bowled over by one of the other passengers that they sped back up from a slow walk to a more brisk pace.
She rifled through her pocket, searching for their tickets as they headed to a small glass breezeway that led to the train terminal. Near the end it pressed against one wall of the terminal, and she could see a few people waiting around the check-in area.
There was only one group of three, though, consisting of a nervous-looking woman, an older man wearing an even more dated suit, and a young man with a messy crest and a splotch of gravy on his shirt. The two older ones had brownish wing feathers with black tips, while the younger one… his feathers were a shade of blue that she’d never seen before, except for his flowing gold crest, and unlike the others his tail appeared to be some kind of bundle of long narrow feathers, which he held behind him carefully to avoid any further stains. She couldn’t figure out which one of the two men was Emil.
She tried not to look nervous as they passed through the automatic door into the train terminal--she still didn’t trust it not to close on them. The blue-feathered man moved to the front of the trio and held out an open hand expectantly. He must have been Emil, then. Lalli walked past him, moving his wing to avoid brushing it against the disheveled man. Tuuri hurried up behind him and grabbed Emil’s hand. “Hi! Hello! Hi! I’m Tuuri!”
“Oh, hello, I’m--”
“I know, you’re our cleanser, Emil.” She took a breath. “It’s so so so nice to meet you and to finally be here-hey nice plumage!-and that was Lalli my cousin he’s not feeling well so don’t mind him i’m sure you’ll be great friends and us too because you seem like a nice person your job is so interesting you know--” Tuuri cut herself off. “I’m sorry, I’m rambling, I’ll stop now.”
“No, no, it’s fine.” Emil seemed distracted by something, and after a moment she followed his gaze. Lalli was sprawling out on a couch, his outstretched wings nearly bridging the gap between each armrest. He raised a hand to brush the long feathers out of his eyes, and Tuuri heard an odd rustling sound from beside her. She ignored it and walked over to her cousin.
“Lalli, we need to catch the train soon, there’s no time to relax.” He groaned and stretched his arms out to their full extent before standing up and folding his wings back behind him. They both looked over to Emil as he yelped in surprise. His tail had unfolded itself into a wide half-circle of feathers, about ten feet in radius. The very top of it brushed against the ceiling.
The feathers looked odd,too. Each one was spindly for most of its length, with downy greenish-brown tufts extending from the shaft and overlapping to form a mostly-solid layer behind Emil, obscuring his two companions. At the tip of each feather, they widened out into tan ovals of tightly interlocking vanes edged in green, with a brilliant blue disk in the center of each one. The overall effect reminded her of hundreds of eyes staring at her, but it was also undeniably beautiful.
As Emil tried to figure out what was going on, Lalli leaned over to Tuuri. “What’s up with his butt?” By this point, Emil was blushing beet-red, lending a pleasing contrast to his blue plumage. The cleanser rubbed his arm nervously as he shook his tail, trying to get it to retract.
“Don’t be rude.” she replied, trying not to stare at Emil herself. After a moment, she cleared her throat and spoke up. “Are you okay? Do you need a doctor? Or a feather stylist?”
“Y-yes, I’m fine.” he stammered, now grabbing at his tail and trying to push it back down. Tuuri could hear muffled giggling from the two others behind him as it continued to stick out. Eventually he ended up simply glaring at the iridescent irritance, and as those assembled in the room all stared at him, it slowly folded back into a bundle of feathers. Behind Emil, the older man was covering his mouth to disguise his grin, while the woman was frowning and glancing at the timetables on the wall.
“What’s so funny, Torbjӧrn?” he asked, looking to the older man and folding his arms over his chest. The plumage on them was sticking straight out.
Torbjorn took a few careful breaths and carefully set his face back into a neutral expression. “Does your tail do that often, because I’m pretty sure that’s some kind of--” the woman next to him elbowed him and pointed to the clock on the wall. “Oh! Sorry guys, we need to hurry!” Torbjorn and the woman were almost to the door already, and Tuuri grabbed Lalli by the hand and made after them. “I’ll explain it once we’re on the train!”
Tuuri was beaming and letting out little giggles as Emil walked back into their compartment on the train, his shirt soaking wet but missing the stain. He shot her a curious look, as did Lalli. “Was that really a-“ she chuckled “-mating display?”
Emil sat down sharply in the seat across from them before replying. “I don’t know! That’s never happened before!” He rubbed his arm again, plumage still sticking out. “I guess mom did say that it might happen someday when I, er, met someone that I liked?”
Tuuri laughed again, even louder, and Lalli gave her a strange look. She explained to him in a burst of Finnish, and after he replied--and smiled slightly--she leaned over the table separating them. “Lalli wants to know which one of us that is.”
“Which--Oh!” Emil paused for a moment. “I’d... rather not say.” He leaned back in the seat, crossing his arms behind his head, but his eyes were still glancing about nervously. His crest rippled slightly, and he quickly smoothed it out. A few shouts of surprise echoed back from the compartments in front of them. He glanced out the window, then motioned for Tuuri to look. She finished translating for Lalli and glanced over.
Beyond the window was a flat landscape of rocky fields and the occasional guard post. A long ribbon of chain-link fencing separated the tracks from the unsafe area. There were yellow warning placards dotted along the length, but here the train passed something much larger caught in the fence. A dead troll, about the size of a human but completely lacking arms, leaned up against the far side of the barrier. It was featherless, with shortened legs and long, ungainly wings. Smoke spiraled up from the spots where it was touching the metal, and it twitched slightly as the intense current flowed through it.
Tuuri stared at it for a long moment. It was smaller than she’d expected from the stories; it almost seemed pathetic, despite its incredible physical power. “Wow, I’ve never seen one this close up!”
Emil laughed. “Well, trust me, you don’t want to get much closer!” She nodded. Lalli was bumping his wing against hers impatiently.
“ What is it? ” she asked him in Finnish.
“ Why’s he so shy about saying who he likes? It’s obvious he’s got feelings for you. ”
She turned to him, surprised. “ No way, me? I’m likeable enough, but I don’t exactly inspire feelings of lust in the hearts of men. ” She cleared her throat. “ Or women. He’s totally after you, did you see how distracted he was while we were talking?”
" Yes, by you. "
Tuuri sighed. Emil was staring at them, probably confused as to what they were talking about. She made a reassuring gesture, and turned back to Lalli for a moment. “ Tell you what, let’s make it a bet. If he confesses his love while we’re on this trip--and he probably will, when we’re stuck in some tent a hundred miles from anyone who’d overhear--whichever one of us he fell for has to… hmmm, how does doing the other’s chores for a month sound?"
Lalli frowned at her." How on earth would you do my chores, Tuuri? You can’t even leave the base."
“True. How about just a straight bet--200 kronor to the one he wasn’t after?” Tuuri rifled through her coat and pulled out a small change purse, which she dumped out back into the pocket before picking out a few coins and throwing them back in. She held it out to Lalli. He gave her a long look and dropped in his share of the bet. She did up the tie on the change purse again.
“Did you just make a bet about me?” Emil asked, still reclining in his seat and pretending to look out the window.
"Sure did." Tuuri said, flashing a grin at him and tossing the purse into a different pocket of her coat.
Emil leaned in towards them, wings fluttering a little. "What about?”
"I’d... rather not say." She replied, trying not to giggle at her own joke. It would be a few hours until Emil understood it himself, while he was sitting awake in the sleeper car half an hour past midnight. When he did, though, the answer was obvious.