As she circled the car, she prayed nothing else would happen before she figured him out, but the chances of that were slim. It was still early, and they had a lot to do today.
6
The morning sun glittered off the front of the glass-and-steel structure. Byrd sat on the car seat and stared at it in awe.
“We’re here,” Kara said as she pulled into a parking space near the front of the building.
“Where?” Noah asked, staring at the impressive building. He’d never seen anything like it. It had to be at least ten stories tall and looked like someone had taken a gigantic, latticework egg and dropped it in the middle of a park at an odd cant. One side was flat, and there was a huge hole built into the top where the point of the egg should have been. It was an impressive piece of modern architecture that boggled the mind.
Kara giggled at the awe in his voice. “Work,” she said as she got out and held the door open. “I have to pick up a few things.”
Shaken by her laughter, Byrd pulled his eyes away from the amazing structure and climbed out of the car.
Noah glanced around as they followed Kara across the parking lot and onto the sidewalk leading to the building. A few months ago, he’d heard the medical division had finally moved into their new location, but he hadn’t had a reason to check it out. The medic on staff at Eternity’s main office had been able to cover most of his needs. He had, however, been impressed to hear that the new building was state-of-the-art—complete with high-tech solar heating and wind turbines—but he’d never expected it to look so avant-garde.
“Pretty!” Byrd chirped.
Noah chuckled. “It’s very pretty indeed.”
Following Kara into the building, they paused for a moment to look around the lobby. It was just as impressive as the outside of the building. Noah’s eyes were pulled to the left where a rock waterfall dominated the wall. The water tumbled into a shallow pool that flowed out through a sunken channel, mimicking a small river as it cut across the center of the room. An array of lush plants softened the hard lines of the manmade feature, and a wide bridge arched gracefully over the center. Along the edges of the water were benches where people could relax and enjoy the beauty of the room. A second-story walkway circled the open space, and Noah was sure the view from up there was spectacular. The babbling water echoing through the room made the extraordinary area surprisingly calming despite the people bustling about. Very impressive.
Pulling his attention away from the room, he hurried to catch up with Kara.
Once across the short bridge, she turned to the right, towards an alcove that held two elevators. There was a surprisingly large group waiting.
Glancing at the crowd, Kara looked down and gave Byrd a pained smile. “I didn’t realize there would be so many people,” she explained. “I usually get here a lot earlier.” She looked back at the line for the elevator. “Would you rather take the stairs?”
Noah counted the people he could see. There were a lot. “How high?” he asked. He was surprised that the words had actually come out as sound.
“Six floors,” Kara answered.
Noah considered the options. It would probably be faster to walk than it would be to wait for a ride up. He poked at Byrd, but the dragon was too awed by the number of people and the new space to have an opinion. Nodding his head, Noah made the call for them. “Let’s walk.”
He turned away from the crowd and wandered back into the open space of the lobby. It was surprising to have control of his body again. He stretched his wings before folding them in against his back once more. It was a weird sensation, but something he was getting used to. The desire to go sniff at some of the plants overwhelmed him, and he gave in before Byrd stepped up and took over. The depth of the smells he could now pick up was amazing.
“Byrd,” Kara called from behind him.
Byrd whipped his head around to look at her.
“This way.” She nodded to the far wall.
Noah let out a sigh as Byrd took over and loped over to meet her. It had been nice having control while it lasted. A questioning feeling from the dragon hit him, and he laughed. “Yes, Byrd, I do like being in control.”
“Why?” Byrd asked as he caught up to Kara leading the way up the steps.
“Well…” Noah paused as he tried to find a way to explain it to the dragon. It was hard to describe what it was like, riding around as a passenger in his own body. It wasn’t like he was helpless or frightened anymore. Those feelings had passed after he started understanding Byrd’s mind. This was more like a part of him was missing. “It makes me feel whole,” he finished. That probably wasn’t the best way to answer Byrd’s question, but Noah felt the dragon consider his words. After a few moments, he felt Byrd let go.
Noah stumbled as he tripped up the steps. He paused to catch his balance before he landed on his face and slid down the stairs. The fact that Byrd had relinquished control had surprised him.
“You okay?”
Noah looked up to find Kara had stopped a few steps ahead of him. She watched him with concern in her eyes.
“I’m fine,” Noah reassured her and started up the steps again. It took him a few tries to get all of his legs working together to climb the steps. It was different than walking on flat ground, but he quickly got the hang of it and was soon hopping up the steps with ease. When he reached the top of the steps, he turned back to Kara. She stood on the stairs, watching him with a look of confusion on her face.
“Are you coming?” Noah called down. He turned circles on the landing, getting used to the way his muscles worked. Watching as Byrd moved them around was a lot different than actually doing it himself. He stretched his wings again, feeling the pull of new muscles. That adventurous part of him wanted to jump up to the railing and see what it was like to fly.
“Flying fun!”
Noah chuckled. “I bet it is.” He tucked his wings back in. “But not now.”
He could feel Byrd’s disappointment.
“Kara has stuff to do right now,” he explained. “We can ask her if we can go flying later.”
Byrd let out a rumble of agreement before settling back down at the edge of Noah’s perception.
It was the most distance he’d had from the dragon since he’d woken up to find Byrd still sleeping. After having the dragon pressed so close to his mind, it felt a little odd to be alone in his own skull. Shaking the thought from his head, Noah looked back down to where Kara had stalled out on the steps. Her mouth hung slightly open as if she were ready to say something.
“You coming?” Noah asked again, turning another circle. It felt good to move about under his own volition again.
“Yes,” Kara squeaked and hurried up the steps.
Noah paused and looked down at her. Her voice had cracked with a note of surprise. He looked around for what had startled her but couldn’t see anything unusual. He turned another circle as he waited. The joy of being able to move again made him giddy. As Kara topped the steps, he slipped around her and brushed up against her legs in passing. If he had been human, he would have grabbed her and jumped her feet into motion to some snappy Latin beat. I bet she can dance a mean samba! Byrd’s wholehearted agreement set Noah’s toes tapping, and he wiggled after her towards a stairwell door.