"You better have a good reason," he murmured, voice low and teasing. "I have been waiting."
The bird blinked slowly, wings tucked in, as if to say: I missed you too.
"Come on in then," Little Bai said with a grin, waving the bird toward him.
The large Veyrasha bird, nearly half his height, flapped its wings excitedly and darted toward the paper window. Before it could squeeze through, Little Bai smacked its head with practiced precision.
"You dummy," he scolded, "you can't fit through, remember? Last time you broke the window and the wall, and Master yelled at me for days. Use the door!"
He slid the window shut and padded across the room, his loose inner shirt swaying with each step. As soon as the door creaked open, the bird leapt in with a joyful squawk, tackling Little Bai to the floor in a flurry of feathers and laughter.
"You are just as enthusiastic as before," Little Bai chuckled, rubbing the bird's head as it nuzzled under his chin affectionately.
