oh, love!

Even though the sun was out, there was still a bitter chill in the air. The wind didn't help any, and she was suddenly quite thankful that she had the clarity of mind to put on a sweater before leaving. The air was thick with the mingled scent of the various animals, some of them she had never seen before. Bumping tentatively into Hadrian's side, her hand sought his and clutched it tightly. "I'm warm, are you?" She decided that she liked holding his hand quite a lot, though she wouldn't ever admit it.

Their first attraction was a large parrot, perched on an odd little stand. The wide colours that were splashed across the plumage fascinated her to no end. The noises it made were fabulous, and she wanted to take it home. In all honesty, she would probably want to take all the animals home at some point. Inching closer to the little creature, she nudged her friend in the side. "I want to take him home. D'you think he'd fit under my coat...?" It appeared that the bird's keeper heard her comment, and his stance changed to a more protective one. "Take a picture with me, I don't wanna take one alone."

Ania's eyes lit up and she nodded in agreement. She wanted that parrot. Even if it was like having an unruly child, she imagined that it would be a bit fun, too. Carrying a giant bird around with you. She would have preferred something with more gentle pastel colours, but it's bright and bold plumage suit her too.
Staring first at the bird, and then Hadrian, she slowly asked, "...Am I allowed to? I want to very badly. That keeper looks awfully protective, though."
Zoos commonly had photographers, right? Regrettably, she hadn't brought a camera with her, and it didn't look like he had either.

Looking around for a second, she saw what looked to be a photographer lounging in a corner by the entrance gate. He looked cold and a little sour about being at work. She couldn't understand why zoo employees weren't happy all the time. She would definitely be happy for any type of job with the animals. Detaching herself, she promised she'd be back and trotted over to the photographer man. Pouncing on him, she managed to convince him to take a picture, and he promised that he would come over after setting up his tripod. Pleased with her efforts, she returned to Hadrian's side and bounced a bit. "That guy'll take pictures!"
The man she had caught began to wander over, camera stuff in tow. He set up rather slowly, either due to the cold or laziness. Finally, it seemed he was all set. Jostling Hadrian a bit, she paused before throwing her arms around him, hugging him tight for the camera. "Okay get readyyy!"

Tilting her head when he offered to get her a parrot, Ania inhaled sharply when she heard the ending bit. Did he really want to raise it with her? He laughed after saying so, but maybe he was serious in a way. Wasn't there a saying that said all jokes have a root of truth? She hardly felt the bird file off her shoulder, she was so focused on this new piece of information. The picture registered dimly in her mind, and she blinked slowly. She didn't know it was rare for him to smile. For all the time that she knew him, he smiled an awful lot. She had even begun to think that he was one of those naturally happy people that just couldn't help but smile all the time. Well, nevertheless, she had to say something to the man. "O-oh, you want to raise a parrot with me...?

She took a risk, deciding that he could take it either way. Dropping her arms from around him, she pulled herself to stand and face her companion fully. Taking both of his hands, she clasped his larger ones inbetween her own, staring with a somber expression. "Will you, Hadrian ... Idon'tknowyourlastname, be the father of my future parrot?" She could barely push out the words before she lapsed into giggles, and the serious air she had tried to cultivate slipped away. Quieting finally, she gave him a funny little smile. Serious or not, she would be happy to have another good excuse to spend time with him. "Yes. I think I'd love to raise a bird with you. It'll be like our kid, wouldn't it?" He did say that they were like unruly children.

The thought came to her, that if it was going to be like a child, then they would perhaps start to develop that role of married couple. They had touched the surface of that in Rome, with convincing others that they were truly together. If a pet acting as a child were to come into that mix, then their bond might really become like that of a couple. Maybe they would even turn into a couple, though, marriage was far out of her sights. Not before graduating, anyway. Too much to accomplish before she got tied down. She only hoped for his sake that he would let her name it.

Shrugging a bit, she searched for some sort of map to follow. There were plenty of kiosks, but most of them were empty and unattended. The weather didn't effect business that much did it? Her eyes finally lit on a frail little stand close to the parrot, with little papers clinging to the little cubbies they had been stuffed into. Selecting one of the little leaflets, she shuffled closer to Hadrian for warmth as she examined the colourful and animated map. "There's a bunch of animal names I don't recognise. Should we go visit them all? There's an awful lot." The penguins were in a section relatively close to the bears, and she assumed that polar bears would be somewhere around there too. "Do you have a particular path you want to follow?"

Rodriguez sounded awfully spanish, and he didn't look very spanish. Maybe he was a rare kind. Would their parrot take her name or his? Probably his, she liked his name better. "Oh. I like that. Mine is Levesque."
Looking back at her map, she tilted her head, chewing her lip thoughtfully. "How much do penguins eat, do you think?" They looked rather chubby in all the pictures she had seen, but she hadn't ever gotten to see on in real life. Perhaps they were thinner in person. Almost like a backwards magazine model.

"After the penguins we can go see the bears, right? They're close by!" It would be neat if they would be allowed to toss food at them, too. Maybe the zoo offered a type of summer program where you could go in an learn how to care for the animals like a real keeper. Perhaps if they did, she could convince Hadrian to learn how to keep a parrot with her.

It wasn't too long of a walk to get to the penguins, but something else caught her eye. Another bird, with bright and colourful plumage. It looked poisonous, with all those colours and patterns everywhere. It walked somewhat regally around it's enclosure, stopping every once in a while to examine it's surroundings like a king. Tugging Hadrian over to it, she stood at the fence that barred them from the odd looking bird. It's legs looked like thin little stilts, and she wondered how it could walk around on such odd little legs. "Look at that thing! What is it? I want one of those too."

Here's a little sign on the fence here, see?" Touching it, she squinted to read the engraving. Some of the words had been eroded down by the elements, but she could fill in the blanks. "The flightless ... Gibroot? is native to Manta Carlos Islands, it says, and their natural environment is in the sea oats on the beach. Maybe if we visit the beach one day we'll see more! A whole family of these things!" Since it was so pretty as an adult bird, it would probably also be very pretty as a baby. Her question was answered when a trail of seemingly hairless two-legged rats came waddling speedily at the adult bird. They piled around their mother and began peeping, presumably demanding to be fed. Peering closer at them, she found that they weren't hairless, but had fine, scraggly feathers that hung limply off their frames. "Oh those poor birds ... Thank goodness they don't have to go through high school" It was difficult enough to go through high school with acne or some other topical flaw, she couldn't imagine how hard it would be for these little birds.

Giving a final 'huh' in their direction, she turned away and pressed her face into Hadrian's front. Holding her face there for a moment, she finally pulled away, blinking. "My face was cold. But it's better now, thank you." Penguins were next, weren't they! Penguins! Leading the way to the penguin enclosure, her eyes widened as she watched the fat little birds frolick around their enclosure. "I wish I had been born a penguin. They look so happy"