ArchivedLogs:Impossible Things

Impossible Things
Are happening every day
Dramatis Personae Ducky, Rasa
In Absentia	2014-04-24 Note: May or may not contain actual impossible things.
Location <XS> Conservatory
Tall panes of glass keep this large indoor garden warm year round. Tended to by the school's groundskeeper, the conservatory is lush with plant life, a carefully cultivated paradise within Xavier's walls. The room serves as a classroom as well; in the center of the garden a ring of seats forms a small circle, a favorite locale for some teachers to hold court. Rasa is trying this indoors thing today. Ze has claimed a quasi-hidden space in the greenery of the Conservatory to wile away the afternoon hours in peace. Classes have let out, so the quiet strains of music coming from hir tablet shouldn't bother anyone. Ze is hunched over the thing, using a stylus to doodle across the surface. Hir hair is a light brown today and hir skin a pale shade of human. Hir eyes are a light blue and hir fingernails a brown shade that would cause concern, should they be on anyone else. Ze is wearing the same clothes as yesterday, light colored cargo pants, dirty at the bottom, and a very loose sage green tee. Hir Xavier's navy jacket is resting on the ground by hir bag. Ze mostly just sits there, doodling, humming along with the music, perhaps louder than the actual music is playing. Ducky has been trying the outdoor thing since classes have let out for the afternoon, as she often does once it is warm enough. She is dressed casually, in a pair of faded skinny jeans, paired with a black tunic top with a generous hood on the back of it, currently holding her dappled pigeon. As she makes her way into the conservatory through the gardens, she hums quietly, a tuneless song that seems to mimic birdsong more than anything else. Her hair is a bit of a ruffled mess, the pixie cut not well maintained recently, making it look a bit shaggier than it once was, much to the chagrin of the pigeon attempting to smooth the locks along her neck back into some semblance of order. The flock that had been following her outside disperses once she is inside, mostly, anyway, though several ravens and starlings settle themselves along the massive glass panes of the conservatory, ruffling unhappily at being left outside. Hearing the music, she heads towards the source, peeking through the greenery at Rasa, head tilted curiously. "Hallo Rasa," Ducky says in greeting, waving through the greens. Rasa's attention snaps in Ducky's direction when hir name is said. Ze blinks rapidly at the other girl, looks to the left, then looks back at Ducky and gives her a little nod, then lifts hir hand to wave. "Hey, Ducky." Ze glances out the window. "Get tired of the wind too? It ... was pretty consistent there for a little while. The windows help me only get sunshine. How are you?" Hir voice is pretty monotone right now, the words flowing without halt or rise and fall of inflection. Ze is not rushing through them, so they are easy to understand - just dull and lifeless. Tilting her head slightly, Ducky glances up at the birds on the windows, "Yeah, it's kinda windy a bit. Was a bit rough to actually sit and read or anything, cause books kept getting blown closed, and there was grass and leaves and flower petals all over, and yeah. So now I'm inside." Her speech starts out a bit lilting, a touch distracted, but as she speaks, it becomes more focused, if rambling. "I'm okay. Kinda still a bit distracted and out of it in general, but otherwise okay? The birds are following me around a lot more, now, than they were. Since the stuff with the portals and the woods and the ent-man. S'kinda strange-distracting, but not strange-bad." She looks over Rasa curiously, taking a seat sort of near the other student, but not so close as to be intrusive, her next question tinged with some friendly concern, "How're you?" "Distracted in the bad way," Rasa admits, moving over a little bit to give Ducky more room to sit comfortably in the little nook surrounded by greenery. "Of course, it doesn't help to have ridiculous assignments from my counselor that are neither concrete nor simple." Ze scowls at the page, the brown hir fingernails leaking into hir fingers and staining the flesh up toward the first knuckle. "I mean, seriously, how do you draw 'why I don't want to use my mutation right now' and 'why is inside bad?' Maybe I'll just scribble in circles for a while and pretend it's abstract." Ze sighs and glances in Ducky's direction. "Oh? You think your birdie-allure is getting stronger? or are they just much more receptive to instinctual calls now, because it's mating season?" Rasa is helpful. Ducky nods slowly, peeking over at Rasa's papers curiously, her head tilting slightly in confusion. "Well, I mean, what you're feeling and going through isn't really that concrete or simple, right? So, I mean, they're maybe trying to help? Can you write it out first, and then try to draw it? I mean... if you don't wanna draw, do you really have to draw? Can you write and draw? I mean, if it's supposed to help you, then screw their prompt, respond how you wanna respond," the questions sort of spill out from Ducky, though she seems a bit hesitant in asking about stuff, even as the words tumble out. In response to Rasa's question, Ducky nods again, lips pulling to the side in an uncertain expression. "Sorta yes. More started being around me a lot, and it's faster, and, um, they just sorta started coming back more and more with spring. I don't think it's the mating season thing, even though it currently is. It really really is. But, um, it's not the same chatter they say to me that they say to each other," she pauses for a breath, and to grimace, "Thankfully." Rasa just shrugs to Ducky's long list of questions, hir gaze locked somewhat on hir table. Ze turns over the stylus and the cursor clicks into eraser mode. Ze then draws a frownie face into the mess on the 'page.' "I think the point is to tap into the parts of my mind that work with images and visualization." Ze sighs and hits save, then opens a new drawing. Ze pauses though, turning to study Ducky as she moves on to more of her own issues. "Huh." There's a pauses and a hint of amusement in hir eyes. "They're probably just intimidated by your size or lack of obvious bird bits. Either way, it's good that they aren't exactly asking you for rendezvous. What are they talking about?" "Ooooh," Ducky muses at Rasa's answer, nodding again, regarding her friend with a concerned look, "That kinda makes sense then, yeah. I mean, do the prompts actually make you think of anything? If it's kinda meant to help you confront the answers to them, even if you're not wanting to talk about them. Or, y'know, you can always tell the counselor to stuff it and not actually talk about it. S'pecially if you don't wanna talk about it. S'ok to not wanna talk about it." Ducky nods emphatically, the winding mess of 'helpful' suggestions sounding like she may have employed this strategy before. She pulls her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees, "Yeah, I'm decidedly not birdy. As they really often like to point out. I talk like a bird, I sound like a bird, I sometimes act like a bird. But I'm not a bird. I can't fly." Perhaps the littlest bit of bitterness in the last statement. "But they want to talk to me. Want to know about me - mostly they just want to be around me - tell me about things they've seen, things they know, or find. It's kinda a lot of really inane chatter. Some of the ones who are around and on me a lot start trying to be helpful," she tilts her head, glancing up at the birds on the glass, "In their own, um, special, way." "Majority of the feelings I get on most of this stuff is a big fat 'nope.' Nope, nope, nope." Rasa shakes hir head, the blank white screen staring back at hir. "I'm supposed to be pursuing this... to get better, to get back to class, to hopefully get back to normal. I want to try. I just... don't have a lot left to ... draw on." Hir face cringes a little at the unintentional pun and the hand that holds the stylus reaches up to rub at hir face. "Anyway... let's just... stay on you. I'm ... sympathetic that you can't fly. It seems like a very normal complementary mutation to have. Who knows, you may yet grow wings. Maybe all of your birds will get together one day and figure out a way to carry you." Ze wets hir lips. "That would be helpful. At least they aren't nesting in your hair." Ducky tilts her head and starts to ask more questions, but just closes her mouth again and signs 'Sorry' before glancing away into the greenery. "They aren't nesting in my hair right now because I told them no, and to stay outside. There's usually at least a titmouse or a sparrow that sets up shop there, since it's already sorta a rumpled mess mosta the time." She stretches her arms out, as though attempting to stretch wings behind her, "I had a dream once. That I had wings. Back when the chocolate rain happened. I got to fly, and it was amazing," she says, tone wistful as her eyes close briefly in the memory, "But when I woke up I was still just plain Ducky." She folds her arms back around her knees, hugging them to her chest with a shrug, "They were mechanical, but looked like birdwings. And worked like they were just another part of me. But I'm pretty sure they don't make those." She sighs, glancing over her shoulder, as though expecting the wings to be there, "I doubt it. Kinda bit late for that, I think." "Eh. Mr. Suresh changed form when he was old. I wouldn't count it out entirely at this point." Rasa offers, moving hir arms behind hir to rest against, straightening hir back out. "Or you can talk to Sebastian and Kisha about robo-wings. And when those are done and capable of lifting someone your weight, then you just talk to B's ba about affixing them to your body. I'm sure he'd be interested in prosthetics that help you become the you that you are inside." Ducky shrugs, "True. But he's kinda just glowy now. But I guess it's still possible that something kinda random like that'll happen." She ruffles a hand through her hair, amazingly enough not dislodging any hidden birds from the mess, though Kushi immediately sets to smoothing it back into place again. Tilting her head slightly, she makes a quiet 'huh' sound, and looks thoughtful, "Hadn't thought of that. I mean, Kisha'd probably make something kinda rocket-powered and weaponized. But I could maybe ask her and Sebastian. It's worth a try, anyway, maybe, even if it doesn't work. Don't know till you try." Ducky falls quiet for a few, thinking quietly, before saying, "Thank you. For the suggestion. I think I will ask." "I found out recently that Kisha does not make weapons. I think she stopped approaching that line when they took away the webshooters." Rasa confides in Ducky. "Now, you're probably right about the jet pack thing though." Ze inhales deeply and considers, "but B at least has a natural theme going through his robots. I know you're probably not interested in dragonfly wings, but it also may be an interesting challenge for him to expand his repertoire." Ze slumps again, hir gaze locked on hir knees. "You're welcome. I just... it's important not to give up, even when things are impossible." Ze stares quietly, hir voice becoming monotonous again. "Huh," Ducky blinks a few times, looking honestly surprised, "I didn't know that. But I think rocket powered might kinda scare the birds a bit." She reaches up to pet her pigeon thoughtfully as she talks, "Which is kinda why I wanna fly. To get to fly with the birds. And Horus." Hugging her knees again, she sits quietly for a few, "I'd like feathered wings, yeah. Soft and brown speckly and pretty. Dragonfly wings are pretty, but I'm kinda partial to feathers." She tilts her head slightly to the side, offering a lopsided smile, "S'a good point. Nothing's really really impossible. Difficult, or improbable, yes. But not impossible." Rasa nods and lets out a sigh to settle a tiny tremble inside hir chest. "I should go. Maybe see about getting some homework to work on before dinner. Maybe get back to classes Monday." Ze starts pulling hirself to hir feet and gathers hir stuff. "I'll see you around, yeah?" Ducky looks a little confused by Rasa's sudden departure, tilting her head as though to question if she said something wrong. She just sort of nods a few times, shuffling to make room for Rasa to move. "Good luck with the homework and stuff," Ducky says, offering a nervous smile and waving, "I'll see you around. Lemme know if you need anything, 'kay?" "Ah. Apologies. I'm not ... really good with people yet." Rasa scowls and frees a hand to wave at Ducky as well. "I will... as soon as I know myself." Ze carefully steps around Ducky and heads on hir way, hir head bowed as ze adjusts hir bag on one shoulder.