ArchivedLogs:Planning Practice

Planning Practice
Dramatis Personae Ducky, Rasa
In Absentia	2013-06-27 '
Location <XS> Classroom One
Desks arranged into neat rows make up this, a fairly typical classroom. Chalkboard in front, teacher’s desk in front of that. Windows along one wall look out on the grounds, providing plenty of opportunity for distraction for daydreaming students. The weather outside is just the right combination of distracting - warm enough to entice students out onto the grounds of the school, but not so hot as to make the air stiflingly uncomfortable. Occasional clouds pass overhead, casting dappled shade onto the grounds, providing shade and the promise of summer storms to come later in the evening. The birds are chirping noisily in the trees, and several of them have thus far attempted to squish their way into the room through the previously open windows. At some point in the previous class the windows had to be shut to prevent distractions - instead, a single grey and white pigeon sits dejectedly on the sill outside, staring into the now mostly empty classroom. Ducky is not allowed to sit near the windows during class. That much became quite obvious within the first day of classes in the summer semester, and a seating correction was in place by the end of the day. Her AP History class has just let out, and it should technically be her lunch period, but the relatively new student is still seated in her assigned seat as far away from the windows as possible, hunched slightly over a spiral bound notebook. She is scribbling down the last few notes and clarifications from the class, going back over what she had written down and drawing little arrows and directions between relevant topics. Her head is resting against her hand idly, blocking her peripheral vision and keeping her from seeing the pigeon sitting forlornly just outside the window. Rasa sits a couple desks away, swathed in a large blue wrap, one so light weight it's almost translucent. Underneath, ze is wearing an orange tank top and a skirt with yellow and blue flowers, flipflops on hir feet. Ze has one leg tucked underneath hir with hir tail wrapped around hir waist, resting in a coil in hir lap. Ze yawns and stretches after a few moments of copious note taking, eyes blurry as if ze just woke up. Today, hir flesh is mostly human colored, scribbled thoughts of historical dates and events haphazardly stretched across large sections of skin, but hir hair is navy blue, with shorter, velvety patches running around the base of hir scalp, down hir shoulders and spine and covering the top side of hir tail. When hir stretch is finally complete (it was a long one), ze glances over at Ducky and raises hir brows. "Hey, did you get all that? The last ten minutes was a brutal information dump! Like the teacher ran out of time and wanted to cram more in!" It takes Ducky a few moments longer to realize that she isn’t entirely alone in the classroom, as she scribbles furiously at the notebook, trying to get her thoughts on paper before letting herself get distracted. With an exasperated sigh, she flops back in her chair and drops the pencil into the middle of her notebook, running a hand roughly through her short hair, “I... I think I got it all. First time I’ve had to write that much that fast in a year.” A pained grimace crosses her face, as she rubs at her hand, trying to ease up the writing cramp - now that she isn’t hunched over scribbling furiously, it is possible to see she’s wearing a basic school t-shirt and worn blue jeans that look like they have been washed several times, which has done nothing for the ingrained mud and grass stains in the pale denim. She glances sideways at Rasa, tilting her head curiously, “D’jyou get everything? That mass of information is going to be on the test, I know it. It’s always the stuff you barely heard that gets tested about.” She wrinkles her nose slightly, and double checks her notes, before closing the notebook and dropping it into her bright yellow backpack with the other books. "The next test, or THE test, you know, the big one?" Rasa stacks hir supplies and turns to look at Ducky a little bit better. "I think so, but I'd love to look over your notes and see if that's true. Sometimes, I find that I get distracted while I'm writing and can't actually hear what the teacher is saying." Ze gets out of hir chair and pads over, hir sandals making soft tocks against hir heels as ze walks. "You can compare yours with mine at the same time, if you want to study together." Ze rests a hip against the side of the desk in front of Ducky's, hir arms holding hir book and notebook to hir chest. "Though, food might be recommended before that, as it helps me think." “Dunno. It’s gonna be on /a/ test, I know that much. With obscure little silly questions,” Ducky responds, wiggling her fingers absently in the air. “And you’re welcome to look at my notes, if you think you can make sense of them. I’m kinda planning to rewrite them so they’re in a proper order and slightly more legible. Otherwise sometimes I can’t read my own handwriting.” She ruffles her hair again, nodding slowly and glancing from Rasa out the window, narrowing her eyes at the persistent pigeon, “Yeah, I got moved over against the wall ‘cause the birds are distracting if I’m too close to them. It makes it really hard to pay attention to the teacher, or notes.” The mention of eating gets a confused blink as she realizes that it is in fact lunchtime, and she nods slowly, shoving the rest of her supplies into her backpack and slinging it over one shoulder, “Food is good. I, huh, yeah, it’s lunch period, I guess. I think. I’m still a bit wobbly on the whole schedule thing sometimes.” "Schedules are a very funny thing. I don't think humans are really supposed to be on them as much as we are, but society dictates that we should be, so we kind of have to." Rasa is in no hurry to move yet, swaying away from hir desk perch only when Ducky is ready. "You still adjusting to life at the X Mansion? Anything I can help you with? Oh, can we let your pigeon in? Teacher's gone and there's no one to really disturb." Ze starts toward the window at a leisurely pace. "Does the pigeon have a name, or do you not name them? Ivan names all of his pets, but I don't think they have the same cognitive functions as birds. I mean, well, I kind of know what they sound like from Ivan's mind, but I have no idea how the birds sound." Ze blushes a little, the color a little unnatural - more like paint mixing rather than a tint to hir flesh, and looks over at Ducky. "Sorry if I am asking too much. Some people are more private about their gifts than others - and I may be missing Ivan a bit." Ducky nods, “I hadn’t realized just how random my natural schedule is, without structure. I kinda seem to default into birdlike habits with regards to sleep and food. Means I got to talk to the most birds in the city.” She tilts her head to the side as though considering the questions, “I’m settling in ok. I have made some friends, I think. My roommate is nice enough, quiet. Although her boyfriend’s roommate randomly stopped by with tea at an ungodly hour, and that is not ok.” At the mention of letting the pigeon in, Ducky stands and shuffles over to the window, pushing it open and scooping the bird from the ledge and settling it onto her shoulder. The bird immediately starts preening at her ruffled hair, a pigeon-y sigh and displeased wing fluff to express its distaste at being left outside. “Um, not all of them really tell me their names, but they kinda tend to once they stick around for a while. I don’t so much name them, though, not really. It’s kinda the smarter birds that really pick a name,” Ducky explains, heading back over to pick up her backpack, “This one is Kushi.” She nods again, “I don’t mind answering questions, ‘sok. I kinda appreciate people taking me seriously not not assuming I’m just crazy and making it up.” Mention of Ivan gets a curious head tilt from her, and a furrowed brow, “Ivan? I believe I have heard this name, but I don’t think I’ve met him. I... I think he is friends with Kai, yes? Is he not a student anymore or something?” Rasa gives a very polished polite smile when Kai is brought up, which includes a vague smile and a little distant look in hir eyes, which disappears a moment later when ze starts speaking of Ivan once more. "He's in Russia for the summer, to be with his family, and I guess so he can have a summer job. He'll be back about halfway through August. He's great, but I am biased. He can be quiet around people he doesn't know - with people he does know too, so it makes sense that you might not remember him. I'll introduce you to him when he gets back. You guys can probably talk about powers, as they seem somewhat similar on the surface. I don't suppose you have any problems with social groups like Ivan does with hives, do you?" Ze follows Ducky to the window and smiles at Kushi, tilting hir head to get a better look at the bird with only one of hir eyes. "I have touch telepathy. If you wanted, I could read your mind and listen to the birds with you, then vouch for you to others who don't believe you. Or, you know, you could stick to the tried and true asking them to do things demonstratively." Ducky bobs her head in understanding, looking slightly surprised at the idea of going back to spend time with his family, “Ah. That makes sense, I think. It’s good that his family still lets him come home, I guess. Or still wants him home. But yeah, when he gets back, it’d be neat to talk to someone else who can talk to odd things. Um, though what kinda stuff does he talk to?” She tilts her head curiously at the mention of touch telepathy, “Neat. And it would probably be kinda odd to hear the birds. My brain, um, from what I understand, kinda thinks in bird, and then immediately translates it to English. It gets kinda hectic and odd sounding, I think.” Ducky shifts slightly to nudge Kushi with her cheek, grinning, “I can’t really handle too many at one time. I lose focus, and it kinda is like hearing a whole bunch of really interesting conversations all in the same room at the same time. It gives me a really bad headache.” Ducky ruffles a hand through her hair again, frowning, “I tried to demonstrate it to my parents when I was at home. ‘cept it was with my pet lovebirds,” she shakes her head, scuffling her foot against the floor, a tinge of regret entering her voice, “They thought it was just a trick I’d taught them to do. And then they took away my birds. And called the doctors. But, well, most people seem to take the demonstrations at face value - amusing, but still likely kinda crazy.” "Parents are trouble," Rasa admits, quiet and dry. "Mine decided to try medical cures for me when I was younger too. I am mostly just lucky that the physical appearance manifested before the telepathy so that they didn't attempt the mental health tact." Ze turns and starts leading the way toward the door, and onward to the lunch service in the great hall. "They intially thought some of my physical issues were terrible diseases and that I was dying. I know they care... or cared because of that, but as the stress mounted, they just couldn't care anymore out of selfcare." Ze shrugs. "Anyway. I think I already told you about that, but I don't remember. If you do want me to read your mind, let me know. I tend to only do so with consent, aside from accidental brushes and extenuating circumstances. And don't worry about giving me headaches. I've touched some... interesting minds and seen some very strange things. I will be bold enough to say that it's probably not going to be as bad as... say a trio of giant bugs trying to leech my person's brain for communication." There's a quick 'oh!' and then, "Ivan mostly speaks to insects and arachnids, those with six or eight legs only. I'd say small critters, but times in the city are weird." Ducky nods in agreement, “Yeah. That’s kinda what I’ve heard from a lot of people here. About parents. Seems to be kinda a common trend.” She follows Rasa out the door towards the lunch room, listening curiously, “Huh. Is it two way? Or do you just get to sorta listen in? Like if there was a bird that was talking to me, could you then answer the bird if you were touching me?” Ducky grimaces at the giant brain leech bugs, frowning, “That, uh, that sounds really unpleasant. Like, really really bad. Pretty sure normal birds are a lot less bad than that. Probably annoying, because your average bird isn’t a great conversationalist, but not brain leech bad.” Explaining Ivan’s powers gets a grin from Ducky as she bobs her head in understanding, “Oh! That is pretty close, in theory. And cool. I’ll have to make sure I talk to him inside, or, um, only have one well behaved bird on me. ‘Cause they sorta tend to congregate around me if I don’t pay attention, and that’s not really good for the bug population normally.” "I'm sure he understands that birds need to feed. He feeds some of his insects to other insects and arachnids without qualm, so maybe you two would just reach some sort of natural cooperation." Rasa's tail moves to wrapn around hir books so that hir arms are free to stretch once more, hir jaw practically unhinging in an epic yawn. Then ze runs hir fingers across hir scalp. "Well, most telepathy can be two way, so that you can hear my thoughts if I bridge the gap and put them in your mind, but that does not actually make you telepathic anymore than it would give me your gifts. However, if your brain automatically transmits your thoughts /and/ my thoughts in your brain to bird, yes, they could possibly understand me too. I am not an expert, though, and all an expert could say is that we maybe try." Ze clears hir throat. "I have been told that I am too wiling to experiment telepathically though. Tell me, you don't have any emotional traumas or monsters you've been trying to keep shoved down in your psyche, do you? Nothing personal, but ... experience makes me ask." “Yeah. But some birds are sort of jerks. Like some of the crows in the city. They were obsessed with food and stuff, and wouldn’t talk about anything else. I don’t want those around, just in case they get grabby for his favorite bugs or anything,” Ducky ruffles her hair, and the shoulder pigeon immediately starts unruffling it with a huff. “I can’t actually control the birds. It’s more of a bribery and trust situation if I want them to do something. So I can’t just make them /stop/ - especially when food is involved. So far at least.” At Rasa’s explanation of hir powers, Ducky nods slowly, thinking for a minute, “Um. Not, uh, not that I know of. I kinda had a normalish life until last year, and even then, I was really lucky on the streets. If I have monsters they’re so far down there I don’t even know about them. And they’re probably just giant birds. Not that all giant birds are monsters, mind you.” She babbles on for a minute, thinking, “I don’t mind testing stuff. I mean, it’s a school, we’re supposed to learn stuff - and isn’t part of learning experimentation? I’ve been told I’m sort of... obnoxiously broadcasting, telepathically - most people can’t hear me, ‘cept for birdmen and other telepaths. ‘Cause my powers are sort of a very specifically targeted telepathy, just at birds. I have “no finesse” when I talk to birds.” She puts up little finger quotes in the air at this, and shrugs, “But anyway, sure. I’m kinda curious too.” "There are side effects," Rasa warns, heading into the great hall and angling toward the food line. Luckily, their lingering has diminished the line so that it's somewhat short now. "My morphing is tied to my telepathy, so I may end up looking exactly like you and it's possible that the thoughts in your mind will be displayed on my skin for all to see." Ze clears hir throat and tilts hir head at the food ahead. "Do you know what's for lunch?" Ducky tilts her head curiously at the side effects, and looks a little nervous at exactly what they are, “Oh, oh. Um, well. I... that would be a bit odd, I think, but still kinda more awesome than odd. Though the thought thing may mean it isn’t really a good idea to do it in, say, the crowded lunch room. Not that I’m thinking a lot, or anything dirty, but, um.” She blushes and shakes her head, “I tend to babble. Pretty sure my brain does that even when I shut my mouth up. But, well, I wouldn’t mind trying it. I’m admittedly more curious than worried about the side effects.” Ducky blinks at the lunch line, standing on tip toe to try and see, musing about the menu options aloud, “Not sure. Smells good, though, but not really sure what all they’ve got. The chicken sammiches are really good. And the salads are, too.” "One of the first things I think a telepath learns is when you think to yourself, 'don't think something dirty,' the very next thing you think of is exceptionally dirty. So, uh, don't worry about it, lest it happen." Rasa, the most encouraging one. "Yeah, I wasn't going to recommend it right now. Perhaps we can grab our lunches to go and head outside or something? Then maybe when we're comfortable. It doesn't even have to be today. It's just a thing we could do. To be honest, I'm supposed to practice, but with my roommate gone, Ivan out of the country and everyone and their cousin kind of out of touch, I'm not sure who I can ask easily." “I guess it would kinda be an issue sometimes, if people were really uptight about seeing or hearing thoughts. But it’s not like people really are around here, I guess. I mean, really, it’s a school with a bunch of teenagers. A stray dirty thought is really not that uncommon, I guess,” Ducky babbles, heading into the line for lunch and starting to pull her tray together, chicken salad sandwich and fries, as well as a couple of fruit plates, stacked up, and a bottle of water is tossed on as a side note. “But yeah - I like eating outside when it’s kinda niceish enough to. And being outside means that you can possibly get to hear what my head sounds like in bird mode. Well, more birdish than normal, anyway,” Ducky says, waiting for Rasa to get hir food. “And I don’t mind helping people practice. It might actually help me some, to have someone else know what is going on with my thoughts at the birds. I got no where else to go but the school, so I’m easy,” she says with a nod, although there’s a little grimace as the last bit escapes her mouth, realizing just how bad that could sound. "You'd be surprised how many people are still bothered by telepaths as they sort of destroy a person's privacy." Rasa grabs a sandwich for hirself and a salad as well as some of the pasta salad that is out, taking a juice box and then guiding hirself, hir tray, and hir companion outside. "And don't worry. I won't take advantage of your easiness. I have a boyfriend who loves me." Ther is unmistakeable giddiness in hir tone no matter how much ze tries to downplay it. Hir skin also flushes bubblegum pink. "Anyway. Um. Lunch. Where shall we sit?" Ze backs into the door and pushes it open with hir shoulders, heading out into the blinding bright of the exterior.