ArchivedLogs:Always on Rooftops

Always on Rooftops
Dramatis Personae Mei, Ducky
In Absentia	2013-05-04 A chance meeting on a rooftop, thanks to an errant pigeon, leads to an unexpected act of generosity.
Location Rooftop, Sunrise Appartments
Evening, not quite yet dark, the last rays of sun peek through the various buildings, and still shines on the roof top of the Sunrise Apartments. Up here there is a small garden set up to one side of the roof, and a few industrial vents that stick up from the gravel and tar paper roof itself. Sitting with her back against the sheet metal of one of these vents is Mei. She has something shiny in her hands and she seems to be studying it, with a frown on her face. At the moment this is a some what peaceful place, the noise of the street not quite carrying up here more than just a distant honk or siren now and then, but due to how the sound bounces around it is muted up on the roof. The only real co-inhabitants of the roof at the moment are a pair of pigeons who seem to be watching the street below from the edge of the roof. A small wall runs around the entire roof, an edge if you will, made of stone and brick. Mei is sitting so that she is facing the sunset, the golden last rays casting odd shadows across her face but lighting it up fully. The city still gets a little bit chilly in the evening, despite the pleasant spring weather of late, and one young girl finds herself chasing the last warm rays of the sun in an effort to stay warm a bit longer. She may also be chasing an errant pigeon companion, one who has been keeping her company since her arrival in New York. Her head pops up over the side of the rooftop, near where the fire escape would be, and she looks around the rooftop briefly before clambering easily over the ledge to land on the gravelly surface. "Oh, come on, this isn't funny. Just 'cause I talk to you doesn't mean I can fly. Come back..." her voice escapes in a harsh whisper, although given the relatively deserted rooftop, Ducky's voice carries a bit. "Come on, Pigeon. Come. Back. Here," she digs around in her pockets for a moment, producing a few crumbs of bread, taking some steps forward with a crunching noise. The newcomer is apparently completely oblivious to the fact that there is another person on the rooftop of the building. As she continues talking and attempting to entice her bird-friend back to her, a small dappled grey pigeon lands on the edge of one of the gardens, cooing and preening contentedly. Mei tilts her head, and tucks whatever that shiny thing was in her pocket then sits up and watches the new arrival to the roof, both the pigeon and the girl who appears to be chasing said pigeon. She frowns a tad then makes a gesture, pointing to the garden as she whispers to the new arrival, in obviously accented and broken English. "By garden... maybe?" Clearly English is not her first language. She is obviously Asian from her looks. She waits to see what happens as she looks back and forth between the new pigeon arrival and the new girl arrival. She stands up, making some noise in the process as the gravel shifts under her feet. "You lost?" She asks as she looks again at the girl, "Pigeon lost?" She ventures, trying to figure out what is going on it seems. Ducky pauses for a moment as she hears another voice on the rooftop - this one decidedly human. She bobs her head in a decidedly birdlike manner, and spots her feathered friend by the garden in question, holding out her hand with the bread crumbs in it. "Come on. You should come back, we need to get back to home. Or, well, the shelter in the area anyway. It's getting late, and I don't want to be out much past dark," the young girl coos to the preening bird, her voice sounding desperate. She looks young, and a bit ragged, dressed in an over sized sweatshirt that shows some decided wear, and a pair of black leggings, with worn looking high tops. The dappled pigeon hops back onto her hand, pecking at the bread crumbs. "I," she pauses, tilting her head to the side as she regards the other girl on the rooftop, "I'm not lost, per se, um, I just don't really have anywhere to go. I just, well, yeah, my friend got spooked, and he flounced off. And ended up here." She pets the pigeon, who is now happily perched on her hand, "Are you lost?" Mei watches the other girl then manages a reply, "No lost. You lost?" Despite the fact that Ducky just said she wasn't, Mei seems to be less sure of this. She watches the other girl talk to the bird then hears the words shelter thrown in there. She frowns a bit as if considering something. There's a moment of hesitation, then she says, "You. Help need? Maybe?" Yes, her English is horrible but she's obviously trying. Mei looks like someone went and got her fresh clothing, maybe not new per se, but at least well cleaned second hand clothing or perhaps cheap department store stuff, but either way she looks at least in reasonably good shape. "I..." She pauses and frowns, searching for the right word, "I stay here." She takes a few steps towards Ducky, "You need help?" She repeats, getting the grammar a bit better placed this time. Ducky holds her pigeon a little closer to her chest, still stroking the bird idly, "Um, n... no. I don't really, I'm, I'm fine, I think." She hugs her bird, looking nervously about, "I'm, well, technically homeless, but I'm ok. Really, thank you though." She nods emphatically as she speaks, placing her pidgeon on her shoulder as she does so, "My clothes are just kinda messed up from chasing my friend all over the city today, really." She then turns her head to the pidgeon and coos something barely audible, to which the bird coos in return and bumps her cheek with its head. "Thank you though. I think I have another friend who lives here, and his friend, but well, I only like the one. The other was kinda a meany jerk-ish, sorta," she babbles on, adding to the appearance of a crazy homeless woman who talks to birds. Mei takes a breath then reaches into her pocket and pulls out something and holds it out to Ducky. "I no need. You take, it help you." She offers. What she's offering is... well, you'd swear it was a standard sized sink sponge, used for cleaning and the like, really, that's exactly what it looks like, perhaps a bit out of shape as if someone was holding it tight when it was made, but... it appears to be made entirely of some yellowish glinting metal. That can't be... gold, can it? "You take. You sell? It help?" She offers, again, looking hopeful. "You nice to birds. Yes? Birds are good." She says, trying hard to make conversation, and not doing so great as she holds out that odd object towards Ducky, watching to see the other girl's reaction. "I..." her voice trails off as she steps closer to the girl, looking a bit confused overall, "I... don't know what to say? I'm homeless, but it's not a bad thing, really. I have a job, and the people at the shelters are really nice. They don't mind me having a bird flock half the time. And the nice ladies always save me a cot so I have a bed." she nods, realizing just how pitiful this really sounds, given what she had before. Ducky's shoulders slump slightly, and she pets her pigeon. She then looks curiously at the offered object, tilting her head in a birdlike manner as she chews on her lip, "Is that... a golden sponge? That is... cool looking." She reaches out to poke out it, curiously, and her pigeon bounces along her arm to look at the sponge more closely - they both make sort of odd cooing noises in response to it. "Thank you, but, um, I can't give you anything for it, really. I don't know if I can accept it, I mean, that's awesome and everything, but, um, don't you need it?" Mei shakes her head, "No, you take. You no tell where you get. You sell, you get money. Maybe more food for Birds?" She ventures, as she looks at the pigeon. Of course if it is solid gold it will buy a lot more than some bird seed. Probably worth close to ten grand at today's gold prices. Maybe a tad more. "I need get rid of it. You need it. You take." She says again, insistently as she tries to get the other girl to take the metal object. It doesn't give like a sponge, in fact it looks very solid. Mei tries to actually hand it to the other girl as best as she can. "Remember, no tell where get." She says firmly, "Okay?" She finally asks, hopefully, then looks to the bird. "You get her to take, yes?" She talks to the bird as if it can understand her. Maybe just because the other girl was talking to the bird, her tone is like one might use with a pet, or small child, but still, she is talking to the pigeon for a moment then looks back to Ducky, and insistently tries to hand over the golden object. Ducky blinks curiously, and accepts the sponge, starting to look a little nervous about just why the other girl is so anxious to be rid of the golden object. She seems honestly startled by the heft of it, apparently expecting it to be lighter. "I, I don't know what to say, exactly. Thank you," she nods, tucking the golden sponge-brick into a drawstring backpack she carries over her shoulder, "I promise, I won't tell anyone where I got it from. And Pigeon won't say anything, either. Promise. He doesn't talk to anyone but me, since no one else can really talk to him. Except for my birdman friend, I think. I don't know." She trails off, adjusting the straps of the drawstring bag, "But, I promise. I won't say anything about where it came from. Thank you very much for the shiny, um, sponge. It is very, um, shiny. And kinda heavy." She pauses for a moment, "I'm Ducky, bu the way." Mei is about to say something back, perhaps an introduction then catches herself. "Ah, I should no tell who I am." She says with a bit of regret in her voice. She glances around, as the sun is setting and the shadows getting longer. "You go? Get dark soon." She points out, well aware that some of the shelters have long lines if you don't get there fast enough. Or close their doors. "You come back? Maybe?" She offers, "Garden here." She adds, pointing to the place that the pigeon was originally poking at. "Sometimes me too." She says with a little sheepish grin. Ducky nods in understanding, "It's ok. I don't give out my name, really. Haven't since I ran away, 'cause then they could find me. So I just call myself Ducky. 's cause I'm an odd duck, or something like that." She offers a bit of a smile and a shrug, her pigeon cooing and ruffling a bit. "Thank you again. I will see about coming back around here. Since I seem to know a couple people in this building. Maybe next time I'll get to use the elevator, instead of the fire escapes, since, well, fire escapes aren't really ideal for climbing up." She nods and tilts her head to the side, "I do need to go, though, they can only hold a spot for me for so long, and, well, apparently things have been happening around the city that aren't so friendly after dark. So I should go." Feet making crunching noises on the rooftop, Ducky makes her way back toward the fire escape, "Thank you again. I'll see you around, I suppose. And I promise, I won't tell anyone. Promise." She nods solemnly, starting to descend over the edge of the rooftop, back down onto the clanking metal fire escape. This time, her companion pigeon stays perched on her shoulder, ruffling its feathers each time she moves.