ArchivedLogs:Awkward Rocks

Awkward Rocks
Dramatis Personae Faelan, Megan, Ducky
In Absentia	2013-05-23 Awkwardness, birds, rocks, and dance discussions on a rainy Xavier's afternoon.
Location <XS> - Back Porch
The back patio is a restful place to sit and relax, in most weather. Ample seating comes in the form of umbrella'd deck chairs and a cushioned porch swing, and the neighboring gardens attract butterflies and hummingbirds to make the viewing pleasant. The hot tub is usually open for use, though in snowy weather the transition in and out is a shivery one! May weather is apparently being scheduled by a psychopath, and in between the storms, the weather is fairly warm and slightly less humid. With the sun peeking its way between cloud cover, a few students are outside on the back porch, some working on finishing up papers, some getting in last minute reading. Most however stay somewhat near the umbrella'd spots just in case of immediate downpour. Sitting at one of the chairs is Faelan, too warm for sweaters or even long sleeve shirts, he has a navy blue teeshirt with splatter paint in red on it, still wearing over large cargo pants though. A notebook is in his lap, and he scribbles into it every so often with long moments just glancing into space as if in thought. Megan has taken to forgetting doorways exist. Or more specifically, to avoiding their use, when the objective is 'transition between dorm room and outside'. Instead, she uses the window. It's become a rather mundane experience for her to slide the window open, dangle feet off the ledge, and then drop out and zip into the air. Today, she's dressed in a pair of black tights and a loose yellow tanktop, her pink hair pulled up with a headband to match the shirt, and a pink bandeau bra. Her feet are bare. Down she zips towards the back porch, with a book in hand. But she pauses a few dozen yards away, smiles, then zips off towards the lake at high speed. A moment later, she returns, zipping high through the air, and stops to hover above Faelan. Slowly, she descends towards him, tossing a riverstone up and down in her hand. "Hi," she says, hoping to get his attention. "Stone for your thoughts?" It's only the second week the Ducky has been at the Xavier's school, and white honestly, she seems to still be uncertain that this isn't just some sort of halucination or cruel trick. She is slowly making her way towards the back porch of the mansion, despite the overcast clouds and threat of imminent rain, from the direction of the gardens. The mousy young girl has a small white and gray pigeon curled up on her shoulder, blending in to the fabric of her mottled gray hooded t=shirt. It takes her a few minutes to trudge up to the back porch, mumbling quietly to what seems like no one - or possibly the bird on her shoulder. Realizing that the porch is occupied, she pauses momentarily, looking startled, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone would be here. I... I can go around to another entrance." She starts backing away from the other two students, a guilty look on her face. Blinking a moment as he is addressed, Faelan glances up to her, and the stone she's bouncing around. "Oh, did one of my rocks end up in your room again? I thought I was getting better..." he says with a frown. With his attention back to the real world, he does notice the girl coming up to the porch with a pigeon. "Oh, I didn't know anyone had a pigeon for a pet. There aren't too many pets in the dorms. Something about allergies and all." Megan smiles at Faelan's absent-mindedness, and lowers herself to alight gently on the grass beside him. "Hi!" she says to Ducky, as the other girl approaches. "It's alright, you're welcome to join us. I'm Megan," she introduces herself. "And this is Faelan." Ducky looks like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, when Faelan mentions the pets in the dorm thing, "I know. Um, 'swhy I was trying to come up this way, stead of going through the front door. But, um, the hawks in the area have been threatening him, and I haven't really had a chance to reason with them yet, and..." she trails off in her excuse, looking up at the other girl as she speaks. "Oh, um, ok. If you're ok with me. Neither of you are allergic to birds, right?" Ducky asks, making her way up the steps, "I'm, ah, Ducky. Nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you Ducky. And no, I don't have any allergies." Faelan shakes his head at that, and shifts in his seat more to be properly upright instead of mostly slouched from the writing. "Not too many people out here, storm threats and all. But it probably wont hit too soon?" He doesn't seem too sure of the statement, as he leans to get a better look at the sky. "Just was trying to get my ideas down for a paper anyway. I could use a break before my brain takes one without me." "I'm somewhat allergic to mean people," Megan says cheerfully. There's a long pause, then she sets the stone down beside Faelan. "Do you two want cupcakes? I could go get some. I baked up a fresh batch a few hours ago. Chocolate or vanilla? What's your favourite berry?" Ducky perks up at the mention of no allergies, and actually smiles at the mention of cupcakes, "Do you have vanilla blueberry? I haven't had baked goods in forever." She does look confused at the mention of alergies to mean people, "Never go into the city. New York seems to be peppered with ass holes. And the congregate on rooftops." She shakes her head, idly petting the pigeon on her shoulder, "What paper, for what class? I'm not supposed to start classes until the summer session, since I got here so late," Ducky explains. Faelan picks up the rock Megan sets beside him and gives her a slight smile before he examines it to see if it was one of his practice rocks. "Chocolate is fine, but you don't have to go to any trouble for me." He gives a shrug, rolling the stone in his hand to fidget. "Its for an ethics class. Nothing too fancy really." Previous aspects of the conversation finally hit his brain though, and with him looking at the pigeon he asks "So, wait, you can talk to birds? Neat, that's kinda like Ivan then. Well, though I guess birds have more to say than bugs." "Wow, that /is/ neat," Megan agrees with Fealan. "Be /right/ back," she notes, then zips off towards her window again. She's only gone maybe forty-five seconds, at most. When she returns, she's carrying a small plastic bin, which she opens to reveal one vanilla blueberry cupcake, one chocolate strawberry cupcake, and one chocolate blueberry cupcake. These, she offers wordlessly to the other two. "Yeah. Can talk, and understand them. And ask favors. I can't really command them or anything, or call them to my aid," Ducky shrugs and ruffles her short tawny hair, petting the pigeon on her shoulder, "Some of them have more to say, starlings are sort of daft, pigeons are smarter than people expect, and the ones trained for messenger stuff are really smart, actually." Her jaw drops as Megan flys off, and then blinks as she is presented the blueberry vanilla cupcake, "Oh! Thank you!" She tries not to bounce with glee too much, but apparently the girl has missed cupcakes something fierce. Taking the chocolate strawberry cupcake, Faelan sets it on the arm of his chair as he watches the two other girls. "I just make things disappear really. I could probably learn to be a magician, as long as people didn't expect me to have to bring everything back." Picking the cupcake up, he looks at it and suddenly disapears. However, the biting motion he makes shows that the thing at least is still present as he chews abit. "Though I think I'd look funny with all the sparkle outfits like those lion tamers. Top hats and tails look pretty weird too." "Awww, you'd be cute," Megan protests Faelan with a smile as she takes the last cupcake for herself. "Hey, have you asked anyone to the dance, yet?" she asks Faelan curiously. Tilting her head slightly at Faelan, Ducky is apparently trying to picture the young man in the sparkly outfit he describes, a smirk on her lips at the thought. Her eyes go wide at Faelan vanishing the cupcake, looking confused as he continues to eat. "That's, um, pretty impressive. Does it still taste the same? Even when its invisible?" Ducky inquires, taking a bit of her own cupcake, grinning, "Oooh! These are awesome." She breaks off a little piece of the cupcake and offers it to the pigeon, who delicately takes it from her fingers. "Dance? Oh, I hadn't really been to any of them so I wasn't really thinking about going." Faelan shrugs at that, finishing up his invisible cupcake, not that its easy to see as having occurred. "Why? Were you planning on going to it?" Nodding to Ducky, he smiles "Yeah, it just messes with light, nothing else. You can touch it, smell it, taste it and feel it, just can't see it." He looks like he's about to say more when there's a buzzing in his pocket. "Oh crud, alarm for an adviser session. Sorry." He looks a bit sheepish to the girls as he climbs out of the chair and grabs his note pad. "I'll see you guys later, alright?" Pocketing the river stone as he deactivates the buzzing in his pocket, he heads for the building. "... oh," Megan replies as Faelan starts to vanish. "Alright. Good luck with your paper!" she calls after him, then frowns just faintly and turns to Ducky. "He's shy," she explains quietly. "I'm glad you like the cupcakes, though," cue return to perky smile. "Oh, and welcome to Xavier's. I'm so sorry I hadn't seen you before to give you a proper greeting. Everyone gets cupcakes." Ducky looks confused as Faelan rushes off, and then looks between the departing boy and Megan, tilting her head slightly and smirking. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare him off or anything, or, ah, but in on any conversations you had meant to have alone," Ducky apologizes, bobbing her head in a bird-like manner. "It's ok, I've kinda kept to myself, since it's the end of the session, and I figured people would be busy. I don't have a roomie yet, and it means I can sort of just stick to myself and the birds, without bothering people." "I don't ... think you scared him off," Megan says with a grin. "I actually suspect I did. I got here, myself, only about three or four weeks ago. So I'm kinda in the same boat, although I've been trying to take some extra-curriculars with the teachers. Professor Wagner teaches /fencing/," she says, a mixture of excitement and terror in her voice. "Do you prefer to be alone? I can leave you to it if you'd rather. I prefer to be around people, but even I need some time to just dance by myself, sometimes." "No, I mean, you don't have to go, unless you have somewhere to go, in which case I don't want to keep you," Ducky stumbles over her words, shaking her head, "I, ah, I haven't really talked to people much for a while, so I kinda like being around people to a point. Birds don't always have that much to say, and, and," she takes a deep breath, running her hand through her hair again, "Part of what I need to do here is get used to conversing with people again." She offers a grin, "Fencing? Huh. Can't say I've ever considered doing that. Guess I shoulda looked over the course catalog a bit more." "I hadn't really considered it, either," Megan admits with a grin. She motions towards the chairs, suggesting sitting might be better than awkward standing with a simple gesture. "But Kris--she's one of the other girls here--really wanted to teach me stick fighting for some reason, and she did a great job!" Defensive, much? "but she's not had a lot of experience teaching, and Professor Wagner saw us and suggested he could teach us both fencing, and she jumped all over it, and I didn't have the heart to tell her I wasn't super excited about it, but it /turns out/ that fencing is a lot like ballet, which I've taken since I was really little, so now I'm kinda getting excited about it, too. You could join us, if you wanted!" Nodding, Ducky continues nibbling on her cupcake, savoring it with a contented smile. "Ah, um, I'll consider it, maybe. I've never really been one for fighting or anything. I suppose it wouldn't be a bad thing to learn, although, I'm not anything approaching coordinated." She looks over Megan, tilting her head slightly, "Ah, my parents never put me through ballet. Or dance. I ah, heh, didn't get the nickname Duck by being exactly graceful." Ducky shakes her head, "So, um, there's a dance coming up?" Ducky glances in the direction that Faelan had long since vanished, "'m gonna guess you were gonna ask him to the dance before I waddled my way up here and interrupted? Megan blushes a little and looks after Faelan. "Well I was thinking of it," she admits. "I'm still not even sure I was going, but Faelan ... I think he could use the confidence boost. He's very sweet, and I sorta embarrassed him a little with some accidental teasing so I thought I'd make it up to him. But I don't know, I don't even have anything to wear." Ducky grins and shrugs, "So, ask him. Worst he can say is no. Sorry I interrupted your plans. But, well, that's awful nice of you to want to help him out and everything." The mention of not having anything to wear gets a quirked eyebrow from the be-pigeoned girl, "Have you tried looking? I mean, I doubt you'll have issues finding things that fit you, and," Ducky shrugs, glancing at Megan's wings, "Backless dresses are kinda in style right now, I'm pretty sure you could find something that works." "Oh, yes, Kris and Sophie and I went shopping," Megan says with a bright smile. "But my family's not exactly rich. I'll probably just buy the fabric and make myself something, but I'm running out of time, you know?" "Yeah... that's pretty much my reasoning for not going. My family could afford it, but that whole runaway from home thing kinda cuts off that option," Ducky says, rubbing the back of her head with a nervous chuckle, "Granted, fancy dresses and me don't really mix, what with the whole "playing with birds" thing and all. They pick at shiny fabrics." In response to those accusations, the dappled pigeon on her shoulder nips at her ear and coos, before grooming the hair she has been ruffling up back into place. "... oh," Megan says, eyes widening. "I didn't know. I'm sorry," she says quietly. But she smiles, encouragingly. "Do you think you could talk to them again? Or are they ... against mutants?" Ducky shrugs and offers a lopsided grin, "It's ok, really. I, ah, ran away about a year ago, and I'm not exactly looking forward to that conversation." She pets the pigeon on her shoulder, looking pensive for a moment, "I honestly don't know if they're anti-mutant, really. They, um, didn't believe me. When I said I could understand and talk to birds. They tried to have me involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital on my birthday. So, they were either in denial that they'd produced a mutant, or, y'know, so anti mutant they didn't even want to risk the stigma." The girl offers a smile, "It's ok, though. I made it here, and, well, I'm still trying to decide if it is some trick, or if I really am crazy, and this is all a delusion." Megan's expression is incredibly saddened at Ducky's explanation. "Maybe they just ... didn't understand mutation. I mean, it's ... been really rough on a lot of people to accept it. You could try talking to them again. I'd be glad to go with you for that, if it would help. But this isn't a delusion, Ducky. It's real. You're here. And it's safe here." "Nah. It's a long ride back to Chicago, and I don't intend to go back until after I'm 18, and I have no doubts that they can't touch me or put me away," Ducky offers with a cheery smile, as though this is something she's had some time to think about. "And I'm starting to realize this place, even though it seems too good to be true, is actually true. Too many neat people here for me to have just dreamed it all up." Megan opens her arms a little, uncertainly, then says, "Well, hugs and cupcakes are always available if you need either. You sound like you've got it all under control, but ... if you ever need anything, I hope you'll let me know." A small river rock appears on the chair that Faelan was sitting on earlier. Ducky grins, "Thanks for that. I appreciate the offer, especially if cupcakes are part of the offer." She shrugs, and the pigeon on her shoulder shifts into her hands, where she continues petting it, "I guess I sort of need to learn how to deal with people again, so, sorry if I'm sort of, ah, awkward." A grin graces her face as she looks at the other girl, although she tilts her head int typically bird-like fashion, regarding the tiny rock, "Uh, I thought he took that with him?" Megan smiles at Ducky warmly. "I'm sure you'll pick it up quick. You're people. It's sorta in y--" she blinks at the rock as Ducky points it out, cutting off entirely. "He put it in his pocket, didn't he?" Coming shuffling outside, Faelan returns once more to the outdoors from his foray in the matters of being advised. He's acquired a messenger bag in the process rather than just lugging around the notebook alone, and is on a bee line to his seat. Seeing the girls still there though, he pauses up short, looking a little embarrassed. "Oh, did it actually make it?" He peers about looking towards the chair and smiles. "It worked! Hah! Well.. that's twice at least." "Work?" Ducky asks, looking from the pebble to the arriving Faelan, "I thought you could just make things disappear? How'd you do that?" She raises an eyebrow, looking between Megan, the rock, and Faelan, blinking in confusion. "I wasn't hallucinating, right, he took that with him, yes?" Ducky is addressing Megan, confusedly. Megan's eyes widen when she puts it together, and she claps her hands. "Faelan, you did it!" she says, excited for him. "He can also teleport things. Well, it's his story to tell. But look, he did it!" she points at the stone, then smiles warmly at Faelan. "Good job!" "Well, I said I could make things disappear. I did say sometimes I couldn't bring it back." Faelan looks a little embarrassed at that, but he does smile to Megan at the clapping. "But yes, I can teleport things, and make them invisible. Just well, its easier to do the invisible thing. You don't have to worry about things as much being invisible. Well, cept for tripping over them." He nods and leans over picking up the stone and smiles at it before putting it back in his pocket. "I'm still working on the aiming part." "Oooooh," Ducky says with a bemused grin, "That's pretty awesome. Guess it's a good idea to practice." The girl nods, grinning, petting her pigeon as she does, like a bit of a deranged Bond villain. "Do you lose things a lot, or something?" she asks curiously, unaware if this is not a polite line of questioning or not. "Well, I found out about it when he teleported one of his rocks into my knicker-drawers," Megan says, grinning amusedly. "I thought someone was playing a joke on me." "Err, yeah. Its why I'm practicing with rocks instead of important things. Like people." Faelan nods at that, then looks embarrassed again at Megan's comment. "I said I was sorry about that. It just sorta goes wherever sometimes." Shaking his head he sighs, then looks to the sky. With a blatant change of subject, he says "Well, at least it hasn't started raining yet." "Well, yeah, that kinda makes sense. I mean, rocks are pretty innocuous, and you can reuse them over and over again," Ducky muses, pondering. "Actually, when you need to try with something bigger, I can see if I can get the homing pigeons to let you try teleporting them. They're bred to find their way home, so it could be a good practice. Eventually, anyway," she offers with a shrug. The mention of the rock in the knicker drawer gets a raised eyebrow, and Ducky opens her mouth as though she were going to says something, but instead responds about the weather, "Yeah, but we kinda need the rain. The ducks are complaining that the water level is low, and it's making it bothersome to get food." "What's wrong with rain?" Megan asks Faelan curiously. "It brings the most wonderful smells, and sounds. The other night I went out and danced Tinkerbell in the storm, just because I could." She grins at him. "Well, its not very comfortable being all soaking wet in your cloths. You get all cold and clammy and stuff." Faelan nods at that, then shrugs. "I don't mind it if I'm inside, but well its not exactly a far trip for me from inside to out." He looks between the two a moment, then shakes his head with a little smile. "But I guess I'm outvoted between the ducks and storm dancing. I'll just hide inside if it starts pouring." "I don't mind the rain as much, now that I've got a place to actually go in the rain. It gets kinda clammy and stuff if you don't get to come in and warm up from it. I agree, that does sort of suck," Ducky nods in agreement to Faelan, "But the Mansion apparently has hot chocolate and fire places, and stuff like that, so the rain isn't /that/ bad." She tilts her head at the mention of dancing Tinkerbell, "I, you danced a what?" Ducky asks of Megan, blinking in confusion, "Wassat?" "It's a ballet I was working on in Abergylid before ..." Megan trails off, then motions to her wings as explanation. "I was supposed to perform it for the first time last week, but obviously I'm not in Wales anymore." She shrugs a little and offers a weak smile. "I was really excited for the role. My first chance at wirework. Ironically, I don't need the wires anymore, but I can't put on the show." A little twinge of wistfulness enters her expression, as she looks down towards the lake absently. "But it is what it is." "I still think you could probably get a drama department here. I mean you could probably get all sorts of special effects and make the scenery changes really impressive. Like with kabuto ninjas, except well, invisible ones. Or like Jax illusions." Faelan nods his head at that thinking. "Though I don't really know if anyone's that good at singing. I bet Professor Wagner could help with the choreography for sword fights. They had them in like All the Shakespeare stuff. I don't think there's any that didn't have it." Ducky nods emphatically, "Oooh! Yes - I would love to see a drama club, or performance group, or something like that. And Mister Jackson seems like he'd be just the sort to help with it." Ducky bounces, "I got to see Swan Lake when I was really little, with my parents, but that was so long ago. I'd love to see more, but, um, not going up on stage. Heh, no." She smiles at Megan, "If you're passionate about dancing and stuff, I'm sure they can accommodate you. I mean, it's a boarding school, but that doesn't mean we're supposed to be bored." "Actually we /kinda/ have one. Sorta. One of the professors teaches dance, at least," Megan says, a little more cheerfully. "I just can't seem to find her. I'm sure I'll work it out, though. So Faelan, you said you're just not going to go to the dance?" "I hadn't planned on it really. I mean not much point in going alone right? I'd just be seeing all the people dancing and I'd just be hiding back against the wall. I did that the first year, and well it wasn't really fun." Faelan shakes his head at that. "I don't even know if they're going to have the dance with how the moods been around the school the past few weeks. But I guess they probably plan it before then." Frowning in thought, he puffs a stray strand of hair from his face. Ducky glances up at Megan, offering a bit of a lopsided smirk to the winged girl, but otherwise staying quiet. Thanks to her fascination with birds, it is wonderfully easy for her to get distracted by a random sparrow that flutters down to land near by, and instead of continuing the conversation like a sane mutant being, she quite genuinely says, "Ooh! A birdy!" and she and her pigeon friend step away a few feet to have a quiet conversation with the sparrow. Because she is spectacularly subtle like that. "Ah. Well, I guess if that's what you want," she says to Faelan, only a little leadingly. "You could try asking someone, though. I happen to know there are girls who would absolutely love to go with you." "Huh, what?" Faelan blinks a moment looking to Megan. "Who should I ask? I mean, I don't think anybody does." Leaning against the chair, he scratches his head abit in confusion ploofing his hair abit. "Its not Sophie is it? Because she was really mad at me the time she was floating around in her pajamas. She was yelling a lot, so I left her to kill Peter instead." He thinks abit more, "And I'm pretty sure its not Kris either. And I know it isn't Kisha, I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm dumb." He tilts his head glancing at Ducky and the bird talking, then back to Megan. "You're going to have to give me a hint. I'm not really good at this kinda thing." There may be a slight sound of a palm hitting forehead from the direction of the new girl, who is currently sitting in a crouched position, talking quietly to the small bird. She then shakes her head, and slowly starts gesturing at the little sparrow, producing a small handful of seed for the bird to nibble upon while she talks to it. Otherwise, she remains quiet, and lets Megan have another go at getting through to Faelan. Megan smiles at Faelan, barely, with her brows knotted together. There's a little pity, there, but mostly just disappointment. "Faelan, just because a girl is mad at you one time doesn't mean we don't like you. Really, can you truly tell me you've never been mad at your parents, or a friend? But you forgave them, I'm sure, as well. Sometimes we all get mad; it's part of being human. There are at least two girls on this campus who have talked of wishing you would go to the dance with them. You're a smart boy, and very cute. I'm sure if you just give it some thought you will figure it out." "No, I wont ever forgive my parents." Faelan says shaking his head, his eyes dark in what might be anger. "They don't deserve it." He lets out a sigh, closing his eyes and trying to relax. "And saying that there's two and I'll figure it out doesn't really help. Now I'll just be looking at every girl at school and wondering if they were who you were talking about or not. And there's only like a week to figure it out, and theres the classes to deal with, and if I'm going to go then I need to get something to wear, because I'm pretty sure that I have to wear something fancy to it." Theres a slight gasp as he intakes a breath from the sped up sentence of nervousness. "Maybe I should just ask someone and not worry about it and then it would be too bad for them for not saying something. I know!" He says brightening. "How bout I ask you? That way I don't have to panic about it or anything. Oh..." He frowns thinking, "I guess that kinda puts you out some. Then you'll need a dress too, and you probably already have someone who asked you anyway." Ducky glances back over her shoulder at Megan, raising an eyebrow at her as though to ask, "Really? You want to go to the dance with Mr Clueless?" All in the secret language of girls, of course. Some things may be lost in translation, though, as Ducky is horribly out of practice. She shakes her head, and turns her attention back to the sparrow, gesturing once more towards the sparrow, and making tiny little motions with her fingers, as though she were explaining something. At this point in time, the gray and white pigeon is shaking its head in a decidedly human fashion, looking at Ducky, the Sparrow, and then the pair still on the porch. Megan gives Ducky a helpless response, then sighs and looks to Faelan. "If you don't want to go with me, I'm not sure why I should want to go with you," she tells him. "Instead of just offering to take me because it makes life easier, you could actually put some thought in it. You have a lot to offer, Faelan. Don't sell yourself short." She rises up to her bare feet, then smiles at him. "You've got a week to figure it out, and /two/ girls who would say yes, if you made them believe you wanted to take them. Maybe even more. Think about it," she suggests, before grabbing her tupperware. "Ducky, I'll catch you upstairs, later. Kitty and I share a room. Come by any time for cupcakes or if you want to borrow my makeup kit or anything at all. I'm totally happy to give whatever you need." "Oh. Uh, sorry." Faelan looks sheepish at that, looking down at the ground. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel unwanted or anything. I should probably go." Shaking his head at that, he gives Ducky a little wave, and shuffles his way back towards the building. "I think I'll hide in my room for the week." Nodding a bit to himself to reinforce the thought, he glances into the windows of the building long enough to see himself, before he is no longer to be seen at all. Ducky stands up from her crouch, the small sparrow flying off her shoulder to go hover near Megan, chirping confusedly and looking back at Ducky. "Well, um, oops? I, ah, I was trying to stay out of it, and give you space. I, um, I'm sorry," the teen mumbles, shuffling her foot in the wet dirt as the rain starts to fall. "If, um, if you wanted to try again, I could probably get some of the birds around campus to fly in formation around you, if that would help? If not, I'll just save it for another rainy day." Ducky looks up into the sky, sheltering the pigeon from the water with one of her hands, the sparrow having flown off at this point. "Sorry I threw off your original plans, Megan. I guess I'll catch you around on the girls floor. I've got a room to myself for now, if you need to vent for a bit, it's kinda empty." She offers a shrug, "I should be getting inside now, that the rain's here." "No, Faelan, that's not ..." Megan starts after him. But he's gone. Either he's teleported, or gone invisible. She curses, "T'in llawn cachu," at herself, a harsh whisper, as the rain starts to fall. "No, I don't ... want to try again. And I definitely don't need the Disney Princess treatment. I just ... really wanted to make him smile, and realize that people really do like him. Now I've just made things worse. I'm really sorry, Ducky; I should have just ..." she trails off, then sighs and wipes at her face. "I'll see you later." And up into the air she goes, flying lakewards.