ArchivedLogs:Birdbrained

Birdbrained
Telepathy over a picnic dinner
Dramatis Personae Ducky, Rasa	2013-07-15 Experimentation with powers in the woods
Location <XS> - Forest
Quiet and shady, the trees rise all around here high and thick. In stillness, woodland creatures make appearances, though sudden noises scare them back into the cover. Dappled sunlight filters down between the thick foliage, and the ground underfoot is heavily overgrown, though here and there paths have been worn, by deer or years of students wandering familiar trails. It's hot again. It always seems to be hot this summer, except for when it's not. That's beside the point. On this particular day, it's hot. Young people are clinging to either the indoors, the water or the shade to keep from getting too hot in the blistering season. Rasa is the same. Ze brought supplies to the dining hall, facilitating an easy escape with food to the forest, to hang out in the increasing shadow of the trees. There's a sort of early sunset there and the temperature drops a little more quickly than it does in the open field. Ze has spread out a blanket at the base of a fir tree and is plopping down sitting cushions, before moving hir plate from a rocky surface to the blanket. Ze is dressed in a wrap that ties behind hir neck and its belted, loosely, around hir waist. The batik design is that of aqua sea turtles on a blue and purple background. Hir feet are shod in neon orange flipflops. Ze is waiting for someone. The heat is indeed miserable as the day fades into evening, and Ducky is dressed for it, relatively speaking. She's wearing a pair of dark blue cargo shorts that reach just above her knees, showing off pale but toned calves, a pair of worn hiking boots on her feet, coated in a bit of mud. A pale green t-shirt underneath a dark green hooded vest completes the look, her constant companion of a dappled gray and white pigeon nestled into the hood of the vest, idly preening at her rumpled mousy hair. Rather than approach from further on campus, Ducky is actually emerging from deeper in the woods, a sheen of sweat shining on her forehead and arms as she approaches Rasa's blanket, booted feet crunching on the dry ground of the forest. "Hi, Rasa," Ducky chirrups, offering a little bit of a wave to make sure the other student was aware of her presence. "Hey, Ducky. How was your hike?" Rasa sits crosslegged, all the extra material from hir wrap stuffed in the basket of hir legs, looking up an smiling as ze wrests the lid off of a bottle of peach tea. Ze takes a long drink from it and then recaps it and sets it down. "You hungry? How's Kushi?" Eventually, ze stretches out hir legs to one side of the blanket to pat the other side, giving Ducky plenty of room to sit down. "Hot out." "Was ok. Kinda miserably hot and all that jazz. Even the birds don' really wanna talk when it's this hot out," Ducky responds, ruffling her hair as she talks, the slight sheen of sweat making it stick up oddly. "And yeah, food is good. Kinda have the tendency to just wander around in the woods and forget that I should eat sometimes," she says with a sheepish grin, kicking her boots off before stepping onto the blanket and settling in. "Kushi is fine. Getting spoiled by the air conditioning at the school and getting kinda grumpy about going back outside," Ducky grins, tilting her head slightly in a birdlike fashion. "Oh gracious. You're going to turn Kushi into a house pigeon." Rasa smirks in amusement. Ze moves a plate of sandwiches toward the middle of the blanket, where Ducky can get at them too. "What do birds normally do when it's too hot? Hang out in the shade quietly? I haven't really given it much thought. I think it's well known that vultures circle. Probably incorrect, but still well known. Have you ever spoken to a vulture?" Hir brows waggle upward, hir skin taking on a slightly featherish print in brown and tan. Ducky giggles a bit, reaching up to scritch Kushi's head, getting a slight coo out of the dappled pigeon, "Most of them kinda mantle their wings to make more surface area and try to cool off that way, or they just sit in the shade and deal with it." Settling in a bit better, Ducky wrinkles her nose about the vulture, "I've only really talked to one. It was a giant one, and he was kinda mean and grumpy. A vulture was the closest thing I could call him, I guess, but he was associated with the carnival, maybe?" She tilts her head slightly again, frowning, "He barfed acid at Mister Jackson and me. Which was, um, well, some vultures do that sort of thing as a defense mechanism." Ducky's eyes sort of go wide when Rasa starts taking on a feathery pattern, blinking, "Oooh..." "Sometimes I forget that there is acid in the human body. Or, well, animal bodies, period. It seems so surreal, like something out of science fiction." Rasa's brows rise. Hir skin remains skin for now, smooth to the touch, but the patterning spreads out over hir entire body. "I can't imagine doing it though. It's got to be like vomiting, unless one has a sac specifically for that, but even still, it goes through the mouth, no? Food can't taste good after that." Ze shakes hir head. Ze gives a bashful look at Ducky. "Sorry. I may be nattering today." "Don't know, really. I didn't get to talk to him much, and I think he was actually kinda a mutant, maybe. Birds don't normally come in that big of a size," Ducky ponders, tilting her head slightly in the other direction, "Most vultures, um, like Turkey Vultures, anyway, just regurgitate their last meal, and since they eat carrion, it can kinda be rather vile. So yeah, it's usually just stomach acid and half digested food." She wrinkles her nose a bit, leaning over on the picnic blanket a bit, blushing slightly, "Sorry, horribly dinner conversation. I, um, kinda babble, especially about birds." She ruffles her hair again, and Kushi apparently takes offense at that, immediately starting to preen the reachable hair back into place, "So how was your day, for a different conversation from vulture barf and such things?" Ducky - mistress of conversation changes. Oh yeah. "Oh, nothing special. Classes were dull and hard to get through, what with the sun and the heat. Even with the air conditioning, I think the instructors were distracted. It's supposed to be worse over the next few days, so I... I don't know. I guess I'll have to start carrying ice water and splashing myself in the face with it to get through Ethics and US History. Supposed to meet Mr. Wagner later for some free running. Do you do any extra curricular..." Rasa stops fully and quickly when ze finds hirself just chattering endlessly. Hir flesh lightens quite a few shades. "Ahem. Sorry. I'm nervous. Been looking forward to this all day and I don't know how to start." Giggling a bit, Ducky offers, "Could always get a spray bottle and fill it with ice water between classes. An occasional spritz, just to stay cool and all. Bit less likely to get all over the books and stuff than just splashing." She smirks grinning, "And you can always use it to wake up other students who may have drifted off due to the heat in the middle of class." She ruffles her hair when Rasa admits that ze is nervous, "'sok. I'd, ah, be lying if I said I wasn't nervous at all, 'cause, well." Ducky shrugs and grins, "But no, I don't really do many extra curriculars. Kinda, um, birdbrained, as it were, and well, getting the hang of curriculars first, before I get to adding more stuff on." "Some of the students object to getting sprayed with water in the classroom," Rasa adds dryly, wrinkling hir nose. Ze puts down hir sandwich and looks at Ducky. "You want to get it over with? I mean, well, not over with quickly, but start and see what you think?" "Fair enough. They shouldn't fall asleep in class then," Ducky grins, giggling nervously, having a feeling she's setting herself up to get spritzed later down the road, "But yeah. Suppose it isn't the most conducive thing to classwork and all that jazz." Ducky's smile falters ever so slightly, blushing the faintest shade of red, "I... I guess so. I mean, it, um, doesn't hurt, right? 'sjust kinda like..." She ruffles her hair again, looking sheepish, "Sorry. I know I still want to, cause I'm curious, too, but, uh." She blushes, again, the pigeon on her shoulder continuing to smooth out her hair, "Do I need to do anything?" "Strong emotions have a tendency to ... be strong and emotional. If you're calm and not harboring an irrational angry side, it won't stir much at all. You may hear me in your head, but you may not pick out that it is me, because I'm not likely to be noisy first time around. Kind of a listener." Rasa holds out a hand, moving so that hir legs are curled up underneath hir. "You can touch me when you want to start and let go or pull away if you don't like it." Ze gives a little shrug. "I'll probably shift, but we're not that far away in size, so it won't be huge. You can close your eyes if you don't want to see. I can explain more, if that'll help you be comfortable." Ducky shifts so that she sits on her feet, crouched comfortably on the blanket, although there is a stiffness to her posture that betrays her nervousness, "Ok. That, well, that makes sense. D'you mind if I watch? It's, um, well, kinda neat to see how people's abilities work, and." She shrugs again, tentatively reaching out towards Rasa's hand, although she hesitates for a moment just before making contact, biting her lower lip nervously. "I... I'm sorry if my head is kinda, um, screechy. It's the bird thing, I'm used to it, but I think it kinda sounds like a horde of sparrows. In my mind. To other people," she babbles. "Ok. Sorry. I'll shut up now," Ducky mumbles, ruffling her hair with her free hand and lurching forward slightly to touch Rasa's hand with her own. The moment that Ducky touches Rasa's hand, there's nothing more than the sensation of her fingers touching Rasa's skin, the warmth and the mildly damp (it is HUMID OUT) texture. There's a few breathes of silence before there's a curious ripple against the flesh of Ducky's hand, like a piece of hair being dragged out from between their grip, or hir hand shifting almost imperceptibly underneath. A fidget. A twitch. Hir skin pales from the brown and tan feathers to something a good deal more flesh toned - Ducky's flesh tone, in fact. Hir facial features round and shift, like a rubber ball making impact against the ground then reforming back to its original shape, except instead of Rasa's face, it's now Ducky's. Hir hair shrinks back into hir scalp and straightens and tousles a bit. Then the other Ducky licks her lips. For a second or two, there are two perfect copies of Ducky sitting on the picnic blanket, one wearing Rasa's clothing. Then, as if some invisible soul decided to pick up an invisible marker with very visible ink and start scribbling on one of their arms, words begin to appear on RasaDucky, all the way down her bare arm. It's a conversation, between the girl and Kushi, the words somewhat simplistic, but the back and forth is noted in the way the words appear, dashing from one side of her arm to the other, as if distracted by everything around them. RasaDucky's eyes remain closed, her lips pursing thoughtfully. Ducky looks slightly disapointed when nothing happens immediately, though she doesn't pull away from the other student, instead settling her hand into Rasa's a bit more solidly so that it isn't as awkwardly jumbled of a touch. Her hazel eyes go wide as she watches Rasa's transformation, blinking in amazement for several long moments, "Oh, wow." She wets her lips in a mimic to RasaDucky's movement, unconsciously as though ze were a mirror. Ducky tilts her head curiously, the movement mimicking that of the pigeon on her shoulder, reading the script that appears on RasaDucky's arm. <<See, Kushi, it isn't dangerous. 'skinda cool, actually. Like seeing the marauder's map in Harry Potter written out. 'Cept it's brainthoughts. Which is still kinda cool.>> Ducky says to the pigeon, and anyone else listening in at this point. Although, there is a decided undercurrent of cooing and trilling, as though a flock of overexcited pigeons were offering commentary. <<Right this time. Yes. Yes. But not always right. Not all brainy types nice. Can be wrong, Duck. Can be wrong.>> the second voice is accompanied by a heavy fluster of cooing, almost drowning out the echoing voice initially. "So, uh, can you actually hear the conversation? Or is it just sorta transliterated on your arm and all?" Ducky asks curiously, still content to maintain contact at this point. "I can hear. It's like a liquid that fills a sponge. You can see some of it leaking out, but there's a lot more on the inside." RasaDucky raises her free hand and taps her temple lightly, opening hazel eyes to smile. Her eyes then shift and focus on the bird, head tilting very much like Ducky's does, though consciously amused by it. "I suppose the next thing to try... would be talking to Kushi directly. Do you really tell your birds about Harry Potter or do they just absorb it all? Oh, you may be able to hear this..." As she speaks, more feather patterns start appearing on and around RasaDucky's arms, obscuring the words in places, vibrating soundwave lines attached to the tips of these floating feathers, the images drifting and falling in the direction of gravity before disappearing to make room for newer ones. << Hello Kushi. You are likely right to be wary of brain types, but I hope I can be a friend. >> For some reason, the word 'sponge' brings forth an image of a paperweight on Ducky's dorm desk, which looks like a squished sponge made of a shiny yellow metal, which then quickly fades out of focus as Ducky concentrates on what Rasa is actually talking about. "They don't really absorb it from me. Some of them kinda pick it up, and if I'm reading a book while I'm around them, it kinda gets broadcast out a bit to birds in the area. I don't mean to, but I kinda have crap control over when or how I communicate with them. So some of the pigeons that were around me when I was in the city, including Kushi, kinda got to hear me reading through the Harry Potter books." A sense of wish fufillment comes at this point, as though Ducky had been really hoping for something like the owl post carrying a letter to Hogwarts to arrive for her - Ducky standing on a train platform, wearing a set of black and yellow robes, a large fluffy owl sitting opposite Kushi on her shoulder. Ducky shakes her head, grinning sheepishly and ruffling her hair with her free hand, "Uh, sorry. I kinda, yeah..." The pigeon looks directly at RasaDucky, narrowing its beady eyes at the other student, ruffling his feathers up in response <<Hello. Rasa, yes? Rasa. Duck calls you Rasa. You are friend. Yes.>> the words echo slightly, as though bouncing around down a hallway with poor acoustics before making it to Rasa. The sounds of cooing and chirruping seems to echo louder, almost drowning out the mental voice. RasaDucky brightens up, and then her skin starts to turn pink and orange, some of her features melting away back to hir normal face on the left side of hir face. << Don't suppose you'd recognize me, if I keep looking like Duck, eh? >> Lines appear more frequently, especially when communicating with Kushi directly, covering the Ducky sides of hir body. "Interesting. I can share stuff with you now, if you want. There will be a bit of a push, maybe even a quieting of your birdfriends, but I can show you what Ivan's mind looks like, or at least what I remember." <<Yes. Thank you. Memory is not good. Faces hard. Not a raven.>> comes Kushi's response, echoing and noisy, but accompanied by a head bob from the small pigeon. <<You are Rasa. Duck Friend.>> Ducky watches as Rasa changes again, tilting her head curiously and grinning a little lopsidedly, "That is really amazing. And impressive that you have that much control that you can change just half of yourself to something that looks so different." Her eyes seem to be sort of unfocusing, and she winces momentarily, just a barest ripple during the conversation, "Not sure how long I could keep up the passing the thoughts back and forth. 'skinda headachey to be a conduit for long. Easier with Kushi and you, 'cause I don't have to actually speak it. Just, um, heads up, 'bout that." She looks nervous about the idea of pushing, momentarily, before nodding, "Is, um, is Ivan ok with you sharing that? I mean, what his mind looks like?" Ducky tilts her head, chewing on her lower lip for a moment, "I don't mind the idea of sharing. Issok. This is kinda neat, and not really what I'd expected. So, go ahead, I guess." "Being fluid is much easier than being one thing ever. It's hard to hold a form. Being at the mercy of my body, that's easy." Rasa explains away the ease at which ze shifts and drops down to a considering though for a moment. "You know, you're right. I will email him first and ask permission." Ze pulls hir hand away from Ducky to spare the girl more headache and smiles a little. "You can tell Kushi that he can smell me if he wants, in case my face changes again. Smells are good, right? A better way to tell the strange humans apart?" Ze reaches the hand ze took away from Ducky out toward Kushi, presenting fingers for a sniff. Petting will follow. Ducky nods, sitting back on her feet and blinking owlishly as the contact is broken. She settles into a crosslegged position, leaning her elbows on her knees as she takes a few deep breaths to clear her head, the headache fading. "Actually, uh, birds kinda have really cruddy senses of smell, for the most part. Except for vultures, since they're carrion feeders. They're actually kinda visually centered, not so much with the other senses. Kushi just has somewhat bad memory. Pigeons can't really smell too well, all things considered," Ducky explains, carefully picking the pigeon up off her shoulder and holding him out to Rasa. "He says you can pet him if you want to. He's clean, and doesn't have any kinds of mites or anything on him," she nods, idly stroking the pigeon's back, as though to demonstrate. "And yeah, it seems kinda like a good idea to ask before sharing that sorta thing. But I wouldn't mind doing this again. Was interesting. And kinda fun," Ducky nods emphatically, grinning, though the expression is a little tired looking. Rasa takes the bird carefully, similarly to how Ducky holds him and begins to gently stroke his breast. "Oh, I just wanted to pet him because I had a conversation with him. It's actually quite a wonderful feeling - from my end, as well. Brains are fascinating. Yours is lovely. Sometime, I'd like to hear it when you aren't trying so hard to relay things." Ze shifts a little to get comfortable, hir appearance entirely hir own now, tinged pink and orange with delight. "Thank you, but maybe you should eat now." Ze nudges the plate of sandwiches back over toward hir classmate. "He's one of the more sociable birds I've met that's actually a bird," Ducky nods, smiling as Rasa takes the pigeon, "Pretty sure he was a homing pigeon, so used to being around people. But, um, the fact that he's kinda got memory issue makes the homing portion of homing pigeon a bit moot." Kushi starts cooing happily at the attention, but his feathers ruffle a bit at Ducky's explanation, huffing indignantly and looking at Ducky, who grins bemusedly at whatever the pigeon had responded with. The mention of food gets a confused blink, "Oh! Right, yeah, this was supposed to be a dinner picnic. Sorry, kinda got distracted a bit." Ducky takes one of the sandwiches, nibbling idly at the corners of it. A slight blush colors her pale cheeks at the compliment, "Um, uh, thanks. Maybe next time we can do it inside? That's kinda the only way to really get me away from the birdnoise. Otherwise I will just sorta relay and get distracted." She ruffles her hair, grinning slightly, and continuing to nibble on her sandwich. And so the conversations continue, shared over the picnic dinner and surrounded by the increasing number of birds that seem to amass around Ducky the longer they remain in the forest. The light fails as the talk continues, of classes and life and such forth, until curfew calls the students back into the building for the evening.