ArchivedLogs:Chill Cookies

Chill Cookies
Dramatis Personae Ducky, Jeremy, Kai
In Absentia	2014-01-21 Cold cookies and conversation in snow
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! Snow falls from the sky in little flakes, already landing upon snow coating the landscape. The back porch has been cleared fairly recently though its hard to keep it that way even with the salt that has been laid down upon it. Light from on high beams down upon the porch, catching the little swirls in relief. Not many people have even been out on the back porch judging by the footsteps captured in recently fallen snow, though the most recent aims out to the outer edges of the porch. Dressed in a big poofy marshmallow coat, Jeremy sits out on a chair with a box of cookies beside him, the ground a little more frozen near him than elsewhere. Not all of the students at the school are content to remain cooped up inside the stately mansion to watch the snow accumulate outside the windows. Ducky is one such student, and she emerges onto the back porch, bundled relatively lightly against the cold wind and snow. She's wearing a dark green pea coat that looks like it is military surplus, a size or two bigger than is necessary for the young woman, over a gray hooded sweatshirt and jeans with thick, warm looking snow boots. Ruffled, sandy brown hair peeks out from beneath her bright yellow knit hat. Her hands, however, wear mismatched gloves that seem somewhat out of place - her left hand wears a thin black leather glove, and is holding a metal bowl of what looks like raw meat, while her right hand is swathed in a thick brown leather gauntlet that covers most of her forearm. As she emerges from the back door, Ducky pauses, glancing around into the snow and looking out into the snowy expanses that lead towards the woods. After a few moments, she waves at the young man on the porch, tilting her head curiously at the additional freezing on the porch around him, unsure of just what was going on. Enter Nanook of the North. Or maybe it's just Kai. It's hard to tell, under the bulky blue jacket and snowpants, and the furry gray hat that swallows his head and threatens to slip down over his eyes. He's even wearing /boots/, which seem to make him clumsy as he makes his way out onto the porch. Mittened hands are clapped together with a soft sound before the small Korean boy is moving forward, to the edge of the porch, and pushing a hand out into the snow and watching it collect on the knotted wool. He shudders as he looks at it, and dusts his hands off /briskly/ before he realizes that he's not alone. Slowly, he turns to the others, blinking owlishly at them for a long moment before he wrinkles his nose. "It is snowing a lot," he says. It's /probably/ a greeting; his tone certainly makes it sound like one. Seeing the waving towards him, Jeremy waves back with a gloved hand, looking behind her to the outcoming Kai as well. He nods at the commentary on it snowing, but he shrugs a marshmellow puffed shrug as he takes a cookie from the package and takes a bite. The bite makes it more obvious why he is sitting out where he is, the light from the mansion dimming around him as he cronch cronch cronches the tasty snack. Starting to sign with a gloved hand, he frowns at the poor manual dexterity afforded and pulls the glove off, quickly signing 'It is snowing a lot. Summer is better. Hot Cocoa keeps freezing' before shoving the ungloved hand into a pocket to keep it warm rather than shoving it into the glove again. The arrival of Kai behind her startles Ducky, making the girl jump slightly; she actually does not have her constant shoulder pigeon right now, possibly why she was startled. "Yeah, it's kinda alota snow. Supposed to just keep coming down overnight and stuff," she agrees, tilting her head and looking up into the falling flakes, "If we weren't living /at/ our school we'd probably have a snow day, but since it's a boarding school and all that jazz, it's kinda not possible to say that y'can't get to classes and stuff." She babbles aimlessly, shuffling the meat in the bowl to keep it from freezing over with the added snow. She blinks briefly at Jeremy and his signing sticking her tongue in concentration and switches to hold the bowl in her gauntleted hand, signing with the thinner gloved hand, as she talks. "Hi!" she greets, tilting her head the opposite way, still signing, "They do have thermoses if you need the cocoa to not freeze? It kinda makes it a bit less likely to get all cold?" Though when the lights dim around him as he eats the cookie, she looks confused, unsure of just how helpful her suggestions had been. Kai jumps when Ducky does; his own leap taking him a half-step backwards. "I have never had a snow day," he admits, looking out at the furious flurrying. "This is the only school I have ever been to." Which is old news, probably, so he shifts his attention to Jeremy; furrowing his brow in concentration on what the older boy is signing. His mouth twists, and he tugs a mitten off with his teeth in order to free the other hand and attempt his own signing. 'Summer good. I no wear shoes and catch bugs.' He glances at the building when the lights flicker, and then back at Jeremy studiously. 'Cocoa no freeze in house. Warm, too.' As others pull off gloves to sign, Jeremy shakes his head quickly signing back. 'Not deaf, you can talk. One cold hand enough for three.' He seems to have practice at least with the first part with how fluidly it goes. He smiles a bit as the two talk about the cocoa and both of the suggestions. 'Can't eat inside many places. Frown on killing the electronics. Drink cocoa through straw, but not cookies' Popping another cookie into his mouth as if to illustrate, eating while facing them, they can see the darkness of his mouth when it opens. 'Hello, I am Jeremy' he signs to the others as if to explain the situation better. "I didn't have them /that/ much when I was back in Chicago, but, well, they kinda are use to dealing with all the lake effect snow and stuff. But sometimes we'd have feet of snow! And no school, so we made snow forts!" Ducky giggles, gesturing demonstratively with both hands, including the one that has the bowl of meat, which sloshes a bit with the added snow. As she puts her gauntleted hand up, which now holds the meat, a shape from the woods emerges, whisper quiet and almost hard to make out among the snow - but the young snowy owl, speckled pattern of youth still dark on its wings as it settles into place on the gauntleted hand. Ducky blinks in surprise, and lowers her hand to compensate for the added weight. "Oh! Okay," she says in response to Jeremy, nodding, "Hi! I'm Ducky!" She does include the name sign with her free hand, a combination of 'me' and 'duck'. "You eat light, and cookies?" she asks, head tilted curiously in a decidedly birdlike manner. The owl seems to not have a care, picking out chunks of meat from the chilled bowl balanced in Ducky's hand. Kai looks relieved that he won't have to sign any more, and nods as he begins to pull on his mittens again. "Oh, that is good. I am not good at it, yet." He pauses as the owl swoops in, and his 'ah' of wonder is soft enough that only his foggy breath indicates that he's spoken at all. He turns back to see Jeremy identify himself, and he nods slowly. "Yes, I know," he says simply. "I have seen you before. I am Kai." He tilts his head at the other boy, his brow knitting slightly. "Why must you drink with a straw?" he wonders. "And why do you make the lights blink when you are eating cookies? I eat lots of cookies, but I just..." he pauses, looking over at Ducky and pinkening a bit before he continues. "Belch. Sometimes." Nodding at Ducky's words and gesturing to Ducky at Kai's queries, he signs 'Cookies taste better. Light and more though.' Jeremy nods and gestures that theres more, but he doesn't seem to want to elaborate as he shoves a hand in a pocket. It is also perhaps odd that he doesn't seem to puff out hot air like the others have been with breaths. At the appearance of the pretty birdy arriving, his face turns to a smile and delight. He stands up and moves a little closer to the others so he can get a better look of the owl. Ducky shrugs, bringing the arm holding the owl down to a more comfortable level, letting it continue to pick at the chunks of meat in the bowl. "I've been taking classes for a bit now. It was kinda suggested to learn so that I don't talk out loud to the birds as much, because it is really really annoying apparently. Also it means I can communicate with my room mate, which is good too. But I've gotten the talking out loud to the birds thing down, mostly, when I remember," the girl rambles aimlessly, shifting and adjusting to handle the weight of the owl. The bird seems content to just stay there and eat dinner, though she does eye Jeremy and Kai with wary, bright yellow eyes when they look at her. "They have good cookies here sometimes. Many kinds of cookies, which is awesome and stuff, since it's better than just boring oreos or chocolate chip. Which are good, but they've got even /more/ kinds." She seems completely unbothered by the mention of belching - the girl carries a pigeon with her daily, burps are the least of her worries. Ducky puffs up in pride at the interest in her new bird friend, smiling happily before she pulls her thin glove off, wiggling her fingers in the chill air. before slipping it into her pocket to keep warm. "Someone said that Mister Jackson eats sunlight," Kai says helpfully, reaching up to push his furry hat back a bit in order to see better. "But I do not think he makes it blink. That seems like a thing that would be noticed." He shifts uncertainly, and furrows his brow. "Signing is hard," he says with a slow nod. "Foom says it is the stupid finger language of human monkeys, and he does not care for it." He sounds matter-of-fact about this, although he does look apologetic as he finishes. "But I am /trying/ to learn it. I would like to know it." The owl's yellow stare is met with Kai's even one, a flicker of yellow dancing around the edges of his irises. "I like the cookies with the spiced sugar on them," he says on that subject, and wrinkles his nose in thought. "I think they are called snickers." He frowns. "Or something like that." Bobbing his head at the rambling, Jeremy lets the chatter wash over him as he let it sift through his head. 'I like chocolate chips.' He wiggles a finger at the bird, though he does know better than to get close enough to let it nip him. Frowning at Kai's pronouncement of Foom's thoughts, he shakes his head and signs again 'If I spoke, your phone would not work. My bag is over there so I don't kill it.' He points over to the bag near the door with a plastic bag over it to keep it from getting damp. 'They said the phones are important, so I don't break them. Panic button?' "Really?" Ducky asks Kai, at the comment about Jax, tilting her head - the owl mimics the motion idly, a bit meat dangling from her beak. "Yeah, signing is kinda hard to get used to at first, but once you practice more, it does start getting easier," she offers with a lopsided grin, shrugging, "If you want, I can help practice some - helps me, too, 'cause means I get to go over stuff." She bounces gleefully at hte thought of the cookies, "Oh! Snickerdoodles, right? Kinda poofy, but then all sortsa sugary on it! Those are good. I probably don't quite need so much sugar, though, since people tell me I'm kinda hyper anyway..." Her statement trails off, and she looks at the owl on her arm, eyes unfocusing slightly. She nods emphatically to Jeremy, at the statement of the phones being important, "Yeah, the phones are really good to keep on you, and functional. Cause it means that they can ome and help you if something happens. Like getting lost in the woods, or lost off campus, or gnawed on by zombies, or kidnapped, or accidentally teleported to another state because you startled the wrong person." She slowly strokes the owl, carefully, with her bare hand as she talks, which makes the owl ruffle momentarily before seeming to accept the contact. Kai nods at Ducky, and shrugs -- a movement almost lost in the puffiness of his coat. "I do not know if it is true, but it is a thing I heard. I will ask Shane, if he comes back to school." He brightens at the prospect of receiving help, and he nods. "That would be very good," he says. "It would help me very much. Thank you." Jeremy's pronouncement takes the younger boy a moment to figure out, his lips moving as he works out the words. "Oh, that is not good," he says, shaking his head. "I have only gotten my phone recently. I would like to keep it for a while longer." He nods at Ducky's thoughts on the matter, and his eyes widen. "And if there are sand men who are trying to take you," he says, as if that is somehow different than general kidnapping. "Although, they are more helpful if you remember to use them." 'Shane asked me if I could eat him because he is light. I don't want to eat anybody.' Jeremy nods at this pronouncement and looks between the two as they describe the uses of the panic button. 'Do those problems happen at school much? They said the zombies were first time.' Thinking a bit, he looks over to his bag at a distance and shakes his head. 'I hope I do not break my phone often. Can't stop draining unless mouth is closed.' He nods a little then tilts his head watching the bird getting pettings from a careful distance with a smile. Ducky nods, "I didn't know it was possible eat sunshine. I mean, I guess plants do, so it makes sense some people can. As much as me talking to birds makes sense. Or, y'know, half the school since, yeah, things here are kinda nonsensicalish sometimes." She grins brightly, "I'll make sure to message you when we've got study group next. More people means more people talking and more chances to learn and practice," Ducky turns her attention to Jeremy, "If you wanna come too, you're welcome to, 'cause it's kinda a useful thing, and practicing is good, even if you know how to already?" She ponders the question about normal things at the school, shaking her head at Kai, "Well, we woulda used them if the dude hadn't managed to fry the phones before the the whole sandy thingy was all scary and stuff." Setting aside the now empty metal bowl, Ducky continues petting the owl while it stays put, preening itself with messy beak. "Stuff like that doesn't, um, happen /all the time/ per se. Sorta," she reassures him, though she doesn't sound so certain about it the more she thinks about the past few months. "They replace the phones if they get broken, which is good, because sometimes things happen. Just may take a bit to get a new one sometimes," she shrugs, still petting the owl. Kai giggles. "It is about as unusual as a boy who turns into a dragon," he says, putting a mittened hand over his mouth and scrunching his eyes almost closed in amusement. He watches Jeremy as he speaks, and nods with a small knit of his eyebrows. "Yes, eating people is not good," he agrees. "There has been enough of that, I think. Cookies are a much better choice." He narrows his eyes as Ducky reminds him of the other person involved in the sandman incident, and he re-focuses his attention on Jeremy, tipping his head thoughtfully before he grimaces, and shakes his head to some silent question. Or maybe it's to Jeremy's question. "It happens more to some people than others," he says. "I suppose it is dependent on how reckless a person you are." Jeremy frowns slightly, but nods in acquisance. 'I am careful. Hard to have mouth always closed without muzzle. Don't like the muzzle.' There is a bit of grumpface at that, and he sniffles slightly, rubbing his nose with the back of his gloved hand. 'Going inside, getting too cold.' He wiggles his hand back into his glove at that and nods, grabbing the cookie container so he can head back in. Ducky grins and giggles, nodding, "True! Usual is overrated." Says the girl with the growing flock of birds moving into the area. She looks at the owl, which has now settled in, having eaten her fill of meat and now on to napping, "You need to go back to your roost. 'mnotallowed to bring you inside," she says to the bird, rolling her shoulder and attempting to dislodge the bird, who ruffles up and regards Ducky with an unamused scowl. "C'mon, I fed you. I'll bring more out another day. Go home," she lofts her arm and sends the bird back towards the snowy woods, sniffling a bit. Rubbing at her increasingly red nose with the back of her gauntlet, Ducky frowns, "Yeah, s'probably a good idea to go inside. S'getting cold." Looking up as the snow continues to fall, she grins, "You coming inside, Kai? There'll be even more snow tomorrow, and it'll be all shiny-sparkly with the sunlight and all. No warmer, probably." She grins brightly, following Jeremy towards the entrance, holding it open so Kai can head inside to the pleasant warmth of the mansion, too.