ArchivedLogs:Pigeon Hats

Pigeon Hats
Dramatis Personae Ducky, Lyric
In Absentia	2013-08-10 '
Location <XS> Karolina, Ducky, and Lyric's Dorm - FL2
Tucked into a spire at the end of the girls' hall, this dorm is one of the few three-student suites. Spacious, its arrangement in the oddly circular room is nonstandard; two lofted beds sit near two of the room's many windows, with their respective desks tucked beneath. The third bed, a regular twin, sits across the room, next to a desk of its own. There is plenty of space in the room's three closets, and one of the tall windows even has a very tiny accompanying balcony just outside. Classes have concluded for the semester, and with final exams done at last, the dorms are even more vacated than they have been during the summer semester. Many of those who have other places to go have opted to take this opportunity to go home, or travel, or visit friends or family off campus. Of course, there are those who don't have other places to go, and are spending the month before the start of new school year enjoying the ammenities the school has to offer. Ducky is one such student - with no where else to go, she's taken the first few days of freedom to migrate her posessions to from her previous room to the newly assigned dorm just down the hall. Having claimed the lower bed and associated desk, Ducky has left the single xerox box of posessions on her desk, procrastinating on unpacking her books and other school supplies at this time. Instead, the mousy haired girl is currently standing on her bed, leaning against the wall and carefully tacking a series of prints to the wall with masking tape - reproductions of Darwin's finch sketches. Her tongue pokes out of the side of her mouth as she squints in concentration, trying to evenly line it up with another series of colorful prints, making sure they're at least somewhat level. Squeaksqueakthumpthump. Squeakthumpsqueak! Lyric's approach down the hall is audible long before she can be seen; the enormous purple-and-white striped suitcase she wheels along with her has seen better days. One wheel is wobbling, permanently threatening to fall off its hinge, but she gamely tugs it along on the remaining three. The backpack on her back is heavily packed, too, overstuffed and possibly weighing half as much as she does. She's brightly dressed; long loose pants in a lightweight cotton, spring-green and embroidered at their hems and up the sides in darker green leafy vines. Her top is loose and light, too, a pink tunic with long bell-sleeves; there's a gauzy pink scarf wrapped loosely around her enormous poof of hair. She pauses with her suitcase just inside the door, a smile bright on her face as she looks over the prints Ducky is hanging up. She lifts one hand, waving cheerfully as she unslings the backpack to let it THUMP to the floor with a look of relief. Taking a step back, she peers towards the wall; she points to the print Ducky is taping up, one hand lifting, palm up, to gesture upwards -- /just/ a smidge higher? The sound of the sounds of squeaking, thumping, and footsteps draws Ducky's attention away from the print she is hanging, and she glances over her shoulder curious at just what all the noise in the hallway is. The dappled gray and white pigeon, which has been asleep in the hood of her bright spring-green hooded tunic peeks up out of the spot it has been nestled, blinking curiously at Lyric's arrival. Both bird and girl tilt their heads nearly simultanously as Lyric gestures at the print, and then look back to the wall, carefully adjusting it just a tiny bit higher as directed, before pressing the piece of tape against the wall with a grin. That done, although there's still a pile of prints to hang (nearly all bird related), Ducky hops down from her bed and offers a smile and a wave to Lyric, "Hi. I'm Ducky. You must be Lyric, yes?" As she talks, she is quite careful to make sure she face Lyric, and even manages to sign 'duck' a bit haltingly with her own name, but she doesn't attempt to sign the rest, as her vocabulary ends with 'duck' apparently. Lyric's eyes light when she sees the pigeon, and she waves to him, too. She gives a thumbs-up to the print once it is in place, and glances from Ducky's bed to the free lofts. She points to the high bed nearer the door, with eyebrows raising questioningly as she nudges her backpack closer to it with a toe. 'Duck', she echoes the duck sign, and then nods. L-Y-R-I-C, is fingerspelled rapidly in the air; it's followed by another sign, quick as well. First two fingers crossed, she describes the curving shape of a soundwave in the air, ending it with both hands making a quick drumming motion. Points to herself, and repeats the sign. Her eyes travel back to the pigeon afterwards. She takes a half-step closer to Ducky, lifting one hand questioningly, a little bit towards the bird, with a small hopeful petting motion. Ducky nods a few times, and gestures towards the bed, "Go ahead. Don't think Karolina has claimed a bed quiet yet, so since you're here first, I think you get first pick." When Lyric signs her name, Ducky tries to mimic the sign, although it is a little awkward and clumsy as the older girl tries to copy, "Um, sorry. I'm kinda not that good at this. I'm supposed to be taking class this coming semester, but I'm kinda bad with talking to people to start with." She ruffles her hair and looks a bit sheepish at the admission. When the other girl lifts her hand, Ducky smiles, and the dappled pigeon takes off from her shoulder and flutters down to land gently on Lyric's raised hand - it ruffles its feathers up a bit, cooing softly and tilting its head at her. "He says you can pet him, if you want to," Ducky translates with a smile, gesturing at the bird, "He's clean, and friendly. He was an outside pigeon, but he's usually with me inside, now." Lyric's expression shifts into one of delight when the pigeon lands on her hand. She brings her hand closer to her face, inspecting him with wide eyes. Her other hand lifts, one finger gently stroking against his head. The smile she returns to Ducky is huge and bright. She crouches, slowly, hand still held up to make a proper pigeon-perch, and tugs a notebook and pen out of where they are stashed in the front flap-pouch on her backpack. Sitting down cross-legged on the ground for a moment, she opens the notebook. 'Pretty,' she writes first, and then, 'Sometimes I stop even noticing how many colors they have! Does he have a name?' Below this: 'My mom teaches the sign class. She's nice, I think. Maybe lots of homework though?' She tips the notebook up towards Ducky. When Lyric sits, Ducky does the same, sitting on her bare feet, watching the other girl with the pigeon, a bemused smile on her face. When the notebook is presented, Ducky tilts her head and takes a moment to read it, nodding slowly. "Yeah, most people kinda assume they're not very pleasant birds, let alone pretty. But pigeons can be really pretty, and there are so many different colors and patterns that show up in them in the wild. I have a little flock of them that followed me hear from the city. They aren't allowed inside, not like he is. But they're sorta carrier pigeons, so they can take letters to places and stuff, which is kinda cool, I guess," she explains with a grin, "Oh, and his name is Kushi." A nervous look crosses her face at the second part, "Oh, your mom is the teacher? Oh, wow. Um, I don't mind homework. Not like I really have much else to do most times. But, um, I'll make sure I try really hard in the class. 'Cause that would be kinda embarassing if I screwed up something awful." 'Cushy?' Lyric glances from Ducky to Kushi. Her hand lifts to rub at the top of his head again. 'It's OK. I can help you practice! Do you ever send letters by pigeon? Can we make them little pigeon' Here she stops writing for a moment, gesturing to her head. 'Mail carrier hats?' Her eyes widen. 'Can we have them cosplay as owls and pretend we're Hogwarts?' Ducky sticks her tongue out for a minute in concentration, trying to remember something, before slowly finger spelling out K-U-S...H-I, with a little bit of a head tilt as she speaks the letters out loud a bit faster than she signs them. "I think. Not sure why he calls himself that, but that's what he says his name is," she offers with a shrug and a grin, "Not all the birds tell me names, but Kushi did, so that's what I call him." Ruffling her hair, she offers a grin, "Um, I don't really have people to send letters to, really. I only kinda have one friend off campus, and I don't really know if he'd appreciate getting letters via pigeon. And it seems a bit silly to send them around campus." There's a bit of a blink, and a giggle at the Hogwarts suggestion, shaking her head, "I don't think they'd appreciate the owl costumes, but they might be willing to wear the hats." Kushi ruffles up at the owl suggestion, peering at Lyric with narrowed black eyes. "Yeah - Kushi says that's a no go. The hats would be sorta ok, though." She grins sheepishly, ruffling her hair, "I, um, may have broken curfew a few times in the past few months trying to find the owls in the forest for that sorta reason. I, um, yeah, read all the books when I was homeless, since it was kinda a dream scenario - awesome school coming and scooping someone out of a crappy situation." There's a glance around the room, and out the window briefly when she finishes talking, grinning lopsidedly. 'Kushi', Lyric writes, this time. 'Does that mean anything?' Perhaps to answer her own question, she sets the pen down a moment to reach into her pocket, pull out her phone and open a browser to SEARCH. 'It's a Japanese restaurant,' she reports after a moment. 'I'm going to guess that's not his meaning, though.' Her nose crinkles up, and she narrows her eyes back at Kushi in amusement. 'OK. No costumes! ARE there owls around here?' She glances towards the window, too, and then stifles a giggle. 'Yeah that does sound like something out of a fantasy book doesn't it! I'm glad you made it here. Homeless doesn't sound fun.' Ducky shrugs slightly, "I don't think it means anything - think he just likes the sound of it in his head. Most birds who stick around me long enough give me names that end in kinda of an 'i' or 'y' sound. My birds, the ones I had back when I had a home, um, they were Cassi and Cami. They were a pair of love birds, but my parents got rid of them." Her shoulders sink slightly as she says this, eyes shifting to look sadly at Kushi, who is still hamming it up and delighting in the pettings he is getting. "And yeah, there are owls around here. And hawks. I've gotten at least one red tail following me around this week when I was outside. And as for owls, I think I've heard some barn owls, and maybe some horned owls, I think? I know there are kinda a lot that are native to the area, but they're hard to find. Or I'm not looking hard enough," she says, then turning to look out the window again, "I'm gonna stay in the treehouse over night. And see if I can get them to come to me. But, um, yeah. Not wanting to sleep outside again is kinda a bit of a thing for me." Ducky ruffles her hair, the short mop of hair sticking up in various directions, "Being homeless wasn't that bad, at the time, but I was kinda only talking to birds. I, yeah, I missed getting to talk to people." 'Got rid of them?' Lyric frowns, setting her pen down for a moment and giving Ducky a concerned look. Her fingers scritch at Kushi's head again, running lightly down the back of his neck. 'Love birds are cute. At home we just have a lot of fish. They're pretty but not good company,' she writes once she picks her pen back up. 'People are probably better.' 'The treehouse isn't EXACTLY outside. It's outside with an inside right there! And I'm going to make them hats. I've decided. I'm taking fabric arts this term. I will learn.' She holds her hand out, proffering Kushi back towards Ducky. 'I should move the rest of my things. Before Mom drives off and takes them back with her.' Quietly accepting Kushi back from Lyric, Ducky nods, "Yeah. Got rid of. They, um, it's kinda a long story. But they took away my birds. Said it wasn't healthy, or, um, something. Was, yeah..." Her voice drops off, and she looks down at the pigeon in her hands, carefully stroking his feathers, "Sorry. Been an odd week." She smiles at Lyric, pushing away the sadness from her features, "Right. Want some help carrying stuff in? Might make the move a bit faster." She starts to rise, setting Kushi back up on her shoulder so he may nestle back into her hood, before offering Lyric a hand up with a grin. Lyric's nose crinkles up, and she rubs one fist in a circle over her heart. Only afterwards does she write, 'Sorry. That sounds sad.' After this, a bright smile. 'I'd love that, thanks!' She signs 'thanks', too, and then reaches up to take Ducky's hand. She shoves her backpack under one of the loft beds, and gives Ducky one last smile before darting for the door.