ArchivedLogs:Talking To People

Talking To People
Dramatis Personae Anole, Ducky, Rasa
In Absentia	2013-09-19 '
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. Lunch time is most often intended for the consumption of lunch, most likely in the cafeteria… but it is such a lovely day that numerous students have taken their meals outside to enjoy the unseasonably cool weather. The leaves have just started to shift colors on some of the trees, providing an even more colorful backdrop for the meal than had been seen over the summer. There are more than a few students picking their way through the woods for just the right spot to take a seat and enjoy lunch, preferably with enough shade and minimal insect activity. Among those students is Ducky, although seeing the flighty young woman outside around the woods is not exactly an unusual thing. At current, she is doing her best impression of Snow White, sitting in a small clearing just beyond the tree line, her meal largely forgotten in its cooler bag at her feet. She wears a pair of fitted black jeans, slightly scuffed and frayed at the back, and a hooded vest over a thin long sleeve shirt, both in shades of gray. The area around her seems to be in motion - finches, pigeons, sparrows, and a handful of black birds all sit on the branches of the trees, chattering quietly and ruffling their feathers. For her part, Ducky is trying very hard to keep her attention on one bird, a black bird perched on her hand at eye level, but the grimace on her face seems to indicate that she is failing at this goal. "Is the bird cracking rude jokes?" Rasa asks as ze comes upon this tableau. Ze glances around at the other birds before moving in a little closer, remaining standing until ze is sure ze can sit close enough to keep normal conversation, without sitting on a bird. "You look quite... annoyed." Ze looks rather amused, a small smile pulling at chocolate colored lips. Hir entire form has gone a dark, bark brown, hir hair turning fall oranges, yellows, and reds before the trees get a chance to. Hir eyes are also a fiery orange shade. Ze swings hir lunch bag in front of hir person to show it off, the brown paper starkly contrasting with hir verdant green t-shirt, a couple sizes too big for hir form. Around hir legs are baggy jeans, which have a special hole cut for hir orange tipped tail. Hir feet are in sandals. "Can I eat with you? I brought my lunch." Anole, at the moment, is doing /his/ best impression of a tree. The lizardy teenager has been skirting his way not along the ground but through the trees with a soft rustling of leaves overhead, but at the sound of the voices below he freezes momentarily; his green skin, fraying jeans, and bland Xavier's School t-shirt have all already long since gone the mottled bark-brown shade of the tree he clings to. It takes a moment before he approaches -- slooowly crawling his way headfirst down the tree trunk to peer curiously at the students on the ground. One of the trees near Ducky and Rasa sprouts a large pair of brown eyes, a curiously tilting head. But, past this, silence. Just -- stare. It takes Ducky a long moment to respond to Rasa's approach, even as the chattering birds around the seated girl quiet down or fly off. Ducky's concentration breaks, and she looks up at Rasa with a grin, "Oh! Hi Rasa. Sure, hang on, I can try to make a spot for you. They, um," she grimaces, sounding more than a little exasperated at the birds, "They kinda gather around me a lot, 'specially when I'm outside for a while. I was trying to just talk to the one, but they all are talking at once." As she talks, she transfers the black bird onto her empty shoulder - the other shoulder being occupied by her constant pigeon companion - and gestures at the birds on the ground beside her, shooing them away to mixed results. "If you sit, they'll move out of the way. Them trying to get close to me doesn't override their not wanting to be sat or stepped on," she explains and nods with a slightly lopsided smile. She starts slightly when she notices the eyes on the tree, glancing at the pigeon on her shoulder, and then back at Anole, confusion in her voice as she tilts her head curiously, "Um, hi?" "Oh, Heeey." Rasa does not notice Anole until he moves, and even then, it is difficult to really pick him out. When he turns his face and really looks at them, ze steps back a little. "Hi." Following ducky's advice, ze moves to where ze'd like to sit and sets down hir lunch bag. Then ze lowers hirself slowly, tail twitching playfully. "You can join us, if you want. Can't really make out your face right now, but you're a student, right?" Ze turns hir attention over to Ducky and gestures. "Her name is Ducky, and I'm Rasa." The eyes vanish when Anole is addressed, /closing/ as though that will help to make him disappear further against the tree. But the further invitation to join them has him looking back again; the vivid green of his eyes reappears, stark against the brown hues the rest of him has taken on. "-- Hi." It's timid at first, quiet. "I know who you are," he admits shyly to Rasa, "you're friends with the twins, right?" Slowly he creeps his way further down the tree, the rest of his skin and clothes returning to their normal green (and grey cotton, and blue denim) hues as he moves away from the tree onto the ground to crouch at the base of the tree trunk. "I'm Anole. I think I'm a student. Are those all /your/ birds?" "Oh! Right, yeah, please, you can come sit, too, they'll move if you start to sit down. I can't really, um, command them, really, just ask them to move. Doesn't always work," Ducky explains, ruffling her hair as she continues to babble. "Right, sorry, hi Anole. I'm Ducky. Nice to meet you - don't think I've seen you around before? Which is entirely possible, since you seem really good at, y'know, blending in. That's really awesome, too," the bird-girl continues, before catching herself and managing to keep her mouth shut for longer than a few breaths. "Um, not really, so much as they think I'm their person?" she offers with a shrug, glancing at the pigeon on her shoulder, "It's, well, the pigeon is the only one that is considered actually mine, by the school. The others just track me down when I'm outside." She sighs, and looks around at the horde of feathered friends, "Even when I don't really want them to." Rasa smiles, head tilting a little to the side when Anole shifts colors, hir eyes crinkling in the corners with joyful focus. "Yeah, and I'm Sebastian's roommate, for the time being anyway." Ze begins pulling things out of hir lunch bag, given that the time for eating is quickly ticking by. "We pretty much consider anyone who lives here and receives some type of instruction to be a student, even though the more standard students have larger classes they attend." Ze finally finds hir thermos and uncaps it, pouring some juice into the cup the cap becomes and offers it to Anole. "Her flock is pretty amazing. Do you have any pets?" "You're Sebastian's roommate?" Anole sounds surprised at this, peering at Rasa a little closer for a moment before blushing and looking down. "That's -- cool, he's. Really -- really nice." His bare toes wiggle against the dirt, hands dropped down to the ground in front of him to rest knuckles against the ground as well. "You're their pet, then?" This idea seems to amuse him, as he glances over at the gathered birds. "-- I only started this. Term, I haven't. Met a lot of people yet." Ducky tilts her head curiously at Rasa, at the room mate statement, "You moved dorms? Ah, that kinda explains why I haven't seen you 'round the hallway or anything. Was kinda worried." She ruffles her hair up, again, and suddenly remembers that there's food she's supposed to eat, and she rummages through the bag, pulling out two slightly squished sandwiches. One is held out to Anole, "You want a sandwich? It's um, tuna, I think. I didn't actually grab anything vegetarian today," she says with a glance into the bag of food, "Caramel apple slices, too, should be enough to share." The pet question gets a little bit of a giggle, and she thinks it over for a few, "Not sure how to explain it. But I guess that would work, maybe? Though I usually feed them. Also talk to them. And listen. 'Cause I do occasionally shut up, really." A sheepish look crosses her features and she chuckles, "Sometimes, anyway. So - how're you liking school so far?" "Yeah," Rasa replies blankly. "Decided to try the boys dorm this time around." Ze doesn't retract the proffered cup, but sets it down carefully on the grass between them for the other kid to pick up. Ze does take a swig out of the thermos. "It was kind of a surprise to end up with Bastian, but a good one." Ze sets down hir thermos and roots through hir bag, pulling out a roast beef sandwich and a small cup of hummus with veggies to dip in it. "What do you like to eat?" The question is posed to Anole, offering nothing else as he's not showing interest yet. "You were in the girls' -- Sorry," Anole says to Rasa with a bashful dip of his head. "I just -- I didn't. Um. Sorry." His cheeks are burning furiously darker green, and he very tentatively takes a few (still-crouching) steps forward to pick up the juice, both hands wrapping around it tightly. He doesn't sip it, just stares into it with a small awkward fidget. "I eat everything." Though he doesn't seem particularly hasty to accept any of the offered food, either. A tiny twitch of smile pulls at his lips, though it dies soon after. "It's okay. Talking is good. Um." His toes curl against the dirt. "Have you both -- been here long?" Ducky sets the wrapped up sandwich on the ground in the middle, glancing up at the birds around her as though to remind them it wasn't for them until she said so. "Oh, ok," Ducky nods to Rasa, no judgement or negativity in her voice as she says it. "I haven't really been here long. Kinda came in at the very end of the spring semester, and then got to start taking classes in the summer," she nods, settling in and peeling her own sandwich out of its wrapper, "So, um, almost six months, ish, maybe? I kinda have issues keeping track of timing and stuff, apparently." "What are you sorry about?" Rasa blinks in confusion at Anole, one hand reaching up to rub at an eyebrow. "You can ask questions. It's okay. I would rather people ask and learn shit about me, than not ask or not learn." Ze takes a deep breath then peels the top off hir hummus. "I've been here since early December. Missed a couple days of that term, but it was easy to catch up. "I'm a big dork and a fan of learning, so if you ever want to study with me, or need some help with something, let me know, okay?" Ze frowns at a hummus laden carrot stick. "Sorry, that was out of no where, wasn't it. I was just thinking that if I had to play catch up, and Ducky kind of did too, then you might so I thought I should offer." "Sorry because I don't always…" Anole trails off with another fidget and a glance down at his juice. He lifts the cup to take a small sip. "Why -- were you in the girls dorm and now the -- how do you be in. Both." His blush hasn't faded, though now he does take a small upwards peek at Rasa, almost apologetically. "Oh, oh man I think I probably. Have /so much/ catching up to do? I missed a year of -- but it seems like forever I just feel kind of. Dumb. With all the things I don't know." He offers a brief smile to Ducky. "Time is pretty hard to keep track of." Ducky takes a bite of her sandwich, and nods to Rasa, grinning, "I don't think being a fan of learning makes you a dork. I think it makes you a good student? I mean, I enjoy learning, it's kinda fun to be back in school and all, and it's kinda nice to be around people again, which is good." She munches on her sandwich for a moment, canting her head curiously at Anole's question, but waiting patiently for Rasa's response. "I apparently thought I was on the streets for way longer than I was. Didn't so much lose a year as I accidentally tacked one on. Somewhere. Birds in cities are not good timekeepers, and I didn't talk to enough people to actually keep track of people time," she nods, as though this explains /everything/ about time being hard to track. "I… don't really have a gender." Rasa professes at first, a creamy orange starting to flood hir flesh. "Some people call it 'agendered' but I don't really have a term for it. I just don't have a gender. At one point, I wanted to be referred to as a girl, but I - it was rather forced upon me to decide and I didn't like that. I…" Ze takes another deep breath and tries to find the words, but shakes hir head. "They let me pick where I want to live, on account of not just fitting into a box, and I chose the girls' dorm last year. This year, I want to try the boys'." Ze takes a long drink from hir thermos and fidgets uncomfortably. "Anyway. Yes. We can talk about what classes you are talking and if I know them, I can help. But really, it's probably also fine just to start at whatever level works best for you and just progress normally. That's not to say I can't help, but… I would just help… at that level." "I like learning," Anole says quietly, "it's just been a while since I -- had the chance to -- I didn't really think I'd get the chance anymore, you know?" His cheeks flush darker at Ducky's mention of time on the streets, and he nods. "I think time's weird out there even if you're talking to people. Probably weirder if you're only talking to birds. Or --" He blinks, and takes another sip of juice. "Or talking to nobody, maybe." A faint thoughtful crease forms in his brow as he listens to Rasa, quiet for a long moment after this explanation. "What -- do you like to. Be referred to as then? Like if I'm talking about you to other people -- I mean um. Talking with other people and have to --" His nose scrunches up, cheeks colouring deeper. "Ummm. Algebra and AP Lit and intro Comp Sci and. 20th Century history." His head ducks, slightly. "... and sex." Ducky nods slowly as Rasa talks, a look of somewhat confused understanding dawning on her features. "Oh. Ok. That's kinda awesome that they let you have flexibility and stuff, in where you stay," she says with a grin, nodding a bit more emphatically. She looks at Anole curiously when he blushes, tilting her head slightly, "Were you on the streets, too? I mean," she ruffles her hair, looking down nervously, "Obviously you dun have to talk about it. I know it's kinda not exactly a great subject for lunch and stuff, just, um, was curious." She nods at the class list, "I've got American Sign Language this semester, and then I… I think we might be in the same class, with, um, Mister Jackson." Another ruffle of her hand through her hair manages to imply /which/ class she references. "I swear everyone's in that class." Rasa muses quietly before speaking up again. "Anyway, I prefer that people use the pronouns 'ze' and 'hir' in the place of she or he and his or her. It's a small change, but I prefer it." Ze continues to be a creamy orange color, but swirls of gray filtering in. Ze unwraps hir sandwich and takes a bite. When there is enough room in hir mouth to speak again, ze adds, "I have AP Lit, if you want a hand with that, but really, it's mostly about the reading with Lit. I can help review papers and that kind of stuff." Ze doesn't comment much about the streets, but listens quietly and respectfully. "That -- is cool," Anole agrees, nodding. "I mean, I think my old high school would've --" He frowns, and shakes his head. "Well, it's not like we had dorms or anything but I don't think people were really -- great. About. Anything." His hand scuffs against the hard spiky shell atop his head, and he nods. "Yeah, I -- for a while. I kind of. Wandered up to New York because I heard there were people -- like us. More people. And I guess I found them. Were you /from/ around here, first?" His eyes brighten, shyness dissipating for a brief moment in a swift spark of interest when class talk resurfaces. "How is sign language? I didn't take any languages this term, I was thinking maybe French but sign language seems like it'd be a whole different kind of fun. And -- yeah we have. That class." There's another darker flush at this. "But Mister Jax is -- he's really nice anyway. But he's -- the twins' /dad/ that's. Um." He doesn't finish this thought, just ducks his head into another small sip of juice. "I'd like the help," he adds quietly to Rasa, "I read like a /fiend/ but it's been a while since I had to -- write any kind of. Formal papers. I /get/ the work I'm just not always good at -- putting thoughts down." "I hadn't really noticed who was in the class, um, trying not to make eye contact, really," Ducky says, ruffling a hand through her hair and looking sheepishly down. "My old high school wasn't that bad, really, but I didn't talk to many people, so, yeah, dunno really how they actually handled much of anything. Weren't too great about keeping bullying under control, though," she rambles, taking another bite of her sandwich. "Hm, not really, sort of? I grew up, um, outside of Chicago. Then I ran away. And ended up in New York for a few months 'fore I heard about here from the nice lady at the homeless shelter," the explanation tumbles out in a mess of words, with a little bit of a blush, "And now I'm here." "Sign language is good. One of my roomies is nice at helping me practice, and it's making communicating with her easier," Ducky nods with a lopsided grin, "Class is good - I get letters mixed up on occasion, though, which pretty much renders what I'm signing complete rubbish." There's a nod at the help offers, "Papers are a pain - I'm not even /touching/ AP classes for that. Science, sure, although I get the feeling most of the other students are going to make me feel like I'm a moron over that stuff - I'm decent, but they're all freaking geniuses." She blushes slightly and sighs into her sandwich, remembering once again that she is supposed to still be eating lunch. "Maybe. Higher intelligence goes with some of this mutation stuff. I think it might be all of what Kisha's mutation is. She's really smart." Rasa chuckles a little and nibbles lightly at hir sandwich. "Jax is fine, I guess. He's not really a typical dad because he's only a few years older than Shane and Sebastian, but he's definitely responsible for them and generally gives pretty good advice about stuff. I think he's also pretty open about gender issues, so that's good too," ze clears hir throat and turns away to take a sip of juice. "It makes sense to me that he's teaching the class. The other option is Dr. McCoy, but have either of you actuall tried to talk to him about medical things? He's either waaaay to medically specific, or he waxes philosophical about biology and beauty. It can be really confusing and goes right over my head." "I just -- never thought -- dads were supposed to be --" Anole's blush remains. His green eyes fix on his juice. "I don't think I got that smart thing." He gives Ducky a quicker smile after this, though. "Hey, I grew up -- wellok it was. Two hours from Chicago but -- closer than we are now. Maybe New York just /attracts/ --" He shrugs his shoulder in a tiny twitch. "Us. -- I haven't talked to Dr. McCoy. I haven't -- talked to hardly anyone." "I /really/ didn't get the smart part of the mutation thing. I mean… seriously, I talk to birds. If anything I'm pretty sure my mutation stands to make me dumber," Ducky grumbles, looking up at the flock that has still not dissipated, despite the talking - the pigeon on her shoulder seems to protest this, tugging gently at her earlobe. She grins at Anole, and bobs her head slightly, "Yeah - I was in the suburbs, about 30 minutes from the city center. 'skinda how i was able to avoid my parents finding me for so long when I ran away. Lotsa people, lotsa places to hide. But New York was even bigger, so obviously it would make me even harder to find." There's a nod of agreement about Jax, "He helped me get into school here, and he was really helpful when there was a giant bird terrorizing a town nearby - he took me out there to let me try and talk to him. But, um, yeah, I think that class would be kinda awkward no matter who is teaching it - at least Mister Jackson is not overly technical about it. At least so far, really." Rasa darkens immediately at the mention of the giant bird incident, the gray in hir flesh taking over the orange more rapidly, but ze remains quiet on the topic. Ze continues to munch on hir sandwich to finish it off as quickly as possible. When hir mouth is more empty, ze takes a long drink of hir juice finishing it off. "Talking is useful for people who can't communicate in other ways. I don't like it much, but it draws less attention to me, so it's useful." Ze takes a deep breath, one to settle hir stomach before adding, "I'm glad you spoke with us. I hope you want to do it again some time, but completely understand if you don't want to." "Yeah, I -- took a bus to Chicago first, too," Anole admits quietly. "And no he's -- good about it it's just -- that class is --" His head shakes quickly. He finishes the juice in one more gulp, leaning forward hesitantly to set the cup back down in front of Rasa. "I don't always like it either. I don't -- know many other ways to communicate, though. I mean. In person." His toes wiggle against the ground once more and then he scoots back, against the tree trunk and then starting to inch up it. "No it was -- you were nice. Are nice. To talk to. Um. I think I need to -- maybe. Find -- class." His skin is already starting to fade back into the uneven brown of treebark, his small flash of white smile all the more starkly visible for it before that fades into background, too. Ducky looks at Rasa with a touch of a concerned look at the color shift, her posture slouching slightly in guilt and confusion. She starts to say something, mouth opening and closing again, with no words coming out. Bobbing her head again at Anole, she offers a smile, somewhat hesitantly, "It was nice to meet you Anole. Hope to see you around campus some. Was nice talking to you." Rumbling her hair for a moment, she sighs and packs her food back up into the bag she had been carrying, "Right, class. See you around sometime." Rising to her feet, she brushes the detritus off her legs before heading back towards the mansion, the flock partially dispersing into the trees, although a sizable number wing on after Ducky.