ArchivedLogs:This Weather is for the Birds

This Weather is for the Birds
Dramatis Personae Ducky, Kelly	2013-11-03 Ducky meets Kelly up on a chilly rooftop, and their relative friends are introduced as well.
Location <XS> Roof
The view from up here is phenomenal, a panorama of the expansive Xavier's grounds, forest and lake and rocky cliffs alike. Even without the view outwards, the rooftop itself holds its own delights, in the form of the tiny jewel of a flower garden tucked away up here, tended by one of the school's teachers. From the edge of the roof, with a veeery careful jump, it looks like it just might be possible to reach the treehouse in the old oak tree. Exploration in itself has been keeping the new student quite busy for the weekend, so of course heading up to the roof was inevitable. Kelly opens the door cautiously at first, noting the chill in the air as the wind washes back down on him, causing him to hold onto his stained jacket tighter and tighter. "Next time I run away, I need to run away south." he says in his long drawn out southern voice. "Guess it was too much to hope that the bald guy would build this kinda place in Florida, though." And so he creeks the metal door open quite a bit louder than he hoped as he stepped on out into the open, closing it quietly behind him. It's a cool day, but the roof is not entirely unoccupied. Perched at the edge of one of the eaves is the figure a young woman, bundled up in a thick gray sweatshirt and ratty, worn jeans, the cuffs stained with mud and smears of grass. Short, sandy blonde hair whips about in the wind that whispers across the rooftop, prompting the girl to brush the mop of hair back into place with a futile sweep of her hand. Ducky isn't exactly paying attention to what is going out on the rooftop, her attention focused on the small flock of pigeons that collect around her. One bird, however, has nestled itself into the hood of her sweatshirt, a dappled gray and white pigeon that peeks its head up over the edge of its perch, looking at Kelly curiously with a head tilt. The gesture is mirrored by Ducky, almost at the same time, and she responds, "Yeah - it's kinda cold here. But the mansion is nice and warm and all, so it's kinda nice, even though it's cold outside." Kelly can't help but let a bit of a blush form on his face as he notices Ducky, the boy forcing a wide smile that balls up his cheeks when he does. "Sorry, didn't know anyone was going to be up here..." he says, but paces closer anyway. The boy's shirt has several holes in it, easy to see the pink of his stomach and arms through them, as well as the squirming green vines and their prickly thorns snake around as well, but he hugs the jacket around him a little tighter anyway. He nods his head towards the bird in the jacket, his smile fading as he asks: "Little guy isn't hurt, is he?" with a worried tone. Ducky carefully stands, turning around so that she is facing Kelly, tilting her head slightly as she looks at him. "Issok. I kinda tend to come up here to feed the birds, 'cause it's starting to get colder now, so they can't really forage as much as they did. And it's less disruptive for everyone else when the resultant swarm is on the rooftop, not on the back porch or gardens or anything," Ducky nods with an explanation. Now that she's facing him, it is evident that the gray shirt is a size or two bigger than she is, with the school logo emblazoned on one side of the front. She steps back from the edge of the roof, moving towards more solid footing, a lopsided grin on her face. "Hurt? " she glances around at the pigeons that have started to flutter up onto her shoulders, one ruffling her hair and settling in atop her head, with a confused look, before looking back at Kelly, "No - they're all ok." She tilts her head again, the opposite direction from before, mimicing the curious looks from the birds, "You're a new student, yes? "Yeah, brought me in on Halloween." he explained laughing at the thought. "Not sure if that helped break the ice, or just hammered home the nervousness more. But at least now when I see horns and blue fur, I know it isn't a costume." With the sunlight now pelting on his head, those leaves and flowers there start to grow slightly, angling to get the best focus on it, blooming the petals slowly but wide. In fact his skin seems to grow more and more pink as he stands there. "I'm Kelly, by the way, and I guess you can't be too bad if they all like ya." he motions to the feathered friends. "Oh! Yeah. I came in back in, um, May. I think," Ducky explains, offering an easy smile, "Still kinda new-ish, but used to seeing all the different people now." The introduction gets a grin, and she offers a cheery wave, "I'm Ducky. And, um, the birds kinda like me 'cause of my mutation, really. The more I'm outside, the more they start to hang around me. Kinda like a bird-beacon type thing." She ruffles her hair sheepishly, the pigeon in her hair ruffling its feathers and shifting slightly. She slowly tilts her head, watching the movement of the flowers on his head with wide eyes, a quiet, reverent "Oh wow..." escaping her lips. "Sorry," she blushes and stumbles over her words, looking away sheepishly, a hand reaching up to rub the back of her neck, "Sorry. Didn't mean to stare. 'Srude. I'm, um, easily distracted. And, um, that's kinda really amazing. And pretty." She scuffs her foot against the rooftop, looking sheepish, "Sorry. I also kinda babble. Sorry." The staring is met with Kelly ducking his own eyes, and then the babbling just sort of helps hammer the self consciousness home some more. He was reaching for his hood to cover up until he hears her call it 'Pretty', and then he turns as red as a strawberry patch... several more flowers sprouting up at just that moment and blooming flat out. "No, its... its ok, really." he offers, though the tone and waver in his voice hints that it wasn't despite the politeness. "I mean, thats better than the reaction I usually get: 'We don't want nun-yer kind here.'" The last sentence in a much more mocking southern accent than his own natural one. Ducky ruffles her hair again, staring at a point on the rooftop, "I am so, so sorry. I... my social skills are remarkably crap. S'not an excuse, and I am sorry. S'posed to be working on it, and I really didn't mean to... um, offend, or insult. I'm just..." Her voice trails off, the babbling sounding desperate, creaking slightly as she apologizes again and again, "I'm kinda bird brained. And I'm so, so sorry." Her hand finally stops fretting with her hair, and she covers her own, increasingly red, face with her hand, completely unwilling to meet Kelly's gaze. Even the pigeons which have been roosting on her seem embarrased by her social misstep, ruffling there feathers and hiding their faces beneath their wings. Ducky managed to make the birds face-palm. "Really, its ok." Kelly says again, this time a bit more convincingly as he crouches down a little bit to take a seat. His own blush not fading completely, but easing back as sympathy winds out to the other girl. "Why don't you just... introduce me to your friends here?" he suggest more productively, a wave to the birds as he runs his fingers through his own hair and frowns at the abundance of the new growth. In his off hand he pulls out one of the largest water bottles imaginable, with the school logo on its side. Its obviously very heavy. Ducky takes a few steps closer, still a bit hesitant that she has scared off her new classmate, and sinks to the rooftop slowly. The birds stay roosted on her shoulders and head, cooing quietly at the request to be introduced, although one pigeon, the dappled gray and white one that had been peeking out from the hood of her sweatshirt, actually flutters over closer to Kelly, landing about a foot away from the young man. A sheepish smile crosses Ducky's features, nodding but letting her faux pas fall away, in favor of introducing the birds. "Um, they don't all actually have names. Or, well, not ones they've told me. Only some of them actually tell me what they want to be called," she starts, gesturing at the birds that are nestled onto her person, gathered together for warmth. "The dappled gray one," she indicates the one that has approached him, "Is Kushi. He says 'hi'." When thr bird is mentioned by name, it actually does a little bit of a bow, wings sweeping out to the sides in an oddly human like gesture. Kelly actually has the flicker of an honest grin on his face as the bird bows to him, like a candle in a breeze. He nods his head in turn to the feathered guest, and bites his lip as he thinks a moment before introducing himself in turn. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kushi. I'm Kelly." he intones and begins searching his own pockets for something to share. There is a lot stuffed away in there. A few different wallets of various shapes and colors, several packs of peanuts, Halloween candy, ketchup packets... and finally an over abundance of cracker packs, the kind given with soup or chille. He crushes one up and tears it open, setting it on the ground in front of the bird. A little plastic wrapped buffet. When addressed, Kushi puffs up his breast in pride, cooing happily and bobbing his head in thanks at the offered cracker packets. He starts pecking at the presented meal, a small number of additional birds winging down to partake in the offering - a starling, and another more typically colored pigeon joining alongside Kushi. Ducky chuckles, and digs in the pocket of her sweatshirt, dislodging another starling that had apparently snuck into the garment as she does, and pulls out a small paper baggy of birdseed. "You're not suppose ta be in there, little one," Ducky chastises the wayward starling, who shakes off wayward seeds from its feathers with a pleased chirp. Sighing, Ducky spreads a generous handful of the seed on the ground for the birds still perched on her shoulders - although more appear to be arriving on the eaves and peaks of the roof as she remains outside. "Kushi, and the others, say thank you. And Kushi says it's nice to meet you, Kelly." "And its nice to meet him, too." Kelly says with another round of chuckles and amusement. He watches the gathering birds with a keen eye and a wary interest, as he soaks up the sun. Becomming a little nervous as he sits up a bit. "So... do you really talk to them or is it something else?" he asked more directly, biting his lip as he shrugs his Jacket off and folds it up to the side... a metal watch falling out of it to the ground that he quickly slides out of sight. "I... well, I came up here to get some sun... kinda... have to get a good daily dose, ya know?" Ducky tilts her head curiously at the question, parroting quietly, "Something else?" She shakes her head, "No. My mutation makes it so that, um, I have a really super limited telepathy with birds. And bird-like mutants. I... can technically do it without talking out loud. But that always seems kinda rude, so I tend to talk out loud to them. And I can understand them." There's a derisive snort at this as she watches the hungry birds, a faint wince contracting one side of her face, "Doesn't make them good conversationalists, really. Spring is horrible, and around now most are just wanting to talk about migration and food. But I don't control them... they just kinda... follow me around. More and more show up the longer I'm outside." Rumpling a hand through her hair, she offers a lopsided grin, "Sun? Oh. I... um, if the birds are disturbing you, I can go back inside. S'ok. They'll go away once I'm not out here." "Hey, that's usually my line, ok?" He says shaking his head and brightening up quite a bit. "Actually... I've been keeping to myself a bit too much, I think, its good to have the company, even with the beaks and total lack of pants." Though he shivers more and more as he huddles out here without the Jacket. His color improves even more and more as he sits there, though. "And unless they decide to block out the sun, I don't think they can get in the way. But don't give 'em the idea, ok?" "Your line?" Ducky asks for clarification, confusion on her features. "And birds are ok company, sorta. I... get even more out of it when I don't talk to anyone but the birds. When," she falters slightly, shoulder slumping, "When I first ran away from home. I kinda lived in the woods, talking to no one but the birds for a while. It kinda screwed with my head. A lot." Ducky reaches out to pet one of the little starlings in front of her, frowning slightly, pressing her other hand to her temple, "If I'm not around people, I lose track of time, lose track of who and how I am?" She sighs, looking down at the birds, "But sometimes the birds are nicer than people. And I've never gotten enough of a flock to do that. So shouldn't be an issue, even if they get any ideas to that way." "I meant, I'm the one who usually offers to take off." Kelly says at first but keeps listening. "So that's what he meant when he said we'd have a lot in common." Kelly said, and while his smile was friendly it had toned down to be a lot more serious. "I lived on my own, too... but..." he looks down at the rags he's wearing. "Guess you probably figured that out on your own." He pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the flower garden, letting his hand wave over the plants there, the few of them still green this late in the year bending to follow the hand. "And... well, I've got my own friends, too." "S'alotta kids here with that sorta background, really. Being brought in after being on their own. It's... kinda a recurring theme with people like us, it seems," Ducky says, stroking the little starling as it continues to munch on the bird seed. She offers a sad smile, and head tilts at his clothes, when indicated, "Yeah - when I first came in, um, I think I was kinda muddy and stuff, and had all of about three outfits in my posession. None of which fit me right." She glances down at what she wears now, tugging at the shirt, "Um, if you need more clothes, they do usually have stuff that you can pick from. Lotsa school logo stuff, but it's warm, and comfortable for the most part." Her eyes go wide at the demonstration, quietly uttering, "Oh, that is so /cool/. So - can you make the plants do what you want? Or just... attract them?" Curiosity in her voice is earnest, genuine, as she slowly rises to her feet and approaches the flower garden, eyes wide. Kelly rolls up his sleeve and off the more extreme part of his mutation as several thick long vines come out of his skin like over-grown blood veins. They are unfortunately also covered with very sharp thorns. He lets his hand touch one of the plants near its base, the vines digging into the dirt and then the flower that had already gone into winter hibernation begins to instead thicken up, and let off a soft white bloom at its tip. But his own color drains out of his skin when he does. "The thorns kinda tear my clothes up, specially when I try to hide them. I've... felt kinda bad about asking for new clothes but... I think the other boys are getting tired of the, uhm... smell." Ducky approaches cautiously, watching the blooming of the flower with quiet reverence. If she's startled by the appearance of the vines, she doesn't show it, though she looks at Kelly with concern when he pales, "You ok? You look kinda... tired. After that." She nods at the concern about clothing, as Kushi lands on her shoulder again, nuzzling up against her neck, "It's ok. I think, if you need clothes modified, they can probly help some. I mean - we actually have sewing classes and stuff, and mending clothes won't be too hard, in theory, if you need it." A pause in her talking, and she looks at Kelly thoughtfully, "You don't gotta hide them here, though. Issok, really. 'Specially if it's more comfortable to not hide them and all." Ducky nods emphatically, grinning lopsidedly, "I know /exactly/ how you feel. I was so totally convinced that something else would happen, that something would go wrong, that it would be a trap. Prob'ly took about a month or so for me to finally get comfortable and realize that it really was real, and that they really did want to help, and be nice, and let me go to school in peace." She smiles, a genuine, honest expression, and nods, "They've let me keep my birds with me, which keeping Kushi with me seems to help me focus, and be able to stay on topic and stuff. Honestly... I know it seems like everything is way too good to be true. But... really, it's just that good. It's a safe place, with teachers and staff who honestly care about us. I've been here for months now, and nothing has made me think otherwise." She shrugs, and looks dismayed at the blood oozing from Kelly's finger, "Oh, oh dear. You're bleeding. Do you have bandaids? I don't keep them on me much anymore. Do you need to go to the medbay? Or, um, um, I could go get a first aid kit, or...?" Ducky looks a bit nervous, not quite sure what to do with her new friend bleeding. Kelly just pulled the finger into his fist and shook his head. "No, its ok, it will be ok..." he says, though not with much confidence. "But its nice that they let him stay with you." He says quickly, trying to change the subject with all the grace of a drunken elephant in a Banana Republic. "Was he one of your friends from before the school, or does he just live around here? I don't really know that much about birds and stuff... well, other than they mostly seem alright." Adding the last bit as he turned to the ever growing crowd of feathered followers. There seems to be another question on the tip of his tongue, but he holds off on asking it. Ducky looks more than a bit skeptical at the assurance that he'd be ok, especially with the lack of confidence in his voice. "You sure? Dr. McCoy really is a nice guy. Bit startling at first, yeah, but he's really cool once you get past that. He'd probly be willing to give you a bunch of bandaids to keep with you, if this happens often enough?" she says in concern, glancing back towards the door with a nervous frown. She lets the subject drop, however, when he stumbles on to the next topic. "Oh, there was a little flock that had started following me around in New York, which is kinda how I ended up here. Met the right people and sorta stumbled into it. 'm from Chicago originally," she explains, reaching up to pet Kushi, "There are about 5 pigeons who followed me out from the city when I got into the school. And issok. I kinda... know way more about birds than any other topic." "Doctors Kind make me nervous." Kelly explains as he hunches down a bit, the pudgy boy looking even shorter as he does. "Especially now. I don't want anyone trying to see how my insides work, or anything..." He tries to be more confident this time but its still not quite all there. "I imagine it helps when you can go right to the source and ask 'em." he says, nodding to her friends. And that's when he manages to ask the question at last: "Uhm, I know they say that we aren't trapped here, but are we allowed to go out? Even... you know, someone like me?" He would be a difficult one to not stand out in a crowd... Ducky nods, wrapping her arms around herself at the comment about doctors, "Yeah. That's... I kinda avoided the crap out of med bay at first. I ran away 'cause my parents had tried to have me institutionalized. They, um, thought I was crazy." She rumples her hair again, looking guilty as she talks about that, "The... birds warned me. There were men in white lab coats waiting there for me, when I woulda gotten home from school. So I ran." A heavy sigh escapes her lips, and she smiles, "But, promise, Dr. McCoy really isn't like that. Promise. But I'm not gonna push, 'cause I know the feeling." An excited grin at the last question, "Oh! Yes. We are allowed off. Though if we're underage we kinda need to have a chaperone... one of the staff to sign us out of the school and take responsibility for our safety. Sometimes Mr. Jackson lets me spend the weekend in the city - one of my friends from before the school lives in his building, so I get to go see him sometimes." She bounces in place at this, grinning, "And they've got little trips and stuff, into the city, and there's a town nearby that's really friendly to mutants from what we've seen. It's... not a prison. It's a school, so they gotta make sure we're safe, but there's still some freedom and stuff." "Thanks." Kelly says as he listens to her story, finding some manner of comfort that maybe it wasn't so bad here. He still shivered in the cold, but he wasn't trying to hide back in his own skin now. He even rolled his sleeves up on both arms and let his vines get some air. A few bricks of his inner wall coming down. "And... I'm sorry about your mom and dad... I never even let my dad find out. It must have been rough. But, I have to say, I'm glad you had some friends to help you out..." And it was clear that the bird on her had earned quite a few respect points in Kelly's eyes with that revelation. "A lot better than most of the people I met." Ducky nods, still hugging herself, "Issok. I think a lot of us have been there. And... yeah. My parents, I honestly don't know if they knew I was a mutant, or just thought I'd lost my mind. Haven't talked to them since then. Too scared they'll still be able to come after me, to take me away from here." She shudders at the thought, closing her eyes, "S'why I go by Ducky. Cause I don't want them to find me, and send the doctors after me. They can't. The school promised me they can't, but... I still have nightmares about it, none the less." A bright smile crosses Ducky's face, and she chuckles, "The birds kinda saved me in that way, when my family kinda gave up on me. And now I'm here, and honestly, can't say I want to leave. Well, I want to leave and go to college eventually. And then travel. Fly all over." As she mentions flying, she spreads her arms as though she could fly, but it is painfully obvious that the mousy young woman lacks any propensity or advantages for flight. "No danger of me calling my dad either... but he wouldn't come for me even if I did." Kelly replies with a dark tone to his voice that doesn't match his usual mannerisms at all, his fist clenching as he pulls it down to his side. He bends down and reaches for his jacket now, goose bumps rippling over the skin of his that is showing, and a shiver all over his form, slipping it on around his shoulder to the protestation of the leaves and flowers on his head and shoulders who were enjoying the view. "I do hope you get to fly all over, though, Ducky. Someone has to have a happy ending, after all." he says with a genuine smile as he turns his head towards the door. "I better get inside before my nose freezes off, though." Ducky shivers as a sudden breeze cuts through the thick sweatshirt when she is mid-flight pose, causing her to suddenly wrap her arms tighter around herself. "Right, yeah, it is kinda getting cold. And kinda dark soonish. Should probly head in, too," she admits, glancing around at the birds that had amassed around her on the rooftop, a goofy, lopsided grin on her lips. "Was nice to meet you, Kelly. I'll see you 'round, 'kay?" she says, more than asks, smiling happily as she heads for the door, too. Kushi the pigeon is still nestled comfortably in her hood, though the rest of the birds begin to disperse as she heads inside, whatever force it was attracting them suddenly falling away.