oo44 [ action ]

[fourteen]

[ There is a girl in the village plaza who looks rather out of sorts as she sits on the ground, legs out to her sides, in a random sort of spot. She is kind of blank-faced as she stares at the other passers-by, with only a hint of confusion in her brow to betray how she's feeling.

Though it might be hard to see her face clearly under that short cape she's got on. It's black, with silver tassels. And though she's trying to watch what's going on around her, at the same time, it's like she wants to hide. But then, why isn't she moving away?

Maybe it has something to do with the carton of eggs on the ground next to her.

Though it probably has something to do with the fact that she now has white wings for arms. Can't really pick up a carton of eggs when you don't have hands, can you?

So the strange hooded girl with the feathered arms, at a loss, will just sit there for a while trying to figure out what to do.

God help you if you step on her eggs, though.

"'Poor little ugly duckling!" she would say. 'Why are you so different from the others?' And the ugly duckling felt worse than ever. He secretly wept at night. He felt nobody wanted him.

'Nobody loves me, they all tease me! Why am I different from my brothers?'" ]

(ooc; The Ugly Duckling, everybody. And yes, the pic is just a reference -- her feathers are actually white, not brown, and she's not wearing any other pieces of that costume. Cape, bird arms, and then her normal clothing beneath.)

Comments

[fourteen]

I dunno! I just -- [ she shakes her head. ] Something is strange... I keep thinking that they're supposed to be this way... but I'm not a duckling.

[action]

[fourteen]

No, it's not that. I'm just trying to think of anywhere that will do. [ A beat. ] And, well ... I'd like to keep them away from other people. Just in case.

[fourteen]

[ Blink. ]

... I'm-- [ ... ] Keimi, are you a fairy?

[fourteen]

[ GASP. Now it clicks! ]

That's my name! You really do know me. But who are you? I know I recognize your wings... [ She places a wingtip on the bear's head, her expression full of sympathy. ] Did the experiment get you? Is that why you're like this?

[fabrecation]

A duckling...?

[That kind of sounds familiar. Everyone was acting like fairy tales, right? Luke, who's practically grown up on them and still read them, was able to figure it out pretty fast. And now Xion's acting like a duckling...?

He lets out a sigh and sits down beside her, his arm touching her own winged one, and pulls one knee up to rest one arm across it. Damn... now it got to Xion, too?]

I think it's an experiment. The whole village is acting kind of weird...

[action]

[fourteen]

... an experiment, maybe? [ But she says it tiredly, without any real irritation or unhappiness. She's too tired to feel too many emotions these days. ] It's going to be annoying, stuck like this for a while... I kind of wish I had a cool cape like you. [ It's not a tone of complaint in which she says it -- in fact, it's more or less normal -- but she doesn't smile. ]

[Action]

[fourteen]

It's nothing. [ A beat. ] ... I think I'm supposed to be a duckling.

[fourteen]

[ She looks at her feathery arms. ]

... I think I'm supposed to be a duck or something ... maybe that would explain it?

[markofthewise]

... well. That explains it, doesn't it. [Except not really. Is that supposed to be a story?]

[fourteen]

[ She looks up at him when he sits -- though since she's still hooded, he might not be able to see all of her face. She nods, and looks away again -- so now he definitely can't see her. ]

Yeah, I noticed... but I was too busy trying to get these eggs to really stop and think about it.

[fourteen]

[ There's a long pause on her end. She is, apparently, concentrating. After a rough shake of her head, she finally shrugs, with those bizarre arms, frowning a little. ]

... I think it's supposed to be a story... I remember reading about it in a book Luke gave me. It was about-- [ ... nngh. It's hard keeping straight in her head what the story is and what's real. ]

[markofthewise]

An ugly duckling? [He kinda figured. He's not sure what else to say. Given how hard Katara took Sanji and Ginko leaving, he can only imagine what it must be like for Xion right now...]

Would you like some pie? Just... I can't give you the plums. I'm not sure why.

[fourteen]

[ ... for a moment, she feels the weirdest urge to smile. Even laugh.

She does neither of these things, but she does reach up and push her hood back. Her expression has softened considerably. ]

I'd love some.

[markofthewise]

[He holds up his pie between them. There's no fork and no knife. He's Little Jack Horner and all he knees to eat pie is his thumb. Fortunately it's warm, but not hot to the touch.]

Well... here, help yourself.

[fourteen]

[ ...

She holds up her birdlike arms. Look, ma, no hands. :( ]

[markofthewise]

... oh, right. That could be a problem.

[Scooping it up in his hand to offer it to her would be incredibly weird and he wouldn't do that to her. But apparently Jack would, because Sokka does just that.]

[fourteen]

[ ...

She looks up at him, then at his hand, then up at him, then at his hand. She does this slowly, considering.

It may say something for her state of mind that she accepts it anyway. Or, rather, she uses the very end of a wingtip to dip into the pie offered, then licks. Hey, they're basically her hands now, right? She'll wash her feathers off in the fountain.

... surprisingly: ]

It's pretty good. ... you know, considering.

[markofthewise]

[That's actually pretty weird. But probably better than her eating right out of his hand. Probably.]

Well we've got a good baker.

[fourteen]

Yeah, we do. [ ... she does it again, somewhat thoughtfully. ]

I wonder how I'm going to eat this week. I can't keep using my feathers. [ She makes a thoughtful noise. For whatever reason, she doesn't seem too upset at the idea that she won't be able to eat very well for a week. ]

[markofthewise]

[That does seem unfortunate. He's also not figured out how this experiment works either.]

I guess you can get someone to feed you?

[fourteen]

[ ... now she frowns, a tiny thing. ] Maybe... I guess I won't really have a choice, huh. [ She considers him for a moment. ] You seem pretty normal to me, though. [ .. aside from the whole pie thing, but that's not THAT strange. At least, not bird-arms strange. ]

[sea-king-bait.livejournal.com]

[She smiles softly at her wing-armed friend.]

Of course, Xion-chin! I'm your Fairy Godmother~! [And... everyone else's. In fact, she's pretty much just been going around granting wishes at random. But shh.]

[markofthewise]

[Well his clothes are weird too, but...] I guess I'm not affected. Besides getting the new outfit. [Shrug.] Maybe we could attach a fork to your wing.

[fourteen]

[ ... she blinks. ] Your clothes ... [ And she shakes her head. ] They are different. I didn't even notice. This is a weird experiment. [ And she blinks again. ] What, like ... tie it on? [ Giving him an odd look. ]

[markofthewise]

[Very weird. But he nods at her question.]

Exactly. Nice and tight. Of course it might get a little dirty that way, but...