saveourearth | There are bluebirds over- Wait, those don't go here! [Mingle]

Date: 11.11.2018
Characters: Open!
Note: This is intended to be a very relaxed mingle to give people a bit of a breather. It is plot-related, but a lot less dramatic than prior mingles.

On the 11th, something about Mossgate Council has changed yet again - but this time, it isn't nearly as disturbing and dangerous as back on Halloween.

Instead of cobwebs and skeletons, there are poppies. Red poppies and white poppies have flowered over night. They cover fields and lawns, the Greens and the forest ground, troop exercise areas over at the airfields, the gardens of the manor house, and even parts of the beach.

And up over the white cliffs of Mossgate, bluebirds flap their wings, flying around and sitting on the castle ruins, and if one stands still for a while and offers breadcrumbs, they'll come over and sit on that person's hand to have a snack, too.

They seem a bit confused, but not nearly as confused as the ornithology department at Mossgate University that can't save itself from interviews - no, they have no idea how that American species suddenly showed up in such numbers and why they're sticking to the cliffs specifically. Jane Astbury finally suggests with some exasperation that maybe they're just doing a music-themed tour of Europe, and could they please let her staff and students teach and study in peace?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Well, they're American, in the general sense," Walter answers, halting in the tossing of seeds for now to watch the birds dart about.

"Most birds follow the direction of warmer weather, if they don't already live at the equator. So heading this direction instead of 'South for the winter' is, well, rather contrary of them."

The wording provokes a smile out of him.

Her pencil stops at the answer of America, and with a very odd expression looks up and over to Walter. The child is somewhere between confused and concerned for the birds, but also caught by a wild curiosity of how they might have crossed the Atlantic Ocean and the country to end up down in Mossgate.

“Do you think they got lost? Will they go South before they get caught by the snow?”

His first thought response is 'It's up in the air,' but the pun-pportunity is so terrible he throws it away immediately.

"I don't think that's how birds get lost. If their sense of direction was distorted by a storm, perhaps, but even then it couldn't have blocked their sense of the whole Atlantic..."

Well, presumably.

Walter keeps one hand stretched out towards the birds, waiting.

"They should be able to survive on their own if they still head South, though I can't say they'll have an easy time going back home."

Her brow pinches together as she thinks to the matter further. At the very least, Walter thinks they will manage to get by despite being in a place foreign to them and adapt to the new environment of Europe. Nodding as her expression smoothes, she speaks, "No...I guess they won't. But how did they get here then? Can't imagine they came on a plane." A beat, then voice quieted, she wonders, "Could it be the same thing that brought all the spiders and made the poppies grow? The magic I mean."

Movement draws her gaze away from Walter to his hand as one of the birds comes closer, chirping uncertainly.

"It's certainly a possibility," Walter admits - and while he'd otherwise still try to be skeptic, he manages to sound mostly just resigned.

A part of him thinks to chirp back at the bird, but he mentally waves that off, keeping his hand steady.

"... A strong one," he adds. If it'd been a plane it would certainly have made the news for that reason.

People would panic if bees were released on a plane by accident, and they were smaller than these birds.

Suspicion given credibility, she looks out at all the birds and wistfully wishes for their well being, “I hope someone keeps an eye on them... They didn’t ask to come visit.” Well. Probably not anyways. In the meantime, she hopes they have enough food to eat, and will definitely be pouring out the seeds she has remaining in her bag before she leaves with her family.

Her attention comes back closer as the little shy bird edges closer only for another to dart in, snatch a beakful, and dart away into the crowd. The cautious bird squawks indignantly after the other, and using that, finally braves hopping up on Walter’s hand and stays put to eat more than a single seed.

"It's not as if anyone here's a bird whisperer," Walter agrees - and then pauses, wondering if in fact there is an Echo that could allow someone to communicate with animals.

Still, he doesn't have such a thing.

The lone brave bird gets its reward of seeds, and from the expression on Walter's face, the pecking tickles!

Snickering softly at the tickled expression, she comments, “Maybe, but you get on well with them.” The birds will be easier to care for if they stay so friendly.

Happy to watch the bird eating its fill from what remains in Walter’s hand, Nel will start to sketch while able to see such clear details of this bird. Not that the seeds last too long, and once gone, the bird rests for a brief pause before returning off to the flock.

Walter finds himself waving goodbye to the bird - grinning ruefully, he pulls his own sketchbook back around.

"I think we've been dismissed."

Shrugging her shoulders up as she looks up from her sketch, she has tilted little smile of expectation, "Only until I get more seeds out. They'll come right back."

For now however, she'll be glad to work on drawing the birds at a distance and spending time chatting with Walter.

Walter laughed. "I expect that they would, Nel. I expect they would..."

Deliberate self-repetition aside - well, that made this day of flower-and-bird-based therapy a success!

There are bluebirds over- Wait, those don't go here! [Mingle]

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/insert metaphor over what the Numbered are becoming here.

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And fade out...?

That's fine!