The Park, Monday Evening

[furnaceface]

Once again, Jono needed some time to just sit in the park, feeding ducks. It was an interesting habit to turn to, yes. A relaxing hour or so just sitting silently on the bench and throwing crumbs at clumsy waterfowl while his mind wandered elsewhere, and it was something he might even be doing if he didn't have memories from ages and ages ago, of sitting here and tearing apart bagels, keeping excellent company with a young lady whose smile had more than made up for his own lack of one.

It had almost become ritual, lately. He still thought of her sometimes while he was out here, still closed his eyes from time to time and pretended he wasn't sitting on the bench by himself. But on occasion, just being outside and paying attention to the birds was nearly enough.

Tonight, Jono was content to feed the ducks alone, ignoring the light patter of rain. It didn't bother him any more than it bothered them, after all.

[Open park, open post!]

Comments

[voiceoverdue]

Cecil wasn't quite as sanguine about the rain, but Foucault needed to get out a bit, so here he was. In a water-resistant hoodie that was grey and bright pink - his attempt at being cheery by matching Foucault.

It...wasn't exactly working. He'd been able to distract himself for a bit, but when he wasn't doing anything, his mind kept going back to those stupid, awful tapes.

[furnaceface]

It... was a difficult hoodie to miss, and it caught Jono's attention pretty firmly as boy and giant bird wandered by.

//Dressed to match, hm?//

Said the man who matched his kitten by default, yes.

[voiceoverdue]

"Oh, yes!" Cecil did his best to smile and be perky; Jono was always nice to him, and there was no sense falling apart on him like he almost had on Kenzi at the picnic. "I suppose I'll have to get an all-pink one later."

[furnaceface]

//If you want to continue the trend, I suppose you will,// Jono agreed with a small nod of his head. //How've you been, mate? Haven't seen much of you since our last class.//

In fairness, that was partly because Jono himself had been away.

[voiceoverdue]

"Oh, pretty much the same as always!" Cecil declared. "I mean, I never have been that different, have I? Apart from the age thing. And the extra parts, but that was the island, right? I've always just been...me!"

Right??

[furnaceface]

//As far as I can tell,// Jono agreed. //I'm not sure who you would be otherwise, really...//

Still, that was getting a bit of a side-eye out of Jono. Even for Cecil, that was a bit of an odd reply.

[voiceoverdue]

"Exactly!" Cecil nodded decisively. "Anything else doesn't make sense!"

[furnaceface]

//Right,// Jono agreed, brow furrowing a little, now. //Mind if I ask what's up with the sudden affirmation that you're yourself, mate?//

Jono had them all of the time, but then, Jono had been given a few reasons over the years to doubt who he was from day to day.

[voiceoverdue]

"Um. Nothing?"

Cecil was a terrible liar. (He'd failed the first three attempts at that scout badge.)

[furnaceface]

Cecil. Cecil, you were just getting a pointed look and a raised eyebrow, now.

//Is that so?// Because really. Terrible liar. To a telepath, no less. //I'd hate to think you'd been given cause for doubt.//

[voiceoverdue]

"Right, that'd be pretty awful, wouldn't it? I mean, if it's some sort of joke, then it's really in poor taste, but I suppose I'd only have myself to blame. If it is myself, even. The universe is pretty odd sometimes, and who knows, there could be someone who sounds just like me, just leaving things around in the back of my closet for me to find!"

That was plausible, right?

[furnaceface]

Hard to say, wasn't it?

//... Things in the back of your closet, Cecil?//

There was that patented Jono side-eye again.

[voiceoverdue]

"Well, that's where Carlos said he found them. And I mean - it's ♥Carlos♥, he wouldn't lie! And he wouldn't have any reason to, really."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry was doing yet another inspection of the island using his tablet and a handheld sensor that.... Well for some reason making scientific devices into phallic shapes amused Barry so let's just roll with it, okay?

He looked up from his tablet briefly to see Jono. "Hey, bus driver man," Barry said in greeting, "Kind of fucking wet out to be feeding the ducks, isn't it?"

[furnaceface]

//The ducks don't seem to care one way or another, do they?// Jono glanced sidelong at Barry, and then shrugged his shoulders. //I had an evening free and a stale loaf of bread to be rid of. It seemed like the thing to do.//

The loaf of bread was not at all stale. He'd picked it up after leaving group therapy at the clinic.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry looked at the ducks and shrugged. "If you say so... Those must be some mighty interesting ducks.""

[furnaceface]

//Not especially,// Jono replied with a dismissive shrug. //They're actually rather stupid, for the most part. The flamingos are more interesting, generally.//

But flamingos didn't eat bread. See? A dilemma.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"So you're feeding the ducks in order to hang with flamingos?" Barry asked as he pointed his sensor at the pond. "On a rainy day. Is this a British thing on your planet?"

[furnaceface]

//Well, what sort of Londoner would I be if I couldn't handle a little rain? The flamingos aren't exactly homey, granted, but...//

Jono shook his head.

//What are you doing, anyway?//

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Taking some atmospheric readings," Barry explained. "I want to get a baseline for when the weather does something spectacular fucking crazy like rain chocolate pudding."

[furnaceface]

Jono took a moment to look at Barry's scanner... thing. And then look up at the sky for a moment. And then back, again, to Barry.

//You know, I think you're actually the first person on the island to think about doing that?//

Which, considering this place, was quite the accomplishment.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry rolled his eyes. "Really? You'd think someone would have the brains to fucking do their research on this crazy place."

[furnaceface]

//I think it's less a matter of brains, and more a matter of having more important things to worry about than chocolate pudding,// Jono replied, tearing off another piece of bread to throw at the ducks. //Anyway, it's probably got something t'do with that weather machine that's been attracting more trouble than this place is probably worth, lately.//

Jono didn't need any fancy equipment to make that deduction, either.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"There's a fucking weather machine?!!" Barry groaned and shut off his handheld device and tablet. "Godammit. That throws my fucking baseline completely off. Fuck! Where is this fucking thing?"

[furnaceface]

//Somewhere out in the preserve, last I checked,// Jono replied, waving a hand vaguely out toward the woods. //For all I know, it could've moved by now, though. Things tend to do that around here, as well.//

And, for as easy as it would be to give Barry directions to the excavation site, reality had broken once before because of somebody tampering with the bloody thing. Jono didn't figure it would be a great idea to hand somebody a road map to it now.