fandomtownies | Duck Pond, mid-afternoon

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Duck Pond, mid-afternoon

Well, after the early-morning whatever she'd done with Rikku and an extremely wrinkly older woman and a couple of other people, Dawn had decided maybe going to a beach party wasn't the best idea, tempting as it might be.

So, instead, she was walking around the pond with a bunch of birdseed, placing clumps in a circle as she eyed the waterfowl, trying to figure out how much she'd need.

"Duck. Duck. Duck. Duck. Duck..."

Ow. She felt a nip at her leg.

"Ow, okay, Swan!"

Then she resumed her actions.

"Duck. Duck. Duck. Duck."

It wasn't long before Dawn was running on the grass, followed by many waterfowl in search of birdseed.

"Dammit, I said didn't say goose!"

Clearly, they didn't know the rules.

[OOC: Open to anyone who might want to play. No OCD!]

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Peter left the party a bit early to make sure he got a good look around the place before going home to Arachnia. He wasn't sure what he expected when he walked through the park, but this wasn't it. "Need a hand?" He called out, reaching into his backpack for a webshooter just in case.

"They won't get into a circle!" Dawn yelled back, trying to get away from a particularly aggressive goose.

Peter put the webshooter on and shot a web at that goose's legs. That should keep it in place for a while.

Wait a second. "I'd ask why you're trying to get birds in a circle, but it's going to be the most obvious reason to get ducks and stuff in a circle, isn't it?"

"Thank you!"

She stood in place for a second, catching her breath. "I think that depends on your definition of 'most obvious'."

"An overly literal game of Duck Duck Goose?" Peter asked, walking a little closer, but watching for other fowl. "Hey, Dawn, how've you been?"

"Then yes, you already know the answer." She grinned at him. "Not bad. Glad to be back for a bit. You?"

"Not too bad since I'm in a place where people will try to make birds play Duck Duck Goose," Peter said. "That's one thing people don't do where I'm from."

"It's not something they do where I'm from, either," Dawn said. "But Rikku and I were having this conversation the other night and it just...snowballed. Y'know?"

"Oh, yeah. I worked with her for long enough on the school newspaper," Peter said. "I know how things can snowball with Rikku. I'm kind of surprised it didn't get even sillier than this."

"We can and have done worse. But, y'know, silly is important."

"That's a motto I've pretty much used throughout my life," Peter said. "I think I work on a subtler level of silliness, though."

Because making jokes while punching guys while wearing bright tights isn't the most silly thing.

"Yeah, I think my subtle-o-meter breaks the second I get to Fandom."

No. No, she just wasn't subtle. Ever.

"Duck!"

She threw a handful of birdseed.

Peter ducked. After realizing Dawn threw something and he didn't catch where it landed, he had to ask, "Wait, was there a duck or were you just testing my reaction time?"

"Actual duck," she giggled, "but nice reflexes."

"It's one of my trademarks," Peter said, standing up as if he hadn't just looked like a jumpy weirdo. "So you're seeing the game through even after getting chased? I kind of admire the determination."

"That was kinda more about not getting nibbled by ducks, but sure. I mean, why not?"

"No good reason aside from further attempts by the ducks to nibble you," Peter considered. "And if you can live with that, there's no reason not to charge ahead."

"Want to play?" Dawn offered him the bag of birdseed. "It's great cardio."

"Well, I'm a few hours away from going home to do work as a reporter writing about a secretly crazy baron's rule, on a world that may be a lie," Peter said. He took the birdseed. "So I probably need something like this to balance out my karma. Do the ducks actually know how to play, or are you just throwing feed at them and seeing how it goes?"

"I think you need something stronger than birdseed," she said, eyes wide, "and no, I don't think they do?"

Dawn was a fan of winging it, as long as it was harmless.

"I probably do, but this is what I have, so I'll take it," Peter said. "Duck!" He threw some feed toward a duck. It seemed confused and hungry.

"Duck!" Dawn threw a handful of birdseed and pocket lint toward a different duck.

"I'm going to ask the silliest question," Peter said, while holding the bag out for Dawn to take more seed. "Are there points or a way to win, or is this a keep playing until we get bored or run out of seed thig?"

Dawn considered while she took some seed. "I never really considered points, so maybe the second thing?"

"That's what I figured," Peter said. "DUCK!" Some seed went flying.

She couldn't help ducking, even though she knew better. "Thanks for playing, Peter. I needed goofy, y'know?"

"You're welcome. I already rambled a little about my deal, so you know I can relate," Peter said. "Hopefully things haven't been too bad for you since high school."

"Peter!" Rikku announced excitedly. "Hi hi hi! Come play Duck Duck Goose with us!"

Okay, really, it was more like "come get your ankles bit by mean geese." That was still a fun game, Peter!

"Hey, Rikku," Peter said. "Dawn already recruited me, don't worry."

"We're having trouble getting the ducks to cooperate," Rikku explained, in what was possibly a very unnecessary manner, considering the light bruises around her ankles. "Oh! And hi! How have you been? Have you been doing awesome journalist things? What's new???"

"Those are more complicated questions than you'd think," Peter said. "Let's just go with I've been mostly good and I'm a government blogger these days."

And the world and his past might be a lie.

"We should get shrimp!" Rikku bounced. "For the flamingos! Wait, is it shrimp they eat? Something pink, right?"

"The game isn't duck, duck, swan, goose, flamingo, ostrich, emu, Rikku!" Dawn was starting to get a little winded. "Find a way to distract the ones we don't want!"

"We want all of them!" Rikku insisted. "No more oppression of the emus and flamingos! The ducks can be geese if they want! They defy your structure!!"

Despite her words, she was trying to lure a particularly good-sized swan away from Dawn's heels. Which earned her a nip and some rather unpleasant noises.

"Did that swan just hiss at me?" she asked, folding her arms. "You do not want a piece of me, swan!"

"I am not the oppressor of waterfowl, whether flightless or not!" Dawn argued, definitely not wanting to be The Man in Rikku's eyes. "Maybe they crave structure, did you ever think of that? Maybe the only way they can be happy is by following rules!"

The swan had totally hissed at Rikku, but Dawn wasn't getting in the middle of that.

Rikku had jumped back into a battle stance. Look, she wasn't going to punch a swan. She just, you know, needed to defend herself in case that punk got any ideas.

"You started it, swan!" she shouted, bouncing on her toes and ready to spring. "I didn't come there and try to eat your friend!"

The good news was that the swan had now turned its attention to Rikku, arching his neck and hissing in an aggravated manner.

"Maybe they need rules 'cause they're all demented!" she added. "No wonder ducks are evil!"

Bob was so hearing about this later. For reals.

Edited 2015-09-07 21:31 (UTC)

"I was just trying to organize them. I figured with all the food, they'd just...stay in place."

"See, this is why people don't feed you!" she shouted, to the ducks. Despite the fact that she had no idea if people fed them or not. Just saying. "Because you can't be polite about it!"

After a few minutes of lunging forward and dodging back again, she'd managed to somehow maneuver the swan to the edge of the water.

"Swim or I push you," she threatened. The swan did not seem all that intimidated. The loud orangey thing was distracting him from food.

"Swim!" Dawn had no idea if the water was safe for anyone, let alone swans. "Don't push the swan, Rikku, I think they have teeth!"

Deciding to help her friend, she threw a handful of birdseed toward the water.

The swan dove toward the scattered seed, leaving a small hiss for Rikku before dedicating itself to the more important task of YAYFOOD.

"Success!" Rikku announced, doing a happy wriggle. She surveyed the remnants of what once was a happy circle of feed, for Duck Duck Goose. "Um, the piles are kind of ..."

Kind of thoroughly messed up, a lot. That.

"It's looking kind of trapezoidal..."

"We could get them to play musical chairs!" Rikku decided. "Lead them to the piles and then stop the music and see who's out!"

And then be pecked to death by the loser. This was a very good idea, Rikku.

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Duck Pond, mid-afternoon

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