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The Park, Friday Afternoon

Some days were 'feed the ducks' days.

Not for any particular reason, really. Sometimes Jono was feeling a bit down, sometimes he just wanted to get out of the house and stretch his legs. Today's reason wasn't either of those things. He already was stretching his legs, enjoying an afternoon jog, when on his way along the path by the pond he realized it had been a while since he'd just sort of taken a seat on the bench and enjoyed the quiet that the park had to offer.

Well, the relative quiet, anyway. Ducks squabbling with one another for a piece of bread were hardly silent.

Either way, he'd made a quick detour, stopped by T&C for a small loaf of bread, and then made his way back to the park to do just that. The ducks didn't seem to care either way about the man on fire, at least. They were far more interested in the food he was tossing their way.

[OOC: Just wanted a little fluff today. The park is open!]

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"Should you be encouraging them?" Kaylin asked.

She was doing her rounds and had just happened to see Jono feeding those duck things. Perfectly good bread even!

//Really, they don't need my encouragement,// Jono replied. //They'll be ducks no matter what I do.//

He tore off another few pieces of crust and scattered them on the ground for the birds to chase.

//But this is more for my benefit than theirs, believe it or not.// He shrugged his shoulders. //Afternoon, Kaylin. How're you, luv?//

"How is it for your benefit?" Kaylin wasn't intending to be rude, but she was often rather intense as she tried to understand what other people did. "You are throwing them bread."

"I am... mostly tired." There'd been a bad birth that the Midwife's Hall had mirrored her about last night, which had knocked her out completely. She'd only just gotten up and managed to return here and start her rounds. She should probably sleep, but she'd feel better if she made sure everything seemed secure on the island.

"I think the little one with the red eye has been here since we were kids," Didi observed matter-of-factly, from a bench very close to Jono. In the way some sometimes did, she had approached silently; there had barely been a footfall to be heard before she spoke. "See? He always goes for the crust first."

//Here, have a seat, then,// Jono replied, scooting over a little to make room for her on the bench. //And this is for my benefit because... because it's something little I can do to make life a bit easier on something else. I haven't been making much time for that sort of thing, lately.//

//Picky little bloke, isn't he?// Jono watched that duck in particular for a moment, and then threw a few more scraps of crust his way. //Now that you mention him, though, I think you're right.//

He glanced over Didi's way, wearing a little smile in his eyes, and held out the bag of bread, in case she wanted to throw some as well.

//Afternoon, luv.//

Kaylin considered that as she sat down. "So, you are making life easier on the duck-things? And that makes you feel better? And - wait. Have you been very busy? Is that why you haven't had time to, to do things like feeding duck-things?"

People honestly didn't always make that much sense to Kaylin. Well, most of them made more sense than the Barrani or the Dragons, but they were still confusing. They'd all be much easier to understand if they'd grown up in the fiefs.

//I've been... moderately busy,// Jono explained after a moment's pause. //Taking a bit more me-time than I usually do. Still doing some part-time teaching, mostly just in New York, and running the music shop, but surprisingly little, besides. Getting to know myself again, I suppose.//

Given how much of him had been messed with over the years, that was more important than it sounded.

"Afternoon," Didi agreed, and took her own handful of bread to toss toward the ducks. "It's funny. You think they all look alike, but when you get closer you get to recognize some of them. You just need to pay attention."

She pulled a bun apart meticulously. "He must be a great-grandpa duck by now, you know?"

"Not sure if that's a waste of good bread or a waste of duck time," Bob said, sniffing disdainfully.

//With a whole flock of smaller duck progeny out there, terrorizing strangers for bread,// Jono agreed, amused. //I'm certain he's very proud.//

Or he couldn't care less. Did ducks pay attention to that sort of thing?

//I suppose it's a bit like that for most things, though. You can be drowning in a million alike individuals until you take a moment to lean in and filter the rest out long enough to spot the differences.//

That one got a bit of a sideways glance, yes.

//"Duck time?" What in the world is that meant to be, Bob?//

'Me-time' got a totally blank look from Kaylin, and she wasn't sure why anyone would need to get to know themselves. Weren't they themselves already? However, she really liked Jono and this seemed important to him, so she swallowed her initial words and just nodded.

"And... you have met yourself now?" she asked carefully. Hey, she was really trying here! "That's good, I guess."

"Probably pulls a wallet out from under his wing to show off all of their photos," Didi said, equally amused by the notion. "And, hey, speaking of singling out individuals -- so you're getting married?"

She'd put off saying anything about it until she trusted herself to just be happy for them. She wasn't jealous, exactly; it was more a strange wistfulness for something she'd never have in a billion lifetimes, and didn't particularly want in approximately 999,999,998 of them.

But Jono was human (mostly), so he didn't have her constraints. Of course he was going to find someone, and as long as Hannibal made Jono happy, he was a good somebody to find.

"Congratulations. Really."

Edited 2016-03-12 01:47 (UTC)

Jono probably would have chuckled at that question, if he was able.

//It means I took a bit of time to think about whether there were any parts of me that I actually liked having around,// he explained, //and in the end, I found that there were more than I realized. That discovery was more of a surprise than it really ought to be... but it's one I'm glad I had.//

It was one of the reasons he was sitting outside in a very public place with his flames not hidden, for a start.

//I...// Jono ducked his head a little, sheepishly, and nodded. //He proposed on Christmas morning, at breakfast. I'm still half processing it,// he admitted. //But thank you, luv. There've been a lot of mixed reactions to this one, not that it's anyone else's business, but a congratulations means the world.//

Especially coming from her.

The fire was a bit disconcerting, but, well, he was a hell of a lot nicer and less intimidating than any dragon she'd ever had the misfortune of meeting, and he didn't seem to be actively trying to, you know, set her or anything else on fire, so she figured each to his own. Some had wings, some had fur, some had fire.

She still liked wings best, but it wasn't Jono's fault he didn't have any - she didn't either - and maybe they'd be a part he'd like to keep if he had them.

It took a minute for her to decide how to respond, because her initial thought was somewhere along the lines of what did he think he might not like? An arm? A leg? But then she sort of realized what he was really talking about.

"There are lots of parts of me I'd rather not have around," she said. "Maybe most of me. But, I guess sometimes I can help people and that's good and I know lots of times you help people so there have to be lots of good parts of you."

//And that's a bit like the conclusion I came to,// Jono replied, giving his shoulders a shrug. //There are a lot of parts of me that have done some terrible things... but those parts aren't who I am, they're more like shades of what I've done and who I could have been. Who I am... that's something different.//

He tilted his head at her, and then offered her a slice of bread.

//The desire and the ability to help others... that means a lot more than it might feel like, you know.//

"Hannibal's not who I would have picked out for you," Didi said candidly. "But I'm not the one marrying him, so that's just ... it's nothing, is what it is. If you're happy and he's happy, and it's not hurting anybody else, what is there to say but congratulations? I think people are just surprised by it."

She half-smiled at him. "Anyhow, Christmas morning is about the best time for a proposal, so that was pretty awesome of him."

//I suppose if there's one thing Hannibal and I have been able to do consistently, it's surprise people,// Jono replied, shrugging his shoulders a bit. //I think it surprises us a bit too.//

Yes, even now.

//I'm curious now, though,// he added, raising his eyebrows playfully. //Who you would've picked.//

"Surprised is good," Didi said, giving a bit more crust to the red-eyed bird. "Means you aren't bored by it all, and that's what keeps things going."

She shrugged at the question, idly poking him in the arm. "What, you want your ex to play matchmaker? That's not gonna end well."

No. No, she didn't think so. Not for her anyway. She could be good forever and not make up for the bad. And if the magic got away again, she could do terrible things again.

But Jono was good and kind and she'd never seen him be anything else. He said he'd done bad things, but it was very hard to believe. Still, if he had...

She looked up at him, uncertainty and disbelief warring in her face with maybe the tiniest bit of hope, and took the piece of bread. "I want to help people and sometimes I can. But it doesn't feel like even a little."

She looked down at the bread, wondering if she was supposed to make it smaller or just throw the whole thing. One of the ducks, tired of waiting, pecked sharply at her ankle and she yelped, her face a picture of shock and surprise as she dropped the bread and pulled both legs quickly up onto the bench. "It, it bit me or something! I didn't know ducks had teeth!"

The duck in question, meanwhile, strutted off happily with its lump of bread.

//At this point in my life, luv, I'm fairly used to most things not ending well,// Jono replied, only half joking even as he reached to poke her arm right back. //But if you'd rather not, I understand. In hindsight, it is an awkward question.//

No kidding, Jono.

//Too many what-ifs.//

Too much opportunity for honest answers.

That duck was lucky that Jono couldn't eat. He'd have brought it home to Hannibal to prepare for dinner for interrupting that train of thought, if he had. They'd been so close to being on to something, that time.

//They don't,// he replied, tearing off a few extra pieces of bread to keep the ducks distracted for a minute. //Most of them are dabblers, and fairly harmless. He was just trying to get your attention, is all. You alright, luv?//

"Way too many," Didi agreed. "Besides which, if I got to pick you'd end up with somebody happy and light like Ariel and that is, like, the opposite of what you picked for yourself."

(She would have picked herself, or at least a human version of herself. But that was a truth nobody wanted to hear.)

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The Park, Friday Afternoon

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