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[He's sitting on a rock with a guitar and an attempted murder of ravens - just two of them - working on a melody. The ravens occasionally voice their opinion with a croaking noise, but are mostly silent, listening to him play.]

[It's a testament to her familiarity with forests and parks that she manages to be completely silent, sitting down on the grass to listen. Music is such a calming thing, giving her something to focus on besides the muddled swirls of her own mind.

If one of the ravens didn't make a curious noise at her, she probably could have gone unnoticed entirely. Ravens are such smart birds. She thinks she remembers them being good companions for mountain mages. Or was it northern mages?

Filipa hums once and decides it doesn't matter.]

[Rory flicks a glance up at her, but continues to play. It's nice to have an audience that is more intelligent than... well... a raven.

On the other hand, one of the ravens did their skipping hop over to her and after looking at her with its beady black eyes croaked at her.]

Hello poopy head!

[At that Rory rushed his fingers across the strings in an irritated gesture before thumping the guitar body.]

That is not how you say hello to people.

[The raven looked at him and then back to her.]

Hello poopy head!

Hello, raven. [She's heard a lot worse than 'poopy head', and anyway, looking at a raven up close is interesting. They're not common in the forest she usually takes her walks in. Filipa looks over at Rory, tilting her head.] Did you teach them how to speak?

[Or is it that mages-talk-to-birds thing kicking in? She had a whole conversation yesterday with a pigeon before it got spooked by something and left.]

[Rory snorts.]

No. My nephew taught the flock at home how to say it when he was four because potty humor is all the rage when they're that age.

[Rory doesn't mention that at nine he also thought it was the height of hilarity.]

It took his mum forever to convince him that having the birds say that was a bad idea and to ask them to stop. Especially since he thought it was hilarious. They stopped, but a few of them taught it to their fledglings and so you get the occasional smart ass.

[The raven in question clacks his beak and fluffs his feathers.]

I see. At least he didn't teach them anything worse. [It's a little off-putting, but she can understand smart assery. Every group of more than one person had them, so it made sense that should hold true for birds. She reaches out and strokes the raven's head with the tips of her fingers, gently.] Maybe they just need time...

It's been over twenty-years now. I think they're going to stick with it. If Grace can't convince them to stop - and she's one of the Morrigan's priestess - then I seriously doubt they will.

[This is allowed by the raven.]

[Well, good for them, then. Some part of her cheers on any little rebellion against the powers that be, even if it's maybe the most juvenile of rebellions. There are worse things than ravens shouting about poop. At least they're not actually pooping on people.

She lapses into silence, smoothing out the raven's feathers, feeling oddly like she's done this before.]

[Rory gives a quirk of a smile and starts to flick his fingers across the guitar again letting them play as they will.]

What brings you into the woods today?

[The second - polite - raven hops over to see what his friend is up to. Clearly if one is getting attention, he should too, right?]

The woods are where I'm safest. My magic likes the trees.

[Aw, hello polite raven. You get soothing full-body strokes. Who's a polite little guy? She should think about getting bird familiars. Birds are fascinating and she relaxes visibly as the music starts up again. Ah, this is nice.]

You're not afraid of fae kidnapping you in the woods?

((Just FYI spinning a wild fae version of Rory here, because that's what he wanted to be. :/))

I stay off their trails. I can see those, if I focus. They leave you alone then.

[She lowers her head to peer into the polite raven's eyes, watching her reflection in the dark orbs. It's a little trippy.] I'm too broken to use even if they kidnapped me. I don't want to be a burden. Aren't their lives hard enough?

[It tilts his head and clacks its beak at her before fluffing up its feathers.]

Sometimes they like broken things.

[He shrugs at the lives being hard enough, fingers flicking idly.]

And it always depends on who you are, if your life is hard enough.

All lives are harder than they should be. [Things should be better than they are, she thinks. That's why she wanders the forests and dreams. The things that are aren't when she's not in front of them.]

Hello poopy head!

If you want to be pessimistic about it.

[He grins at her, playing a more cheerful tune.]

Though apparently I don't count.

Of course you count. [She looks at him, thoughtfully, considering his uncombed hair and too-round face, and doesn't see anything terribly unlikable or dull about him.

She doesn't respond to being called cynical. People call her all kinds of things. And it's so much easier not to say anything anyway, to just let the silence go on and on. It's a way to exist more people should try.]

Not according to the rest of the family. But, I'm a seventh son of a seventh son thus leading a highly charmed life.

[His tune shifts a bit melancholy for a brief moment. Being a fortunate fool has its ups and downsides.]

It's only a good life if it makes you happy.

[That's all she trusts herself to say. She has less than pleasant opinions on the idea of families in general. They're pretty much always wrong, she's found. But let people believe what they want, it's just simpler that way.

Filipa directs her attention back to the polite raven, smiling a little at him. Birds make everything better.]

[The raven hops onto her arm, resting its weight on her and tugs at her shirt.]

[Rory himself has a rather lovely family, even if they're all completely insane.]

And you're not happy.

Mm. [She doesn't quite shrug, but the tiny smile falls from her face as she holds the raven close, trying to convince herself this is real. It has a lot of hallmarks of a dream without being quite as nice as one. But if this is real, then what's her real answer?] I'm not unhappy, [Filipa says honestly, curling up a little.] Just... not happy.

Edited 2015-05-18 02:30 (UTC)