Lonely Girl [FIN]

[Kari Muffin]

The little girl fluffed her feathers up. Her father was doing paperwork, and her sister was busy. She had absolutely no one to play with and it just wasn't fair. She wanted to do things other than read for hours on end and play with her bander--who was more than a little fed up with her.

A sigh escaped Qwin as she hopped onto one of the railings. Maybe she could fly somewhere? Daddy had gotten upset with her when she went to Yarrow though. Then again he had every reason to be upset. Carefully she began to walk along the railing.

What was there for her to do? She could try to find someone to play with. She could, maybe, bother one of the servants, or she could bother Daddy and ask if she could stay with Uncle Ez for a while. Or she could just wander around until she ran into something or someone. Lost in possibilities the girl gazed at the landscape in front of her. So much to cover when she was so small and no one seemed to pay attention to her.

"I bet Mommy and Grandpa never had a problem like this." Her cheeks puffed out at the statement. Everyone paid attention to Highlanders and Queens. Everyone paid more attention to her sister because she was a bipedal and a Jack.

[The Jenn]

Sometimes her mother's office was interesting. Sometimes it was boring. Today... it was very boring.

Leona rested her chin on the window ledge and stared at the clouds. Her sister was with Mommy because she hurt one of her toes on the corner of the desk and they went to give it a quick rinse. They probably also went to grab lunch. That was fine, since they were all hungry and they'd bring back tasty things, but it meant that the young wolverine was alone. Mommy trusted her not to touch the important papers or the important cabinets or the important teapot. She wouldn't. But she'd rather have brought one of her toys in with her to play with. She forgot today.

Color on one of the balconies below made her head twitch up and her eyes focus. That looked like a person. Much more interesting that the sky, which didn't even have the decency to be stormy or full of birds or anything interesting. She pressed her nose against the glass, fogging it up with her breath as she tried to see more of the other person. The angle wasn't the best.

Mommy told them both never to touch windows until they were older or could fly, which didn't really seem all that likely for her. But it wasn't quite the same as touching if you leaned and it just happened to swing to the side so that you could peek your muzzle out, was it?

"Who are you?" she called down from the window. If she had to, she'd repeat the question until the other person could hear it or left. It would be rude of them to just leave without answering her, though.

[Kari Muffin]

Qwin was completely in her own world until she heard the voice. Completely surprised by it, she started to tilt forward over the edge of the balcony. Flapping her wings frantically to rebalance herself, she must have looked like a complete and utter fool.

She looked around for the voice. Where had it come from? Not from behind her, or obviously in front or to the sides of her. So who was talking? It wasn't until she heard the question the second time that she realized someone was calling her from above.

That was new. Should she fly up there to talk to them. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. After a few moment of debate the girl spread her wings and fluttered up to the window, sitting on the thin ledge carefully.

"I'm Qwin. Who are you?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

[The Jenn]

At first it didn't look like she was going to get an answer, which made Leona want to pout. She generally pouted by chewing on her favorite toy, which wasn't here. But then she didn't have to worry about it because the other person paid attention! By flailing. But, whatever. Maybe it was a boy. Mommy said they were often uncoordinated and confused, especially if they were young. She sat up straighter and waited, her posture expectant.

Eventually those wings unfurled and she couldn't help a small wiggle as the bird approached. Those weren't bird wings, were they? Daddy had bird wings, and they were a lot more feathery.

The rote greeting passed through her lips without much conscious thought. "Hello Qwin. I'm Leona. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Definitely a girl's voice. So maybe she was just a flaily sort of girl like Sophie. That was fine. She was used to that. Not everybody could be graceful ladies. Then you wouldn't notice the ones who were. "I'm not allowed to open the window without permission or I'd let you in. This is Mommy's office."

[Kari Muffin]

Finding someone even close to her age besides her sister was something fantastic. A small part of Qwin wanted to fly off the window ledge and do spirals in the air. Of course she wouldn't, because that would have been rude, and she was actually having a conversation with this girl.

And it was very much a girl. Her tail twitched at the introduction. Leona? She'd heard that name in passing before hadn't she? Maybe she should have paid closer attention to her Dad's conversations. Or was it something she heard from the servants? Either way the little bird bowed her head in greeting.

She was about to open her mouth and ask about the window, but the girl addressed the subject rather quickly. Her Mommy's office? That meant her Mommy was an important noble. Of course there was the matter of how important... there were several people more important than Daddy.

"That's okay. I understand. Daddy doesn't like me playing with the windows in his office either. Especially since my sister doesn't have really flight capable wings." The little girl shifted on the ledge. It wasn't that bad. "What are you doing alone in your Mommy's office?"

[The Jenn]

Leona wanted to rest her chin on the window ledge again, but she refrained. Slouching was for lazy people and Mommy after a long day. Ladies didn't slouch. Mommy said she wasn't being a lady when she slouched, she was being a woman, and tired, and they were entirely different things. She didn't get it, but she didn't have to get it for Mommy to be right, right?

"My sister has feathers, but she doesn't have wings. Neither of us can fly so we're not allowed to touch the windows. But I didn't touch it to open it, my fur did. So it's okay. I have a lot of fur. It gets hard to control sometimes." She twitched her head to get a strand of hair out of her face, as if reminded of its presence. It was annoying but Mommy wouldn't let her cut it. She said the mane made her look so pretty. But it was so annoying sometimes.

"I wasn't alone before. Mommy and Sophie went to fix her toe and get some lunch. They'll come back with food probably but it might be a while. I'm here until they do. Mommy trusts me not to mess up her office." The girl looked quite pleased with this fact. "And what about you? Where's your Daddy's office? Are you all alone? Do you live here? Mommy said I'd get to meet other kids here when I was ready to start with lessons."

[Kari Muffin]

Her fur did? The bird tilted her head to the side. Well she did seem to have a lot of fur,and hair for that matter. She really had a pretty mane.... Qwin couldn't help but envy people who had manes. They were all so terribly pretty. She was hoping that one day she would grow one. After all her Aunts had manes, and they were really pretty.

She had a sister too? That was pretty cool. The little mixed bird made herself a bit more comfortable. If she didn't pay attention to where she was stepping she would fall off the ledge. She had fallen enough times from a short distance to know that if she fell from this height and didn't have time to flap her wings it would hurt a lot.

Qwin blinked at the question. She wasn't really good at figuring out where her Daddy's office was when she was outside of the palace, but she could guess. "It's not that far away from here. I think it's a little ways down the hall from here." She motioned a wing to the right.

"I'm alone for now. My Daddy and Sister were busy and didn't want to play with me. I live here with both of them and take lessons from that fuddy dudy Esterberry. Right now we have a break though, so I have nothing to do."

[The Jenn]

"Ohh, so does your Daddy have a title? That's good. So does mine. It makes you more important. People listen to you better." People listened to Mommy better than they listened to Daddy, but people listened to Daddy better than they listened to any of the servants. So it seemed to be true.

Her tail twitched a few times and she frowned. "So you're old enough for lessons? Do you take them with anybody besides your sister? How many other kids have you met here? And is the Esterberry the dog? Because if he is then I think I've seen him before. I just never talked to him. I don't think Mommy cares for him." That was how Mommy had put it. She didn't 'care for' people. Especially men.

Oh, but that brought up an interesting question. "Is your Daddy a boy or a girl? My Daddy's a girl. So's my Mommy. She says that's the way it should be, and then she laughs."

[Kari Muffin]

Qwin nodded in agreement. People did listen to titled people more. Daddy wasn't one of the highest ranked people but he was still better than the servants and the Jacks. Her tail fanned out for a moment as she made herself a bit more comfortable when it came to balancing on the ledge. If she knew exactly where the room was she could just walk into the palace.

Oh well.

"Yes, I am. And yeah.... it's a canine Esterberry. Daddy doesn't really like him either, but Daddy thinks he's smart enough to be a good teacher. And no... no one else has lessons with us. Daddy asked for private ones." She had no idea why, but Daddy was always right when it came to those sort of things.

The sparrow mix's eyebrows scrunched up at the question and comment that followed. What was that supposed to mean? Her Daddy was a very fine person and had a right to be her Daddy! "My Daddy is a boy. He takes care of us because Mommy died to give birth to us. He also takes care of Courtly things and works really hard...." She puffed up slightly as she looked at the other girl.

[The Jenn]

Smart enough to be a good teacher? "I'm sure that's why Mommy said I would be learning from him. Because I don't think she'd want me learning from him otherwise, me or Sophie. But I guess we won't get to see each other for lessons if yours are private. We're younger, anyway. We wouldn't be learning the same thing, would we?" Probably not.

She shifted restlessly by the window and glanced back at the door, once and then again. "I'm sorry your Mommy died. My Grandpa died right before we were born. We didn't get to know him either. Both of Daddy's parents were boys, but both of Mommy's parents are girls, and both of mine are girls, and me and Sophie are girls. And you said you had a sister. Do you have more than one?"

She was fine with just having one. And when that one came back, so would Mommy. And lunch. She hoped so, anyway.