Going to the Birds ("Doolittle" Moreau/INACTIVE)

[kuku]

Catherine plopped herself down on one of the benches nearer to the edge of the park. It had been quite a long week and to think about it was exhausting her rather quickly. There was no pretending she had the patience for many things in life. Having the things she wanted at the tip of her fingers was a way of life, and she had come to expect it from everything. If only life weren't so predictable. Then again-she was always bored by the mundane parts of life. Cathy full well knew she couldn't have it both ways, but she wanted it that way. Crossing her legs, Cathy tossed her head irritatedly trying to get wayward strands of hair out of her face.

She couldn't tell if she wanted company or not. As of late most people just reminded her of everything she didn't want to think of. What she really needed was someone new. Someone interesting. Most importantly someone who didn't know anything about her. Not that that was entirely possible in New York. Cathy made sure she was as public a figure as she could be. It would be a very difficult task, one she was not willing to expend the energy for. Once again, it came to simplicity. Of which there was a great shortage of recently. In it's place was a great abundance of thinking in circles. In the past several weeks it felt as if nothing new had entered her mind at all. For a girl of so few years, Cathy was rapidly beginning to think that the world was running out of things to show her. Unless it was her. Perhaps she was running out of things to see.

Silently she mulled things over while absentmindedly watching a small group of people marvel at the park. It was clear they were from nowhere close to New York. Everything from the cheap attire to the way they took pictures of every detail told her that they were here for the first time. She remembered when the city felt so large, like she could be swallowed whole by it at any second. But lately it seemed to be collapsing in on her. Like the limits of her world were tightening and there were times when she wondered if it would someday just be her left.

Not even amusement over the wonder of tourist was able to distract her. As petty as it sounded she couldn't imagine being so unfamiliar with the city-or spending what she assumed to be a rare trip to the city with little children to prevent one from seeing the true life of the city. It just made no sense. She couldn't imagine a family like that. even her own had been dotted with nannies to allow her parents to have a life of their own. Looking at it now she couldn't blame them. It wasn't rare for girls her age to be looking for the loves of their lives and families of their own, but she couldn't imagine it. She didn't handle sacrifice well. Especially not since she felt as though she had already made the biggest sacrifice she felt she could. There wasn't anything else she was willing to give and she wasn't willing to take anything back either.

[JOHN "DOOLITTLE" MOREAU]

Central Park was one of John's favorite places to stroll. As always Polynesia sat on his shoulder.

She turned to him. "I don't see why you go on these walks when you never speak to anyone."

"Excercise Polynesia. Excercise. For the mind to be fit the body must be fit as well. Also it is good to get some fresh air."

" If you can call the air in this place fresh. But seriously Doctor, you're reclusive tendencies are not good for you, you should get some social contact."

Not this argument again. "Polynesia you know full well that one cannot just walk up to complete strangers and introduce oneself to them."

" Why not?"

Seriously this was starting to try his patience. "Because that is not how it works. That's why."

Polynesia looked at him with a twinkle in her eye. "Perhaps you would like to put your money where your mouth is?"

Hmmm. So she was proposing a wager? "Fine. If you can't start a conversation with a total stranger you will refrain from bringing this up for a full week. and If you can then I may listen to you, not to mention placing two oranges in your food dish tonight."

Polynesia agreed and spotted a woman standing alone "Good afternoon, Madame."

[kuku]

Cathy's thoughts were very abruptly interrupted by a voice greeting her. Pulling her eyes back int focus she began to look around for the source. It didn't seem likely that someone would simply introduce themselves. Unless of course they were looking for handouts. Something she was not so willing to do. Especially in this state or mind. it simply made little to no sense at all. As much as she loved New York, the people tended to be less than openly friendly for no good reason.

Seeing no one she decided that it must have been a greeting for someone else. However now that she was focused on reality, rather than her thoughts, she felt somewhat rejected by the apparent non-greeting she had received. Perhaps some company was what she needed after all. Reaching into her pocket for her phone, Cathy's eyes came to a stop on a brightly colored parrot. Eyes widening, she shifted away slightly, unsure of how the hell a parrot ended up in central park. She knew people kept them as pets, but she also thought that better care would be taken not to let the thing fly off.

Letting out a small breath she began to scroll through contacts, shooting glances back to the bird. She expected it to fly off, or ask for a cracker. After several seconds, Cathy turned to the bird and looked it dead in the eye.

"Have you no fear?" Even the pigeons would eventually shuffle out of the way. She expected no answer, but still, there was something...peculiar about the bird. Almost as if it could understand what she was saying. It was almost like the bird could have been the one to greet her. With a small scoff at the absurdity of the notion, Cathy turned back to her phone. There was no way a bird could do that, even a parrot. She smiled lightly to herself as she continued to fiddle with the device.

[JOHN "DOOLITTLE" MOREAU]

Polynesia had flown off before Doolittle knew what to do. He found her among a flock of pigeons.

" No I don't lady. My names Polynesia, what may yours be?"

John noticed Polynesia trying to start a conversation with a random woman in the park. So she was actually going to try to win this wager. Well he could use a week without her bothering him to go out and socialize.

He sat under a nearby tree to watch the drama unfold. He took some tea out of a thermos and started sipping it.

[kuku]

((Sorry about my lack of a timely response!!))

Cathy almost choked on the breath she was breathing when the bird spoke again. Any idiot knew that parrots could be trained to speak, but this was ridiculous. Not to mention just a little bit creepy. No animal should be able to speak with that amount of intelligence. It didn't seem possible. Whoever trained this thing was...good. In fact, perhaps she would have to find the bird's owner and have him train her a bird. It would be an amusing form of company after all. Then again, if the creature was so articulate, it had to be some sort of joke, or street magic. She felt quite sure that animals were not meant to speak so properly or sound so naturally intelligent doing so. This was all very odd and it was making her somewhat uncomfortable.

It's just a bird Cathy reminded herself. Suddenly she laughed lightly. As unusual as this was, it was highly entertaining.

"It's very nice to met you Polynesia. I'm Cathy." She said in a voice that one might use to speak to a child. "Are you lost?"

Cathy didn't know what sort of answer she was expecting. She was sure the bird-Polynesia as she was called- had a rather limited vocabulary, or number of things she knew how to say. Though the bird ad responded to her question. This was just puzzling. But she was interested to see what would happen and just how she had gotten into this situation in the first place. Encountering a parrot was proving to be nothing like encountering a dog or even a horse in the park. That could be expected. This was not expected in the least.

[JOHN "DOOLITTLE" MOREAU]

" Don't patronize me, Cathy." Her feathers fluffed up in agitation. "Can't someone make conversation on a sunny day with out an ulterior motive?"

Oh so she was conversing with the woman. He would never hear the end of it. Of course there was always a chance that Polynesia might have offended the woman with her question, killing the conversation in its begining, and winning him his wager.

He decided to watch some more before walking over. John poured himself another cup of tea.

[kuku]

Cathy almost choked. This was getting a bit...out of hand. What an insolent creature. She continued to glance around for some street performer who might be trying to get a tip from her. She was going to be sure to speak with them about manners. Cathy knew how to be rude, yet point out how someone else was doing the same thing, but she wasn't going to allow a bird to do that to her.

"Well I don't normally converse with birds. Usually birds don't converse at all. So you can see how I might be a bit skeptical." She said this definitively, allowing a small amount of pettiness to creep in. After all, however well trained the creature was, it was a bird, and nothing more. But there was something about it. Cathy couldn't quite shake the feeling that there was something just a little bit...special about the bird. It almost felt too smart for it's species.

She couldn't tell now if she was amused or insulted...some bit of both...

[JOHN "DOOLITTLE" MOREAU]

Polynesia fluffed her feathers with pride. "I can understand that. Most other birds are moronic."

So Polynesia had managed to keep the conversation civil. John began to feel dread that yes she would win the wager. And then she would rub it in for the next two weeks. Perhaps if he showed her it was different for people...

Yes. That should work. John got up and walked over to Polynesia. "Oh so there you are." He turned to the woman. "I'm sorry if Polynesia was giving you any trouble. She has a mind of her own."

[kuku]

"Well compared to one that carries on conversations, I would think so." She wasn't sure where she stood on this act anymore, but indignation aside, it was something she hadn't expected today, and it had kept her distracted like she had wanted.

Cathy was still transfixed by the bird when a man began to apologize for the trouble. So there was a trainer. Cathy had to admit that she was glad to see it, something about this had been making her feel a bit like she was losing her mind. She had been about this close to second guessing the jest of it.

"Clearly. Did you train her yourself? You've done an excellent job. It's almost like she's really thinking for herself." Now that she was in on it, Cathy felt much better, and much more entertained by Polynesia. It really was a creative act.

[JOHN "DOOLITTLE" MOREAU]

Uh oh here comes the whirlwind.

Polynesia glared at the woman and fluffed her feathers out in anger. "I'm thinking for myself you brainless woman."

"Umm Polynesia can actually think for herself as she was submitted to a treatment that increased her intelligence a thousandfold. She also has a rather sensitive ego. I would suggest apologizing before this blow out of proportion."

He really hoped that the woman would take his advice. But as the woman had assumed it was an act of some sort than it couldn't count as a real conversation, could it?

That though comforted him as he prepared for the worst.

[kuku]

Cathy tried to contain any traces of laughter. This was a task more difficult than she would have thought. This might have been a brilliant act, but this was going just a little too far. She knew it wasn't possible. What did this man take her for. It was too bad that this man was very clearly insane. But she had dealt with the quite insane before. Neither the man nor the bird seemed harmless, and she figured she could humor them for now.

"That must have taken some skill." She smiled and mustered all the charm she possessed.

Cathy then turned her attention the the parrot Polynesia. She hoped that this man hadn't harmed the poor bird in any way. Polynesia looked healthy, but as a public figure for several charities advocating for animal rights, she felt like she should check. She had no idea what she would do if she actually suspected anything really. Right now everything was just a mild sort of odd, but she didn't think it would stay that way if she tried to do anything other than play along.

She was no expert, but the bird looked fine, and unless something gave her a very good reason not to, Cathy decided she was going to just go with it.

"I'm very sorry Polynesia. It's just, I've never met a bird that has your capabilities."

[JOHN "DOOLITTLE" MOREAU]

"I can tell that you don't believe me. I'm used to it." He was fine with people dismissing him as crazy. It was much better than people asking to many questions about uncomfortable subjects.

However Polynesia wouldn't any thing like that well. But she was too busy, nodding to herself at the apparent compliment. Her feathers smoothed down. "That's obvious."

She chuckled before speaking again."I forgive you. But it better not happen again."

[kuku]

Cathy was in quite a state now. She truly didn't know what to think of the man and his either well trained and/or significantly capable bird. She wondered why there weren't a million of these wandering the world right now. Who wouldn't love a pet they could talk to. She imagined this encounter would have entirely delighted her as a child, but now she found it to be very confusing more than anything. But like a respectable person, in a crowded place, she went along with it. This was New York after all and though she had lived here all her life, she had heard the stories about crazy murderers and how it was better to just let them believe what they wanted if confronted. No matter how protected her life was, there was no escaping skepticism.

Still, Cathy found that she had a lot of questions and comments. It didn't take her long to start asking away. After all, it had been the bird-Polynesia-who had started the conversation in the first place. Funny to think of an animal that truly needed to be called by a proper name. But then again, with the amount of intelligence Polynesia claimed and appeared to possess, it only seemed right in the end.

"Well it isn't a very believable thing." Not the most polite or conversational of replies, but then again, nothing about this meeting was very conventional. "Still," She looked between the man and the bird. Polynesia she corrected herself in her mind, trying to ensure she didn't get another scolding."It was meant as a compliment."

"Should I be expecting to find more...intelligent animals like Polynesia then?" She directed the question towards the man, but Cathy half expected Polynesia to be the one who answered.