pris, donnie duck and drawing of feelings ][ a log

[Guest]

this log takes place prior to the ball!

Doctor Blake was actually out in the gardens of the Tel'ranaemyn Inn just enjoying the nice sunshine. Laying down in the grass and watching the sky, a very good patient of his once told him he should take a few minutes every day off in order to keep sane, in New York hospitals. So he was just doing that with his walking stick laying next to him

the bush three bushes down coughed. did he not realize she was there, or did he realize it and he was just humoring her for now? whichever the answer, thanks to that cough [and it was a 'ew did i just swallow a bug' kind of hacking cough], attention was drawn to pris' hiding place. the nice happy accident was that pris was wearing a green coat that happened to match the evergreen bush she was hiding in really well, so it turned out to be some good camouflage she was in the bush observing him. like bird watchers watched birds. she was a doctor watcher watching doctor donnie duck, and drawing him in her sketch pad.

Doctor Donald Blake looked back at her upside down and smiled a bit. "Don't die there Pris, it's bad for your health..." He saw her sketch pad and so he didn't move, though he did tilt his head back straight up. "How is that coming along? Are you having fun?"

"shoo fly stuck in my throat. the wings tickle." it was pris' hushed reply. as if she thought that she replied hushed enough that somehow would keep her cover? like maybe if she said that softly enough after she was done speaking he would forget she was there? who knows what was going on in her mind, exactly, but that was a good theory. "it's practice. for saving your walls." all pris had painted so far with all those eggs was a complicated base coat of all sorts of colors and dimensions.

"Oh, well that's good, practice is always fun...but you didn't answer my question..." once again he looked back at her, his hands behind his head as a pillow. "Are you having fun? While practicing? That's the best kind you know, the kind where you have fun."

"i know i didn't answer that. it sounds too much like a doctor question." a little humph from the girl, and pris flipped a page in her sketch pad, reaching into her apron to pull out a black charcoal. he'd hear the sounds of that coal scratching the page rapidly, and then he'd hear her tear the page out. she stuck her hand out, and he'd see the piece of paper dangling out of the bush. she shook it a little bit. "there's your doctor answer." when he took the paper and looked at it, he'd notice that the cheeky pris drew him an inkblot that was shaped like nothing in particular for an answer.

A chuckle from Doctor Blake. Who shook his head and then folded the paper, placing it next to him."And what a very good doctor answer it is Pris... thank you... and I'll have you know I'm keeping this. Why don't you come join me? This is really nice. its a really nice breeze every little bit."

"good. you should keep it." pris said that with great satisfaction. the fact he laughed, that had only increased her satisfaction. he liked her joke. and that, she realized, made her very happy. he'd hear the sound of her flipping back to the page she was working on. "i'm not sure i should. it will change things. the perspective. i'm not done yet. it would make a different picture. like two coins that don't match up...." pris said softly, still keeping her sort of whisper whisper tone from her spot in the bush.

"Oh, oh alright. And I'll stop moving too." Once again carrying eyes to the sky, taking a nice deep satisfying breath. "Can I keep this one too? Or is it for your private collection? My walls are looking really very loud right now. It can be the first bit of art in the room."

"no." it was very quickly spoken. "no no no this one's mine. secret safari." was there a touch of sheepishness in her voice when she said that? her voice was certainly more muffled, because she hunched down in her hiding spot in the bush and was talking down at her page rather than at him. like she was trying to hide a blush. but if she was blushing, the bush was hiding the blush anyway. "your walls are supposed to be loud. they're yelling for the next coat. but they have to wait. i need to save money to get more eggs." and pigment. pigment was not cheap.

"Well, if you need more money to buy eggs, I can give you some...I'm a rich Doctor and all that you know, besides eggs aren't that expensive, and you are painting my walls, I can buy you the painting things so you can paint them."

"it's not just the eggs. the powdered colors. it's those too." that was another soft muffled reply on pris' part. there was quiet where all he'd hear was the sound of her streaking her page and the sound of her fingers working at their blending. she was relieved he didn't argue with her about the secret safari of her current drawing. clearly she was a little embarrassed about it, which was not common for pris. "it's okay. i get lunch money. and i just eat fries. so i have some left over." money, that is.

"Oh, you know you should eat more then just fries. And remember if you ever need, I can buy the painting supplies. I mean, its not uncommon for when a person paints walls for someone. Because you know it takes a lot of paint and stuff."

a little scoff came from the bush. he'd hear pris flip her page, and then scratch scratch scratch with a piece of charcoal, and then riiiiiip. a piece of paper fluttered out of the bush and landed in the grass. when he picked it up, he'd see she drew him a nice stack of potatoes. so there, donnie duck. "when the person asks. but i asked. so it's a present. and people don't pay for their own presents."

Another chuckle and he held it up. "I grew up on a farm Pris, no one likes potatoes more then me, but you still have to eat other things." He folded it over once and placed it on top of the other picture, hands folded on his chest now.

"did you grow up on a potato farm? i tried to make a potato farm in my backyard. like a garden. but i don't know if i actually got any potatoes or not. they weren't done growing, and i live with my brother now." a little shrug from pris as she flipped back to her artmaking page, and continued to work on her drawing of doctor donnie duck that she was doing with feelings.

"It was an everything farm, i had potatoes, corn, lettuce. We sold to local grocers and restaurants, and where one of the families that where able to sustain the farm that way, still are. Which is really cool." said with a nod, stretching hands out before him before letting them fall, stretched out to his sides.

"hm. hm hm hm." pris half-sung that thoughtfully to herself as she mulled over what he told her. "fa--a-a--a-a-a--arm," she drew out the word nice and long and softly to herself. flipping the page rather suddenly, she pulled her piece of charcoal out of her apron and started some sketching. she had an idea for his wall upstairs, maybe. "that sounds nice. unless there were apples." pris was not a fan of apples. at all.

"No, apples are usually in northern areas, where its usually more temperate." said with a nod. When he heard the charcoal again he turned his head upside down to look at her and see what she was drawing this time. "Welll maybe I'll give the school a call, and see about a class field trip."

she was sketching a tangle of corn, potato and lettuce plants in a pattern that would look like she was turning the page into a piece of wallpaper. it was just so she could remember that fact about donald for when she started working on his walls next time. and she left a 5'' circle in the center of the pattern, and in that circle she started to sketch donald's bust. "to a farm? to your farm? my....can...." she was getting caught up in her words. the push of her charcoal against the page got firmer in its scrrratch. "i don't know. about my class. and trips." said quickly and flatly. pris didn't really....well her classmates sort of treated her as a ghost.

"Well that, you know.... maybe just you and your brother then? My mom and dad really like company... always have. You know we used to have sleep overs with like ten kids, and mom would make breakfast for everyone in the morning. It was good times."

"my brother. mhm mhm mhm." pris squirmed a little bit when he mentioned dommy. he'd see the girl's legs shift as she squirmed her butt in the grass, and he'd hear the leaves rustling around her too. "that would be better. i don't know if dommy's ever been to a farm. he'd have to take off from work. which is good because he works to much. do you miss them?" his parents. she was very quickly sketching his face in the center of her farm sketch, and then she flipped back to the drawing she was working on. notice when she flipped back to it she drew her knees up so he wouldn't be able to see the drawing.

"He should, maybe I'll ask him. Get him to take a week or so off. And we can go visit mom and dad Blake." There was another nod, picking a blade of grass and bringing into his field of vision before pressing it between thumbs and blew into it a high pitched whistle.

[Guest]

"a week with doctor duck," pris said that to herself in a sing song as he blew on the grass, tapping her feet against the ground in a happy little rhythm. she seemed quite pleased at that prospect. she liked hanging out with donnie duck very much. "would you ever stop spending time with me if you found out i was sixteen and i talked about what we did together with other people?" it was asked rather suddenly from her, and for the first time he'd see pris inching forward so that she could peep out from the bush and see his face.

"Well, since I already know that you're sixteen, and I don't care if you tell other people what we do... I'd say, no I'd not stop hanging out with you... why would I. That would be a really dumb reason." Pausing his blowing to say that and then giving another in the 'shave and a hair cut rhythm'.

pris looked very satisfied. and quiet happy, smiling down at her sketchbook on her lap. that's because he was donnie duck, he wouldn't abandon her. sated, she went back to her drawing. "that's what bren said. when i said to bren that i told him about the time he and i spent in the cemetery and at his apartment and stuff and that i told my brother too and that both of you asked me questions about it he said that after the tour was over we shouldn't hang out anymore because he is too much older and it was going to upset people and that if i kept telling them everything it wasn't a good system at all and it would get him into trouble."

"Well Bren sounds like a shady character, who was really really selfish to say something like that Pris." Doctor Blake did sit up now though, and even turned so he was facing her as he sat. "You're better off without a shady character like that hanging around with you."

a soft little squeal from prissy as she pulled her knees up, to close in her sketchpad tighter to her to block most of his view of it. funny how she wouldn't let him see this one particular drawing. "shady really really selfish?" she echoed that thoughtfully as she paused in her pastel work to have a blending moment with her fingers to clean up what she'd done so far. being very particular about this picture. "what makes a person shady really really selfish?" so she would know if bren was or not.

"Sorry." said before leaning back onto his palms. "Well, a shady really selfish person...likes to keep things hidden from their friends, and doesnt want them to tell their friends anything about knowing them. always wants something for themselves from their friends. And takes advantage of their friends too..."

a little smile to herself when he said sorry. she started to hum, quietly hum in her haunting atonal way, while he answered her. she might have been rocking a bit, even, but slowly so she didn't disturb her drawing. "hm hm hm," she said as she often did when she was considering something. "selllllllfish." rolling around the word in her mouth as she thought it over. "and shady. shady like trees like the real shady slim a slim jim....he's never wanted anything. besides to know where i want to go."

"Hm..." He said, watching her do her drawing. "Well thats good to know." Maybe there was a little something in his tone? Maybe he didn't like the thought of someone trying to take advantage of Pris, so maybe there was a bit of a protective tone in his voice when he said that. "Are you sad that he said that? and I'm not asking as a doctor, I'm asking as a friend. Who cares about how you feel."

there was a brief pause in her humming and her rocking. when he said he cared about how she felt. and then the humming and rocking started again, and so did her fingers working at blending on the page or stroking with the pastel in her hand. she made art very quickly. "i told him that all he was made up of was numbers filled with excuses because you have more numbers than him and you let me have a sleepover with you because the walls got bad and i didn't want to be alone and that you took the couch so i could have your bed and that you saved me from the cave and poof the next day and that you didn't see anything wrong with being at a cave with me that it was just him."

"Oh! Made up of numbers,.. and I have more." Pausing Doctor Blake looked up to think for a moment. "So, since I have more numbers, does that mean you like me then the other person Bren? It was Bren right?" Brow up in question.

"numbers filled with excuses, that's what he is." she reasserted that, apparently that excuses detail was important to her. and you have more numbers, like the rings on old trees...." pris kind of mumbled that second part for clarification. she was looking down at her drawing, shifting a little bit in the grass as she considered it. she looked....conflicted. she definitely looked unsure of herself and she definitely didn't look happy that she was unsure of herself, not happy at all. "bren yes brawny bren the man who's made of numbers filled with excuses." her index finger gave her drawing a little contemplative rub. she didn't answer his first question.

"Oh... alright then- maybe he sounded a little down, she only meant that he was older. And yeah, he fell back onto his back again. staring up at the sky again, watching the clouds roll off and away. "I'm sorry that he is so full of excuses... are you sad that he said not to hang out anymore?"

a soft, high pitched sound from her. it was a whine. she wasn't happy that he'd asked her that question again, she didn't like questions about her feelings. "i don't know. he spent time in the shade, maybe." it was a reluctant and very very quiet admittance. she pressed her lips very tightly together after she said that. before she rather suddenly ripped her drawing out of her book. scrambling to her feet, she left the drawing on his chest and crawled back into her bush to very hastily collect her things. the drawing was an artmaking with her feelings which almost never ever happened. he would recognize the place - in front of the ching-a-ching cave. and their position - it was when he coaxed her to sit down in the grass with him after boom went away and he caught her. but there was a difference in the drawing. she was dressed like a pretty pretty princess. and he was dressed like a prince charming. maybe because she'd lately been thinking about the cinderella ball. she announced from inside her bush, "i have to catch my bus."

"Huh?" And Doctor Blake sat up, and looked down at the picture, watching it for a moment before he stood quickly and turned to face her. "Pris, this is really really good, thank you... hold up a second, let me walk with you to the stop."

pris' cheeks were so red she looked like she might burst open like a too-ripe cherry. the girl was obviously not very used to sharing her feelings, which is why she tromped out of the bushes shrieking a little bit when one of the branches was hooked on her coat and she couldn't get it off. "um, i, um, i, um..." stuck. she was totally stuck with her words too, she didn't know what to say or do and she felt very very embarrassed that she'd shared the picture. "you can keep it," she blurted out finally. she yanked her arm nice and hard and pulled the fabric of the coat in the process, but at least she was free of the bush. "i have to catch my bus," was stupidly repeated as she started in that direction.

"Thank you, I'm going to put it on my wall back at the inn." Doctor Blake reached out and stopped her to give her a nice tight hug, smiling down at her. "Thank you Pris. really... When is your bus? Do you need a taxi out the the bus stop?"

when he hugged her, pretty pretty pris froze. like a deer in headlights. she was being hugged by her most precious donnie duck. it took a moment, but he'd feel her head come to rest on his chest, even if she didn't hug him back. she closed her eyes instead, and listened to his heart. he'd feel her fingers clutch at the front of his shirt. "it's a secret drawing," she murmured quietly, her words muffled a bit by how she was standing, "because it's not a portrait it has feelings...." that part of what she said was even softer than her first words. "and i don't know but it always comes." the bus.

"Alright Pris, I'll keep it to myself. And I wont just show it off to anyone alright?" Stepping back, and bringing a hand up to ruffle the top of her head. "Come on, you want me to walk you to the stop?"

pris probably still looked like a cherry that was about to explode, but she seemed a bit more okay with that. she even smiled, a foolish little smile, when he ruffled her hair. she bobbed her head in a bunch of nods. "okay," said bobblehead pris. "okay okay." then the girl got very very brave. she reached out and took the hand of doctor donnie duck. so they would walk to the bus stop with held hands. yes, her hand seemed to say to his hand with how tightly she took it, she did like him much better than numbers as excuses bren.