He opened his mouth to speak, but then shook his head, embarrassed. "Nothing," he finally said. "I'm just glad I can talk to you."
"Ah. I'm glad I can talk to you too!" Avice grinned. "Do you remember when the sirens attacked? And I jumped in the water and... ta da! You saved me!"
"I do remember that," Jack said, nodding. "It was really, really cold. And slimy. And just generally unpleasant. And you fainted, if I recall correctly."
Avice laughed nervously. "Yes, that wasn't the best day. But look at the bright side! Nobody died!" She smiled brightly.
Jack snorted. "I suppose that's a good way to look at things. If no one died, it was an okay day. I admire your optimism."
Avice chuckled, subconsciously brushing her hair back. She watched him for a moment, not speaking, before realizing she was staring a second too long and looking back out at the deck.
They were quiet for a moment, until Jack stood up straight and rolled up his sleeves. He clapped his hands together and turned to Avice. "Want to go help me feed the homing pigeons?" he asked, with a mischievous grin.
"Come on then," he said, pulling at her arm. "They're this way." They began walking towards the back of the ship, with Jack talking over his shoulder. "They're a project Natalia has been working on," he said, the busy conversation that had surrounded them fading away as they walked from the crowd.
Avice followed closely behind, hanging on to his words. "I didn't know she was working on training homing pigeons. This is cool!"
Jack nodded. "I thought so too. It'll be a good system too, if it works. She'd be able to send messages all over without having to stop in a town." The back of the ship was mostly storage crates, stacked on top of each other, worn ropes securing them to the deck as they waited patiently for their day of use. Jack made a couple of turns through them, like a maze, until he finally turned a corner, revealing a large cage, about eight feet tall and seven feet wide. Inside was about half a dozen pigeons, disturbed by the pair's sudden arrival.
Avice tried not make any sudden movements, calmly moving toward the cage to look at the birds. "I think I read somewhere that pigeons aren't as dumb as they look, and are actually pretty intelligent." She spoke quietly, leaning closer to them.
"They actually can hear you and understand you," Jack said squatting down next to her. "And I gotta tell you, they don't appreciate being told that they look stupid."
"Ah... Which is exactly why I think they're clever!" She remarked smoothly. "How long has she been training them?"
"A couple of months now," Jack said. "She's still trying to figure out whether or not she wants them to come back. On one hand, it's helpful to have a two way conversation. On the other hand, making the pigeons come back means that they could be tracked." He turned to her suddenly, his face alight with excitement. "Want to hold one?"
Jack opened the cage carefully, and reached inside. He first pulled out a small plastic jacket, almost the shape of a large waffle cone cut in half. "We have to put this on them," he told Avice. "Otherwise they might fly away. Don't worry. It doesn't hurt them." Gently, he placed the jacket on a cooing bird. It barely seemed to notice. It was clear that they had felt this many times. Jack opened his hand, palm up, and the pigeon obediently stepped onto his hand. He pulled him out of the cage gingerly, and then held him out to Avice. "Keep your palms flat out," he said. (Hey, remember that thing that I asked, about what character would be played by which actor/actress? Here are my thoughts. Tell me if I was close!) Spoiler: Natalia Natalia would be played by Natalie Dormer. The names are just a coincidence. Spoiler: Jack Jack is tough, because I actually have a really hard time picturing him in my head, but my closest guess right now would be Hugh Dancy. Spoiler: Jade Agh! Another hard one. This is probably the closest I could get to - Leonor Varela. I actually have a very distinct image in my mind of Jade, but I can't find anyone who truly matches her. Spoiler: Ellia Ellia would be probably played by Amandla Stenberg. Spoiler: Avice Hmm.. Maybe Natalie Portman? That might be totally wrong, lol. Spoiler: Jared I only have a description, so I have to rely on that, but I'm thinking either Heath Ledger [:'-(] or this other guy that I have conveniently forgotten the name of. They'd both have to dye their hair a little bit, I suppose. OR Spoiler: Cobiah Again, I only have a description to work with, but let me think.... Jeremy Sumpter (aka live action Peter Pan)? He'd have to dye his hair and wear colored contacts, I suppose. Whoo. There's a very high likelihood that I missed the mark completely, but this is kinda what I think of your characters when I envision them..)
(Holy cow! I could totally see Avice played by Natalie Portman! Also, that's exactly how I imagined Jade and Ellia as well!) Avice held her palms flat, and carefully took the bird. The look on fer face was pure joy. "Oh- Oh my gosh. Look! I'm holding a pigeon!"
(Oh, good! I'm glad. Actually, Avice and Jade were the hardest ones for me to figure out, so I'm glad they look semi-accurate. o-o I actually have to go to bed now because I have school hella early, but I'll see you tomorrow! Sleep well!) "You are," Jack responded, nodding earnestly. "I see him." He reached out a finger, and gently pet the bird's feathers, stroking the back of his neck to the middle of his back. "This one is named Hugo," he said, squinting at the bird. "To be honest, I think Natalia hasn't sent them off yet for an official test run because she's afraid they might not return."
(Have a goodnight! Meanwhile, I'll be working on that Natalia sketch -w-) "I could see that being the case... Hmm. Hugo is good name for this bird. I approve!"
