the jovial sort

[princesscliche]

WHO: John Egbert and Giselle
WHERE: THE PARK!!
WHEN: Anytime this week which suits our needs gosh
WARNINGS: Seek yer misery elsewhere
SUMMARY: Friendly, happy people join forces to be friendly and happy. Also ducks. Possibly fond reflections of salamanders.
FORMAT: no

Comments

[princesscliche]

Impulse was, rather than seek ways to dodge or imagine the greeting was aimed elsewhere, to zero in - search and enjoy, if you will - and find the source regardless of who it was directed to. One never knew! And that's what Giselle did, hair whipping and falling over a shoulder with the sudden move. Her searching expression broke into one of surprised delight - she was being greeted! How lovely!

"Hello!" she chirped in reply, slowing down and veering his way. Despite her smile, she tilted her head and gave him a squinting look, quickly trying to recall the face. "Have we met before? I'm not sure if we have...!"

[princesscliche]

A soft, swift exhale of relief took her, and Giselle's expression warmed. "Oh, good." The word hung in the air for but a second before she caught herself, giving a sheepish giggle. "Oh, no! I don't mean good to have never met you, I mean good that I hadn't met you and forgotten! I would've felt so terrible!" Absolutely terrible; he seemed like such a sweet boy!

She gave him a curtsy, flourish and all, as was proper when meeting new friends. "Well, my name's Giselle. What about you? Next time we speak, I'll be absolutely sure to remember it right away."

[princesscliche]

The bow delighted her, brought a fresh giggle out. Oh, yes. A very sweet boy!

"John Egbert," she recited, straightening as she tested it out. She gave a nod. "It's definitely a name I'll remember! It sounds like an important name to me."

As she moved to clasp her hands behind her back, the bag of breadcrumbs swung along and bounced off her leg. "What brought you out to the park today, John?" she asked. "Are you doing anything exciting?"

[princesscliche]

"Oh, absolutely!" she agreed, hair bouncing as she nodded. "Well, there are a lot of people around everywhere, but...but everywhere else, everyone's so busy. Everyone seems so much more relaxed here!" She paused, looking away with thought; a jogger caught her eye. "Oh...well, except the ones moving really fast, but even they don't look worried!"

Her attention swung right back to John with a big smile. "There's also a lot of animals around, too. And I'm actually going to go meet some right now! Would you like to join me?"

[princesscliche]

The notion struck her as surprising - surprising, not strange. Why, she'd played tag with her forest friends so many times before, squirrels included! No, not strange at all. Perhaps they were more alike than she realized, though. It was a nice thought!

"No, no," she assured, giggling. "Though, maybe if they want...but no! I was going to visit the duck family nearby!" She raised her bag of breadcrumbs as proof. "They've grown so much, and it's almost time for them to head south...all the more reason to spend more time with them, don't you think? Won't you join me?"

[princesscliche]

Giselle made to clap her hands together, but a hand clutching a bag made that a bit difficult; still, she clasped hand-over-hand, an expression of glee. "So many!" she declared, doing a little twist in place, letting her skirts twirl around her ankles. She just couldn't sit still for a second longer; tilting John's way, she crooked an elbow, offering her arm to her new friend - friends were an instant sort of thing, after all.

"And not too far away! Come along!" Hustle - even skip all the way to the duck pond? Yes. Yes, a definite possibility.

[princesscliche]

With the water in sight - and the old people, and the kids, and the ducks - Giselle slowed down with a breathless giggle, freeing John and bringing her hand to her face. She let out a trio of notes, a little musical scale, that seemed to grab the attention of the nearby animals rather quickly. Ducks popped their heads out of the water and squirrels stopped digging to hide their winter stashes and sparrows flitted down from higher places to spot the source.

Amid the oddball, inquisitive glances, Giselle beamed and, with a flourish, greeted all. "Hello, everyone! You all look so wonderful today!"

Ducks quacked, squirrels tittered, sparrows chirped, and old people gawked. Giselle drank it all in with a happy sigh, tilting her head down and smiling at John, giving his shoulder a squeeze before trotting to the bank of the pond where the animals began to congregate.

"Oh, my!" she cried with delight. "Why, look at you! Are those flying feathers I see? Your mother and father must be so proud! Oh-- Hee-hee! I see, I see. You are very clever

[princesscliche]

The second John appeared in Giselle's peripheral, her train of thought switched tracks. She waved her hands at the animals to try to get their collective attention.

"Everyone!" she called over the quacking and tittering. "Please, everyone! Listen, please! Pretty please!" When she held up a finger and gave them all a fond-yet-serious look for attention, the din settled, and all waited with bated breath (and quacks, and titters...).

"Now," she bowed her head gratefully, and a big smile was in place when she lifted it, preparing to introduce John with a flourish of the hand. "Everyone! This is John, a new friend! Please get along and make him feel welcome!"

And so they did, in the way animals did. By sniffing and quacking, climbing around and nipping, looking for stray crumbs in pockets and silly hairdos. The works. All the while Giselle giggled, plucking overeager animals away before things got too crazy.