Never ever have I ever felt so low

[purebred]

Who| Lady & Open
What| Exploring the Capitol, looking for birds.
Where| A park
When| Presently
Warnings/Notes| N/A

It had taken quite awhile for Lady to feel safe enough to venture out into the world again. Of course, she'd gone through the motions and done what was asked of her, but her first instinct was to sulk and hide in her shame and let her fear consume her and hold her like a blanket. This world had seemed so beautiful before she'd entered the arena. Now everything seemed dark and overwhelming again.

But she was alive again, even if she wasn't able to understand the methods or reasons behind her resurrection. And while she wasn't in her right body yet, she was able to move and contemplate things. So once she felt up to it, she dressed herself properly and ventured out into the world, looking for birds to chase. Or squirrels. She always liked squirrels.

Comments

[purebred]

She looked up, a pleasant, almost praise-seeking expression on her face. She was glad for the attention, even if it was from someone she didn't know and perhaps had no reason to speak to. "I haven't seen birds like these either. Do you happen to know what kind of birds they are?"

[buildingreality]

That was an interesting look. Not one she expected, but interesting enough. "Sadly, no, but I've never been that inclined to memorise birds before. It's also possible they're unique to the Capitol; I wouldn't be surprised."

[purebred]

"In our neighborhood, we would sometimes see pigeons," Lady said, helpfully, she thought. Still, she was perplexed, and the eager look on her face became slightly muddled. "But these certainly aren't like any pigeons I've ever seen. I wonder how it is that that animals here are so different."

[buildingreality]

"They do things to them," Ariadne explained, having looked into the concept of the muttations a little bit. Most people didn't care about the details of the thing, nor the science; she thought that Lady might have been one of those. "Probably the same way they do things to themselves to make themselves unique - why shouldn't the animals be the same?"

[purebred]

"Because we didn't choose to be unique." She spoke without thinking, still considering herself part of the animal population. "Those humans chose to change themselves. We... I mean, the animals didn't have any say in the matter, did they?"

[buildingreality]

She blinked, unsure about the 'we' reference. At first thought, it could possibly just refer to the lot of them as outsiders, those brought in for the Capitol's amusement. After that, she wasn't entirely sure.

"Most of us don't have any say in the matter."

[purebred]

"But at least you've been left in your right form." She seemed very certain when she spoke, at first. But a moment later she realized that is was presumptuous to think that this other lady was in her proper body and hadn't been misplaced as she had been. And it would be awfully impolite to assume anything of the sort. "Forgive me. That is, I should guess that you are like the other humans, in that you were born as a human and not as an animal."

[buildingreality]

Another blink. Her initial thoughts niggled at the back of her mind, and Ariadne found herself quietly revising the assumption. Bizarre as it was, she supposed if the Capitol had the power to do everything they already had, perhaps it wasn't so farfetched to think that they could transplant the soul of an animal into another body.

But it was making her head spin trying to think about it.

"I was, you're right. I'm human." She paused. "What were you before?"

[purebred]

Lady considers before answering, wondering if this lady will take her at her word, as Mister Wayne had, or if she won't believe it at all, as did Enjolras. Finally, her lips purse together, and with much deliberation she responds. "I'm a cocker spaniel."

[buildingreality]

There really wasn't any way to take that but with a grain of salt. She'd seen little other proof that the Capitol had the means to change this woman's form entirely, but then again, it wasn't every day you met someone claiming to be a cocker spaniel.

So Ariadne just blinked again, and asked: "What was that like?"