Third Floor Common Room - Thursday Morning

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

Katara hadn't had much sleep last night.  So after Chad came in, she migrated out to the Common Room so her lack of sleeping wouldn't bother him.  Shortly towards dawn, she fell asleep on the couch.

And woke up to find weetiny penguins staring at her.  "Awww" was the immediate reaction followed quickly by trying to entice one or two into her hand to pet.  They came willingly enough even though she didn't have any dried fish.  Which made her immediately wonder if they were hungry.  That was when the announcements came on, and, in a stunning display of hypocrisy from the girl who grew up eating penguin, Katara frowned mightily at the speaker.  "NOT FOR EATING."

So with a promise to the penguins that she'd try to get them food in a bit, Katara got up and found pen and paper.  A short but laborious struggle later with the English language later, she was searching for dried fish or something penguins might eat in the Common Room kitchen.

A sign was posted on the door.

PENGUINS
(NOT FOR EATING)

 

[OOC: Open as CRs are.  I'm at work so potential wee slowplay]

Comments

[cantjossme.livejournal.com]

Mel stumbled into the common room with bedhead and wearing a bathrobe.

"Gsdlkfslfdlk. Coffee."

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

Katara snickered and pointed at the coffeemaker. Which wasn't running. Or on.

"Morning, Mel."

[cantjossme.livejournal.com]

Mel grunted something in return and headed over to the coffee machine. When she pulled out the hopper to put the coffee in a penguin popped it's wee tiny head out and waved at Mel.

Mel looked at the penguin.

Then around the common room where apparently there were more penguins.

And then looked at Katara with a look of "WTF?"

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

"There are penguins," Katara replied helpfully as she tried to keep three of them from climbing right into the refrigerator. "But don't eat them. No matter what the Vice Principal says."

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

Neil came back through the common room after his class in the morning.

He paused as his foot almost came down on a wee!tiny penguine and he stood there for a moment, leg raised as he contemplated a safe place to put his foot down.

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

Katara giggled and tried to tempt the penguin over with a piece of lunchmeat. "Hi Neil. I'd advise shuffling."

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

"Morning, Katara." Neil gave the girl a rueful sort of smile and as the penguin moved out of the way he very gingerly set his foot back down on the floor.

"Shuffling, sounds like a good idea. Um, do we know how this happened? Are they someone's science experiment?"

[cantjossme.livejournal.com]

Mel looked at the penguin again who gave a wave of its flipper before hopping onto her arm and then hopping once again into the pocket of her bathrobe.

"Do I really even want to know what a penguin tastes like?" Mel asked as she put in a coffee filter.

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

She shrugged as a group of penguins swarmed her begging for meat. She gleed as their little wings flapped.

"Announcements didn't say. But I guess we can figure they're not students. There are way too many of them."

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

Katara shrugged and set a handful of penguins on the counter as they continued to try to invade the refrigerator. "It's really good actually. Especially penguin jerky. But these guys are too little to eat."

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

"I dunno, seems dangerous to make assumptions around this school," Neil said a little dryly.

Opening his Anatomy notebook he held it down on penguin level to see if the flightless waterfowl wanted to read but when the little penguin gave it a peck with it's beak and then wandered off towards the source of food, Neil figured Katara probably had the right of it.

"Do you think we should get them a little pool or something? Don't penguins like to be wet?"

[cantjossme.livejournal.com]

"I dunno," Mel said as the coffee began to brew. "You could always roll them in flour and deep fry them."

[tyler-gone.livejournal.com]

Tyler roamed into the common room and looked a little dumbfounded at the penguins. Eventually a smile crept across his face.

He crouched near the couch, carefully watching the pengins.

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

"That's not a bad point. Maybe sometime in the past all the students here were penguins and they got transported to today. Somehow."

She glanced from the penguins to Neil. "That's an excellent idea. They like to be cold too." Rummaging through the cupboards, she found a big roasting pan and filled it with water. Katara left the faucet running when she set the pan on the floor and waterbended some ice ramps and slides up into the pan.

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

Katara looked at him doubtfully. "Not for eating!" she whispered.

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

"But they're so cute!" Katara said, gesturing to the ones trundling across the counter to inspect the coffee pot. "And we have plenty of food already."

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

Neil might have smoothered a comment with a cough when Katara pulled out a roasting pan but...it seemed to be doing the trick so as long as no one mistook the gesture the penguins should be safe enough.

His eyebrow arched when he saw her bend the water and produce the ice ramps but he could only grin and shake his head slightly.

"That looks like a useful talent." He remarked.

[cantjossme.livejournal.com]

The penguin that was in the pocket of her robe stuck its head out and gave Mel a wee tiny squawk in a scolding fashion.

"Okay. Okay," Mmel said rolling her eyes. "At least it beats having a pet elephant."

[tyler-gone.livejournal.com]

Tyler gave Katara a slightly irritated glance "Course not," he said. "People eat penguins?"

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

Katara blushed at Neil's comment. "Oh. Yes. It really is." She made a few icebergs in the water and picked up a penguin then carefully set him on the ice.

There were a few squeaks as the penguins investigated their new playground before diving in.

She smiled at him. "I forget everyone just doesn't know that I waterbend by now."

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

She frowned at him. "Yes. But these are too little."

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

"An elephant rat?" Katara asked. "I think an elephant koi would be hard to keep in the dorms though."

She found a pack of lunchmeat and began trying to feed the penguins.

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

Standing over roasting pan, Neil watched the happy penguins with a grin.

"Hmm?" He said, looking up at Katara and then smiling. "I don't exactly start conversations by asking. I figure everyone here has something special about them."

[cantjossme.livejournal.com]

"Nah. Just some weird dream I had a few days ago," Mel said shaking her head as she kept an eye on the coffee maker. "For some reason I had a very small elephant as a pet."

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

Katara snickered. "Did you eat something funny the night before? Because that's just weird."