Second Chances
Daisy was mumbling. Mumbling and searching in her purse as she walked double time down the sidewalk. The part of the dress she’d been working on before she left had taken longer than she'd expected. Which meant she was close to late for her appointment. And she would not be late to a selfcare day. Tardiness was the opposite of selfcare.
Plus Glinda was practically magic and she really didn't want to miss her appointment.
So of course since she was in a rush she had to run into the first other person she came across. It didn't knock either of them over, but it did make Daisy stumble backward. There was a hiss from the other person. And a big, dark stain that spread on their gray shirt. “Oh no, I'm so sorry!”
She dug back into her purse. There were a few tissues in there somewhere . Not for the first time today she cursed the size of the purse she’d grabbed. It was larger than most purses, more satchel than anything. Pink with dark purple stitching and plenty of pockets. It was one of the first purses she’d made- specifically for carrying around her sketchbook and pencils- and she was still proud of it. The purse was a reminder of how far she’d come since she was a teen. But right now it only served to irritate her. Daisy pushed aside her sketchbook to check one of the other pockets. This wasn’t even the purse she’d meant to grab, she’d just been in such a rush to get out of the house she hadn’t noticed until it was too late. Finally her hand wrapped around something soft and flimsy. With a noise of triumph she pulled a handful of tissues from her purse.
“I’m really sorry, I’m just in such a rush I didn’t even notice you! I’m late to my friend’s spa for a selfcare day,” Daisy said in a rush as she went to dab at the stain on the chicken’s shirt. Thankfully nothing fell. It seemed the only causality of the run in was the shirt. “You should come with! I’d love the company since my sister and nieces completely bailed on me! Completely free, my payment for wrecking your shirt!”
The chicken moved to brush past her and Daisy grabbed her arm. “Please? Come with me!” Before the girl could make a choice, Daisy dragged her toward Glinda’s spa. There wasn't much time left before her appointment.
---
“ The one day I don't wear black ,” Gandra thought as she pulled the fabric away from her feathers after the duck slammed into her. “ She should’ve been paying attention. ” Pot meet kettle. She hadn't been paying attention either. Instead she'd been juggling her coffee and the project she had on her phone as she ran down the sidewalk. So she would have some quiet, she didn't have her ears in. Even if the duck had been paying attention there was still at least a fifty percent chance they would've collided.
The girl rambled as she knocked Gandra’s hand from her shirt and began to dab at it with a swab of tissues. She couldn't hear her but even if she could she doubted that would help. “ Christ , can you speak slower ?” Gandra asked annoyedly. Apparently she couldn't as the duck just continued to ramble on. With a sigh Gandra rolled her eyes. There were more important things she had to do than wait for this duck to take a breath. So she moved to walk past her. A hand shot out and caught her arm. Finally, the duck was speaking at a normal rate.
Her expression made it clear she was apologizing. Before Gandra could really process any mouth movements, she was being pulled along with a surprising amount of strength. It didn't take a genius- which she was - to guess what the second half was. “Come with me!” Not like she had a choice. The duck had grabbed her by the wrist. Unknowingly rendering her unable to shock her. She stumbled along after the duck.
----
Daisy pulled the chicken along with her, not letting go until they were inside the spa. She refused to let her company leave her. Not when she needed to apologize somehow for ruining her shirt. Also when she genuinely wanted some company. She still couldn't believe her family had just bailed on her like that! And she hadn’t been able to get a hold of Gladstone since he left for Macaw weeks ago.
“Name,” a tired receptionist asked.
“Daisy Duck,” Daisy answered. “I have an appointment.”
Before the receptionist could check her computer for Daisy’s name a Brazilian teal swept into the room. Blonde hair fell in curls over her dark shoulders, bouncing with her excited movements. “Daisy! I was worried you’d completely miss your appointment!”
“Miss my appointment? Never!” Daisy scoffed though she'd been just about to do that very thing.
“And I see you brought someone with you!” Glinda cooed and practically glided over to the chicken, spinning around her and putting her hands on her shoulders.
“Don't touch me,” the chicken said annoyedly as she roughly brushed the teal’s blue hands from her shoulders.
“Feisty!” Glinda backed off. “Just what I’d expect from a friend of yours. What's her name?”
Daisy’s breath caught awkwardly in her throat as she realized she hadn't even asked. That was rude of her. And something she didn't want to admit to Glinda. But it was something she'd have to swallow. “I just met her, actually. I ran into her on the way here and… kinda forgot to get her name.”
Glinda tsked at her. “You always ask for names before you whisk someone off to somewhere, my dear. It's only right.” Then she turned to the chicken. “So what's your name?”
The strange woman's voice rang in Gandra's head with the clarity of a bell. Despite her not having her ears in. Even when she did , no voice was ever that crystalline and sharp. And she'd made her headphones so that voices were pretty damn clear. It threw her more than anything else that'd happened this day so far. She was so shocked she didn't even think before giving her answer. “Gandra.”
“Gandra,” Glinda repeated and the sweetness sounded fully genuine. “I hope you enjoy the spa. Now if you'd both follow me!”
She led them both out of the entrance lobby and down a hallway to the locker rooms. “Change in the room, my wife will be here in a few minutes to take you to the steam room.”
The duck got to the girl’s locker room first and held the door open. Without really thinking about it, Gandra stopped in her tracks. She didn’t ask for her to hold the door. Nor did she need the help. There were a few moments of silence before the duck began to speak and Gandra was forced to focus on her beak. “Are you gonna come in?”
“I don't need you to hold the door for me,” Gandra said.
Her face dropped before it went flat. “I don't know about you , but I don't like to be rude. I got this door fair and square. You can get the next one if you’d just put some pep in your step.”
That made Gandra pause. She… wasn't helping her. Right. Because this duck knew absolutely nothing about her; she wouldn't just help her like she couldn't handle anything. It wasn't like her brothers or her parents or the tutors they tried to hire for her. As far as she knew she was perfectly capable of anything and everything without help. Because she is . Gandra stepped inside with a quiet ‘thanks’.
This was the first time she’d ever been in a place like this. For a minute Gandra just stood there, unsure. The duck moved to a locker and opened the number lock.
“Do you want to use my locker?” She turned back toward Gandra to ask.
“I'd rather keep my stuff with me,” Gandra said.
“You sure? They don't really let you take your stuff around the rooms. Trust me, I've tried.”
“I'm sure ,” Gandra said. All her plans and work were on her phone. It wasn't something she wanted to lose and she wanted to work on her project. She was close to figuring out the last detail she needed to make a good prototype, she could feel it. Along with a feeling of importance. That someone, given the chance, would steal her plans and research. Their safety was priority. Though for some reason staying here felt like a priority as well. Mostly because she didn't think the duck would actually let her leave. Not without doing the whole spa thing with her.
The duck shrugged. “Suit-” She turned around before Gandra could get the other word, but she didn't need to see her beak move to know what it was. ‘ yourself .’ How often did she come here to have her own locker, anyway. Somehow Gandra got stuck with the girliest of girls. Because that was just her luck when she wanted to be alone . Gandra sighed turned her back on the duck to remove her shirt, following the other’s example. As she did she scanned the area. There’d likely be towels or robes or something in the rooms. Unless they expected you to have those items with you when you went to change. She put a foot up on a bench to remove her shoe.
A hand tapped her shoulder as she removed her other shoe. She looked behind herself to see the duck with a fancy robe. Fancier than one she’d expect to be given to guests. Which meant she had to own them.
“I just wanted to offer my sister's robe,” the duck said.
“… sure.” It’s not like she had a second option.
“Do you like it? I designed it myself,” she asked and it was the first time Gandra really saw anything like nervousness on her.
She shrugged a shoulder. “It’s nice.” The duck lit up like those two words sent electricity shooting through her veins. Unconsciously Gandra flexed a hand.
Gandra studied the duck. A designer. It was unlikely she was famous. Most famous people were dicks, if her recent employment to Beaks was anything to go off of.
It occurred to her she still didn't know her name. Had she given her name when they first got here? Most likely. She'd talked with the receptionist briefly before the teal with the strange voice appeared. It’s not like they would be around each other after this. If she never learned her name it wouldn’t be a loss.
Though it strangely almost felt like one.
A different bird, likely the wife the teal had talked about, walked into the room. The Guinea turaco looked them over before it felt like she zoomed in on Gandra's phone and headphones, still sitting around her neck. “You should leave those here.” Again she heard the voice, clear as a bell, almost like it was in her own head. It still threw her. But it surprised her less than it did with the first bird.
“I'd rather take them with me,” Gandra said.
“Keeping it will do more harm than good.” the turaco said. “The steam will just destroy everything you're trying to keep safe.”
Gandra clenched her teeth together. Though the other bird was right. The phone would likely be safe, but her headphones contained delicate bits and while she could remake them she’d rather not. With an annoyed breath she went over to the duck’s locker. With an almost apologetic look the duck opened it and Gandra put her things inside before closing it. Maybe a little harder than necessary. She’d really hoped to have more done for her project. And with the way things were shaping up that was looking less and less likely.
They were led back out of the room and into a different, smaller one. It was made of wood with what looked like a small stove covered in rocks flush against a wall. A small wooden bucket of water sat on a bench, a ladle already in it. Daisy sat next to the bucket. Gandra sat across from her.
The steam filled the room quickly. Silence joined it for a time.
Eventually the duck broke the silence, though Gandra only caught a portion of her beak’s movement.
Gandra blinked. “What?”
“What are you working on?” The duck repeated.
“Why do you wanna know?” The words were perhaps harsher than they should've been. But she was already annoyed she'd been dragged here against her will. Now to have someone who looked like they thought math was a country ask about her sophisticated science experiment? Well, that was laughable.
“We're gonna be here for a while, so I thought it'd be best to get to know each other.”
The duck was right, they'd likely be stuck here for a while. And while she was fine with silence she knew most others weren't and she'd rather not deal with the tension silence could cause. “Eyes,” Gandra said with a sigh. Somewhere she'd read that talking out a problem aloud could help fix it, anyhow. Not that she'd ever thought that was true.
“Eyes?”
“Yes.” Gandra said.
“What do you mean by that?” Daisy asked.
“I’m trying to create contacts that will upgrade the eye into a wireless camera and will also analyze what you see,” Gandra explained. “But I can’t figure out how to get them to activate.” Saying something to do it might be the easiest. But she wanted them to be something subtle. Something people wouldn’t notice. A command word was about the least subtle thing that could be used. The duck gave her a thoughtful look but didn’t say anything. After that the conversation turned to other things until the turaco- Elphy, the duck had said without her asking- returned to lead them through the other four spa treatments. By the time they were done and Gandra was able to separate herself from the duck she actually felt… good. And more than ready to finish her eyes.
----
A disaster. That’s what Mark’s plan had been. From beginning to end, nothing but a disaster. Though it wouldn’t have been if he’d actually done what she said . Or better yet, just hadn’t been there at all. If he’d just stayed behind at his stupidly large office and waited for her to bring the file of Suit saying the passcode back with her, they could’ve stolen it without a hitch.
Instead he’d been right outside the money bin the whole time, drank way more of the serum than she’d told him to, and broke into the lab before she could finish. Not to mention that he caused her cover to be blown. Or that he endangered children. She’s just glad she’d caught up with Suit before Beak’s could do anything really stupid. From the moment she’d taken his offer to use his labs she’d known it was a bad idea. Should’ve gone with her gut.
But she needed the funding. She never would’ve been able to finish her eyes without it. Or without that duck from months ago. It didn't take Gandra long to figure someone out. Not usually. Beaks she’d gotten spot on within five minutes. But at the spa, she’d found the duck who dragged her there difficult to read. Just when she'd thought she understood her, she had done or said something that forced her to change her mind. Like when, in the middle of the scrub, she’d just randomly suggested something that solved two separate problems she was having with the contact’s design. All while knowing only one of the problems.
Since her failed mission- because while she had gotten the passcode, she still considered it ‘failed’- she’d been thinking back to that duck. Like the record her family had owned when she was small that one of her brothers had scratched so it would only play one song. There wasn’t even really any reason for it. But her mind kept playing back that spark in the duck’s eyes. How she surprised her more in a few hours than anyone had in years.
Duckburg wasn’t a large place. But it wasn’t small, either. If she knew the duck’s name she’d be able to find her with only some trouble. Gandra hadn’t learned it. Without it there was only one way she could think of finding the duck again; through walking the streets in the hope she’d run into her. Their first meeting had been by chance, why not the second?
It was late afternoon. The fall weather was cool and she had on the orange sweater Steelbeak had gifted her. One hand deep in a pocket as the other thumbed through twitter. Some people were thirsting over some duck and she shook her head, scrolling past. The recent days had been quiet. It’d been weeks since she’d left Waddle and went full time with FOWL. Which was a much quieter organization than she’d been expecting. Though Waddle had never really been busy either. Since she’d finished with her eyes there wasn’t really much to do. Not until inspiration struck again.
As she had that thought, something completely different struck. A taller body walked right into hers. She looked up, annoyed, only to see the face that’d plagued her.
“I’m sorry!” The duck from a few months ago apologized. Unlike they’d met, she hadn’t managed to dumb coffee all over her and her headphones were on. Her voice wasn’t as high pitched as Gandra had expected it to be. “Gandra! I didn’t expect to run into you again.”
“Me either,” Gandra said. “I was hoping to though.”
“Oh?” The duck looked surprised. Which was understandable, they’d only known each other for a few hours. Gandra blinked. She’d used her name . Apparently a few hours was enough for the duck to memorize it. Suddenly Gandra felt her cheeks start to heat. Did that mean that the duck had thought of her, too? “Not for anything bad?”
“No. I was wondering if I could go to the spa with you again sometime?” Gandra asked.
The duck laughed lightly and Gandra’s hackles would’ve raised- she knew it was an odd question, they were still practically strangers. Even if she and possibly the duck had thought of each other. Acquaintances, maybe, if she wanted to be generous- but it wasn’t an unkind sound. Something surprised and joyful. A small smile on her beak and a spark in her eyes. Like the one she’d had when she talked about her designs and how they were kicking off but she still felt she needed to get her boss to really notice them. It made Gandra smile as well. “I was just on my way there, actually! Do you have time now?”
“Yeah, that’d be great,” Gandra said.
Like the first time Daisy took a hold of her. Except this time she took her hand. And this time Gandra didn't even consider shocking her.
“I never actually caught your name, that day,” Gandra admitted.
“Oh, it’s Daisy!” Daisy said with a smile, looking back at her. And Gandra felt her cheeks warm again.
