10/12/2013- AN: See? Short! Just like I promised.
"Hey! Wildwing!" an unfamiliar, decidedly female voice called to the team leader. "Wait up!"
The white drake paused and turned around to see who was calling him. He'd been set on going out for a bit and having a little time to himself for a change. Now, someone else wanted his attention.
He was almost horrified to see the monstrous mascot jogging down the concrete hallway towards him. The blades of the ice skates clinked softly with each step, adding an almost musical quality to the gangly run.
"Thanks for waiting," the feminine voice said from behind that misshapen head. "It's not that easy to run around in this thing." She reached up and removed the costumed head, revealing a pretty, young woman. Her blond hair was tied back in a neat bun and her green eyes sparkled with a mischief Wildwing recognized all to well. "I'm Daphne," she introduced herself as she propped the costume head on one hip and extended her right hand.
"Hello." Wildwing wasn't exactly sure what she wanted, but was willing to wait around and see where this conversation led.
"I just wanted to say thank you. I really need this job and I was sure you'd tell Phil to shove it when you saw the costume."
"I still could." Oh, how he wanted to. But, he'd given the okay and he never went back on his word. "But, I probably won't."
"You're sure you're okay with it?" She really seemed to care what he thought about the whole situation, despite the fact that she would loose this job if he changed his mind.
"Phil said Nana made the costume. I can't really hurt her feelings. She did a lot for us when we first got here."
"I can totally see her doing that. She's a crazy old coot."
"You have no idea." Wildwing couldn't help but smile at the memory for Phil's little, old grandmother who had adopted the entire team as her own bubala's. They'd been confused by the word until Phil explained that it was a Yiddish term of endearment, typically used by grandmothers to their grandchildren. Why Phil insisted on using it when trying to convince him of something, Wildwing still couldn't figure out.
"Well, I was wondering," Daphne bobbed her head a little, her mouth crooked to one side as she studied the team captain. "Is there anything you do or don't want me to do as the mascot? I mean, I do kinda look like you and the names are way too similar for my taste."
"Um..." Wildwing scratched his head a little as he thought. "Just be professional about it, I guess." It was really hard to come up with an answer to that question on the spot. It only took seconds for him to think of a plan in battle; now, he was at a complete loss for how to deal with a costumed portrayal of himself.
"This is my first time as a mascot, so I'm kind of learning as I go. Don't worry, I'll try not to do anything that would embarrass you! Beyond existing, that is."
"You're existence isn't an embarrassment," Wildwing smiled. "The costume, however..."
She laughed and shifted the bulbous head around a little.
"I am curious about one thing," he said as he studied the orange feet. "How are those skates on there?"
"Oh! Easy." She set the head on the floor and leaned on the wall for support as she removed one of the fabric goal pads. Once the cover had been removed, lacing was clearly visible on the costumed shin. "The whole orange part of the leg is a boot."
"That makes sense." Now that he studied the outfit a little closer, he had to admit that he was impressed with the craftsmanship that went into it. Nana had done a spectacular job with modifying the suit to fit Daphne. It was tailored enough to allow her to move with minimal restrictions, yet still resembled a cartoonized version of a duck. "And the gloves?"
Still smiling, Daphne held up a hand. It looked like she had four fingers, just like the rest of the team.
"She made them special. I just keep my middle and ring fingers together and, voila, instant duck hands." She laughed again and shook her head. "It does make it a little weird to hold a hockey stick, though. I have no idea how Phil expects me to play street hockey in this thing. I guess I'll just have to practice."
"Wait a minute. Street hockey?" What kind of trouble was Phil cooking up now?
"He didn't tell you? He wants me to represent the team on a street hockey league during the off season. I'm totally cool with the idea, but playing goalie in this is going to be tough."
"Seriously?" Just when he was beginning to accept the idea of the mascot, he'd found yet another level of Phil's depravity.
"Since I already play goalie in a street hockey league, it's not that big a stretch."
"How long have you been playing hockey?"
"Oh, since I was about thirteen. I used to want to be a figure skater but puberty kind of killed that dream." She had to silently laugh to herself at the duck's sudden discomfort. "My legs grew faster than the rest of me and I became totally uncoordinated. Rather than give up entirely, I switched to hockey. I started street hockey when my rink had to close down for repairs and haven't gone back since. It's so much nicer to play outside in the sun!"
"Can't blame you there." Playing hockey outside was definitely one of the things he missed about Puckworld.
"Yeah. At least that will be during the summer break, so it won't interfere with my college classes."
"Wait. You're in college? Won't this whole job be a problem?" Despite never having attended higher education himself, he knew how time consuming college could be.
"Nope! I do everything online. I can totally keep up with my classes during road trips and everything. Besides, I really, really need this job. College ain't cheap!"
"No, I suppose it isn't."
"I guess I should let you get going now. You're probably pretty busy and I don't want to keep you. Besides, I've got to go do some test runs of the pre-game show for tomorrow night. Nice meeting you!"
"You too." Wildwing had to shake his head in bewilderment at the strange encounter. Even if the whole costume thing was a horrible idea, at least the girl portraying him seemed nice enough.
The white duck consciously pushed away thoughts of the new mess his manager had made for him as he exited the Pond and entered the sunlight. The whole afternoon was wide open for anything he wanted to do, providing Dragaunus stayed silent. A swim in the ocean sounded like heaven and he was in a mood to indulge himself a little bit.
AN: In the exciting conclusion of Wild Wing: Team Mascot, you'll finally get to meet Phil's Nana!