She stepped into a rather opulent office that didn't match the slightly shabby store front that she had just come from. There weren't any humans in the room at the moment, though she could see a door off to the left that had a light shining under it. She decided to examine the room a bit to try and figure out what type of person this Mr. Chau was.
There was a large tapestry behind the desk that looked to be very old while the wall behind her was a painted mural of a mountain landscape. The wall to the left was home to a large painting of a nearly naked woman in what appeared to be in the middle of a dance and it left very little room for the door. However, these signs of a man with a lot of wealth and very little taste only slightly registered in her mind.
The entire wall to the right was what got her attention. It was painted a deep crimson red. A stylized relief painted in gold was a scene of a dragon fighting a giant bird engulfed in flames.
"Phoenix," she whispered as she gently traced the image.
She felt a stirring heat within her chest, but she ignored it like she always did when the living flame got a bit restless.
"The eternal struggle," a deep man's voice said from across the room. "Good versus evil."
"But which one is the good and which one is the evil?" she softly questioned.
"Guess it depends on what side of the line you're standing on," he replied. "You aren't what I was expecting."
"And what were you expecting?" she asked, keeping her back to him.
"A guy, mostly," he answer then she turned to face him. "And a lot fewer feathers."
She smiled at his honesty.
"I assume that you're Mr. Chau," she said as she crossed the office.
He was a tall man with short white hair and he wore a very expensive red suit. He had on dark glasses so she couldn't tell what his eye color was. From the looks of the scaring on his face, chances were, he was hiding a damaged eye.
"You can assume that," he replied as he held out his hand to her. "And you would be?"
"You can call me Princess Ducky for now," she responded as she delicately put her hand in his.
"Well, your highness, what can I do for you?" he questioned as he indicated that she should take the seat in front of his desk.
"I've just come to your planet and find myself in need of money and quickly," she told him while he took his own seat.
"Why not ask the Mighty Ducks for help?" he inquired as he leaned back in his chair. "They're obviously from the same planet as you. I can tell you how to find them."
"The Mighty Ducks and I have already, shall we say, met," she explained. "To say that we don't exactly get along is like saying ice is a little chilly."
"So what do you want from me?" he inquired.
"I have these," she replied as she removed a pair links from the end of her belt. "I have been told that gold and gems have a value on this planet. The links are solid gold, not a mixture of metals."
She reached across the desk and laid the links in his open palm. He pulled a jewelers loop and a small scale from a desk drawer and examined first the ruby and then the emerald nestled in the gold carefully. She had forgotten that one of the links had an emerald in it. He then weighed them before typing something into the computer on the side of his desk. She waited patiently, her eyes never leaving him.
"Very nice," he finally admitted as he put the loop and scale away. "I can give you a couple hundred for them."
"Is that what they're worth?" she asked, detecting his deceit a mile away.
"You can't expect to get full value for this," he tried to explain. "I'm a business man, not a charity."
"I wasn't expecting to get their full worth," she responded. "I am expecting to get a fair price though. So, I ask again, what are they worth?"
"I'll give you $500 for 'em," he offered again.
"I'm sorry, do I look like I fell off of the gullible truck and landed in a vat of stupid?" she demanded, her patience thinning. "Please tell me what they're worth."
"Ok, a $1,000, but that's my final offer," he stated.
She looked down into her lap so he couldn't see her eyes.
"I'm sorry to have wasted your time," she said as calmly she could as she stood up and held out her hand for the links.
He leaned forward and he reluctantly handed them over. Their fingers touched briefly, but it was enough. The spell she hit him with slammed him back into his seat.
"They're worth around $5,000 each," he gasped.
"There, that wasn't so hard, now was it?" she asked with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Now, I do understand that giving me full value isn't possible. I'd like $9,000. That would leave you with a $1,000 profit margin."
"Now you're thinking I'm the stupid one," he countered, not knowing what had come over him, but he was quick to recover. "I'll give you $5,000."
They spent the next several minutes haggling. In the end, she got nearly $8,000 for the links in cash. He wasn't happy about it and reluctantly gave her a large envelope to carry the money in.
He saw her to the door and then returned to his desk. As soon as he sat down, he tried to figure out how he had been bettered by not only a girl, but a duck no less.
He was finally getting off of the phone when she came out of the back office. If she hadn't been carrying the sizable envelope that was filled with what he assumed was money, he wouldn't have been able to tell that she had made a deal. Her belt didn't look any smaller, but what did he know? He worked in construction, not jewelry or fashion.
"Everything go ok?" he asked.
"Oh yes," she replied happily. "Where's Wildwing?"
"He went outside and was talking to a couple of his team mates," he answered. "Ducky, what's going on? Those team mates have been following us since we left the restaurant and Wildwing hasn't exactly been jumping for joy that you're here."
"On my world, ducks with blue beaks aren't exactly welcomed in polite society," she tried to explain.
"Why not?" he questioned. "You're a nice person. Heck, Gipsy loves you and she's very picky about who she likes."
"It's a very long and complicated reason," she stated. "It would take more time and a deeper understanding of Puckworld society than you probably ever wanted to know."
"So, he's just prejudice?" he inquired.
"Yes, but it's not really his fault," she replied as she headed towards the door. "He is what society has made him to be. He's actually handling this whole thing rather well, all things considered."
"So, what now?" he asked while he held the door for her even with Gipsy sleeping in his arms.
"I need to go shopping," she told him, holding up the envelope. "The slippers I'm wearing are about to fall off of my feet. And as nice as this dress is, it's just not practical."
"I can see that," he replied as they stepped outside. "I can take you to the store Mako likes to shop at."
"That sounds like a good start," she agreed.
"What sounds like a good start?" Wildwing asked as he stepped up to them.
"Shopping," she replied with a smile.
"Do you really need to do that now?" Wildwing questioned.
"Yes," she responded. "These slippers aren't going to last much longer. Raleigh, would you please lead the way?"
Wildwing could only grind his beak as the human led them to the other end of the mall. He had never had a serious relationship on Puckworld, but he had heard from enough older male relatives to know that he wasn't going to like this. If being dragged from store to store, or even department to department, didn't drive him crazy, the mind numbing boredom would.
By the time they entered the large department store, he was silently hoping Lord Dragaunus would attack the mall. Unfortunately for him, no attack was forthcoming. After finding an employee to help her, he and Raleigh tagged along behind the females.
He glanced at the human man and was at least thankful that he didn't have a sleeping child to lug around. If the occasional shifting of Gipsy was any indication, it wasn't a comfortable experience. He remembered his mom once describing carrying a sleeping duckling was akin to carrying a bag of hot, wet concrete that drooled. Not that he was going to be having that experience in his foreseeable future, but he kind of felt for the guy.
He tried to think of ways to get the human to go away, but he wasn't having any luck with ideas. Even when he was free of the man, there was still the problem of getting her back to The Pond. How was he going to convince her that she wanted to stay with him and his team? How would the team take it? Would they even be able to hold her if she didn't want to be there?
He was so lost in thought as he followed her through the store that he wasn't really paying attention where he was going. Raleigh suddenly grabbed the back of his shirt and brought him to a stop. He frowned at the man and only got a crooked smile in response.
"I don't know about where you're from, but on this planet, following a woman that you've only just met in there will likely result in a slap across the face," Raleigh stated.
Wildwing looked at where the man was pointing and cringed. He had almost followed her into the changing rooms. Yes, that would have resulted in a slap, if he was lucky.
"Thanks," Wildwing mumbled.
He looked around for someplace to sit down, but there was nothing. He tried to find something to lean against, but the walls were covered with shelves of clothes and mirrors. He guessed it could be worse. He could be stuck holding her purse.
"Daddy?" a sleepy little voice said. "Gotta go potty."
"Ok, sweetheart," Raleigh said as he started to look around.
"Sir, the bathrooms are that way," a nearby employee told him, pointing towards a door not too far away.
"Thanks," Raleigh replied before he made a beeline for the bathrooms.
Wildwing wondered why he nearly took off like a Saurian hunter drone was after him. He didn't think about it for long because she came out of the changing area at that moment.
She was wearing a mini dress that revealed her legs. It showed a lot of leg. His breath hitched in his throat as he couldn't tear his gaze away from those shapely appendages.
She managed not to laugh at the look on his face as she checked her reflection in the mirror. It made her feel good to know that she could get that type of reaction out of him. The looks of anger and disgust that she'd been getting since she had woken up had been getting to her. Though she did her best to hide it, it wasn't easy.
She had been given those looks before from non-mages. The first had been from the stranger that saved her sister and then tried to kill her. The second was from Canard when he finally realized what she was. The last time had been Canard's team and that had been one big hate fest when she had first appeared.
She had seen those looks, accepted them and moved on. But when she got them from Wildwing, it was different. The question was why.
She was on the verge of asking his opinion on the dress, but kept her beak shut. From the expression on his face, she doubted he could string two words together right at that moment. With a little twirl to see how the skirt flowed, she turned to see how it looked in the mirror before heading back into the dressing room.
He stood there completely thunderstruck. His brain was misfiring so badly that it was a wonder he was managing to stay upright. A sharp smack between his shoulder blades reminded him to breathe.
"Snap out of it,Wildwing," Mallory growled from behind him.
He turned and saw his team mate stalking away. She practically had steam coming off of her. He gave himself a good mental shake.
He couldn't blame her for being upset. He was gawking at the enemy's legs, her really, really shapely legs.
"Snap out of it, Wildwing," he repeated to himself with a sharp head shake.
By the time she came out again with another outfit on, he had taken on an air of boredom. He wasn't looking directly at her any more, but she knew that didn't mean he wasn't watching her. She caught him staring in the mirror as she checked the fit of the jeans she was wearing. Oh yeah, he was watching.
She came out several more times, each time with a different outfit. By the time Raleigh returned holding Gipsy's hand, he wasn't sure if she tried on two outfits or twenty. He was more tired now than after playing a game of hockey without any breaks and all he had done was stand there.
"Has she come out yet?" Raleigh asked.
"Several times," Wildwing grumbled and Raleigh laughed.
"I guess women's shopping genes are universal," Raleigh chuckled. "I think women put us through clothes shopping torture just to see how tough we are."
"Want to go, Daddy," Gipsy demanded.
"In a minute, honey," Raleigh told his daughter. "Don't you want to say goodbye to Princess Ducky?"
"Princess Ducky come with us?" she asked hopefully.
"No sweetie," he answered.
"You're leaving?" Wildwing inquired, hoping against hope that he would finally be rid of the man.
"There's a problem at one of the work sites," Raleigh explained as Ducky appeared back in her dress and holding a small pile of clothes. "I just got off the phone with my project manager and I need to go straighten things out before everything blows up."
"Thank you so much for everything you've done," Ducky said while Gipsy latched onto her legs.
"You're very welcome," Raleigh replied as he handed her a small rectangle of card stock. "Here's my business card. Call me if you need anything."
"Thank you," she repeated while she stuck the card in the envelope with the money.
She handed the clothes and envelope in her hands to Wildwing and then peeled Gipsy off of her legs. She knelt down to the child's level and hugged her.
"Goodbye, Gipsy," Ducky whispered. "I'm so glad I met you."
"Say goodbye to Ducky, Gipsy," Raleigh instructed when it appeared the child wasn't letting go.
"Don't wanna go!" Gipsy pouted.
"Gipsy, you have to go with your daddy now," Ducky told her, loosening her hold on the child. "I have to stay here.
"No!" Gipsy whined louder.
"Gipsy, be good for your daddy and let go of my neck please," Ducky instructed. "It's time for you to go. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."
"No we won't," Gipsy cried.
"I live here now, so I'm sure we will," Ducky replied.
"Promise?" Gipsy sniffed and Ducky paused.
"I promise," Ducky whispered as she held the child tight.
If he hadn't been watching for it, Wildwing would have missed seeing her eyes glow for a moment. Before he could move, Gipsy gave Ducky a kiss on the cheek and then skipped over to her father.
"It was nice meeting you, Wildwing," Raleigh said as he took his daughter's hand.
"Likewise," Wildwing returned with a nod.
With a final wave to the ducks, the humans turned and headed for the exit. She got to her feet and he shoved the clothes and envelope back into her wings.
"What did you do to her?" he demanded, getting into her face.
"I gave her a hug," she responded, a bit confused by the sudden hostility.
"Your eyes glowed," he growled. "What did you do?"
"I made her a promise," she replied as she turned towards the registers.
"Which means what?" he nearly snarled as he walked with her.
"It means that bad things will happen to me if I don't fulfill it," she answered while she handed the employee standing there the clothes.
He stood staring at her as she completed her transaction. As soon as they were out of the human's earshot, he picked up the conversation.
"What do you mean 'bad things' will happen to you?" he asked.
"If I let the promise drag on too long, it will start pulling at me to complete it," she explained as she studied one of the store's signs. "If I don't fulfill it, the magic backlash will drive me insane. Fortunately, the only time frame on it was 'soon' which can be fairly flexible. I have a little while yet. Now I have a question for you."
"What?" he nearly snapped.
"When Raleigh and Mako said goodbye earlier, they pushed their faces together and Gipsy just pushed her face into my cheek," she started while she walked towards the escalators. "Why did they do that?"
"It's called kissing and they do it to show affection," he answered and she gave him a confused look. "It's like a beak rub."
"Oh, ok," she responded, happy to know that the child was just being affectionate.
"You've got your change of clothes, let's go," he grumbled as he took a step towards one of the exits.
"Sorry, I still need shoes," she told him rather cheerfully.
He could feel his stomach drop as she stepped onto the escalator. He was starting to lose hope that he would ever get out of there.
Author's Notes: Ducks have beaks, not lips. You need lips to kiss. So, in my universe, ducks don't kiss, they do beak rubs.