#its been forever since ive gone to the park and hand fed my birds

[moreover-clover]

I love birds so much. I want to just like, hand feed birds all the time. They're so pretty, they're so gentle, I love their colors. God I love birds!

[car-on-the-stairs]

Lucie Herondales Pet Duck.

I had this headcanon that Lucie tries to adopt a duck and then I ended up writing this, sooooooooo... I may or may not have already written multiple chapters? I tried y’all, but its been a long time since Ive written fanficition. I might post more if people seem to like this. 

“Why, he’s adorable James! You are just cruel and heartless.”

Lucie gave a dramatic flair of her arm as her brother glared at her. 

“Yes, I'm the problem, not the bloodthirsty beast that has lulled you into a false sense of security in order to gain our trust and then, when your back is turned it will sneak into our rooms in the middle of the night and-” 

Lucie was barely listening, she had already begun to break off pieces of the bread loaf she was carelessly grasping and scattering them on the ground. The handsome bird was rather greedily gulping down the bread crumbs and she was having trouble keeping up with its appetite. 

“You aren't listening, are you. That thing is like a siren, I'm afraid it is already too late for you, dear sister” James was edging slightly further away from the duck with each word “why, I'll have to inform Cordelia her future parabatai has fallen under the spell of a horrid creature, a terrible beast, an evil-” 

“It's a duck, Jamie.” 

“Don't speak its name! You may summon more,” 

Lucie knew her brother was mostly joking. He didn't really think that ducks were evil but he was genuinely afraid of them. That much was evident by the way that he was placing her between the duck and him, as though he may need to be shielded from such a fluffy, lush looking thing. She was beginning to think that the duck may even let her pet it if only she fed it more. It looked so very tame. 

“I think I'll name you Herbert,” She murmured softly at the newly named duck. 

It was such a lovely day for this. Such a lovely day for Lucie. The light breeze blowing its way through Hyde Park was revitalizing. The sound of trees rustling softly, water lapping gently on a faraway shore. It was a gorgeous day. Truly lovely. James was even here taking this walk with her. They had even found Herbert, just sitting there happily. A lovely, lovely day. 

Lucie wasn't fooling herself. Recently, she hadn’t been feeling great and she really wanted to be very happy today. She wanted to be completely overjoyed that her brother was joking with her like this. That she had found a duck to feed that was so tame. 

Here was the unfortunate thing, Lucie was having a hard time fully appreciating this day. She was meeting with Grace later to discuss Jesse, as they did nearly every day. They hadn’t been having too much luck with the necromancy lately and Lucie couldn't help but feel down because of it. There were simply too many intrusive thoughts that try as she might she could not banish. 

What if Grace and I never bring him back? What if... He is a ghost forever? 

Those were bad thoughts. She didn't like to admit how terribly she missed Jesse sometimes. how many times she'd thought of something to tell him and then felt strangely awful and tired afterwards because she had remembered that it would be hours, sometimes days, before she could next speak to him. It really did not help that he was currently avoiding her. He was a ghost and he was somehow avoiding her. She didn't even know why. 

The truth was that Lucie was trying so hard not to let this affect her. Today was beautiful and she would enjoy it, Jesse Blackthorn be damned. 

“Alright James, that's it. I'm keeping him,” Lucie put her hands on her hips and stared up at her brother. 

“No no no Lucie you know how da feels about ducks! And mam will have a fit when she sees that thing in her house!” James sounded a little bit too rushed, too panicked. As though he was grasping for reasons why Lucie couldn't keep little Herbert.

“I have made up my mind. Herbert is now my duck you cannot convince me otherwise” Lucie knew that she was being stubborn. That was exactly her intention, as James knew to pick his battles wisely when it came to Lucie. Once she set her mind on something near nothing would stop her. She knew this was not a battle he currently had the energy to fight. 

“Here Herbert, Herbert. Herbert bach, come here,” she called waving the remains of her bread in front of him. He just sat there, looking innocently at her. 

She then proceeded to throw the bread at poor James, who was looking on in horror. 

Her advances didn't seem to be alarming Herbert so she tried to pick him up and to her immense surprise, it worked and he did nothing. 

James seemed so tired when she looked back at him like all the fight had gone out of him and the jokes had dried up. There had been so much drama lately in his life, with Grace and Cordelia. But then, there had been so much drama in all of her friend’s lives recently. So many demons and so many deaths. The joking may have been a short reprieve; but Lucie thought she mustn’t forget to make sure her brother was doing alright. 

She was rather sick and tired of it. She really just wanted her friends to be happy. 

It sounded rather contradictory, really, how fed up she was with the danger and how adamantly she searched for it now, if only it meant she could help Jesse. But Jesse was one of her friends. She'd come to trust him and care about him and his well being. He deserved happiness as well. He deserved a life. Or, at the very least, to be put to rest. 

She imagined it was not much fun being a ghost and knowing that, although now there were people alive who you know, who you can look after, that one day they will die and you will remain. To know one day you will be alone and you will fade into the background. To dim and dim but never truly disappear. It occurred to Lucie that that was what her mother would have to suffer through, eventually. She was a warlock and therefore immortal. She would remain young forever while her husband and her children aged and died. She would outlive them all. 

“James,” she murmured 

“What do you think will happen to Jessamine when we die?” Her voice sounded small and worried, like a child seeking reassurance. 

He frowned for a moment, considering. 

“Hang around our children?” 

“What of when they die? When our grandchildren and great-grandchildren die? What of when the Herondale line has been going on for so long they've forgotten her entirely?” 

After that James was quiet for a great deal of time. 

“What, exactly, is the point of this question?” 

“Just a thought.” 

After that, they walked home in silence. James never did answer her question.