**Chapter 5 Part 2** “Lucy, there’s someone we would like you to meet.” The elder Yoshi said after days of this pattern. “Who?” “Someone who has some common ground with you.” “There’s a Yoshi going through what I am?” “Not a Yoshi, but she does understand not being comfortable with herself. Do you remember Birdo?” “From all the kart races and party games?” The strange pink dinosaur thing always kind of creeped Lucy out. “Would you be willing to speak to her?” Lucy considered this. The Yoshis clearly were trying to help and deserved a break. “Sure, when?” “Now. Wait here.” The Yoshi flocked out. Lucy waited politely with her anxiety. She was afraid to make herself vulnerable to someone she barely knew. Especially after being publicly outed. Birdo was an anomaly that lost attention after you phased her into the background, you occasionally remembered how queer she was. Birdo might be a Yoshi, maybe not. The only thing truly known about her is her gender isn’t her sex. She seemed nice, in the way that you wanted something nice to say about her since you don’t want to be mean. “Hey, Lucy,” the plumber whipped around. The pink dinosaur didn’t come from the direction the Yoshis scuttled off to. It seems the Yoshis either trusted Birdo to handle this or really wanted a break. “Hi, Birdo. It’s nice to see you, it’s been awhile since the last go karting tournament.” “Yeah, heard what happened.” Lucy always wondered why Birdo didn’t even try to modify her voice to sound feminine. Her voice could serve as the bass in an orchestra. “Yeah,” Lucy reciprocated. She flushed red prepping for the incoming disappointment. It didn’t come. “Don’t feel too bad about it.” “But I just abandoned Mario to deal with th it all!” She frowned in confusion. She couldn’t handle being left behind by Mario when he simply wanted alone time. “Well he doesn’t have to do that,” Birdo pointed out. “Your actions are your own to answer for. Mario can just tell people the truth to make what they may of it.” “I guess.” Lucy looked off in shame. She knew Mario wouldn’t just do that. The knowledge he was willingly letting himself be dragged through the mud made her feel even worse. “Anyway man- I mean woman, you want to come back to my place to play video games?” “You have power out here?” “How else would I watch my Soaps? Get your things girl, we gonna have a sleepover.” Birdo jumped up and down, her bow dancing with gravity. The blueprints for Birdo’s house was taken straight from a teenage girl’s head. Actually no, it was a prepubescent girl’s idea of what a teenage girl’s dream house was. Everything was pink and fuzzy. Cute bunnies, puppies, and kittens decorated everything. There was more perfume than oxygen in the air. The closet was the biggest room in the house, even though nobody wears more than one outfit at the most. Lucy would use the surrealness as an internal excuse for why she was losing right now. “Winner!” The television announced. Birdo’s character did the victory animation while Lucy’s did a polite golf clap. “So Birdo,” Lucy began as another round loaded. “Hmmm?” Lucy wondered again how Birdo speaks when her mouth is just a gaping cavity. “How long can I stay for?” “As long as you need,” Birdo said casually. “I can’t do that. Let me pay you for lodging at least. I brought some money with me from home.” It was enough for a room if Lucy had decided Yoshi’s Island wasn’t the oasis she needed. “Nah, girl it’s cool. We are just hanging out after all.” Lucy didn’t insist anymore after that. She did cook Birdo her meals, cleaned her house, and helped her run errands.