Accidental Video [Open]

[wyldghost]

[There's a loud clatter and the screen turns on. The feed is pointed straight up at the sky in some alley, before a ten-year-old boy's dirt-smudged face with white hair and blue eye's appears off center, looking worried. He sits down cross-legged on the ground, picks up the communicator, and now it's visible that he's wearing a very oversized (like several xl large adult sized) gray t-shirt like a tunic or dress with shorts and sneakers.]

Oh no! Kaiba-rhya's gonna kill me! Did I break it?

[He moves the screen really close to his face so he can look at the communicator but nothing looks wrong..? But..? He doesn't know? The screen really looks weird!]

Hello? Box? Are you okay?

[ooc: If anyone responds in text, they'll be able to hear the text being read aloud by the communicator to the boy.]

Comments

[video]

[connectsthedots]

[A dirt-covered little gremlin child in awkward clothes… why, if it wasn’t for the white hair, she’d feel right back at home. Dot is all too familiar with the obstacle this modern technology poses and turns on her own video feed with a soft, reassuring smile. She sits prim and proper, decked in her favorite light brown walking suit and deep red hat.]

Hello there. Don’t worry, they’re more sturdy than you’d think.

Re: [video]

[wyldghost]

[He startles when there's suddenly a new face on the screen, eyes going wide and he nearly drops the communicator again.]

Why Ms. Box-rhya, I didn't know you could talk to me like this! I thought you could just read me stuff on the screen! Have you been listening whenever Ann or Kaiba-rhya call me?

[connectsthedots]

Hmm? Oh! [A little laugh] No, no. I’m not the communicator. I'm simply another person talking to you through it, just like Kaiba and Ann. [Unfamiliar names. She needed to do more legwork, meet more of the city…]

In addition to functioning like a telephone, these devices allow you to see the person you’re speaking with as though you were face to face. It's marvelous, isn't it?

[wyldghost]

Oooh! I must've called you when I dropped it. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bother you. I put it on this box and then this whirly thing started to spin and the whole thing vibrated and then it fell off.

[He turned the screen around until Dot was looking at some kind of industrial fan. He was lucky the communicator hadn't slipped in between the slats or worse- his arm!]

[connectsthedots]

[Very lucky indeed. Dot nods.]

You actually posted to the network, so you have no need to apologize. I responded of my own volition.

Have you just recently arrived in town?

[wyldghost]

[Her own what? He scratched his head but decided not to ask.]

A couple weeks, I think? I've been staying with Kaiba-rhya and Ann-rhya. Oh, and Toby-yuf. He's a giraffe. He has this big long neck and wings! Have you ever seen one?

[connectsthedots]

So you have somewhere to stay. That's a relief.

[They’re keeping a giraffe? Indoors, no less?? This must be the work of a child’s imagination. It seems harmless enough, though, so she decides to simply go along with it.]

I’ve seen pictures of them before and they certainly have long necks but I’ve never seen one with wings. Toby must be very special!

[wyldghost]

I do! Thank you, Ma'am. They're really nice to me. I keep trying to look for presents for them, but it's hard to find stuff here.

[He nods enthusiastically about Toby.]

He is! Do you have any animal friends?

[connectsthedots]

Perhaps I can help you with that. There are plenty of little shops around if you know where to look. [Truly, such a polite boy! It was a pleasant surprise. She smiles and nods.]

Yes, I do. Well, not here in Havenwell, but back home. I have a weasel named Theobald, a fox terrier named Charles, and I care for a friend’s pet goldfish. I am also on amiable terms with several of the local rats. […which sort of makes it sound like she has a pest problem but then her tone is all together too pleasant for that "amiable" to have been sarcasm. Hmm…]

[wyldghost]

[People buy presents? Mind. Blown. He clearly hasn't thought of this given the look on his face.]

I don't know. Why should I get them? Will the machine people know how to get the money from the box?

[He laughs.]

Really? My name, Tiriaq, means 'weasel'! I didn't know people keep those for pets. Did Theobald say he wanted to be a pet?

You're friends with rats?

[He thinks that's pretty cool, but decides it might not be a good idea to tell anyone he tried to eat one. That likely wouldn't go over too well.]

[connectsthedots]

[Oh don’t worry, people eat rat up in the Flit all the time. Dot’s been underground long enough now that she would hardly bat an eye at mention of it.]

Really? Well how about that! Yes, they’re not really common pets on the surface either but you see them a fair deal in the Neath. [She’ll just leave out the fact she won him as an unexpected prize while gambling for booze.] He’s not a very chatty sort but as they’re often used in fighting rings, I’m sure he prefers the life of a pampered pet.

Now, Theobald may be quiet but the rats? They’ll talk your ear off. [She smiles.] I’d like to think we're friends, yes. Good acquaintances, if nothing else.

As for your other question: ultimately, I think almost any gift is a good one if it comes from the heart. What sort of things do they like, though? That’s always a good starting point.