maskormenace | ( video

Entry tags:

( video | three )

[ 'Sup MoM. It's your favourite nerdy teenager. She's sitting on the edge of her bed, pieces of drawing paper where they usually are, scattered around her like she's a storm. Mostly she's been passing the time with working on her power. So far she's managed to pull all sorts out of paper - crooked jewellery, imperfect and smudged mugs, hairclips that don't hold her hair very well. She just wishes she could be better, be useful.

That's not why she's on the network today though. ]

So yesterday was my birthday. [ She says it with a little shrug and a smile, it's not that big of a deal. ] My birthday was also two and a half months ago. So does that make me sixteen still? Or have I just advanced to seventeen? I don't know how any of this works. It's not like time travel exists where I'm from.

[ It's mild curiosity. It's not like seventeen means she can do much more with her life. ]

Oh! Also. What do you think's a good starter pet? I've never had one before. I think I want something fluffy though.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think you're still sixteen.

[ Said with the smirking condescension of a man who knows no better at all. His arms are folded, and he looks like he's leaning against a doorframe. His eyes are warm. ]

You came to a different time. You didn't age a whole year in less than a quarter of one. So I won't wish you happy birthday.

As for the animal, get something easy to look after. Something that won't mind you tripping over it would be best.

[ D'Artagnan, you are disappointing her. Look at her tiny disappointed face. What if she wants to sneak into bars and be a teenage rebel? What then? ]

You know everyone else did, right? Are you just holding a grudge because I knocked you out?

[ Huffing out a laugh. ] I'm thinking a cat. It can be a jerk, just like me.

Well then, everyone else is either incapable of counting or trying to coddle you, and I prefer to be honest.

[ He prefers to be difficult, more like. But he’s smiling. ]

Do you think I should do something just because everyone else does? I’m not that boring.

But I do have cats. Little ones. You wouldn’t like them, they’re harmless. I don’t think they’ve knocked anyone over in their lives.

[ Wow.

He is a jerk. And coincidentally her new favourite. ] You could just throw something at me, it would so be easier.

Give them time. Cats are little terrors. Magnus has a cat and he likes to knock everything off the cabinets and the tables. It's a good thing his master is a Warlock and he can magic everything back together. And my brother - [ Ah. ] - he has a cat that literally rules the roost. So just wait, your kittens will get there.

[ D'Artagnan points at her. Or more accurately, he points at the screen, but he thinks it still has the desired effect. ]

I did throw something at you. I threw a volleyball. I'm just unfortunate that you were good enough to throw it back.

[ He leans back, watching her with a little smile and a lifted eyebrow. ] So you're from a world of evil cats, and warlocks. Perhaps you should rethink the company you keep, Mademoiselle.

[ God. He is so sassy. She wants to fight him but also she wants to be his best friend forever. ]

That's what you get for choosing a ball as a weapon, bro. Ball is life, haven't you heard?

[ The next thing makes her grin, her eyebrows wiggling. ] But then it wouldn't be interesting. I like things to be interesting.

What sort of expression is that?

[ He does not understand modern slang. ]

I think we have different ideas of what's interesting. Most of those things, for example, are what I'd have thought were madness not so long ago.

[ A little pause. ] It's a shame I don't still.

Is Volleyball the only game you've seen? Watch a basketball match already. Or hell, even baseball.

That's what you get when you world hop. [ But the pause makes her pause and she feels a little sorry for him. Clary's from 2007, she's not all that far behind this world. But he must feel as if everything he's known has gone and vanished from him. ]

If you ever need any help with the whole modern world thing you should give me a call. I can't promise I won't cause any grievous bodily harm next time. But I will totally try.

We don't have those games where I'm from, Mademoiselle. Are they American? They sound American.

[ He in fairness had not known volleyball either, until he learned it at the beach. ]

And that is kind. I will remember you said it. The modern world is unlike what I'm used to, but I try.

They're American, yeah. I don't play them, you can totally relax. But what kind of games do you play? What's French? Water polo? Something with baskets?

[ Her knowledge of France is mostly Disney films and a high school education. ]

I bet. I know some guys back home who live in the modern world but they actually come from a place that is pretty old fashioned and sometimes they just look at stuff like it's offended them.

I feel I understand these men.

[ He’s looking at her as though he thinks she might be mad. ]

Baskets? No, I play cards. Or I go hunting, but that’s more of the King’s game than mine. I don’t have a lot of free time to be involved in sport, Mademoiselle.

You probably would. [ She raises her eyes to the heavens. ] If Jace or Alec ever turn up I'm going to do my best to keep you apart. I don't want to know what you'd get up to if you ganged up.

[ But wait - ] Hunting? Like you go after animals for fun? [ Clearly someone thinks that is Terrible. How could you? You've disappointed an angel baby. ]

[ She sounds, and looks, so scandalized. D’Artagnan sits straighter, his expression puzzled. He has never actually encountered disapproval to this before; it’s just an accepted fact, where he’s from. ]

Well. His Majesty does. He had gardens built by the Louvre for the very purpose, and I am one of his men. I go with him, often.

[ A pause. ]

What’s the matter? I don’t understand.

[ He built a garden for murder? ]

He's just picking on innocent animals! They can't fight back. Like who does that for fun, that's just gross and awful. [ Sorry d'Artagnan, she's from the age of PETA. ]

They're bred for hunting.

[ Why is she so distressed?! He's staring. ]

And everyone does it, of that class anyway. I'm sorry that it offends you.

[ But not sorry for doing it, actually. He thinks she's overreacting. ]

[ This is the worst. D'Artagnan has just lost 10 points on his attractive level. ]

That's terrible, Jesus. [ People still hunt but she can go to rallies and hand out flyers and animals have rights now. She can't imagine it being different. ] Does he have a trophy room? God, does he put the heads on his wall?

[ Actually, he’s not sure about that. His answers are verging more towards polite default, though. ]

He is the King, and what he does with them is his own concern. Not mine. Why did you ask if you didn’t want to know?

[ Oops. ]

It just seems ... kind of awful. [ Clary really needs to get it into her head that not everyone lives the kind of life she does. ] I used to go to activist nights against hunting. And cosmetic research on animals. But I guess to you it's totally normal.

[ D'Artagnan nods, lifting his shoulders. ]

I'm not from your world, Mademoiselle. You said your friends look at the modern world as though it offends them. Perhaps that's how you look at mine.

Yeah.

[ A pause. ]

And then I realise I must have sounded super offensive. I'm not trying to be. It was just surprising that's all. But I should totally think before I speak.

I know.

[ She’s a nice girl. He’s aware of that, and knows she’d have meant little by it. He taps his device against the shelf. ]

Don’t worry about it. I should let you carry on, anyway. I’m not offended, don’t worry.

Okay.

[ She feels bad. She'll figure out a way to make it up to him - she just has to get to know him a little better first. ]

We'll talk soon, right?

Of course. Until next time, Clary.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only