002 | Video [Forward-dated to the 9th]

[t0uchy]

[The video feed is shaky, but then the boy thoughtfully sets the communicator on a table. Even though he's not a hundred percent sure what it is, the seven year old clearly doesn't want to break it, and he chews his lip worriedly for a second before scooting it a teeny bit back on the desk before talking.]

H-hello. Uh, ah, I don't... I don't want to bother anyone, but... [the young child's English is heavily accented, and he murmurs something in Arabic along the lines of 'kayfa taqūlu kalimah...', looking uncertain,] if someone can find my Ummi and Baba, please do. I'm not supposed to go places alone. I have an appointment tomorrow [he stumbles over the big words slightly] so I can get confirmed as the Seer and that's really important. People will be scared if I'm not there, and Ummi is probably scared already, so... please, get me home? Please?

[He starts to reach for the communicator to turn it off, then pauses to add,] If you have gloves that fit me, can someone bring me them? I need - I - I would like that very much. Um, thank you.

Comments

[nightwash]

I feel weird about eating animals now that I'm a mother, but I like how falafel still gives me the meatball experience, you know?

[ Just a few taps and lunch (breakfast? dinner?) is ordered. Ronan tucks his phone back into his pocket. ]

Says it'll be about fifteen minutes.

[t0uchy]

[Nashir squints at him, confused, and quietly points out,] Boys can't be mothers. You have to be a girl for that, and girls are short.

[That last bit may be him projecting. His mom is way shorter than his dad, though, so there. Proof.]

I wish we could order food like that back home so Ummi didn't have to cook every night. Sometimes Baba cooks but it's not very good, and he burns things a lot.

[nightwash]

Sometimes a boy can be a mother and a father at the same time. Trees and stars are funky like that.

[ He gestures vaguely. ]

Give me your phone and I'll set it up so you can order food, too.

[ With Ronan's credit card number, but whatever. He's rich. ]

[t0uchy]

But you're not a tree or a star, sir.

[He's very sure of that, at least. Even in a dream, trees don't look like tall men who buy you food.

Nashir hesitates, but ultimately nods and hands it over to him very carefully.]

Don't break it. I think it was expensive and I don't know who gave it to me, but I don't want to ruin their gift.

[nightwash]

Do I look like I go around breaking things?

[ Yes, he does. And he does. But he doesn't break the phone. He just downloads the app and fusses with it a bit until it's all set up to deliver food whenever Nashir's little heart desires. Then he hands it back. ]

What makes you so sure I'm not a star?

[t0uchy]

No, but neither does my brother Qadir, and he breaks things anyway.

[And then tried to blame it on Nashir. Brotherhood is like that sometimes. He takes the phone back, looking at the tall man thoughtfully.]

Stars are tiny and you're not. And they're quiet, and you can talk. Also, stars don't come out during the day. They sleep during the day like bats do, I think.

[nightwash]

The sun is a star and there wouldn't be day without it. Anyway, I only look like this because it's easier for you. If I show you what I really look like, your brain will get confused and you'll probably cry or something.

[t0uchy]

Yeah, like how the night guard stays up so the rest of us can sleep. [He nods.] But the guards have each other, and the sun doesn't have other stars. That's kind of lonely if you think about it.

...are you an angel? Because that's how the Torah says angels work.

[nightwash]

[ It is lonely. ]

I don't think angels swear as much as I do, but I'm no expert on the Torah.

[t0uchy]

It doesn't say they don't swear. Although you should stop that, since people are mean to people who swear a lot, even if you're actually an angel.

[Being an otherworldly being in no way made up for being rude, at least in most people's minds. Some people were awful like that, never wanting to forgive anybody for being sad or mad or saying a bad word.]

Sheydim can change their shape, too, though. If you don't take orders from God but you can still change and you only do evil when it's done unto you [a phrase he's borrowing from his baba, because Nashir's not sure how to phrase it in English without quoting others] then you might be a sheyd.

[nightwash]

What if a sheyd tries to take orders from God but God doesn't talk to him? Is he still a sheyd?

[t0uchy]

Sheydim can become angels. But Rabbi Yehuda says it takes a while. They have to prove they can be good even when God isn't talking directly to them. "You have to stand on your own before you can stand for someone else", that kind of thing. [He says the quote with a fairly decent imitation of his rabbi, low and overly serious. Nashir reaches over and pats Ronan on the hand, trying to make him feel better.]

I think you'll make a good angel. You helped me out and you don't even know me - that's very angel-like. Angelish. Angelic? Is that the word in English? [Crap. Still, the point remains.] You know what I mean.

[nightwash]

[ Ronan glances down at that tiny gloved hand patting his own. That's adorable. ]

I know what you mean. But how do you know I didn't just do it for the cookies?

[t0uchy]

Because you didn't know there would be cookies and you did it anyway. You didn't know if I would give you anything at all - I could've been mean and grabbed the gloves and ran.

[He wouldn't, though. The guilt would be too much for his seven year old self, and frankly his older self wouldn't enjoy it, either.]

[nightwash]

Damn. You got me there.

[t0uchy]

I told you you're a good guy.

[Ha! So there. Nashir grins, pleased with himself.]

What are you going to choose as your angel name? And will you wear a cape?

[Important questions. He, personally, would always wear a cape, whenever possible. Sadly his mother has advised him there are times and places that capes are not advisable.]

[nightwash]

[ God, kid, stop calling him out as the hero. He's trying to be a villain protagonist over here. ]

Can't I keep the name I have? I might wear a cape sometimes, but it gets very hot in the summer. I'm not sure the aesthetic is worth it.

[t0uchy]

Well, yes, but you also get to have another name. It's like how Jewish people have Hebrew names and legal names. [Great, another person who doesn't like capes. Nashir sighs, a little disappointed.] They make linen capes. My Ummi has one with fancy embroidery on it. You can get one of those for summer. They're soft and they flutter in the wind!

[nightwash]

Sounds dramatic. I'll consider it.

[ It would certainly not be the first time Ronan has worn a cape. A Yahoogle search would reveal at least a dozen glam goth lewks he has served on the red carpet. In his teen form, of course. ]

But what if I already have a second name, too? Some trees gave it to me. Does that make it angelic?

[t0uchy]

I want a cape. But I'm kind of clumsy and I don't want to rip the cape or get it dirty.

[Life is hard, man.]

I guess it can be. There's no rule against it. It just has to not be your original name. How, um, how did the trees give it to you, though?

[nightwash]

How else? They whispered it to me. They whispered, Greywaren, and I whispered, What the fuck?

It was all very mysterious.

[t0uchy]

Stop swearing! You'll get in trouble. Someone will slap you on the wrist or something and that stings.

[Nashir looks around, as if double checking that no one else is there, before leaning in and saying quietly,] Sometimes I have visions of the first Seer. She whispers things, too. But no one else remembers her except the other Seers, and when I try to tell other people, they forget about her later.

[That's mysterious, too. And something worth running by the man who seems to have all the answers.]

[nightwash]

[ Ronan does not seem particularly concerned by the prospect of being slapped. He does listen with some interest, though, to the secret of the first Seer. ]

What does she whisper?

[t0uchy]

She told me it's okay to be sad or mad or scared, because that's how people always feel when things matter. She said not to lose myself in trying to be who other people want me to be. And when I didn't know how to prevent my first vision from coming true, she told me what to say to Ummi to get her to believe me. She told me a secret Ummi never told anyone else, not even Baba, and that convinced Ummi I really am a Seer.

I wish I knew how to whisper back to her. I hope she knows I'm glad she helped me and I want her to be happy, wherever she is.

[Do mystical forces that appear in visions and dreams know such things? He hopes so. Sometimes he talks to her like an imaginary friend, hoping the words reach her somehow.]

It's sad that nobody remembers her. Do you think she's lonely?

[nightwash]

Of course she is.

[ No sense in lying about such a thing, even if he could. Ronan isn't one to offer comfort in the place of honesty. ]

The only thing you can do for her is what she asked you to do. If she wanted to be remembered, she'd probably say something like, "Remind them about me!" But she didn't, so I wouldn't worry about that.