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

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

[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.

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...what about fish? Are there at least furry fish?

[Please say yes.]

Um, I don't know what that word means. What's hyper - hypo - hy - that thing you said?

I don't know. I know more about lizards than fish. There are fish that glow though.

[He isn't breaking your heart.]

It means a cat that people aren't allergic to.

Can I have glowing fish?

What... what does, um, please don't think I'm stupid, what does allergic mean? [1911 was not a year rife with medical terms for the common seven year old, okay?]

I don't know. I don't know if stores have them.

[Oh dear. David sighs.]

The things your Ummi experiences. That's an allergy attack.

You mean my Baba. Ummi's only had things like that happen around long-haired sheep, the kind with the big curly horns. Can I have a sheep?

[If David doesn't stop him, Nashir's natural instinct prior to realizing his power worked on animals was clearly to adopt everything. Literally everything.]

[He's so confused.]

Probably not a sheep. The cities are too busy for sheep.

[Sigh.] Okay. I guess I wouldn't know how to take care of a sheep anyway. My family didn't raise them back home. And now that I'm going to be a Seer I think I have to live in a city. That's where everybody who wants to talk to me is.

[He cringes at the thought. A bunch of strangers constantly wanting to talk to him is weird and not fun.]

What about a bird? Parrots live a very long time, and they're smart and like to play.

I dunno. I don't know if Seers are actually allowed to have pets. Baba says I need to take this seriously and that things aren't going to be the same anymore and stuff like that. So I might have to go do... work... things, whatever that means. And that means the parrot would have to sit around the house all day feeling lonely, since I wouldn't be there.

Maybe... you can make your own rules while you're here.

[David's definitely buying Nashir a companion.]

You're a Seer, kind of. What do you do? Do you get to have pets and friends? I haven't been able to play with other kids since I had my first vision. Things keep going wrong. And even when they don't, other kids think I'm scary or weird. One of them asked me to bless him and I didn't know how, and he got mad. So I just... stay inside, a lot.

[More than he wants to, clearly.]

I'm... different. And it's awkward. I have a job, and friends, and a... relationship.

[Nashir had seemed awkward enough over David having a boyfriend as an older teen]

But what happened to me, my powers, they came now. It's newer.

A job like a non-Seer job? We can still do those? And get married?

[Relationship = marriage, right? Look it's the 1910's, that's simply how things are pretty much everywhere in Nashir's world right now.]

The French Seer didn't get her powers until she was twenty-four and you're... younger than that, [he can't guess ages well, he's a kid] so do only people who get their powers later get to do fun stuff? [Oh. Oh. He deflates a little at the thought.]

I'm not married yet. I'm dating. But it's about figuring out what works for you.

You get to decide who and what you are.

How did you find someone who didn't think you being the Seer made you weird? I can't even find someone to play checkers with - well, I had someone but he moved and then I moved and I don't know how to find a new person to play checkers with. I'm not good at new people. I either talk too much or not enough or I touch them or something.

I don't think that's how this works. I can't choose not to be a Seer. I See things. So no matter what, that's who I have to be.

My partner is... very understanding.

I like checkers. I could play with you.

[David sighs, he can't make this easier.]

I'll bring a checkers board with the gloves.

Does your partner hug you? I miss getting hugs.

[Nashir perks up, instantly a little bit happier.]

Checkers are the best! I don't like chess. It makes my head hurt.

He does.

[He does more than that. A lot more. It's not something to discuss with a child.]

Chess definitely hurts some. It's lots of thinking and lots of things to watch in lots of ways. I'll get a set to play.

Wait, if you're a Seer, then how can people hug you? Do you have to wear a sheet or something? Does your partner have to wear gloves? My Baba won't hug me because he's scared our heads might touch and then I'd have a vision. I tried wearing a blanket over my head but I tripped over it, almost fell down the stairs, and he said not to do that again.

[To be fair to Nashir's father, children and stairs were terrifying regardless of whether or not they were Seers.]

...won't the checkers set cost money, too? [Oh no how much is David spending on him?!] I'll paint you another dinosaur. It's only fair.

I were gloves, always. Which is why I have to buy new ones. My old ones don't fit.

[Damn, Nashir. If only he could give you the suppressor right now. But he has a lot more time to invest in that.]

The checkers set we're sharing.

Oh. I guess I'll have to get new ones when I get older, too. But that's okay - that means I'll be getting bigger, which means I'll be taller! I don't like being short. I can't reach any of the best books on the shelves.

[He's got skewed priorities. Or the right ones, depending on how you look at it.]

Is it easy to play checkers with gloves? I'm still getting used to mine back home. My writing is terrible with them on...

Yeah, I know what you mean. I can't reach my books either. It's bad.

[Still, he knows that this will make the kid happy.]

You totally can. And you'll learn to write better.

I want one of those ladders they use at libraries to get up to higher shelves. But Ummi says I'm not supposed to climb anything without her there to watch me.

Can I still pet dogs with gloves, or will they not like that? [This is vital.]

Dogs don't care. They just want touched.

...can I get a dog?

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