video

[aglonby]

[ the feed comes on to show a boy with very tall hair and a much shorter girl with scratches on her face over her eye, one looking rather cheerful and the other less so. ]

Hi hi hi everyone, I have an important question. [ he holds up a finger, tilts his head as if a thought had just occurred to him. he's so preoccupied he was going to launch himself into his spiel without even introducing himself. ] I'm being rude. I am Henry Cheng, and we were wondering —

[ the not so tall and in fact very short girl interrupts. ] We're looking for someone we know! [ she pulls a little face, looking over at Mr. Henry Cheng. ] A few people, actually. [ okay, maybe that was a little rude. she murmurs something unintelligible and takes a step back. please, proceed. ]

And that was my lovely friend Blue. [ he gestures with a flourish toward her, shoots her a wink, absolutely unbothered by the interruption or her outburst. ] As she said, we are looking for someone. Multiple someones. I'm sure this place has a list of sorts, yes? A quick way to CTRL-F a friend's name and find out their status?

[ he looks a bit more serious, then, like underneath the cheerfulness he's exhausted. his next words are very earnest. ]

We would appreciate any info. Thank you.

[ in the background, Blue begins tromping away, shedding dead leaves for some reason, and can be vaguely heard to say 'maybe we should've mentioned Gansey by name' before the video ends. ]

Comments

[doubleblind]

[Cosima actually smiles. She can appreciate the skepticism. She herself operates under a "show, not tell" policy when it comes to believing improbable things.]

Told you things would get confusing.

I swear it's true, but you don't even have to take just my word for it. I can show you my research if you want real proof. I ran an informal survey, have been observing... There's no way most of the people who are brought here call the same world home.

[aglonby]

[ cool. cool cool cool. that doesn't make much sense at all, which, at this point, should not be this surprising. ]

So the usual. Nothing out of the ordinary.

[aglonby]

Excuse me! I arrive precisely when I mean to. [ yes, he's quoting someone. oh, and also: ] Blue only just got here, too.

[oceiteres]

[ She does relax minutely at the elaboration. At least it seems... reasonable. As reasonable as anything right now. She'll take an approximation of sense over actual sense. Just because she's in such a state given what happened right before she got here. ]

All right. It's still pretty strange, but that is better. [ She crosses her arms, having apparently put the phone down or rested it somewhere, who knows. Deep breath. ] I'm sorry too, for snapping.

[ That feels like the polite thing to do. If she's going to yell at anyone about this situation, it shouldn't be someone innocent, right? Not that she doesn't have a whole lot of stored up yelling to do... ]

Is this going to sound less crazy when I sleep on it?

[doubleblind]

But the rumor is, she's been here before. So technically, you're the most late.

[oceiteres]

[ That's kind of intriguing? Blue leans in slightly. ] You did research on this?

[ Well, it's not that shocking that someone would, right? If this is all real. ]

How?

[unguibusetrostro]

Debate later.

[He's reaching his phone limit.]

[unguibusetrostro]

If you're hanging out with the maggot and she's not decking you for your haircut, suffice to say that you're from after I am. Timewise.

[doubleblind]

I asked around. Most people here love talking about their homes.

[oceiteres]

All right, don't break out in hives or anything.

[ Said with... love... ]

[oceiteres]

[ This strikes her right away: ] They're probably homesick. [ And the implication there does not sit so well with her... ]

If this really isn't their home. [ There. That feels better. ]

[doubleblind]

... Yeah, exactly. I think we can all know that feeling.

[oceiteres]

[ Her expression shifts several times in the span of a few seconds, a wide variety of emotion there. ]

How long have you been doing research?

[doubleblind]

[Cosima's still smiling, open and sincere. She wants Blue to feel like she can trust her.]

Almost six months. I got here in January.

[oceiteres]

Six? [ She just blinks dumbly at the screen for a moment. ] Half a year?

[ Wait, hold the phone. Or, the other phone. Something. ] January? That can't be right either.

[ Hoo boy. ]

[admemoriam]

[He's certainly trying not to look at that eye! That sure is an angry scratch right there!]

I got here last month. [Close to the camera, she can make out each freckle on his nose. His eyes have never looked more solid, lit up with hesitant adoration.] Time doesn't work right - Adam and Gansey have been here for months, but I'm... [A slight pause. His eyes flick to the scratch, and then back.] I'm from later.

[Which is definitely a thing that makes tons of sense. He fidgets, then stills.]

Ronan dreamed up a pretty cool house, and we have a bunch of chickens.

[oceiteres]

[ She should've gotten an eyepatch. Being a pirate would've been... better. ]

Some people have tried explaining that to me. I don't understand it. [ She says, 'I don't understand it' like she means, 'I'll figure that out later, mark my words, but I have other concerns now.' There's a list. It's getting longer the more she looks at Noah... ]

Later. [ That's really non-specific. But she's not sure where to go from there. Later than what? What's the "latest" things can be? She doesn't know. It's weird to ask. It's weird to wonder. ] Of course he did. He has a house and a car. [ Hands! On hips!! ]

Who's here, exactly?

[admemoriam]

[He ticks off on his fingers - ] Ronan, Adam, Gansey, Matthew, and Kavinksy. But no one talks about him.

[oceiteres]

[ She pulls a face, frowning. ] That's not even-- [ What? Possible? ] Right.

[admemoriam]

Yeah. [Voicing agreement, understanding, and annoyance, all in one word.] But I can't really talk.

[He wants to tell her what this place did for him - that he's got a pulse now, and warm skin - but he's waiting until he can surprise her with it in person.]

[oceiteres]

[ There's something a bit mixed up about her expression for a second or two, but it gets smoothed away when she goes to fiddle with her hair and flicks tree litter toward the screen, interrupting the video for a second. ]

Noah... [ Yeah, okay. It feels like some things need to be said in person. Let her just change tracks a bit? ] So, Henry and I are the last ones here.

[admemoriam]

[He looks away from her, uncomfortable with the momentary silence, and finally backs up from the camera. More subtle differences become clear - the Aglionby uniform is gone, replaced by a black T-shirt, and his hair is dark with lake water.

When he hears Henry's name, he finally remembers that Blue didn't make this broadcast alone. Ah, yes. That guy Noah doesn't know. That guy who can't even see Noah.]

Yeah. But don't worry - there's already a room for you.

[Henry can find his own.]

video;

[brushoff]

[ See, Dorian knows Blue (because surprise, been here before). And he knows that he needs to behave. And he knows that he's gonna have the wrath of Gansey on his ass if he tries to be a dick to Blue.

....so he's just gonna kind of breeze past her and talk to Henry instead because he has absolutely no idea who this person is. Dorian's wearing a button-up Oxford that just screams "made of money" and he's got a British accent as he talks. ]

Pleasure to see you again, Blue. But I don't believe I've ever met you before, Henry—which is a shame because I'm the sort of person who tries to know everybody.

[oceiteres]

[ This is weird. It's like there's a disconnect, but it's hard to follow the thread back to where it got frayed. Is it because he's been here awhile or something else? Blue's sort of running on adrenaline a little, so her thoughts seem to race around and in the end... well, she doesn't make much sense of what she's seeing. ]

Right... because I was here before. [ Her brow furrows a little. ] Someone who says they knew me said hello.

KATES I'M SORRY I'M REALLY SORRY

[admemoriam]

[Noah's eating a sandwich now, but he pops back into the broadcast to shout four muffled words - ]

Don't listen to him!