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

[brushoff]

I'm fine with someone taking me against my will to a strange place partly because I've had time to adapt, partly because Toby's here, partly because I've found people here I can actually tolerate which is a miracle in itself, and partly because the locals adore imPorts. Yes, inconvenient things do happen, but I'm particularly resilient and can bounce back quite easily.

[ get it, get it, get it, it's because he's immortal ]

[oceiteres]

[ Yes, that was a good one. ]

That can't be everyone's experience though. [ Yes, but you were just calling him out specifically, Blue... ]

[brushoff]

I never said I was talking about everyone's experience. [ bam, suck on that Blue Sargent ]

[oceiteres]

[ Grr. ]

Well, what about people who aren't so resilient? There's bound to be people who'll have a hard time no matter how long they're here.

[ She doesn't actually assume she'll be one of them, because her friends are present and they'll work together and it'll be okay somehow, even if it's distressing and weird and all she can really think about it what happened at home, not all this... nonsense. ]

[brushoff]

Then I can't speak on behalf of them, can I? [ Dorian just frowns for a moment before continuing. ] I'm glad to see you're talking with Kitty Jones, by the way. You're both the same sort of combative that you'll either get along wonderfully or terribly.

[ what happened to being nice........ ]

[oceiteres]

[ Now it sounds like she's talking to a person that Noah might not get along with. ]

I'm only combative if I think I need to be. If someone's hurting my friends, for instance. [ A beat. ] Do you usually listen in on other people's conversations?

[brushoff]

This is a public forum, you know. What the two of you are talking about is hardly a secret.

[oceiteres]

A coffee shop's a public place and I don't go there to listen to everyone's conversations. [ So there. ]

[brushoff]

But the intent of a coffee shop isn't conversations. The intent of a coffee shop is to get coffee—and plenty of people go to a coffee shop and take note of other's drink choices.

[oceiteres]

[ She's making more leaf litter right now. ]

You know what I meant. Did you hear anything interesting? [ Before she got Kitty to make the conversation private... ]

[brushoff]

[ Yeah, he's....noticing that. ] Of course I wasn't going to read your entire conversation—I'm nosy, not rude. I just skimmed it.

You, ah, seem to be shedding leaves, by the way.

[oceiteres]

[ That leaves her a little off balance. No pun intended. ]

So you were just curious. [ She brushes at her shoulder. ] Yes, that's been happening since I got here.

[brushoff]

Mmm, I don't think I can help with that sort of power. I'd be useful in helping people control some things, but less in others.

[oceiteres]

[ Well. Now she's curious. ]

How's that?

[brushoff]

Well I am immortal, [ Dorian remarks with a grin on his face. ]

[oceiteres]

[ Okay, sure. She knows a lady who laid awake in a tomb for six centuries, so. ]

How do you know that?

[brushoff]

Well, the fact that I'm over a hundred and fifty years old probably has something to do with it.

[oceiteres]

You could just be really long-lived. [ Just sayin'. ]

[brushoff]

I've had a literal bomb dropped on me before and survived the experience. [ just said so nonchalantly. yeah, he's immortal. ]

[oceiteres]

[ Uh. ]

I guess I'd take that as proof too.

[brushoff]

[ He just laughs a bit good-naturedly at that, sorry Blue. ]

Portrait in the attic, you know. I can shrug off most damage, don't age a day.

[oceiteres]

[ She's totally cool about this. Uh. ]

That must be a useful ability. You could do a lot of good with that.

[brushoff]

Well yeah, I suppose I could.

[ you hear that tone of voice? That tone of voice is pure "but THAT ain't gonna happen" ]

[oceiteres]

[ And this look is pure Blue Sargent judgment. ]

I see. [ ... Adam really hates this guy, doesn't he? ]

[brushoff]

[ Adam haaaaaaaates him. ]

You've got to understand, back in my world, beings like myself aren't active. Vampires, sirens, immortals, most people simply don't know about things like that. It's in my best interest to stay relatively under the radar.

[ here though....fuck all that subtle jazz ]