genessia | second ember: video:

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second ember: video:

[ It’s Charlie that shows up on the feed first, hair hanging around her shoulders in a controlled mess of blonde waves. She’s outside at the park, one of her favorite spots to be, and she’s surrounded by books and notebooks, pens and pencils. The girl is researching and for anyone that has a good, observant eye, the books are on dogs. Dog breeds. Dog care. Dog training. She has reason for this.

Also in frame? One Neil Blair who is busy emptying a bag of take-out from somewhere. ]

Okay, so...Neil and I have a question for you guys. About dogs. Probably more than a few. For starters, who has a dog here? Did they come with you, or did you get them here? And what can you tell me about them? About their personalities and temperaments and all that fun.

[ And she turns to look at Neil, because he probably has a bunch of questions, too. Probably more helpful ones than she’s asking. ]

[The moment she turns to Neil, he holds up a wrapped burger to her with a smile, waiting for her to take it from him before he squints into her phone for a second, then holds up a hand in a brief, friendly wave.]

Yeah, what she said. Also, what kind of dogs do you have, if any? I mean--y’know, working dogs versus herding, shit like that. I don’t know much about ‘em, seeing as dogs are a little different where I come from. All I really remember is that Irish setters are dumb as fuck, terriers are the right combination of friendly and vicious little fuckers, and mutts are healthier than purebreds--a lot of ‘em, anyway.

[He pauses to rummage through the bag of food again, then frowns and glances up at Charlie.]

Hey, that the burger with extra pickles? I think I gave you mine…

But they said they marked...hang on.

[ She has a bag of her own nearby and leans off-screen to reach for it. By this point, thank the Gods or whatever, she hasn’t taken a bite of the burger he gave her and the wrapper shows the word PICKLE with a circle and line drawn through it, saying no pickles. She pulls out a thing of fries, fried with the skin on, and two small pies and then another burger. This one has the words XTRA PICKLES written on it. Opening both, she hands over the one that says there isn’t to be any pickles on it at all. ]

Take your pickles. I don’t care for them.

[ With that handled, Charlie addresses the feed. ] Basically, we’re looking for something we can train as a sort of guard dog, but also as a companion. And active. Me, personally, I want a medium-sized dog. I was looking up info on the Malinois and that seems like the dog for me, so if anyone knows where I can get one of those? Let me know.

[Neil grins at that while looking down at his burger, unwrapping it so he can take a bite. Chewing quickly and swallowing, he nods his head towards Charlie.]

Kid knows what she wants. Ain’t she great?

[Immediately, Neil raises a hand to forestall any response from her.]

Shut up. You’re awesome. End of discussion.

[ And end of feed, the parting shot Charlie rolling her eyes as any teenager can in a total ‘god you’re embarrassing’ manner, all while smiling softly. ]

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I ain't got a dog, so I can't answer most of those, though I do got a cat. Which is probably not what you're looking for.

But anyway, do you know how to train a dog for all that, or are you just wingin' it.

[Sadly, unless you're very lucky and you find a dog wearing a necklace like ours, pets aren't worth bothering about but for absolute necessity. They aren't real; their emptiness is bound to disappoint sooner or later.]

What I know is that you'll want to wait until we have more space. Keeping a dog in a hotel room is asking for trouble.

Especially if it isn't housebroken.

[ She also sends a private text to Neil. ]

She has you completely wrapped around her finger.

Should I be jealous?

yeah the seventeen year old is a real threat to you

im a sucker for angst and trips to the mall

seriously though yeah im fucked

tiny blonde fire mage has my number

i love her and i want to lock her in a tower until shes thirty

[See, Regina? He's growing as a parent!]

I don't know, love. You do seem to be a sucker for angst.

[ She sends him a picture of herself looking impossibly sad. ]

You can't lock her in a tower. She'll just grow her hair and the boy will climb up. Don't you read your fairy tales?

[Ember's Balls, that picture. She was terrible--and Neil fucking loved it.]

youre gonna break my heart with pictures like that angel

and i think we established i never read very many of those growing up

seeing as how i thought you were a disney princess on our first date

I was never a princess, only a queen. But Disney...I am that.

Fairy tales aren't Disney, though. Remind me to tell you the real story of Rapunzel.

yeah i like queens better anyway

princesses are for chumps

queens are where its at

tell me about it when i get home tonight

[Because that is never going to stop being fun to say.]

[ Queens are where it's at? Regina laughs, and then can't stop laughing. It's so ridiculous. Princesses are for chumps.

She texts him back ]

When you get home.

[ Then folds her arms on her desk and hides her face while she laughs for a straight minute. ]

[Once that minute passes...]

youre either laughing at me or still rolling your eyes

which is it

Just laughing, love.

[ Robin made her smile, all the time. But Neil... god, he makes her laugh until her sides ache. It's amazing. ]

score one for me

personal game i play

every time i can make you smile i win

every time i can make you laugh i win the grand prize

Whatever you do, don't let Charlie see those texts or you're doomed to be mocked forever.

[ It's not what she wants to say, but what she wants to say should be said in person. ]

lock and key baby

[He sends it--then realizes what he sent.]

that wasnt me actually calling you baby

its an expression

like i got your back baby

or yeah baby

~~not~~

[He deletes the word and stops texting, scrubbing a hand over his face with a sigh.

He is definitely in love: the stupid is now leaking out via text.]

[ She laughs again and quickly texts ]

Your stupid is leaking out.

Baby.

[Now it's Neil's turn to have to plant his face in his hand and fight to stifle his laughter so he doesn't get any weird looks from the kid.

He fails miserably.]

get out of my head

thats just creepy

okay i lied its kinda cool

quick what number am i thinking of

Researching how to train a dog. I have a couple months before I can get it. We’re moving to a bigger place then. More space to run around and all that.

[ Dear Neil and Regina, she hopes you heard that. ].

You’re going to have to explain this. What the hell do you mean?

[ Just this face, Neil. Get off your phone. ]

[Neil's very focused on his phone--and not laughing--but catches Charlie's look and shrugs back with this face. What? He's not doing anything. You can't prove jack squat. Shut up, don't judge him.

...but he does put his phone back in his pocket. Where it will stay.

Unless Regina texts him back.]

Fair enough. How big's the place?

I have two dogs. Well, me and Mikasa have.

[He shows on the video a german shepherd puppy playing with the tail of a alaskan malamute/husky mix.]

They came with me when I arrived, so unfortunately I can't really help you on how to find a dog here. But as for their temperaments and natures, they're both pretty calm and protective in their own ways.

Edited (change of icon) 2018-09-27 19:18 (UTC)

Two.

Me and you.

[ She grins and before she sets her phone down, texts ]

I'm right. So what do I win?

yeah you are

the prize is really good

one reasonably attractive able bodied dragon mage to cater to your every whim desire and fantasy for the rest of the night

Whim, desire *and* fantasy?

I hope you're feeling *very* able-bodied, my dragon knight.

for you my queen i could fly without wings if that be your pleasure

but i would rather be your pleasure so yeah

[ She grins. She can't help it. ]

Wings would be sexy.

[Neil is briefly surprised--then remembers her ex is a dragon and grins at his phone.]

aesthetically yeah

functionally theyre a pain in the ass

It's a spiritual matter, an already hard thing to explain about the mysterious inner life of beasts with any precision. Maybe a thought exercise will do.

Imagine dogs as you knew them, naturally as you can.

Now imagine a doll of a dog; a perfect mannequin, moved about by some bizarre combination of electric shock and marionette strings. An artificial construction made to cynically appeal to senses none the wiser.

That is the difference between canines here and those as you knew them.

Halloween costume. Then you can take them off before they get in the way.

kinky shit

i like it

does this mean i have to be a dragon for halloween or something

masks make me nervous

and by nervous i mean i might punch someone by accident

You don't have to be anything you don't want to be. ~~As long as you're mine.~~

Masks on you or masks on other people?

both

hides a targets face and it limits my field of vision

fucking hate it when the night dragon decides to make his annual balls masquerades

i dont even get a chance to stop and fucking eat all night i get so goddamn paranoid

i mean halloween is awesome

just frustrating

[ Which meant she'd spend any such evening as near to him as possible, so he wouldn't worry about her, on top of it. ]

We'll hire someone or ask Evie to paint our faces instead.

Because I want to take Arya trick-or-treating. Without sending you into a panic.

arent there costumes that dont need to hide faces

i mean face paint is better

never mind i wont be a buzzkill

and i wont panic

ill just send a sprite along with a kill order you can execute if theres trouble

No sprites. You're coming with us.

[ Because she wanted his company and because Arya adored him, and because it would be good for him. ]

wait

what

really

why

not opposed by why

Because it'll be safer that way.

[ Who said she didn't know how to appeal to his sensibilities? ]

And because I want you to.

[...and damn it, it's working.]

ok ill do it

ill wear my uniform

kinda like a costume and practical for a fight

ill leave the sword at home though

I still have to find out where they do trick-or-treating. Deciding to leave the sword at home is probably premature.

[ Her dragon knight will probably be less dangerous with his weapon to hand. Less need to be paranoid and twitchy if he's prepared for a threat. ]

We'll discuss it closer to the date.

not an encouraging thought angel

[Though probably a good call--he will feel better if he's armed.]

just let me know

im in either way

well show arya a halloween shell never forget

You must tired. Your punctuation is deteriorating.

[ A little smile directed at the phone, even though he can't see it. ]

[...goddamnit, Regina...

It's about three minutes before she gets the next response.]

We'll show Arya a Halloween she'll never forget. Also, you're a sadist. If I didn't find that so goddamn attractive, I'd be fucking annoyed.

[ Another smile when the text returns, and because it's easy enough to do, she snaps a selfie of her smiling at him and sends it along with her text. ]

Masochist, more like. I read your unpunctuated texts daily without complaining.

[The snapshot she sends him of her smile gets one from him as he looks at it, then makes a note to talk to Charlie and see if he can put it on the background of his phone or something. That's a thing, right? He thinks that's a thing...]

ill start making a point of sending you at least one punctuated text a day

hows that for compromise

if youre real nice to me i might even upgrade to two

[ She considers and rejects any number of responses, because as dumb as it is, and as little as it actually bothers her now that she's used to it, the fact that he'd change it just because it makes a difference to her...it's important. It matters. Not the punctuation, but the will.

Eventually, she responds a short and simple ]

Thank you, love.

[ And only really adds the 'love' to make sure the genuine warmth that she's feeling right now carries. ]

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second ember: video:

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