video / action

[sleepingstar]

[ video ]
[The screen flicks on to Pai's....brightly smiling face? What the fuck?!?! says anyone who knows her. Which isn't that many people.]

Is this on? Ah, yes! Hello everyone!

[She grins and waves.]

My brother got me a brand new tablet! It's so much cooler than my old one! Thank you, brother!

Anyway, I hope everyone's doing okay today! And if you're cursed, just remember that it will all be over tonight! You can make it!

[She makes a peace sign.] Bai bai!


[ action ]
[For anyone who ever wondered what Pai would be like if she wasn't a Contractor, well, the answer is: a silly perky teenage girl who likes to do silly teenage things. Like spending all of her brother's money on clothes, play video games at the arcade, and eat parfaits while people watching. She's a little too shy to outright approach a stranger, but she's eager to make new friends.]

Comments

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[candothat]

[It looks like Pai. He trace the signal to Pai. But.]

...Pai?

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[sleepingstar]

Pavel! [Is that a squee in her voice? Yes, that is a bit of a squee in her voice. (Pai, perhaps, has just a little bit of an intellectual crush on Chekov.] Hi!

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[candothat]

[He smiles because, really, how can you not when someone's squeeing at you? Even if they're most definitely cursed.]

Hello. You are having a good day?

[So confused.]

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[sleepingstar]

The best day! Especially now that I'm talking to you.

[Teen flirting at its finest, ladies and gentlemen. Except this time she's not doing it just to make him uncomfortable for her own amusement. She just wants to flirt.]

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[candothat]

[ABORT MISSION ABORT MISSION]

It's good to talk to you, also.

[...]

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[sleepingstar]

[Really?! SQUEEEE! Pai wishes she had some friends her age that she could impress with that fact. An older man likes talking to her!]

Do you have any plans for today?

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[candothat]

[He likes Pai! She's small and cute! He just doesn't like like her.]

Not that I am aware of. Do you?

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[sleepingstar]

Not yet. But I could go for a parfait... [Hint. Hint. Hint.]

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[candothat]

[Oh, hey, this is still the same.]

Where would you like to go?

[mortemscintilla]

[ He'd almost be happier if the curse had made her a teenager hiding her skinny, pimply, pasty self behind greasy hair and shapeless clothes. It'd occurred to him, over and over, when Pai first arrived in the City, that she might be hit with something like this. But he'd barely anticipated the reality of it. Even when he looks at her, he still can't make sense of it. Maybe this isn't Pai. Maybe this is some vapid clone, sent in Pai's place. Maybe this is Pai's fashionista zombie, the one who ate her last night and took over her soul, polluting it with shopping sprees and frilly miniskirts and the tendency to hit him with her handbag and pout Stop being so meaaaan. ]

[ But of course he knows Pai's voice, even if it's bubbly instead of coolly modulated. And he knows that smile, wide and shining and sugar-edged -- a replica from their childhood. ]

[ Feeling queasy, but not showing it, he prowls the apartment. Knowing her, she'll probably be in the bathroom, snapping cutesy selfies of herself in the mirror. ]

...Pai?

[ Or whatever the hell you are. ]

[sleepingstar]

[Pai isn't taking selfies, no. She's just trying to pad her bra so her chest isn't so dreadfully flat.

It's not that she's interested in boys. Even as a human, she really couldn't care less about them or relationships. But you don't have to be looking for love to want to be pretty, and nobody is pretty with a chest as flat as hers.]

What?

[mortemscintilla]

Food's getting cold.

[ Hei hovers by the bathroom door. Listens to the quiet rustling behind it, half-wondering what the hell she's doing. Fixing her hair? Powdering her nose? He's never had any tolerance for that teenaged vanity that borders on narcissism. Part of him struggles as if against a knot, wringing and twisting over the argument: This isn't really Pai. But that's not true. This is Pai, all right. Just a different version of her. A different possibility. He tells himself he should enjoy it while it lasts. It isn't normal, is it, to compare this innocent, bright-eyed Pai to her harder, sleeker self -- and miss the killer? ]

[ He tries not to think about it. The flat is amber with diffused sunlight. In the open kitchen space, perched on the table, the chicken he's cooked is going lukewarm. Nonetheless it sends a delicious scent wafting through the air, and the roast vegetables twinkle in their juicy dishes. Usually he's horribly peckish at this hour. But for some reason, his appetite seems to have vanished. ]

[sleepingstar]

Okay! [She finishes stuffing tissues in her bra, evens it up, and bounces out of the bathroom. Will he notice how much cuter she looks?]

What did you make? It smells delicious!

[mortemscintilla]

Roast chicken and vegetable stirfry.

[ He doesn't really notice anything, beyond the task of tailing his own stunned ideas round and round. She seems the same as ever, but after a beat he spots, in her blouse -- (When did her breasts get lopsided? He's not in the habit of observing, granted, but isn't she usually more, well, less?) -- the crinkling of wadded-up tissue papers. Hiding a wince, he refrains from remarking on it. Why make things awkward? Instead he follows her to the table, settling heavily into his seat. He has no appetite, but, as always, he's determined to keep Pai company. Even this bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, bubblegum-brained version of her. In a dim corner of his mind, he ought to feel nostalgic. For Pai's wrecked childhood, for that parfaits-and-carousels outing with Mai, for an innocent lull that neither of the girls got to enjoy. ]

[ Instead he feels like the City is just rubbing his face in his inadequacies. In how altered and hollowed-out he's become, unable to relate to the normal and nice. ]

[ Hei carves off a juicy hunk of the chicken breast, a drumstick, and doles those to Pai's plate along with some carrots, greens and potatoes. Neutral-toned, ] What are your plans for today?

[sleepingstar]

I don't know. [She takes itty bitty bites of the meal -- unlike her normal self, she hasn't known starvation and privation, so she hasn't learned to gorge whenever she can. She has complete trust that she will always have food, and is far more concerned with making sure she doesn't ruin her figure.]

I was thinking about maybe going to the arcade. Or seeing if Pavel is free.

[mortemscintilla]

[ With a half-frown, Hei watches her tuck daintily into her meal. The curse has even altered her appetite. How odd, he thinks, that even the gorging is something he associates with Pai. The miracle of his mind's perversity. Shaking it off, he tucks into his meal. There's a vaguely muttony taste to the chicken, signaling that it's time to clean his oven tray. But he'll do that later. ]

[ His eyebrow tics when she mentions Pavel. But otherwise his expression stays neutral. Casually, he says, ]

I'll tag along.

[ It's hard to tell if he's being serious or not. (He's not. He just wants to gauge her reaction. This Xing is much more transparent than her cool-eyed, child-soldier counterpart. ]

[sleepingstar]

EH?! [NO. NO BIG BROTHERS WITH HER ON DATE WITH CUTE BOY. That would ruin EVERYTHING!]

I thought you were busy. [Trying to play it cool and failing.]

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[moonlitrequiem]

[Someone else that doesn't seem upset about their situation; Yin finds that very welcoming at the moment.]

Congratulations on the new tablet. [Was that a tinge of jealousy? A flicker of unease? Yin can still put it aside for her curiosity, and she has nothing against Pai, anyway.]

I don't have a very new one myself, so I don't know much about them. I'm barely learning all of the functions of my device.

Hope you're doing well, too!

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[sleepingstar]

I can show you, if you want! [Pai likes Kirsi. Pai likes anything pretty, including people. Besides, she knows Hei likes Kirsi too.]

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[moonlitrequiem]

[Kirsi perks up a little to that. She can't really see it, of course.... But that's okay. The fact Pai wants to makes her feel a bit better.]

Does it have a voice command option? I probably couldn't get much use out of such a thing.

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[sleepingstar]

Of course! What decent piece of technology doesn't these days?

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[moonlitrequiem]

Then I want to see it! [Because now she can get some real use out of playing with it for a bit.]

[sleepingstar]

You can come over any time you like! I'm sure Hei will be around most of the time.

[moonlitrequiem]

He doesn't need to be there. [Her tone - the slight flustered quality of it - might suggest it helps, though.]

[sleepingstar]

He has a way of being most places he doesn't have to be. [Long suffering little sister.]