voice;

New month already? 

[Of course it is. He's not all that much surprised by his tone.]

Well, after a fucked up weekend I think a new start is about right. I [short laugh] I got to see what it was like to be a father. Looks like I'd be a deadbeat. Sorry you had to go through that, Ariadne. Far as I know, I'm nobody's pop. I think it's better that way.

[Kaito is grinning from ear to ear like the animal he's named after as he clicks on his device so he can talk to people.]

Looks like I made a hot woman during that curse. I even had that dipshit Storm King complimenting my tits.

Which also means that I have my sight back. The first thing I got to see what Gazelle at my side too. Couldn't ask for anything better. [He laughs then pushes some of his hair from his face.]

Oi! Akira! I still want that damn party.

And Dean, I'm coming back to work now. I'm done with this damned vacation.

[Video Post]
[In a flicker of shadow and light, the image comes into sudden focus. It seems to show a flashing view of the inside of a shop--but one slightly dim and dark. Rather like all the places he frequents: dim, dark, the worse for wear, all cut out of wood. Evening sunlight falls on the floor through the front windows and the name of the shop and proprietor can almost be read in the shadows the painted words cast across that liquid, golden light. But it's only a glimpse, a swift passing of a miscellany of things: blankets, boots, hats, tools of one sort of another, a few other odds and ends...

And then the camera fixes itself on a man behind a counter--a shopkeeper (though whether it's his shop one can't be sure, but it might be), on the young side of 40 but not by much, trying to look patient, but looking more put-out and trying not to look concerned (or downright worried). He stands behind the counter in his shirtsleeves and looks at the Network device and its camera and the one holding it. And then comes a familiar voice--it would be the voice of Our Man, the one holding the device and its camera, speaking to the shopkeeper:]

All right. Since this might just be a present for somebody, why don't you tell him just what you told me.

[If you know him (Our Man, that is), maybe you can imagine the crooked (but not wicked; only amused) smile on his face. He's causing trouble again. Small trouble, but still trouble. He has to do something with his evenings.

And the shopkeeper sighs a little, and all the nervousness and intimidation shudders into quick view. And then, in the best salesman's pitch he can manage, he answers (in a Southern accent, sounding more Texas than anything, I might add):]

All our merchandise is of the highest quality and no expense has been spared in either its manufacture or acquisition. What you have here before you, sir, is the finest array of goods that this City has to offer and you do truly give yourself credit and prove yourself to be among the upper echelons of the City's residents to choose to patronize our humble mercantile establishment.

[Quite a pitch. Seems the shopkeeper might have been giving him the hard sell. Or at least making too much of it all. But everyone'll be happy in the end--a sale, a purchase, and entertainment.

He swings the camera back around to himself, though at an odd angle--just a flick of the wrist and no real attempt to keep the camera focused on himself. He's moving, walking towards the counter. He speaks more to the camera (and the audience on the other side) than to the shopkeeper:]

Sounds all right to me.

[Speaking to the shopkeeper again:]

Here--

[He tosses something onto the counter, the camera spins again, and there is a glimpse of a hat there on the counter--ah ha, so that's it.]

--just that.

[The spinning camera is more a move to shut the device again than anything. A glimpse of the hat and the counter and the hands of the shopkeeper drawn up and away from the hat as though it weren't his own high quality merchandise acquired at great price and difficulty but an ordinary poisonous snake.

But that's all there is to see. The device snaps shut again and the image falls back away from the light and into shadow again, driving the whole into the dark and--]
[//video post ends]

[ooc: He's buying a hat from an NPC store. For Eames, actually, since the first one he gave Eames burned in an apartment fire some time ago--but he might end up buying others for A Few Other People (ahemhem) sooner or later. Anyway, have at him if you want some cowboy action. Wait--]

[The feed begins with a panoramic view of the sky, just before the device is properly tilted down to focus on a girl, quite young, with red gold hair that spills in disarray over her shoulders. She looks a little tired, and a little battle-worn, but mostly - she looks over the device, as if someone's there.]

And you say it's sending this out to everyone, now? Thank you. [There's a pause, a muffled question from whoever is behind the recording range, and then she smiles and shrugs.] No, that's alright. I think I'll manage to do something about it. You can go, I don't want to keep you from your job.

[A pause, as the mysterious person disappears, then she looks at the camera directly, curious.] Remarkable thing - we don't have any of these where I'm from. I'm starting to think that this place is nowhere any seven-league boots can take you. Have you ever heard of Market Chipping, for instance?

Wait, how do I know if it's working? Confound it, but this is difficult. Seems more complicated than cleaning the castle's bathroom, I'd wager. Oh well.

Hello. If this is, indeed, working and sending this message out, I suppose I should be open about my intents. I'm not planning to stay, though thank you for the rude kidnapping. The next time, it's polite to invite your guests in first. Something to remember. That aside, suppose I would like an audience with whoever is in charge of transportation out of here.

I left quite a mess back home, you see. Can't afford to stay, that fool will run the castle to the ground without me.