caughtinanetwork | 1st Combo

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1st Combo - [video]

[The video comes on in a jolt of motion, which stills to a skewed image of pavement, buildings, and a soaking wet teenage boy clad in red and black lying on the ground. He winces as though he'd just hit the ground. Hard.]

Oww...

[Pushing himself up off the ground, he rubs his head.]

Is everyone all...

[Wait. Something's wrong. He looks around the plaza with clearly growing alarm, but still not at the SFC.]

Guys? Where is everyone?

[And where in the world is he?!]

[OOC: I'm up for action or network replies. Either works for me!]

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[Tsubaki doesn't like to make it a habit to travel far, really. Not with her eyesight being as bad as it is, with no corrective vision to speak of--yet.

But either way, she sees a stray starfish communicator on the ground, looking much like the one Zelos showed her how to use; and she picks it up from the ground, seeing the red-clad person in front of her who she assumes to be the owner. Brand new owner, that is. She can barely see the water dripping off him...]

...I believe this is yours.

[He turns, looking curiously at the girl who'd just approached. Then his eyes drop to what she's holding in her hands, and all thoughts derail.]

Whoa, careful! Those things are dangerous!

[...wha--]

Dangerous?! [Wow, she nearly drops the thing. But then she looks at it, as harmless as it'd ever been, and holds it a bit tighter.] I-I should think not! I've been using mine for quite some time now.

[...Well, only a couple times. But still.]

Apparently everyone is given one.

[And this would be his, right? She'll attempt to hold it out to him now...]

No, I've seen these things before, more times than I want to count. They might look small and harmless, but they can be a real pain in the neck.

[She's not putting it down, though. He can't just leave it in her hands!]

Here, I'll take it. At least I'm wearing gloves.

[And man, he sure hopes they're thick enough to protect him from this thing's spines. So far so good, though. Maybe it's asleep?]

Why would someone give everyone starfish?

[...Oh. Gloves.

So he is. She hadn't noticed really, and she can only watch as he takes the thing, bewildered. She tilts her head.]

But...they are not alive. [And she has gotten no injuries from hers, that she knows of...] They seem to be a communicator of some sort...so presumably, we're given them so that we may keep in touch with each other while here.

[This might actually be the first time he's held a starfish in his hands. Yeah, he's killed a lot of them before, but who'd want to pick one up after the fact? Those spines could still hurt, even if they weren't actively being used.

Except... now that he looked up close, this one didn't seem to have the same sharp spines he was used to.]

Not alive?

[Hesitantly, very hesitantly, and ready to drop it in a heartbeat, Lloyd pokes one of the starfish's arms. No response - and no pricked finger through his glove.]

Whoa, you're right. So... this isn't a starfish at all? You just... talk with it?

[There is something amusing about how he reacts to it. Something amusing and innocent, and...Tsubaki can't help but crack a smile, ever so slightly. It is only for an instant, though, and, sensing her guard lowering, it quickly fades.]

It would appear so, yes. I've not seen anything like it; although there are equivalents, where I'm from.

[They don't look like starfish, though. And they're also called cell phones...but regardless, she pulls out her own SFC to take a peek at it as well.

...Heh. Perhaps it would be quite easy to mistake it for a real starfish after all. Now that she thinks of it, she's a little surprised she didn't make the same mistake.]

That's incredible.

[He's actually come across something like this before a couple of times, but not so small and portable, or free for him to use. Still a little weird that it's shaped like a starfish, but he can get used to that.]

So, you have one, too. And everyone does? So, if I wanted, I could talk to anyone with this!

[His enthusiasm for the little starfish is growing quickly now, and catching that small smile, he grins right back.]

What if I wanted to talk to you? How would I do that, um...?

That's right, I don't know your name. [He sticks out his free hand.] I'm Lloyd!

[It's surprising how much his enthusiasm has spiked. He seems very impressed with the gadget, and in a way, it's almost endearing. But she is unfortunately used to such innocence hiding something much more sinister, so she is wary of him, as she is everyone. Especially men.

In fact, she has to stare at his hand for a moment when he offers it, as if she doesn't even know what to do; but hesitantly, she reaches out to grab hold, shaking it awkwardly, at long last.]

...Tsubaki.

[They're...supposed to let go after that, right?]

And yes, being able to talk to anyone is the general idea behind it... [She pauses now, to pull up something on her own communicator screen. Or at least fiddle with it and try...hm, now did Zelos do it?] You would simply have to find my name on the master list of residents.

[Ah! There it is— the letters are kind of a blur, but she can kind of read the names if she holds the SFC really close to her face...]

Mine, or...anyone else's that you wish to contact, of course.

[Lloyd's never been skilled at picking up on people's subtler emotions, and her caution is no exception. Oblivious, he just happily shakes her hand and lets go.]

It's nice to meet you, Tsubaki.

[Okay, paying attention to what she's doing now. Even if he wasn't already impressed, he definitely is now.]

That's amazing! It knows who everyone is!

[He looks at his SFC with a very pleased expression on his face, then pockets it. Yup, he's definitely keep this thing. Man, he can't wait to take it home and play with it, see what else it can do.]

You sure know a lot, Tsubaki. I'm glad I ran into you.

[She's been nice and helpful, and it's been comfortable talking to her.]

[H-Hngh, is that a compliment?

It's kind of amazing how much you can say sometimes, without realizing it. Because of that, she's staying decidedly more quiet now, since it seems the SFC is doing most of the talking for her anyway. But she's still a bit unsure how to react to all this...after all, she isn't entirely used to hearing that kind of thing.

She can't very well clam up though, without it seeming suspicious or weird, so...she thinks of something, at least. She's good at keeping her composure.]

W-Well, not really. I've only been here for three weeks or so...

[Three weeks and one day, to be exact. But apparently, that is long enough...]

That's still three weeks more than I've been here, which means three more weeks of stuff you know that I don't.

[He's not about to take that compliment back, so you might as well give up, Tsubaki.]

Say, if I have any other questions, can I call you sometime?

I...I don't see why not.

[Actually, she can think of a lot of reasons. She still doesn't know him very well, but she's finding it a bit hard to say no...or at least she has no reason to. Nor would she be able to stop him, even if she wanted to.

She's certain it would be beneficial, though, if she were to have friends here. People who she could fall back on, like she did with her followers. People who could take their place, should it come to that.

But that is something that would take time.]

There may be others who can help you more than I can, though—even those you know. It is a city filled with many people, from many different places...

So you should keep an eye out.

[He smiles genuinely at her response. Even if she sounds a little hesitant, the fact is that she said yes.]

Yeah, I'll probably end up asking lots of different people for help. It's never a bad thing to have more friends, though, and other people you can ask. Thanks, Tsubaki, and don't worry, I will.

I should probably see if I can find my friends now. We all went through the Gate that brought me here, so maybe some of them are here, too. I can tell them all about what you told me.

[He smiles again, something more like a grin. Yeah, Tsubaki, you're not getting out of his friendship.]

So, see you later?

[A gate?

Huh. She doesn't remember any gate upon coming here. In fact, she doesn't remember much at all about her arrival; but Lloyd doesn't look like the type to lie, or be any good at it. So somehow, she believes him.

Or she at least goes along with it, since she doesn't really get any chance to object anyway.]

Y-Yes, of course.

[She's not going anywhere, at least.]

You're welcome, Lloyd. There are many names on that list...so I'm sure some of them must belong to these friends of yours.

Got it! I'll take a look in a minute!

[But first he wants to see if any of his friends are nearby. Given the choice between actively doing something to find the people he cares about or just poking buttons on a piece of technology he doesn't really understand, Lloyd will take action every time. Not that he won't enjoy some enthusiastic button poking later on, but...

For now, he just lifts a hand and waving cheerfully at Tsubaki before taking off at a jog.]

Good luck, then.

[Heh.

Seeing him wave, she raises a hand as well, slowly and awkwardly waving back as she watches him get further and further away. That's one person taken care of, she supposes.

A person who was once like her, wet and lost and confused. And she walks off in a different direction, wondering just how many more there would be...]

/fin

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1st Combo - [video]

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