2nd Message ☆ Video ☆ Open to courts

[parallels]

[The locket feed switches out to show Clara out in the fields around Caer Glaem. Her face is dirty and smeared with dirt and sweat. Her hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail and she stands with a shovel, surrounded by piles of dirt. There is also a pile of delicately picked tulips set to the side. Clearly, she's been putting her best foot forward when it comes to the requests from the court.

She licks her lips before starting, as if she's trying to follow what she's rehearsed in her mind.]

So Clara Oswald, here. Nice to meet anyone I haven't spoken to before. Phones and lockets that act like phones aren't really my thing. [Well that was a poor intro. She sighs a little and moves it along.]

I've been collecting the flowers on the graves to bring back to Caer Glaem. I figured it might be a bit of a nice thing to brighten up the crypts and to honor all of these people. Every time, we visited my mum's grave we'd always bring flowers. But none of these people have anyone to bring them flowers. No one even knows who they are. Figured that maybe that's something we could do. It's not about war, it's just about doing what's proper. That at least, I can get behind, threat of an evil spirit or not.

If you'd like some flowers let me know, I'm going to bring them back to the city. Maybe we can arrange them into something? Can't say that's my specialty but I'm sure there's someone out there who can.

...And then, second part of what I wanted to broadcast. It's a bit of a new direction. More cheerful one though.

[She shifts the camera down to show a little winged dog that is currently chewing on a bone next to her.]

Right so.

I've never owned a pet before. Not even a gold fish. Most I ever had was was one of those little keychain toys when I was ten.

But I got this one as a boon and he's a bit well. A handful. As puppies and children tend to be. In desperate times, my resources are books or my own cleverness; and cleverness has no bearing on puppy logic and I can't imagine there's "Simarg Cub Training 101" in the library, I'm running a bit dry here.

[The pup barks and flies up to lick her face. She laughs, a little more honestly than usual, and pats his head.]

Basically, pet owner advice is desperately needed. I'm sure I can spin whatever you can give me into something useful for this little one.

Comments

[parallels]

Definitely dangerous.

Imagine if they decided they ought to start fetching birds. Or nesting up somewhere high. They have all the dangerous capacity for shenanigans.

[brainiest]

At least I can levitate Padfoot down. You might have to get John to shake the tree.

[ She's grinning, though. The thought is quite funny. ]

Hopefully they're as loyal as they are tricky.

[parallels]

Oh my, I wonder how he'll react when I tell him he's on official "tree shaking" duty. Not that he'd ever leave a poor little guy stuck in a tree.

[The thought is totally hilarious and she's grinning like mad. Much more than she has for what feels like months.]

You'd hope. I mean, that is the classic role that dogs fill in stories. Hopefully there's a reason for that even here.

[brainiest]

I'm sure he won't mind too much. He is dad, after all, he's come to expect dealing with silly family matters like this.

[ She's biting back her own grin -- because poor John. How he ended up with the two of them... ]

Maybe he'll help you with anything that happens in the future. You never know. Train him up and he'll be a mini-genius protection program.

[parallels]

I never tire of hearing him called that.

[Seriously. It's hilarious. He's so delightfully put upon.]

...Considering everything that goes on here, it's not really a bad thing to have. Not that I want him to get into trouble on my behalf. If something happened to him, that would be awful.

[brainiest]

I think he does, sometimes. But he accepted it so he'll just have to deal with it.

[ Poor John. Hermione does adore him, though, so she does try to be careful about it. ]

No, I definitely understand that. I wouldn't want Padfoot to get into trouble on my behalf - at least, not any more trouble than he'll get into alone. He could be trained to be a messenger...

[parallels]

Making him deal sounds like a plan. Though, I do think there's definitely a part of him that likes it.

[She then leans back to think about that.]

Not all trouble is bad trouble. A messenger could be extremely valuable. Especially for messages you don't want to be traceable by any court.

[brainiest]

He just likes taking care of people. It's kind of his thing.

[ She hums, nodding her head. ]

I have other means, of course, that I can tell you about later - but there's a dozen things our pups could do for us.

[parallels]

It's a good thing to have in this place, far from home. We need people like that.

[The pup seems to like the idea of doing! things! And hops up onto Clara's lap so he can better press his nose into the locket.]

I think he's curious about those sorts of things. Probably getting a bit bored cooped up in the library with me.

[brainiest]

That's what I love about being here. It's far from home, but... I have a family. It's nice.

[ Nice and dangerous, of course, but at least there are some positives... ]

I think Padfoot is suffering from the same - that and he really doesn't get along with my cat too well. Crookshanks just wants to sleep a lot.

[parallels]

It's important to have support.

[She doesn't feel the same. Clara is too slow to trust and feel comfortable with others. But she appreciates the idea all the same.]

Maybe we ought to get these two together for a playmate before they start pulling tricks on us.