A1. video. [ open to both courts ]

[greenies]

[ it doesn't immediately occur to thomas that he could probably just communicate through a text system--as far as he knows, the locket is a lot easier to use by video, and so he does. the network is presented with a pair of big, brown doe eyes before he leans backwards a little, revealing a face that could be rather familiar to some--dark hair, a button nose, moles like spots littering his face.

this is not the man you are looking for, however: this is thomas "murphy", and he clears his throat before he introduces himself. ]

Hi. I'm Thomas Murphy, and I'm--kind of a new arrival. I guess they'd call me a greenie if this was back home. [ there's no hint of humor on his face, but he did actually just try and make a joke, and his tone is a little lighter, for it. ]

Can anyone tell me about the Seelie and Unseelie--in your own words, if that makes any sense? What you know about it...you don't have to tell me any secrets or anything, but, maybe why you're there, I guess. [ he's not going to say which court he is (though it's obvious eventually, by the background of caer scima), but he just needs to know. ] Or, if you're okay with where you are. Not that I'm not, but...I don't know. Is there any reason why someone wouldn't be? They apparently brought us here for a reason-- [ again. ] --since we have these "shards", or whatever they are, but I don't have a lot of trust for anybody who says that, because it's usually a load of klunk.

I guess that's all I've got to ask. [ a beat. ] Actually, that's not true. Is there another map around here? Besides the one they gave me, I mean, it's not very good. [ ... ] No offense.

[ thomas is just going to shut his trap now. he almost physically winces and shakes his head. ] That's it, honestly. I'm just going to... hang up now. Thanks.

[ thomas does hang up, and the feed ends--for all of five seconds, before he snaps it back on. ] Oh, wait--also, I want to know if anyone here's ever heard the phrase "WICKED is good." It has to look like this. [ after a second, there's a typed out phrase that appears instead, with WICKED fully capitalized. ] That's really all this time. Um, thanks.

[ click! for real this time. ]

Comments

[choreographics]

[Unlike Thomas, Ryan's staring straight into the video feed as he waits. But the answer perplexes him all over again, and it's a genuine question when he asks.]

What makes you think that you're there to make up for anything?

[greenies]

[ he gives him a faint smile. ] It's the best explanation I've got, right now.

[ though it doesn't make any sense as to why teresa's on the other side, but thomas is too wrapped up in his own guilt to see anything otherwise. ] I wish there was a way to know their qualifications. Why they put us where they did.

[choreographics]

I mean I guess we could always ask the king and queen of the courts, but I'm not sure how helpful they'd be. If we're at a war they'll probably tell us anything to make sure we work with them. [Normally he's not this cynical. Normally he takes things at enough face value to just go along with it. Seelie good, Unseelie bad, whatever. But that logic hasn't made sense lately and he probably shouldn't be questioning everything, but he is.]

...do you really think everything happens for a reason?

[greenies]

I had a discussion with the queen, but she didn't have much of an answer for me. [ tommy sighs. ] No one seems to.

[ the question makes him pause; that's about the only way he can get through the things that have happened, but he won't say that out loud. thomas is a pragmatist through and through, but sometimes it's a little easier to think that there's someone out there dealing out hands of fate. if he got a bad draw, he'll just have to work with it.

but, he just shrugs his shoulders. ] Something like that. It's complicated.

[choreographics]

[There's that word again, complicated. He's heard that from a few people now on a few different subjects, and honestly it's almost a bit startling how complicated everyone else seems and how...simplistic he is.

Dwell on that later at least.]

Well wait, what did you ask her?