» the city network

( the video opens with aerith herself, tucked into an old arm chair; it looks like it could be in any of the apartments, but that's unlikely, given the bookshelves behind her, which appear to be more like the ones in the media store. still--she could be in any of the city's various cafes, it's hard to say.

case in point - there's a large book open, spread across her lap, though the words are hard to decipher from the video's resolution, and there's no hint of the title. )

Okay! ( bright and warm, as she leans forward, hands spread over the pages of the book. ) Today's story is a choose-your-own adventure, are you ready?

Ahem, ahem. ( her voice rises and falls in pitch, all full of dramatics. ) To start: you find yourself in a large clearing, full of green grass and well-tilled land. You can't remember how you arrived in this place, but even so...! You feel as though your hands must seek the dirt beneath your feet, as though you must start digging holes, holes for seeds, seeds which... Well.

( her fingers turn the page--and she lifts up a little packet from within the book, not unlike the ones from the cursed tea party, but this one clearly labeled with both pictures and text. some sort of root vegetable. bright orange. )

You find right there, at your fingertips. Now, the question is - out of all these seeds you find, what would you want to grow, and what would you never want to see in a garden, or worse, on your dinner plate?

--Okay, maybe this is less a choose-your-own-adventure and more a terrible marketing tactic. ( dropping the packet of seeds into the book, she pushes both sides of it closed with a snap--and a laugh. ) But I'm wondering what kind of fruits and vegetables are worth growing in my garden. I don't know that I trust the food here, so I want to start growing more things just in case, and...

Everyone has different tastes! So tell me a little bit about the food you like, or even flowers, and maybe I can make a special delivery in...you know, a few months once everything's growing. That's all from Gainsborough Greenery! ( she leans forward with a little wave, before her hand takes over the screen of her phone to cut the video. )

[ hello and welcome to Boredom Hours, sponsored by one too many midafternoon beers and a perpetual inability to not immediately make his ennui everyone else's problem. today's host is... Reno!

when the video starts, it's to a shockingly decently framed shot of Reno doing the hooligan squat on the front stoop of his apartment building. he's got a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth, and once he's sure that the video is rolling he takes a long drag of it before he speaks. ]

Sup. I'm Reno. Some of ya may know me from my colorful past as "guy who got yanked into pool by tentacle monster."

[ probably nobody knows him that way but it's fine. we are not concerned with strict veracity here. Reno blows a neat smoke ring and grins the kind of grin that means he knows he's being a pain in the ass. ]

I was thinkin', y'know, there's only so many of us. Probably ain't a bad idea to get to know each other, right? [ he gestures with his cigarette as he speaks as if to underscore his words. ] We need some conversation starters. Some icebreakers, y'know? Everybody's favorite highlight from their corporate bonding retreats.

So! [ he holds up a hand to count on.

one finger. ] Two truths and a lie. Post 'em, let other people guess. I'll leave mine too. Shoutout to the blond girlie who had that party a couple months back for this one.

[ two fingers. ] Hot or not. Or smash or pass, whatever you wanna call it. Post yourself and let people vote, if you're brave. Or post your friends if you want to fuck around. You can all see my face right now so count that as my submission.

[ three fingers. ] Creativity exercise, open prompt. You can go anywhere, be anybody, do anything you want. The world ain't ending and there's no war or whatever the hell going on. Who are you and what are you doing? [ brief smoke break, and then Reno stubs the butt out on the cement, exhaling as he says, ] Me, I wanna make mediocre coffee for minimum wage and not worry about shit except makin' rent.

[ and lastly, four fingers. ] "Reno, this is fuckin' stupid and I don't want to do it." Okay, nobody's got a gun to your head. We ain't even got guns here. Do what you want.

[ his four fingers curl in so he can offer a cheerful, if a bit manic, thumbs-up before he reaches out to turn off the video.

just before he touches the button, though, he pauses as if something just occurred to him— ] Oh, shit—also, drop map pins for your favorite restaurant in this place. I'm in the market for new eats, bonus points if it's spicy.

[ okay, now he's gone. ]