dualisnet | video | un: Ventus

[When the feed turns on, it's very clear Ven's in his room in the dorms, seated at his desk. It looks like just the other two-person rooms, with the basic furniture and everything. There's two differences, though: very unlike normal, someone's gone and stuck those glow-in-the-dark stars over the portion of the wall that's visible and even onto the bit of ceiling that can also be seen, and a small telescope of the old fashioned brass spyglass type is laying on the desk behind him. Ven himself gives the camera a wave and a smile, looking for all intents and purposes like a completely normal, cheerful, sixteen-year-old boy with abnormally fluffy blond hair.]

Hey there, everyone - I'm Ventus, but call me Ven, I usually go by that most of the time. If you know Aqua, she might've mentioned me; we're students together. Or we were, until she wasn't an apprentice anymore, but we still live together and train together. She's one of my best friends.

[There's another smile, a happy one, but those with sharp eyes might notice a hint of wistfulness in it. Ven is Not Good at concealing his emotions, and the lack of the third member of their trio is something that brings him down.]

Aqua explained what she knew about this place, but I got a message on this phone and I had another question, and neither of us really know a lot about this world so I'd thought I'd ask everyone. Has anyone heard of "dualiseats?" [There's a brief glance down at something off-screen, like he's checking something, before he nods and looks back at the camera.] Yeah, that's it - "dualiseats." There's a message about going to work for them tomorrow, but I've never really had a job before, so I don't know what's going on. And I didn't sign up for this, so can you just... have jobs here? Like the guys in charge just decide you need one, or something like that?

I mean, I don't mind having a job, I just don't know how you get one. But I need to pay Aqua back what she lent me.

[A moment's pause, then a small shrug and another smile.] Anyway, uh, I guess that's it. If anyone's got any answers for my questions, thanks in advance!

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[That is a good smile, Ven approves. And he seems to know and like Aqua, which is even better. Nida gets an answering smile back, pleased at how people have accepted Aqua as someone worth knowing. Which is definitely is.]

I missed her, too. We've been apart too long, but now we can fix that.

[There's a slow dawning realization on his face as Nida explains the company, and a soft "ohhh" under his breath, then a nod.] Food delivery, got it. I'll probably need to use it myself a bunch, I'm not any good at cooking. But, uh, what are tips?

Well, if nothing else, Aqua knows how to peel potatoes. So you'd always have those as an option.

[But he was there when she started learning to peel. And had almost hurt himself. Aqua was a relief of help.]

And cereal, and crackers, and fruit.

[Really, Ven lives up to the "teenage boy" stereotype in the way he can eat practically anything, no matter how "good" it is, but he does have a preference for well-prepared foods thanks to living at the castle for so long. He just also has no hope of preparing that food himself.]

Maybe this job will give me food. It could happen, right?

It could. More likely it will give you money with which to buy food.

[Restaurants are a thing. Clearly, if Ven's going to deliver for them.]

[Well, yes, they definitely are. It's a huge city full of "everything you could want or need," and that does include feeding the people who are... challenged at feeding themselves. But even for being here only a few days, Ven has noticed something.]

That, too, but I've seen some of the prices and they seem pretty... high? I don't have much experience with shopping, but I've seen food that costs more than a shirt just since I got here.

Could be a really poor quality shirt. But... Well, talk to Seifer. That's Aqua's roommate. He helps cook for a group of us. We all chip in on buying the ingredients and cleaning and things like that.

[They've made their own little community.]

Yeah, you mentioned him. Maybe he'd be okay taking me on, too. I wouldn't mind giving him funds to help out.

[That's actually pretty nice to hear - if he and Terra couldn't be here, at least Aqua found people to be friends with and help take care of her, and she could help take care of them. The three of them may have had quiet lives in training, but even with only having four people permanently in the castle, they were all used to having other people around. And Aqua has been alone far, far, far too long.]

I think the food I saw might've been really, really special too. Maybe pretty rare. The rarer something is, the more expensive it is, right?

Special? I'm intrigued as to what you saw. And yes, typically there is an increase in value if an item is rarer. Of course, the same can happy with popularity, I expect.

[But he smiles to hear Ven maybe agreeing to join them.]

If nothing else, I hope to meet you around sometimes. I hang out with Seifer often, we might run into each other in their room. Maybe we should make a board game night.

I don't know - I think it was some kind of seafood? We didn't have that a lot at the castle.

[Because mountains.]

[But at that comment, Ven's face definitely lights up.] Board games? I'll do that! We played them all the time - when we had time, that is, a lot of nights we were just exhausted. But when we could, we'd play.

Yeah, seafood makes sense. People definitely get seafood expensive for reasons. Never got it. And I'm from a coastal area.

[Maybe he should find board games. They weren't something that Nida played a lot, but he's read fliers about them.]

I guess if you're farther away from the water, it's harder to get? I haven't seen an ocean or lake or anything since I came here, but I might not've gone in the right direction yet.

[um yes, or Ven will find them on his own. It's a fun thing to do with a group, after all.]

What kind of games do you have?

It's probably also to do with the inherent difficulty of acquisition of the food. Humans aren't exactly made to live in the water. And it is a good medium for making bullets sorta stupidly useless.

As for games, the only thing I have right now is a Triple Triad deck. Trying to see if I can get more cards for it. There are a few other people with decks too.

[Well that comment's going to get you a bit of a weird look, Nida.] Why would you immediately think about bullets when talking about water? Do you think you're gonna get shot at by whales or something?

What's Triple Triad?

People have guns. And can go to the water.

[Is that not a given? Oh, what in the world is he supposed to do to explain this? Maybe he can just move on to Triple Triad.]

A card-based game that involves a three by three grid, cards with four numbers on them, and which my roommate Squall is addicted to.

[Oh, right. Ven flushes as that rather obvious fact is given by Nida, because yeah, that was pretty obvious and he really should have understood that. He'd been shot at by cannons when he was underwater, after all. He's just gonna... skip all that and hope Nida doesn't continue that thread of conversation, so he can save himself some embarrassment.]

Are there enough cards here to play? If it comes from your home, you can't get more, and I don't want to take anything that's a pretty limited resource and doesn't belong to me.

[He's been what? Don't tell Nida, he'd be horrified. Beyond horrified.]

You can borrow cards. I can break my deck down into a few fairly powered but smaller sets. Who knows, I might get lucky and find something.

[They were pirates, they don't play nice. He's okay, obviously.]

Are you sure? Don't they mean something important to you, since they're from home?

[Pirates are rude. But really, Nida's world doesn't have as much of a concept of those.]

I wouldn't give them to you to keep. I'd have them with me except when we played. Oh, and you could play with Squall too. Probably Seifer. But don't let them talk you into trading cards. These are my precious things.

video | un: Ventus

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going with the headcanon that command board is a real game...

Best choice. I LOVE IT!

https://i.redd.it/g5i4au68i0q11.jpg

Re: https://i.redd.it/g5i4au68i0q11.jpg

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