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Who: Jay Merrick and You
What: Jay fell unconscious in Rosswood Park and woke up on a magic island. He's not yet sure if this is a good thing.
When: January 29th, morning
Where: The Storyteller's Temple
Warnings: Language, Jay being an anxious wreck; will update as things come up!

This is wrong. Deeply, deeply wrong. He's either still dreaming, or he's still hallucinating, or he's dead, because the only remaining option doesn't just happen.

Sure, maybe the supernatural exists, but it doesn't talk to you in your dreams, and it doesn't spare you from getting your memories scraped out of your head by ~~that thing,~~ and it doesn't drop you off in...okay, maybe it does drop you off in an overgrown, abandoned building, but not one that looks like this.

He leans up against something that definitely isn't a mana pool, because mana pools don't exist. His phone is gone. His camera--shit, his camera's dripping, and the viewfinder screen won't light up, and it won't even turn on, it just keeps making this thin, whining noise before fizzling out again, and come on come on COME ON this can't happen

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That is...one way to put it. She talks strangely, not like anybody Jay's ever met, and it's almost enough for his curiosity to completely override his panic.

Almost.

"No--well, yeah, sort of, but it's...it's a video camera." Is he going to have to explain what a video is? "Records video on tape--on, on film."

He grimaces. "Or it would, if it worked."

Records is vaguely familiar word and while she doesn't get the entire concept, she knows enough to figure out it's different than a picture. It's the one that moves? She's never seen a working one in person, though she knows it's something she stumbled across in her world before.

"You can ask the Storyteller. They might be able to fix it for you-they're good at things like that." Magic?? Or whatever they use has some benefits and this is one of them. "You can say 'I need help' and then they'll try very hard."

And the Storyteller is...the giant rabbit thing. Right.

Jay screws his eyes shut, rubs at his forehead. He's got a dead camera. A complete stranger's talking to him about a talking rabbit from his dream.

As much as his guts churn to think it, there is nonzero probability that he's hallucinating right now.

Worth a try, though. Worst that'll happen is that he'll make a fool out of himself alone in the woods.

Jay Merrick tilts his gaze up to the ceiling of the temple, holds up his dripping camera, and says, "I, uh. I need help."

It might work. Might. And that's why she waits in total silence, turning her head to glance around the temple to see if the Storyteller appears. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't and she guesses-

"They might be very tired. They'll come out later, but you did very good and said it very nice."

In the meantime, they can work on it or rather, they can try to wring out the wiring and see what's going on. She drops her nasty, grubby bag to the ground, pulling out an equally gross article of clothing. Her little yukata has gone through some kind of hell and-

She drops it to the ground.

"When they come out, you should tell them a story too. They like that kind of thing. I think it makes them happy." She starts to pat the bundle of cloth on the ground, to get his attention. "You can put your treasure here to dry until your heart reaches them."

It seems like she means well. She puts down a worn...robe, Jay thinks, indicating that Jay's supposed to put his camera on it.

Like hell.

He doesn't say that. He's not gonna cuss in front of a kid, and again, it seems like she means well.

"I'm, uh. I think I'll just...take my, uh, my treasure with me, if it's all the same to you." He feels like a jerk. Maybe if he keeps talking, he'll feel like less of a jerk. "Maybe the sunlight'll do it some good. Th...thanks, though."

He files away the bit she said about the Storyteller liking to be told stories. If he's gonna have to deal with a giant talking rabbit--and he's still not sure about that--he's better off knowing as much as he can about them.

It doesn't bother her that he won't accept her nasty towel blessing because it's rare that people do. It does make a nice place to sit though, so she decides to put matters into her own hands and plop herself on it instead. Better than having the rocks poke into her legs and-

She pats the spot next to her, in case he wants to sit on this grody piece of fabric too.

"The sun will help you do that kind of thing. It's very hot-it'll dry very fast."

He looks down at this girl and her ratty towel and her unwavering optimism, and he has no idea what he's supposed to do.

She pats on the spot next to her.

Jay stares.

It'll dry very fast, she says. Jay's got his doubts; from the way the water drips from the seams, it looks like there's a decent amount on the inside. Beyond that, a camera's a delicate instrument, not the sort of thing he'd like to leave under the hot sun for too long.

Jay looks at the girl, looks at the towel, looks at the accumulated grime and at his camera.

And slowly, hesitantly, Jay takes a seat.

When people arrive, they're usually hesitant to trust the island, the people, the situation at hand. This guy has been no exception. Trying to get him to understand that she's not scary and won't hurt him-it's been a struggle and it feels like a small victory to have him sit next to her.

Plus, she can look at his weird treasure. He's unwilling to leave it alone and she can understand. It's why she buries at lot of her items and hides the rest around camp for safekeeping.

And she rapidly waves her hands as a makeshift fan towards the device, hoping that helps it dry quicker. It won't do anything, probably, but she's trying.

"My name is Ren. Do you have a name too?"

Ren. Simple, easy to remember, even with the holes that thing has blown through his memory.

She's trying to dry his camera off. He's...he's not sure if it'll accomplish anything, but something in his chest warms a little, watching her try.

"I'm...Jay."

"Jay."

She repeats the name quietly to herself, waving her hands towards the device a bit faster. Get unwrecked, videotape.

"Do you have siblings? Are they named 'A', 'Bee', 'Cee', and 'Dee'?"

Because that's clearly the most important question to ask right now. Jay's a part of some kind of alphabet. Maybe there are more she needs to watch out for.

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jay that's not. that's not how it works jay.

he's trying so HARD

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