[13: video]

[paper_knight]

There's a click and a whir, and a round-faced boy in a starched white shirt appears on the screen. He doesn't seem aware that the comm unit is recording him; the feed shakes and spins disorientingly as he turns the device over and over, examining it with a steadily widening smile.

"It's really broadcasting? Gosh.He clears his throat and speaks

Comments

[video of STARE]

[timisnotme]

.........................................................what?

[video of =D]

[paper_knight]

"Holy cow!"

No matter how user-friendly the comm unit makes itself, a tiny video feed just wasn't possible in 1930. This is clearly the coolest toy ever, and warrants more staring and fiddling.

Re: [video of =D]

[timisnotme]

Uhhh.. Mark? Why are you like... Seven?

[paper_knight]

"I'm nine."

Yes, there's a big difference.

"Who're you?"

[dashboardlite]

Dean's been fiddling around with his own communicator for a good half-hour, prodding at the settings and wrenching a few bits and pieces around to have it pick up electro-magnetic frequencies. Dad always said he couldn't be too careful, not in strange houses like this.

"Hey!"

A freckled kid with green eyes and a worn t-shirt sticks his face up to the screen, a tiny smile tugging on the edges of his lips. It's working! And here he thought he'd never get out of this place. The boy on the other end of the transmission is doing detective work? His parents might be hunters, too.

"Hey, kid!" Dean lowers his voice conspiratorially, eyes darting left and right. "I think this goes all the way to the top, too. Name's Dean. Who're you?"

[paper_knight]

His eyes widen and his volume drops. Someone to play detectives with!

"Meltzer. Mark Meltzer. Are you on the same case as me?"

[dashboardlite]

"Mark, huh?" Dean chews his lower lip thoughtfully for a moment, almost squirming in his chair with excitement. This is the first real development he's had thus far.

"I dunno, what case is it? I think there's monsters in the closet - not the stupid kind," He states this with obvious disdain, "...but the real kind. My dad hunts them and I've been tracking some. What are you doing?" Curiously, he leans in to the camera as if that would help him better see his new associate.

[paper_knight]

"I'm looking around this library. It's amazing, look."

He's figured out the camera function pretty quickly, all things considered; he holds it up to give Dean a view of the towering bookshelves. He's started walking up and down and pulling out books at random, stacking them under one arm. Because of the nature of the library, they're all things he likes; books of fairy tales and collections of pulp stories.

"What kind of monsters are the real kind?"

[playingbadcop]

Mark Meltzer. Detective.

Up until that point, Benny had simply assumed that this was a new arrival to the Mansion, and then he said his name. And then he kept talking.

In his surprise, Benny inhales his coffee, and spends the rest of the broadcast choking.

"...what did you say your name was?" he croaks hoarsely.

[paper_knight]

"Mark. You sound funny."

[playingbadcop]

"Got coffee down the wrong way. Mark, huh?"

He's used to the mansion doing weird things, but this...this is just too much. There's nothing to shout at Mark about, all their previous conversations are out the window, and Benny would feel like too much of a heel for just...ignoring the kid.

"You sound pretty hard-boiled. Tough guy?"

[paper_knight]

"I'm a detective."

A pause. He's talking to an adult, here.

"Well, I'm gonna be. When I'm older."