Description: In the crowded streets of Hong Kong, D.Dash meets a new friend in the form of Naerose Delphine, and a plan is hatched to help her reach her ultimate goal of world peace. Step One? Make All The Friends!
Hong Kong.
Do people speak Cantonise or Mandarin here and does it matter when you speak neither? It turns out not because enough people probably speak a language that one Naerose Delphine would understand. . If she said things that made coherent sense to them in the first place. Obviously not a sure fire thing. Instead the stranded Red Witch had decided that the one to win hearts and minds (and donations) for her parfait would be demonstrating her mad skillz. . Hackey sack. Some might claim that game died in the nineties, but Nae-nae was going to keep it alive (along with the N-gage if she could find one).
The street here was bustling and actually there were no small number of people who did pause to observe the Nae-sacking but unfortunately for Naerose her skillz did not equate to money and also some of the locals were better than her at it. So I guess the dream of the nineties is alive? Still, one never overcomes adversity without tenacity and tenacity starts with t and that rhymes with p and that stands for. . . Naerose confuses herself and accidentally kicks her hackeysack into the crowd of Hong Kongians.
"Aw drat."
One Danny 'Dashing' Dash, better known as D. Dash or Dash or DD or 'Hey, you, with the hair' is also in Hong Kong. She still hasn't figured out that Hong Kong is actually where she is, yet, she's still /pretty sure/ this is Thailand. She'd done her best to look after one Kevin Nolastnamegiven, but she can't spend all her time looking after one guy - as much as it was nice to have a friend in this world, the rest of the world needed to hear about FRIENDSHIP too!
So the girl with her brightly-colored hair and brilliant clothing is a little spot of color in the Hong Kong crowd, busily trying to convince her smartphone that she's in Thailand - it seems to think she's somewhere else, and how would she be able to find her way to Iraq if she couldn't convince her phone where she was?
And then she was beaned in the side of the head by the little hackeysack.
Blinking, she reaches down, and picks it up. She looks at it, then she looks at Naerose, and... smiles? Walking out of the crowd, she offers the beanbag out to Nae with a bright grin on her lips. "Hey! I think you dropped your ... thing?" A beat. "Cool hat!"
Chasing down a run away sack is no fun at all. Luckily someone found it and Naerose is just in the process of calling out,
"Hackey, Hackey the sack where ar- " When it's just straight up offered. Cool.
"Th-thanks," she says a little bashfully, accepting her hackeysack and then looking over the unmistakably brightly colored girl with great taste in hats over.
"Hey.. Don't I know you?" She inquires and seems to think hard, which helps since she's really bad at remembering names and faces,
"Yeah, you're from that youtube channel!" Naerose exclaims and then demonstrates her ability to forget names by not naming who Dash is.
"Can I have your autograph!?" She exclaims, looking with starry eyes (which you can't really see since she has circular black shades on, actually lets just say starry shades) @ Dash (Bet you forgot the train of thought before the parantheses started).
"Eh? I don't think..." Dash starts, and then Nae pegs her just right - she IS that person from that youtube channel! Dash's smile only gets brighter as her little bit of celebrity is brought up. And her Dad said that the whole thing was a stupid waste of time. Look at me now, Dad!
"That's me!" She exclaims, "Dashing Dash, of D.Dash dot dee ee. I uh, sure! I can sign a thing!"
Reaching into the pocket at the front of her hoodie, she produces a bright blue sharpie marker she has prepared for just such a request. After removing the plastic packaging, she flourishes the pen triumphantly. "What do you want me to sign?~"
Now there's definitely more than a few people standing and staring. Dash has quite a large internet following but... she's still fairly rarely noticed on the street. But the hackey sack performer seems to be trying to get her autograph so now more people are thinking - should they know who this girl is? Or is it some sort of weird street performance art?
What, Dash doesn't carry pictures of herself around for just such an occasion? Naerose has to have something for her to sign herself and thus forever not have an official signed picture? D. Dash needs to get a few pointers from people who are way more versed in having ready signed pictures on hand at all times. But not to be disuaded, Naerose thinks about this for a bit and then fumbles around in her hat. She needs something signed but comes up empty handed.
"How about this?" She asks, offering back her hackeysack that started thsi whole thing in the first place. "I wasn't expecting to meet such a star today so I didn't bring anything better," she laments. "I mean unless we can find one of those nifty photo booths. Also D.Dash is going to have to pay for it, a fact Naerose doesn't mention.
"Or or or.." She pulls out her cell phone, "I could take a picture and you could sign it!" Best idea evar.
Its true; Dash is woefully ill-prepared for the trials and tribulations of being a celebrity, even an internet one really. She takes the offered hackeysack, but actually blushes at the way Naerose enthuses at her. It is really exciting! She's met fans before, a couple of times, but they're usually expected and sometimes a bit weird and creepy. Naerose is neither of those things!
"I guess you could do that!" She says, "We'd just need to find a printer, or... yeah, a photo booth, that'd be ideal."
Now holding the hackeysack, she looks at it a bit quizzically, and then back to the very red witch, "So, uh, you obviously know my name... what's yours? Its really great to meet a fan all the way out here in... Vietnam!"
"Huh, is that where this is?" Naerose asks, having herself not figured out quite where she was. " I thought maybe it was someplace funny, but I wasn't sure. I thought this was maybe Kinakuta." She shrugs though because it turns out she can't tell the difference between Kinakuta and Vietnam anyway. "I always kind of thought there would be more jungles in Vietnam," Naerose admits.
"Oh, I'm Naerose Delphine and I am totally a witch. A red one." She reaches out to re-accept her unsigned hackeysack before adding, "And yeah, I'm pretty sure photo booths are all the rage in this country (whatever country it is), "We just need to find a shopping center, ideally one with a food court."
She's never tried food in Vietnam before and is now quite excited, it has to be better than the food in Kinakuta.
"I *think* so." Dash's voice betrays a little bit of uncertainty as she hands the hackeysack back over, "But I'm not totally sure. My phone thinks it is Hong Kong but, I'm pretty sure that's just a city not a country." She shrugs helplessly, geography has never really been her strong point - she didn't think she'd ever have to know about it, because who cares what order the countries are in, right? You get to them all sooner or later!
"I think I saw a shopping mall this way, though." She says, taking hold of Naerose's hand so she won't get lost, and starting to tug along through the crowded streets. "Its really great to meet you! What's the difference between a red witch and other witches, though? You won't turn me into a frog or anything, right?"
"Oh right," Naerose says and is quick to grab her broomstick, leaning up against a nearby building wall before following along with Dash through the crowds. It probably doesn't take long to find themselves someplace people didn't witness the earlier spectical and so they might actually blend in a little now. Well.. Maybe. Either way Nae seems utterly oblivious to what looks she garners, which is probably for the best.
"Well, I wear red." Naerose anwsers, stating the obvious and not really explaining much more, "I never really thought about it," She admits, "It's probably like some sort of thing that I am just drawn to with my witch sense." She smiles. Smiles big having come up with a good explanation for her color, "And I don't know how to turn people into frogs, even if I did it doesn't sound very nice."
"So you're a good witch? ... I guess that makes sense, a bad witch wouldn't like my youtube channel!" That seems to make sense to Dash, and she's not really going to question Naerose too hard; it seems rude. Witchiness is some sort of religion isn't it, really? So if she questioned it too hard, she might seem intolerant, which is exactly the opposite of what she wants to be!
Plus, smiles always help. Smiling people are never bad.
"Huh... I guess not." Dash says at last, slowing down a bit. Both bright and colorful people stand out in the Hong Kong crowd, but as Dash has come up to where she thought the mall could be found, what she's found is a store with a bunch of ducks strung up in the window. That doesn't look like a mall at all!
"Do you think that's supposed to be food?" Naerose asks skeptically. The site of weird meats (probably a strange shade of orange) isn't so unusual really, you see these in other cities too with asian communities, like Toronto, which is probably the next city over. How you prepare or eat them or why they're so orange is knowledge Naerose is not party to.
Meanwhile the attention of one Naerose begins to shift to other attractions. . namely the food, "Hey have you tried any of this yet?" She asks, tugging on Dash's wrist to point to some of the other lesss (or perhaps more) looking food options. Sure they have noodles right? Like everywhere?
"I... I guess so?"
Dash really isn't too sure about whether or not the ducks are food. They are ducks, so that's already a point in the 'yes, delicious' column, but on the other hand, they are orange, which makes them more look like meaty decorations more than anything else.
Tugged to look at noodles, Dash gives a little nod, "Uh, yeah! Yeah I've had noodles. Why? Are you hungry? I guess I could go for some lunch..."
And thus, D.Dash spoke the secret command to ensure she had a friend for life.
A friend for life indeed. Especially after Naerose tells Dash,
"Also, I have no money. I'm not even sure what kind of money they use here, is it like coins with square holes punched out on strings? Because that's what I've been imagining this whole time." She probably saw it on a cartoon or something.
Not that any of the above stops her from selecting a spot at a noodle spot and ordering, "I'll take the noodles." Of course everything is noodles and she doesn't even begin to help determine which noodles, what flavor, how many, anything and the dude behind the stand maybe doesn't even speak English, not that the smile on Naerose's face is disuadable. . actually kind of unsettling, like her expectation is such that noodles will magically appear and to offer further discussion or questions will only invite frustration. Kind of like the non-violent noodle ordering extortion. The worst part? It totally works.
"Oh, that's no problem, I use a credit card."
One day, many years from now, creditors will begin wondering who it was who gave a fifteen year old girl a platinum card, and under what circumstances this seemed sane. It probably isn't even legal, and there's absolutely no chance that Dash will ever - ever - be in a position to pay off the massive accumulated debt she's running up today.
But that is a financial crisis of misplaced pony friendship for tomorrow, today, there are noodles to be bought and paid for.
"I too will have the noodles!" And she mirrors Naerose's smile because... it seemed to work, noodles are being delivered, and noodles are, well, they /aren't/ orange duck, which right now seems like the most important thing.
And there was much slurping and apparently food was paid for and really this is a much bigger success than you can generally hope for when Naerose is involved and maybe it's the combination of Naerose and Dash which creates this strange failtastic yet actually successful eye of the storm where people are swept up but briefly things seem normal and fine until consequnces happen later where the colorful and utterly innocent individuals involved are already long gone.
Some have questioned, historians and scientists primarily, if Naerose is some sort of bizarre stay puffed style world destroyer. Surely after today the theory will be expanded to include fifteen year old prodigies such as Dash. Are they the most fearsome force combined?
"Hey mister, do you know where we can find a photo booth?"
Dash eats her noodles, unaware of the storm of weirdness she has become the epicenter of. So far, it all just feels... sensible, to her. It isn't so strange to make a new friend and have some lunch, is it? No, that feels perfectly reasonable to her - even if the friend in question is a Red Witch. Perhaps especially then?!
The man just sort of stares at them both, still not speaking English, and points down the street - likely hoping that the pair will simply leave if he does.
"So you're a fan of my videos?" Dash asks around a mouthful of noodle, "That's great! You probably already know about my around-the-world Friendship Quest, then?"
Busy licking the remains of her bowl of noodles because the noodles and broth are long gone.
"Mmm?" She pauses and looks up, "Oh, well no actually I havn't been able to get around a youtube for kind of a while, so I'm a little behind," She admits sheepishly.
Nevermind she clearly has a phone capable of viewing the video's from, apparently this feature is one she hasn't figured out yet.
"So, what is this global friendship quest?" She asks and settles in for a long story. Meanwhile she wonders if there is desert and looks at the stand operator and then the stand and the menu (written in chinese) and then back at Dash. Apparently not seeing the desert she'd been meaning to see.
"Oh, well, that's okay." Dash says cheerfully - she's thrilled Naerose knows her at all, she wasn't expecting any kind of slavish devotion to her channel. She's a youtube sensation, not a cult leader!
Dash is taking it... rather slower with her noodles, but then she doesn't have the food experience of Naerose under her belt. "Basically, I'm gonna stop just talking about how great friendship is and how important it is to stop hurting each other and start listening to each other, and I'm gonna do all I can to get out there and SHOW people how great it is to be friends. I'm aiming for total world peace! No more fighting! Not, bad fighting anyway."
You can tell Naerose is listening with rapt attention by how she stares at Dash. Just stares, not blinking (though she has the shades on which gives her this souless eye look or something. Anyway she just stares as Dash talks and eats her noodles. Each noodle she eats. Stare stare stare. Eventually she says something,
"Oh wow that sounds neat, let me introduce you to some of the people I've met." She looks around as though any of them might show up but unfortunately none of them do,
"This here is mister noodle man, say Hi mister noodle man," He doesn't. He just looks at her before going back to what he was doing.
"I guess I can introduce the rest to you later." More staring. Eventually.
"Say are you going to finish that?"
Dash wonders, on some level, whether Naerose is making fun of her... but she doesn't get that feeling, even though Naerose's response is... kind of strange. Then again, maybe that's just, how people are? The girl's smile is a bit more fixed as she engages in a staring competition with a pair of sunglasses...
And finally, she blinks, "Huh? Oh..." She looks down at her bowl of noodles - there's a few left, and some noodle juice. She shrugs faintly, "I guess not, why? Are you still hungry?"
"Oh yeah, don't you feel like the food here is kind of unfilling? I mean comparted to back home where there was pizza and donuts and french fries and ice cream and ribs and steaks and the portions were so big that after twelve you think, I couldn't possibly do a thirteenth and then you do and it's achievement unlocked." She grins. Grins big and then changes subjects,
"So the friendship quest? How do you do it I mean whats the first step. I'll totally help you if I can, but I'm not sure if I can because I'm not like a celbrity or anything, I have tried my hand at journalism though."
"Ummm..."
That's two baffling questions all at once. Dash looks a little confused, and she nibbles at her lower lip. "Well." She says, at last, "I figure, the first step, is to get to where the big problems are. Like, Iraq! That was a place that came up a lot in my Hoof It! Poll. Then, when I'm out there, I can... um... talk to people! And make friends! And then introduce them to each other and they'll understand that it is better to be, uh... friends! Than, not, be friends. Right?"
"Yes, that makes perfect sense." Naerose says emphatically because she seems to believe that it in fact does,
"There is just one problem. You probably don't want to go straight to Iraq, I mean you need the first season to have a climatic end right ? So there should be a journey or something, kind of like Avatar, the last air bender, he didn't start in the fire nation he went to the water nation and you should too, I mean, start somewhere else that has smaller problems and work your way up, building friendships that will last and help you carry on to Iraq which is.." Now Naerose looks puzzled, clearly not good with geography, "You know, in some other country." She says sheepishly.
Eventually the stand operator says something in Chinese which Naerose just nods to with a biig smile.
Another bowl of noodles is set before her.
Dash definitely looks less sure of herself now. She doesn't recognize that show - probably because it doesn't feature many ponies at all - but she thinks she gets the gist of it. "You think I should work my way up to the big one when I've got some little ones under my belt?" Dash asks, pursing her lips. She doesn't really mind that Naerose gets another bowl of noodles- though she doesn't want any herself, she's so full!
"I guess that makes sense." She concedes, "But... there's so MANY big spots, and they need my help! It doesn't seem right to stay away just because it'd be... hard..."
Slurp slurp slurp.
"Yes, but don't you need to level up first, I mean okay let me ask you this, do you speak Iraqese yet?" Since when is Naerose the voice of reason, "Though friendship does overcome all barriers, even language, as demonstrated here." She demonstrates by slurping her bowl of noodles some more. Actually what happened was the stand owner asked Naerose if she was quite finished and wanted anything else of if she could give up her seat for another customer. Naerose, not getting what he was saying because she doesn't speak any form of Chinese simply nodded. Irritated, but not going to turn down an additional sale, the noodle cart fella just made up another bowl for her. So score one for friendship?
"I mean, I'll help you like whatever you decide to do, cause you're so awesome, just though I'd offer a suggestion."
"Well, its really nice of you to offer to help, Naerose!" Dash says with a cheery smile, shaking her head and waving to the increasingly-infuriated noodle seller, "No thank you, I'm done." And then, back to the Red Witch!
"I guess you're right, I don't speak Iraqi, or... anything else, really. Just the major languages. English, Japanese, Russian...." She hms, and puts her hands behind her head, "But it would take ages to learn how to speak complicated languages. I figured I'd just demonstrate the power of friendship by... befriending them. Where do you think I should start?"
"Oh umm." It takes Naerose a moment to stop being shocked at the number of langauges that Dash already speaks. How did she find time to learn them? But she quickly shakes out of it and says, "Well you could.." This is where her ability to come up with good ideas runs completely dry. "Start with making friends." The gears in her head visibly turn, "Around where you are right now and find out what sort of problems they are facing and then build up from there. Then by the time you get to Iraq you'll already indirectly know everyone."
"Huh, that's a pretty great idea. I guess we're not TOO far from Iraq, so it is likely the people around her know SOME people in Iraq..."
She smiles at the noodle vendor, "Is that right, Mr. Noodle Seller? Are we friends now?"
Another bowl of noodles is deposited in front of Dash, because she was nodding, and she looks a little bit taken aback, "Ah, but I'm not really hungry..."
"Woah, check it out, you made a friend so fast that you're already getting free stuff. Well I know what you must do. You must use that bowl of noodles to make anothe rfriend, I think they call buying it forward or something and then you can have more friends and more.. I think you inspired mister Noddle man! "
Naerose Beams a bright smile at the noodle man who really probably wishes they'd leave and might be regretting servig them in the first place because instead of finishing up and going they've been seated there kind of a while and the one in red, she seems to have a bottomles gullet.
"Ah uhm, uh, o-okay..."
And herein we see the difficulty Dash has in her plan, because as she looks around at the crowd, more than feeling confident in her ability to make a new friend, she feels utterly intimidated by the prospect of actually talking to these people. It was easy enough when she came across people she could speak to - or who obviously needed help - or both... but holding her bowl of noodles in her hands, the teenager opens and closes her mouth several times...
And ultimately winds up thrusting it at Naerose, "Here you go! If you're still hungry I mean?"
And the bowl doesn't last much longer than the first ones, if anythign she seems to be speeding up her pace.
"You're doing a great job at this making friends thing." Naerose comments and wipes her lips before getting distracted, "So how about that photobooth autograph?" She asks and remembers the direction they were both pointed, leading to who knows where. The charge for the multiple bowls very likely all having gone directly to the credit card and luck or fate saving the noodle operator from being eaten out of house and home by one Naerose Delphine. . At least it wasn't an all you can eat.
Dash has to sign for her card, which she does with a D.DASH~ > where the > is a horseshoe, and that... actually matches what is on the back of her card, to the eternal shame of her family. Tucking the card back inside her front pocket, the girl hops up from the noodle bar and is immediately replaced by a starving office worker.
"Thanks!" She declares happily, "Yeah, lets go find that photo thing. Or a printer, I can totally selfie it up with you if we can get it printed somewhere!"
Log created on 09:17:49 03/03/2015 by D. Dash, and last modified on 15:08:51 03/03/2015.