video. username: ilikehorses

[shoplifter]

[There is a mildly anxious child on the feed, sitting on the edge of the community building roof as she munches down on some potato chips; this child's diet is 1000% on point. But more importantly, she flashes the video feed several stories below toward some of the trees. The little accent is full of confusion:]

They are dying. What are they sick with?

Shouldn't someone do something to save them? ¿Dónde está el jardinero?

[Seriously, nobody seems concerned about the leaves all falling off. Or them turning odd colors.]

Comments

[shoplifter]

... Give and take...

[She supposes that makes sense.]

I can try... to give. More. What should I give?

[tempredmental]

It's not a physical thing.

You give time... effort... trust... [He was apparently good at giving advice, even if he was bad at listening to it. A lot of it was sort of parroting things he'd learned and been told.] You listen to them. And in turn, someone who becomes a friend, will give the same back to you.

[shoplifter]

... Ah, ya entiendo...

Time... effort, and trust.

[Someone is clearly taking some mental notes here.]

[tempredmental]

Yeah.

I mean... there's more to it, but that's something people need to figure out with experience.

[And quite a bit of it that he really couldn't figure out how to put in words. It was harder, too, with the trust and abandonment issues he had, but he still tried.]

[shoplifter]

Does it take a long time?

[She knows she's already pretty behind, but you know.]

[tempredmental]

Sometimes. Or sometimes it can be instant. It usually takes me some time to feel comfortable with someone, honestly... so it can take a while for me.

[shoplifter]

Have you ever been tricked by someone?

People who pretend to like you. Or be friends.

[tempredmental]

[Wasn't she kind of young to be thinking like that? Keith looked a little sad for a moment, and then nodded.]

Yeah... I have.

It wasn't very nice.

[shoplifter]

... That is what I am afraid of.

[tempredmental]

I don't blame you. It's something I still worry about, too.

[shoplifter]

[A short nod, punctuated by longer silence.]

... I'll... try, though.

[To reach out more, that is. She's not sure if she'll be any good at it, but...]

[tempredmental]

[Keith nodded in return.]

That's all I do, too. I wouldn't ask for more.