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"When you rush it together like that it seems so much less than it actually is. Is there no way to make a reader take their time over the words, to savor them properly?"

“Sometimes people put a line, like Gokudera’s username is ‘smoking,’ little line, ‘bomb’ — like this,” he draws an invisible underscore in the air with his fingertip then illustrates on Iroh’s phone, picking it up again to type ‘pai_sho’ in the username edit field. “Is that okay?”

"That is at least better than running it all together. What s wrong with this place if people cannot write properly?"

"Uncle, I don't know, it's another culture!" Zuko sighs, pulling a face, side-eyeing his uncle. He's a good-intentioned, but impatient boy. "Let's see if it'll accept it without the line... I know Taichi has some crazy little face in his username, I don't know how it works."

Taichi's username is 7😆H!TA1 and it baffles Zuko; even if he understood the Japanese language pun (Nanao Taichi, his full name), he'd still be baffled. This is not the best example. The blind leading the blind here.

He gives 'pai sho' a try, and a checkmark appears beside it, indicating it's a valid username. He feels a wave of relief somehow.

"Okay, 'pai sho' seems fine. Properly."

"Crazy little... face...?"

Are you just trying to confuse the man more?

"There, very good. Was that so hard?" Yes, he is being a bit of a brat as he sips his tea.

See this grimace? Iroh earned this face from Zuko.

"Okay, Uncle pai sho, moving on."

He can dish it back now, Uncle — sort of! He's gotten better about giving jabs with all his funny friends; yet somehow still not as much about taking them...

He holds Iroh's phone out in between them so the other can see what app icon he presses to open the messaging feature, and types in 'Z' without needing more, as it immediately brings up his name, printed beside 'fireprince', already saved in Iroh's half a dozen contacts now. He hands the phone to Iroh.

"Write something to me."

He frowned at the screen as the translation magic tried to make a syllabary look like symbols and vice versa.

He sat the phone on the table so he could use both fingers as he used the tried and true hunt and peck method of new typists everywhere.

He even figured out how to hit send. The message?

"Something to me."

Zuko's amused watching Iroh peck at the keyboard, but doesn't comment or show it. That is, until the text goes through, and Zuko reads it on his own phone. It draws a wide grin on his face, and he leans in to show his uncle.

"See, look — I got it. You can do that anywhere in the city and I'll get it."

He pauses, points to the microphone button, and records himself in response to Iroh, sending the audio message for him to replay on his phone.

"You can talk like this, too."

He sounds a little stilted for it, still not quite natural-feeling with technology and all himself, but nevertheless, a good example. Incoming audio message from un: fireprince...

"This seems a little excessive for a bulletin board."

"Forget the bulletin board analogy, Uncle, that's just the Network! The phone is more than that!"

Zuko wracks his brain, and comes up with an even worse analogy.

"Think of this like... Like the world's smallest, smartest, fastest messenger hawk! A hawk so stealthy you can't even see it! Combined with... um... an iguana parrot that can mimic your voice perfectly, and, uh— ...that can paint magic moving portraits..."

Okay, the analogy got away from him. But he reaches his phone out and takes a short video of himself pulling an uncomfortable face at the camera, and sends it to Iroh to play back on his phone.

Edited 2021-05-15 14:31 (UTC)

"Zuko," he said in his best I-love-you-but-and-please-take-this-with-love "the more you speak, the less sense you are making."

He sighs. Deeply. Because he absolutely agrees with Iroh.

"Uncle, just look. That's called a video. It captures a moment. It's incredible. It's not even magic, it's— I mean, it is, but it's technology, other worlds have this, too! It's like a moving portrait with sound, but real, like time can be put in a jar and kept away! Imagine even freezing a whole play! They use videos to make plays that are called movies, too."

Okay, Zuko, get off the metaphors. He's very enthusiastic about movies and videos, even if he is not wont to use video messages himself often to communicate; he's too self-conscious of his scar to default to that online. And likes the ability to say what he wants over text with more time to consider his words, a rare luxury in life Zuko needs more than most others do. But the novelty of film itself — especially not even knowing about film, just about its descendants in modern movie magic technology — is mind-blowing forever, and deserves attention.

"That would be wonderful, but none of that explains how it works or how I should use it," he said, gentling his voice.

"To talk to people! Pssh..."

Spontaneously, Zuko gets up and... leaves the room. Just like that. No explanation, no warning, no goodbye. Just gets up and walks right out of the apartment back out through the front door he came in. Bye?!

Give him, like, forty-five seconds, though. And Iroh's phone will start to ring with Zuko's name appearing across the screen, "Incoming Video Call from un: fireprince" beneath it.

He stared as Zuko left, wondering what his nephew was doing? Giving up? Getting assistance? Venting his anger on something? Hunting the Avatar? With Zuko, one never knew.

While he was considering if he should go after the boy, or allow him some time to cool down, the device - the phone - started making noise. Um.

He took a sip of tea, got up carefully, went to the front door and unless he could see Zuko just by doing this, would call out, "Zuko! The thing is making noise!"

The phone rings and rings... and rings... Zuko's walked down the hall to the entrance of the inn outside, and is growing aggravated with every ring that goes unanswered. When the call drops, he lets out a groan, and stomps back to the room, knocking sharply on the door which had shut and locked behind him.

When Iroh answers the door, he'll find a very incredulous and disgruntled nephew standing there with his hands waving in the air emphatically, phone still in one.

"Uncle! I called you! You didn't answer!"

In fairness, Iroh also called you, Zuko, and you also didn't answer. And you didn't tell him how to answer or what to expect. This is a sink or swim technology lesson...

"And I called you and you did not answer. Perhaps," he was trying to be reasonable, "we did not hear each other. Where did you go? It made noise right after you left." Which would be when he called you, Zuko.

"That was me calling you!"

Oh, he's incredulous. He grapples with his phone emphatically, punching in Iroh's contact info to call him again. He holds the phone out as it begins to ring, shoots the old man a look, says...

"I'm doing it again! Pick up this time!" And shuts the door again.

And then thinks better of this hasty reaction, and adds as a final note, yelling through the closed door, muffled but clearly audible:

"Put your finger on the green circle!"

He stands outside the room this time, not going far, but waits beside the door for Iroh to answer the video call.

How was that him... and he was gone again.

Pick it up...?

He lifted the phone. "I have picked it up, prince Zuko," he called through the door.

Green... circle? Confused he brought it closer to his face to look at it, but he was looking at the back, not the screen and his fingers hung up instead of accepting the call. By the time he tuned the screen to face him, confused, there was, of course, no more green circle. But it was also done making noise. "I think I did it!" he said, delighted.

After a beat, the phone starts ringing again. Another "Incoming call from Zuko un: fireprince..."

Who is meantime outside kneading the stress out from between his eyes, waiting for Iroh to answer... He's not giving up on this.

"Or maybe not?" he asked, frowning at it. "Maybe I'm using the wrong hand?" He tried his other hand. That didn't work.

"Oh, perhaps I am supposed to lift it with Bending." He pulled on his beard as he studied it, trying to figure out how to use Fire Bending to lift it without destroying it.

Zuko might want to come back in before he got too creative...

Zuko groans when the call is dropped a second time. What's he doing in there?!

Yet another incoming video call... this time accompanied by three loud pounds on the door with his fist, Zuko still leaning against the wall next to it in the hall outside.

"Uncle! Green! Circle!" he shouts through the door in time with his pounding.

He's not going to make this easy for Iroh... Iroh isn't making it easy for him.

Oh good. He opened the door, hearing the pounding. "How do you make a cirrcle of Green fire?" he asked Zuko now that the door was open. Yes, he had gotten distracted that badly.

"Fire?! What fire?! Uncle, just press the green button! Look!"

Zuko's all but groaning pleadingly, turning to the man with a seriously worried, incredulous look. He's apprehensive to peek inside the apartment again, but relieved to see... no fire. Phew. The call drops and Zuko hits it again, Iroh's phone ringing once more, and he holds his hand out expectantly for the old man to show him the screen, where a circular, green 'accept call' button is shown, thoroughly unpushed, beside a circular red 'deny call' button beside it.

How did fire get into this...?!

"That is not a button, Zuko..." How had Zuko forgotten what a button is? "That is flat."

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lol zuzu's such a jerk i'm sorry

Re: lol zuzu's such a jerk i'm sorNo worries. You are playing him wonderfully, and I thank you.

you are playing iroh wonderfully tooooooooo~

Thank you!

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Look who got their paid back!

lol mazel!!!

Re: lol mazel!!!

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Sorry, this was just too funny to not.

omg i'm living for this thread rofl hysterical

Sorry I have been taking so long.

take your time!!! <3

Ty

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