Owner	Pose
Askante	It's quite a nice late august day in Sunnydale. Oddly enough there's a fundraiser going on just down the way from the Church du Lac and although individuals avoid the church because it's spooky and rather unsafe, the outside is a safer place. Particularly in the middle of the day. People come and go, trying cooked foods from various home-kitchen vendors and so does Askante, sat at the periphery of it all, with a begging bowl on one side of it that seems to attract... well, just enough coin to not really make it seem like it's extra. But the creature isn't holding it and looking any more pathetic than it usually does, as most people see it as a vagrant. It just sits beside and people coming and going drop quarters, occasionally dollars in. It looks lie it's accumulated about $40 in small change. It's currently eating roasted corn on the cob like a squirrel.
Nikki	Nikki is bouncing around between a few of the fundraiser spots. She spends a little money on cookies, cupcakes, corn on the cob, a sandwich, and a drink. Plus she got a bracelet, stickers, and a few other bits and bobs she's put into a bag. Carrying her rewards with her, she actually moves towards the church, drops some change into the cup and then sits beside the vagrant. "Is Nikki's friend?" She asks gently while putting some of her stuff down. "Nikki got drinks, and food, if it's still hungry and needs some more." Then she smiles and takes a big bite out of her sandwich. It's a half of a decent sub that's filled with meat and cheese and veggies.
Askante	There's always one at a fundraiser that doesn't actually know how to cook, but they make up for it with mean sauces. Sub sauce extravaganza! ASkante looks up, its coat tucked up underneath it at the moment, the tail curled around its feet, not that a single soul notices. "Yes, Nikki's friend. I am enjoying food from lots of kitchens, in the sunshine. It is a calm day, people are happy. Happy people don't make for headaches. You know..." it nibbles more corn, reaches for a bottle of water and leans over to sniff at the cookies "...this is a new thing. People have markets to sell the things that they make, but now, they make markets to raise money not for thier own mouths. Charity has turned. It is nice. Is a sign of wealth of a nation."
Nikki	"They do it every so often for one cause or another. Nikki also makes donations directly to companies like Children's Medical and the American Heart Association." Nikki says this much as she pops open her drink - a soda pop - and guzzles down some of it. "Oh! Nikki is happy to see her friend! Nikki has something for her friend..." And then she's setting all things down, reaching for her bag to dig around in before she pulls out a box ( https://i.etsystatic.com/19524533/r/il/046e58/2457119290/il_794xN.2457119290_l67u.jpg ) inside the box upon opening is a necklace ( https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0020/1067/7366/products/image_2d2184cb-0ebd-4153-a640-02bb4b6ffd7b_1200x1200.jpg?v=1618717496 ). She beams a smile. "Trinket!"
Askante	"American Heart association? Do people in America not all have hearts then? That sounds strange..." But then Askante is distracted by the bringing of things and the gifting of gifts, looking intrigued, both at the box and the can of pop for some reason. It points a long claw at the soda. "What is that? It makes sounds..." but then all is still as it looks at the box. "Oooooh, it is carved with death! And roses! Roses grow well on death, it is very appropriate. I don't die though," which is odd to say, but then it delicately lifts the box in all four palms, does a complicated David Bowie rolling of it in palms, because: four arms and funkiness. Then it opens the lid a crack, gasps and slams it shut again. "A shiny thing!" Open again, peek. "Oh my goodness!" And open fully, to pull out the necklace, letting the circuit board dance in the sunlight. "It is amazing!" pause "What is it?"
Nikki	"People still have hearts...just sometimes their hearts don't work right. So they have to get them doctored. Nikki pays to help people get doctored." She says this much before watching Askante fawn over the box. "Nikki thought you might like it. Also this..." She wiggles her soda. "Is soda. Carbonated drinks." Then things are being mulled over again as Askante finally gets the box open and pulls out the necklace. "It's a piece of computer. Which Nikki and others have like...computers or like the phone Nikki showed you? That is inside, doing the work."
Askante	"It is a metal brain. Ohhh, I will keep it in the box and keep it safe. I keep my trinkets safe." And in a thousand years, a necklace of an old bit of silicone valley will be worth a fortune. It glances at its bowl of change, finishing off the corn on the cob with a nibble and a contemplation of the core. "I am going to buy fizzy and find a place to bury the dead corn. Enjoy the foods!" And it also needs to hide the new shiny somewhere. It vanishes swiftly into the crowd.