Someone To Play With

Chapter 1

The Pretender stared in awe as the television flickered on. This was a new channel, wasn't it? No more endless ads that would constantly take her out of the mood. No, in fact this channel was bizarre in its own right. Nothing seemed to happen. There sat a boy, dressed in a tight suit coat and wearing a gorgeous fedora. The Pretender got closer to the screen, gawking at him. Never had she seen such a child before. Most of the children who she tried to befriend all had scrubby clothing, a mishmash of different styles and usually only one defining article.

However, as she stared deep into the screen she couldn't help but notice how distinct his outfit looked. Underneath the grey suit coat, a golden clasp held the top of his shirt together. His long pants covered the tops of shoes that were certainly hard to come by. Even by adult standards. How he would make the perfect friend. A prince to her princess. Yet he faced down. She could not see his face, and the lighting certainly did not help.

In frustration she slammed her fists against the television. This wasn't fair, why would the perfect person to be her friend be stuck in another world!? The TV's static seemed to mock her and she closed her eyes tightly and screamed. The Butler would soon be alerted and come to her aid, but there was the problem that he probably could do nothing to help the situation. No, he would only make it worse.

She opened her eyes and in disbelief she shot back away from the screen. The boy had moved, and it appeared that he was peering into her room. She screamed, this time not of frustration, but of fear. The boy could see her just as she could see him. After the momentary shock of this realization she inched closer to the TV, staring wide-eyed beneath her glossy white curls. His eyes were irresistible, they were dark along the edges, grey, static. But at the center, they were a clear crystal blue, they almost seemed to glow and flicker as she took them in, and his pupils were a radiant white.

"Hey-" He spoke, he actually spoke! He seemed hesitant, almost shy about it, but regardless his first word to her was spoken out loud. She quickly rose to her feet and straightened out her hair and green dress. Once she was done making her appearance look at least a bit decent, she curtsied and greeted him back in a more proper manner than just saying 'hEy.' She didn't hold that against this strange boy, The Pretender could easily teach him proper etiquette once he was out.

Out. Oh goodness, how on earth was she to get him out of the television?

She raised her hands up to the glass. The soft hum of static and the warmth of the screen felt nice, until the boy placed his hands on the other side of the glass and grabbed hers. With a shriek she was nearly pulled into the television set, but jerked backwards just in time. Her arms were free from the TV but something else was as well.

The boy quickly let go of her wrists and backed away from her.

"WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT!?!?" The Pretender screamed.

"S-Sorry-! I didn't mean to scare you-!!!" The boy was quick to respond, and even quicker to retreat away from the set. "I just- really kinda wanted to get out of there- though I guess I should've probably asked first huh-"

"YOU THINK!? You gave me a heart attack!!!" The Pretender immediately started fussing about her hair and clothes and tried her best to get it all back into shape. Then she paused, he looked even better on this side of the tv. She sighed and put on a genuine smile, before quickly turning it into a frown. "Why were you in my TV anyways-?"

"Well- I kind of-" The Pretender immediately regretted her decision to ask and-instead of just saying nevermind-she proceeded to scream STOP. That was a stupid question to ask anyways. Who cared where he came from as long as he was hers now! Besides, he seemed to not want to talk about it anyways. She stood up and fluffed up her dress some more. Then with a mortified look she turned away. Her makeup was always a mess, but now? Now she had someone who would CARE about that! She hurriedly ran off to one of the many bathrooms and climbed up the ladder to get to the sink. Leaving her new friend behind in the theater.

She fiddled with the makeup wipes and quickly cleaned her face. Then, with more precise movements, she slowly applied the lipstick. Even the tiniest mess up would have her shriek in anger. Hopefully the deaf Butler wouldn't hear. She tried again and again to get just the lipstick perfect, and when, and only when, she did she moved onto the foundation. The hard part was out of the way, now she just needed to finish up the job.

Applying the proper makeup from here on out was easy. The blush was only a little lopsided, but otherwise she looked like the princess she was. With a relieved sigh she remembered the whole purpose of looking this nice: She ran back to the theater where the boy was struggling in the Butler's telekinetic grasp.

Monsters don't understand children, that much was obvious. However, a good scream from the Pretender had the Butler turn with a curious glance. The boy dangled from the invisible force and kicked his feet as hard as he could, as if that would do something. With two gestures, one a point to the boy and another two the ground, the message was across that he should set the boy down.

This only made him more curious, but at least he did as he was told.

The boy fell to the ground with a thud and an oomph. The Pretender rushed to see if her new friend was ok. She was near crying when he didn't immediately get up off the dirty floor, but with a gasp for breath he slowly sat up.

The Pretender then shooed the Butler away with a glare that would get her dolls to run. He simply obliged, leaving the two alone with a distorted grumble.

"Oh my goodness! Are you ok!?" The Pretender knew not to get to close, "He didn't hurt you did he!?"

"N-no- ow-" He rubbed his elbow with a wince, and turned to her. "Why did that monster listen to you?"

"Oh- that's just my useless Butler, he is supposed to listen to me. I'm so sorry that he dropped you like that! He will have a horrendous punishment if I have a say in it."

"N-no it's fine- I'm ok! Really!" He took his hand away from his elbow. He looked to be pondering something, though The Pretender wasn't sure what.

Instead of prying she simply changed the subject, "We haven't formally introduced ourselves, I am The Pretender, and you are?"

"The Broadcaster I guess- It's nice to meet you."