http://static-surge.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] static-surge.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] niteo_logs2010-03-29 11:54 am

English is a funny language

Characters: Nori, Espedon
When: Backdated to March 24th
Where: Nori's room
Rating: PG
Summary: Nori becomes a language teacher



Nori looked over her papers she'd written up as she dressed. Just the basic stuff for now. She figured it'd be similar to how she was taught as a child, with bits and pieces of how she'd taught herself. The only added confusion would be that she didn't know his language. But this PDA seemed to navigate that problem pretty well. She nudged the papers to the side and started applying her make-up , wondering when Mr. What's-his-name was going to show up.

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-03-29 11:04 pm (UTC)(link)
'Tomorrow sometime', she'd said. Not very specific, but Espedon could work with that. He settled on meeting Nori around lunchtime- that would give him time enough to check the traps for the morning and maybe bring something edible over. Never bad to ingratiate oneself with the teacher.

Noon-ish, Espedon exited his room and made the trek up the stairs. He was still sore from the earlier expedition to Cronoss's remains, but he made it.

There were a few quick raps on Nori's door. She'd open it to find him holding a bag of... something... up.

"Untek... untek... uhhh... pigeon," he said, pointing at the bag. He'd at least had the presence of mind to look up the word for their lunch.

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-03-30 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
Espedon gave the girl a nod and lowered the bag before entering. He pulled his own PDA out of his pocket and spoke into it.

"No problem. It's not filet mignon, and the pigeons are skinny here, but it's edible. When we get the situation with Credinta figured out, maybe we can bargain for real food."

Finding the nearest flat surface, he set the bag on it (it was filled with boiled pigeon, some pigeon jerky, and a few edible mushrooms he'd found). He turned around and, with the PDA lowered, counting off on his fingers, he rattled off a couple of the other words he'd picked up.

"Hmm... 'hello'... sio 'goodbye'... sio... 'lunch'."

This was punctuated with a shrug. "That's all I have," the PDA translated for him.

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-03-30 11:10 am (UTC)(link)
Rhevin'ze Mateka, he said into the PDA, which came out as 'Conclave Common'.

"Word for word... we could do that, but I think I can handle vocabulary on my own. The PDA helps with that. Conversational English would be most helpful. Commonly used phrases, pronunciation. Hearing it from a real person would help," he said with a smile.

Idly, he looked around the girl's room. Still dirty, but livable.

"You haven't been here long. Have you been able to get water?"

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-03-30 01:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"I can help you boil the water," he said. He offered a lopsided grin. "'Powers.'"

He followed her lead and took a seat himself. He spent a few moments thinking of where to start before shrugging and pointing to himself. No better place to start than in the deep end.

Lo vanet Espedon, he said. The student gave her a quizzical look and a nod, asking with his eyes. Introductions were always a good place to start.

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-03-30 01:44 pm (UTC)(link)
"Eyem," he started. "Eyem Espedon."

He was mimicking her inflection exactly. Maybe a little embarassing, but it was funny. Espedon also nodded in response to the problem of buckets; while the city had been abandoned for ages, there were some spots, if you looked close enough, where some of the old manufactured good were still okay. If the pigeon didn't suffice, maybe he could repay her with a bucket.

The thought of repaying somebody for language lessons with a bucket put an amused expression on his face.

"Hello, Nori. I'm... Espedon."

Good. Got that one out of the way.

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-03-31 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
Espedon nodded in response.

"I've had to learn a few different languages. Once I understand the grammar, it shouldn't be hard," he said. His eyes followed her lips as he spoke, and he appeared to be trying to match up how she spoke and what she said with what came out on his side of the PDA.

He left her to figure out some phrases while he got up to get the lunch sack and bring it back over.

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-04-01 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
He took his seat again, opened the bag, and fished through it. Withdrawing a couple pieces of pigeon jerky, he offered her the larger one and popped the other in his mouth.

Espedon mouthed the words she said, committing the sound to memory.

"Help... move... get down."

He meant to say 'I understand' into the PDA, but he changed his mind and began toying with it instead, trying to look up the English. Always better not to use it as a crutch.

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-04-03 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
"'Welcome'," he responded, chewing the pigeon thoughtfully. He watched her takethe gauntlets off and gazed at them a little bit before cocking his head toward them.

"What are those for?" asked the PDA.

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-04-03 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
"I wouldn't say that," he said, popping one of the mushrooms in his mouth. The design of the gauntlets looked relatively advanced. He hadn't encountered that many individuals with inborn 'powers' in his travels, either. It was almost always an acquired thing. "And... this city doesn't appear to have any electricity left. I doubt 'overloading' would be a problem here."

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-04-03 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
"Hm. Maybe you could help get some of the generators back online, then. Or something. Having electricity in the apartments would make things easier on the tentants. And also..."

He drew out his PDA and pulled up the image of General Angar, then showed it to her.

"This man burned down a village a few days ago. And now he's trying to buy our help. If we had electricity, I think people would be less likely to help him."

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-04-03 05:46 am (UTC)(link)
(lol, ansgar*. sorry for the typo.)

"Is that what he's after?" he asked, frowning. "Then he's a threat. For certain. He'll be after us eventually."

He toyed on the PDA a little more and helped himself to a couple slices of pigeon jerky. There were about five pigeons' worth of meat in there, but they were skinny little bastards. Not much on them.

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-04-05 12:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Espedon was silent at Nori's assertion that her friends would take her home. It would be better not to speak than to insist that they would never come. After all, some of the residents of Hotel Nesreca had found their friends. Getting home, on the other hand, was another matter.

"The alphabet and a word list would be perfect. I don't mean to take up all of your time this afternoon. Perhaps a little self-study would be helpful," he said. And it was true; what he was aiming for, primarily, was somebody to talk to in English. Without a basic grasp of the language, conversation would be difficult. "Don't worry about your teaching ability. I just need somebody to converse with. Makes it easier to understand when you use it."

[identity profile] thirteen-blades.livejournal.com 2010-04-09 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
He laughed.

"Lucky? I suppose I am. Inconvenient, though, to have to learn so many."

He made a thoughtful expression. "You know, there was a time when all I would have wanted was to have a home. Just a little cottage somewhere. One language, one place to stay. Don't even need a family, really. Just some roots would be nice."