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Post by Morgan on Jun 11, 2019 9:01:15 GMT -6
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Post by Morgan on Jun 13, 2019 13:00:01 GMT -6
The docks, huh? Morgan was perhaps not the happiest about the state of the place. Sure, it was clean, like all of the Labs-City public areas. Most people didn't really notice the cleaner-bots, and Morgan found it especially hard to notice them. They owed that to having lived here their whole life. Morgan was surprisingly uninterested in travelling outside of the Labs City, but had grown up reading about what life was like elsewhere. Yeah, the Labs is a weird place.
Morgan hated transferring aquatic creatures here do to training, but the Tat-lung were actually... Unstressed. Morgan was not sure how they could tell; perhaps it was the tat-lung ring or something, but Morgan could see them... Communicating somehow? Morgan wasn't able to understand it perfectly, not yet at least, but they were questioning, curious, about the world around them. A person walked on the other side of the street in the opposite direction with an estharne on the other side of a chain, and Ryuusei stared it down, curiously. Seimei, on the other hand, was sneaking peeks at Ryuusei's reaction instead. Huh, that was a strange development...
Morgan knew that the first thing that they were needing to do was teach the Tat-lung their names... Morgan didn't feel comfortable naming them, not really. So they had made sure that they chose nice names.
[1] - [START 'Name' BOTH]
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Post by Morgan on Jun 13, 2019 13:10:21 GMT -6
Morgan transferred both tat-lung to the loch, which was of course blocked off since they were much smaller. Much of the loch was blocked off like this, for the smaller critters. The deeper waters were mostly inhabited by the much larger ones, which were undoubtedly difficult to transfer. The transfer was surprisingly easy, with Ryuusei helping Morgan along a bit good-naturedly, and Seimei doing most of the work himself out of spite. Morgan was not sure when they started to notice the personality traits more in the way they expressed themselves, and less in the vague watching aspect of Morgan's current relationship to the tat-lungs. Ryuusei stayed close to the docks after glancing around. He was adventurous, but more at a leisurely pace. He seemed sure in himself and confident in Morgan's choice of venue. Seimei, on the other hand, wasn't paying as much attention to the known (Morgan) and was instead stalking around the perimeter of the area, checking for the unknown with... Concern. Well concealed fear; but not well enough to hide it from Morgan. Morgan felt a bit bad, at that.
Morgan bent down over the dock, and looked straight into Ryuusei's slightly patina'd eyes. "Hello, Ryuusei." The creature blinked, taking in Morgan's strange body language, a facsimile of 'tat-lung speak'. It was obvious that Morgan was talking to him. Morgan tossed him a tiny gem, and he snapped it up. "Ryuusei. Your name is Ryuusei. That's what you're referred to as." Morgan conveyed this the best they could using their knowledge from the ring, while also speaking it in common. "Ryuusei means 'Meteor'. Ryuusei." Morgan repeated. Ryuusei seemed excited, and pleased with this new friend.
Seimei returned soon enough, looking at Morgan as if betrayed. "Hello Seimei, are you done checking for danger?" Morgan said, in common, as they conveyed it using the ring to decode it. Seimei looked absolutely astounded, and then conveyed back (decently enough for a young fish-dragon) his annoyance at this being hidden from him for so long. "Hush Seimei. That's your name. Seimei." Morgan repeated, conveying it back with the ring as well. "Seimei means 'Life'. You got a very special name, Seimei." Morgan said, aloud in common.
[2]
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Post by Morgan on Jun 13, 2019 13:18:20 GMT -6
Morgan was, admittedly, trying not to get emotional. The ring was slowly allowing them to understand more and more of the tat-lung 'language', which of course was a body-language. It was like it was automatically translating in their mind, which was an odd sensation. Morgan just... Understood it, but it was slowly becoming more precise. Morgan dropped a piece of crystal in the pond. "Seimei, that one is for you; Ryuusei, you'll get another in a minute." Seimei darted for it, as if Ryuusei would steal it from him, but Ryuusei was being patient, it showed in his movements. Morgan was sure to speak common and 'speak' tat-lung at the same time. "It is important that you two understand your names, that way you don't get confused when I am speaking to you two." Morgan said and 'said' at the same time. It was odd feeling, but oddly... Simple. Morgan furrowed their brows. Seimei was back, and looking at Morgan as if he was realizing, just now, that Morgan might actually be smartish, and not an animal. Ryuusei swatted the water in front of Seimei, as if telling him he was rude for that, of course the thing was talking to them, right? Seimei's 'voice' came in to Morgan just then, breaking through suddenly. 'How was I supposed to know it could talk?' Morgan blinked, harshly, a little angry, but was able to calm it down. "My name is Morgan. I am a human. You two are Ryuusei-" Morgan pointed to the gold, "And Seimei. You two are tat-lungs." Morgan was sure to speak it aloud, and in tat-lung. 'Either it is stupid, or it thinks we are stupid.' Seimei conveyed, glaring at Morgan. His voice was flat. 'It is not stupid, It- Morgan it says, is obviously some sort of intelligent. Even if it isn't like us.' Oh, that was Ryuusei, right? His voice seemed deeper, warmer. Weren't golds supposed to be the arrogant ones?
[3]
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Post by Morgan on Jun 13, 2019 13:24:57 GMT -6
Morgan wasn't sure if they could really call them 'voices'. It was more as if they were conveying themselves, but it was so different for each one. Seimei's movements were sharp and exaggerated, but very precise. Ryuusei's were powerful and stark, commanding the area while still seeming approachable enough. Morgan wondered vaguely what their 'voice' was like, in tat-lung. Probably childish, Morgan thought. They were still learning how this worked. Morgan could have face-palmed, this was not going too well, was it? Morgan's pushed their glasses using the bridge up their nose a bit, since they had fallen down their nose. "Ryuusei." Morgan called out, experimentally. The gold turned towards Morgan, expectantly, stopping his argument with Seimei.
Giving the tat-lung a treat for that felt... Stupid. Of course the tat-lung would pick up his name quickly. "Thank you, You're right. I'm still learning to communicate with you. We communicate with noises, or hand movements." Once again, speaking while also communicating in tat-lung. Sooner or later, Morgan hoped they would learn how to understand them well enough even without the ring. "We don't communicate like you and Seimei." Morgan explained further.
Seimei did look at Morgan whenever his name was said, only just now stopping practically jumping down Ryuusei's throat with his argument, even though Ryuusei had stopped long ago. Ah, so that was what their relationship was like... "Seimei, what do you think about your name? Ryuusei seems to like his."
Seimei seemed to think for a moment. 'Call me what you'd like.' He said, simply. Morgan's eyes were suddenly drawn to the scars across his back, but he turned away. Didn't want the pity that he saw in Morgan's eyes.
[4]
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Post by Morgan on Jun 13, 2019 13:30:33 GMT -6
Morgan just had to ask; now that they had some semblance of a beginning of normalcy, now. "Do tat-lungs have names, or a concept of them?" Ryuusei stares at Morgan, watching the movements that translated to tat-speak more than the words, it seemed. 'Yes and no. We've had no names as you've denoted them, but we do have designations of a sort.' Morgan was beginning to understand their words a bit more clearly, now. Ryuusei was kindly enough, it seemed. He did deal with Seimei, after all. "We use names to help us catch a specific one's attention, or talk about them in other conversations." Morgan said, verbally and through the ring once again. Ryuusei seemed to understand, after a moment of thinking. Morgan could nearly see him piecing it together. It was undoubtedly foreign. These two are still teenagers, Morgan realized. They are smart, and witty, but not exactly adults yet in the mind. "Seimei?" Morgan said, with Seimei suddenly turning back, looking frustrated. "We'll work on teaching you both some things soon, but I wanted to make sure that you two could understand and remember names first, so that you know when I'm talking to each one of you."
The human was not normally this verbose, but the tat-lungs made Morgan feel more comfortable than they felt around anyone else. Especially alone, of course.
[5] - [END 'Name' Both]
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Post by Morgan on Jun 16, 2019 8:24:15 GMT -6
The next few parts of this... Teaching, were going to be somewhat annoying for both Morgan and the Tat-lungs, Morgan was sure. However, these were the absolute basics that they needed to be taught. Part of this was going to be what would have been the 'come' command; Morgan had already decided that training dragons was a stupid idea. So teaching the dragons Morgan's 'danger signal' that called them for help or otherwise (otherwise known as a 'call to come to me') would be a much less demeaning idea. That was what Morgan had done, the mental gymnastics it took, to justify working with the tat-lungs about these more... Menial things. Morgan sat, bare feet touching the water below experimentally, on the docks. The two Tat-lungs regarded them separately. Ryuusei, on one hand, was certainly watching with a more curious eye than anything else, whereas Seimei was watching Ryuusei more than Morgan, but was still flicking his gaze between both every now and again.
The strange situation between the two was... Odd, but workable. Morgan was not exactly sure if Seimei disliked Ryuusei or regarded him as a friend. Either way, he appeared to be somewhat dependent upon him. Odd, once again, but workable.
[1]
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Post by Morgan on Jun 16, 2019 9:11:22 GMT -6
The bespectacled human wasn't really ready to enter the water yet. They'd been planning on it, today, but wanted to get a few things out of the way first. There would need to be a healthy amount of mutual respect in order for Morgan to enter the water with them, out here, in this third-party area where no one could feel territorial or in their element. That was the reason why Morgan had decided that out here would be the best place to begin communicating with the two future dragons. "See this?" Morgan communicated, using both speech and the ring's communication method. Morgan held up the whistle that they had brought. "This is an instrument that allows me to make noise that can be heard for long distances." At this, Morgan blew on the whistle, creating a noise. Ryuusei seemed amused, Seimei was more annoyed.
"In the future, we may find it needed to be able to communicate across large distances. With your allowance, we can work on learning a few signals over time to better stay in contact." Morgan reasoned, showing it to them again.
Seimei seemed to have been about to snark, but Ryuusei quickly conveyed; 'Let us humor the human.'
[2] - [START 'Come']
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Post by Morgan on Jun 16, 2019 10:22:48 GMT -6
Seimei did not at all seem happy about this, but Morgan was going to take advantage of the fact that Seimei reluctantly deferred to Ryuusei, if only because he seemed to be slowly becoming more accepting of the entire situation. It would take a while for him to become completely accepting, and Morgan was prepared to do as much work as possible to make sure that they were successful in the long run. "The signal that we will be using, across the board, for asking you to come to me will be this;" Morgan both spoke and conveyed; and then one short loud whistle was made. It was quite obvious that it would carry over very long distances, and that the two tat-lungs would be able to hear it form far off. "This exact noise will alert you both to my position. This would be good in case I am in trouble, or to get your attentions for anything else." Morgan said and conveyed at once. Seimei looked cross, and conveyed; "I am not some dog to come when called." Ryuusei shot him a look, and began arguing with him. Ryuusei seemed to understand that Morgan meant no harm, and that a signal would be good in the future for feeding times (somewhat implying that Morgan was a sort of feed slave but ehhh...) and Seimei was arguing that he didn't intend to be treated like a pet. [3]
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Post by Morgan on Jun 16, 2019 11:11:10 GMT -6
Morgan allowed this, for a single moment, and then stepped in verbally and using the ring- sighing first. "I do not mean any insult. You two know who, and what, you are to become, and so do I." Morgan was quite serious about this. "You can come if you'd like, but I hope that someday you realize that I will not be using this suggestion lightly. Only if I absolutely have to." Morgan did not wish for them to come when called like a dog; but because they wanted to help. There was no reason to expect such a powerful and intelligent being to be as loyal as a domestic canid. "No need to argue, Seimei, I would never disrespect you." Morgan promised. That didn't really do anything; it wasn't accepted by Seimei in the slightest, but he did quiet down.
"There is no real need for us to practice this, I am sure that as soon as you both feel confident with the sound being distinct, that you two will be able to make more informed decisions in the future as to whether or not you'd like to head the call." That was the idea, anyway. Seimei looked aggravated, but reluctantly conveyed agreement. Ryuusei seemed pleased with himself.
[4]
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Post by Morgan on Jun 16, 2019 11:16:50 GMT -6
Morgan nodded to the two, quietly. "Do you two need or want to hear the call a few more times, to get used to the noise?" Morgan asked, the whistle in-hand. "Remember that not every whistle noise will wind up being the same signal; just this specific one." Ryuusei conveyed the desire to be given more examples of the specific whistle. Since Morgan often used the whistle for training bits and bobs, they were used to using this command for the 'come' command; only right now, it was not technically a command but more of a concept. Morgan told theirself that, reminding theirself that the tat-lung were not indeed pets, more like... Family perhaps? The idea was both strange and not exactly... Correct. Morgan would have to ponder on that a bit later. Dragons were dragons, not family. Not entirely, perhaps.
Morgan proceeded to give the whistle a few more times, the distinct whistle that would signal them to come to Morgan, and hopefully they would be so inclined to do so as they got more mature and became more attached to Morgan. After a while of continuing to communicate the purpose and reiterate the sound, Morgan was convinced that they would remember what they were talking about.
[5] - [END of 'Come']
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Post by Morgan on Jun 16, 2019 11:29:03 GMT -6
Morgan knew that there was at least one more, or rather two, concepts that Morgan needed to teach the two tat-lungs. These first three things were what Morgan was planning to teach each tat-lung, forever, as the first few things since they were simple and important. They were not demeaning things at all, not really, but things that would be helpful that were technically bits and bobs that could be 'trained' to a creature as well... Morgan continued sitting on the dock. "Alright, there's one more easy thing I'd like to get you two used to, and then we can start working on the harder stuff." Morgan offered. Seimei was quiet; perhaps curious now. "I'd like you two to begin getting used to common as a language; I know you cannot make the noises with your mouths like I do, but it is important that you know what I am talking about. Eventually, I'll teach you two how to communicate another way." Morgan said, talkative suddenly.
"It is important that you two know how to communicate with the people of the Labs, even though you will be far more knowledgeable and intelligent. The City is run by humans, after all." This was the beginning of this concept, and was important as a lesson.
[1]
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Post by Morgan on Jun 16, 2019 11:38:45 GMT -6
Morgan knew that they were really just getting into the concept of 'no' and 'yes' but Morgan wanted the tat-lungs to understand the reason why these lessons were important. "I personally know that you two will become great beings, but the Labs; the ones in charge, do not allow non humanoids to free-roam in the city nor outside of it if they can help it. Because of that, there is a concept of 'ownership' between humanoids and most of the Labs creatures." Morgan went on, conveying using the ring of course and speaking at the same time as they had been the entire time. "I do not consider myself your owner, though it looks that way on paper. I consider myself... A caretaker of sorts. A sponsorship. Under my name, you two will not be harassed and will have a safe place to come home to; and food." Morgan knew that it was not the entire concept at the moment, however, it was important that this be accepted. "So I would like to start you two on this concept." Morgan breathed out, and then took a breath. This was going to be a strange concept to explain, they'd have to switch between speaking and conveying. [2] - [START 'No']
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Post by Morgan on Jun 16, 2019 11:41:32 GMT -6
Morgan started, and then spoke. "No." Morgan said, verbally, and then switched to the ring's 'speech'. "That word means negative, stop, or wrong. It implies that something is not the case in most instances. When most folks say-" "No." "To their pets, they mean for the creature to stop doing what it is doing. If I say," "No." "To you two, then I mean it in the 'negative, stop, or wrong' meaning. I am sure you will pick it up conversationally, but I want you to understand that it will change via context." Morgan wondered, for a moment, if the two would understand the concept, or if Morgan would have to find another way to explain it. Morgan was quiet for a moment, and then continued, this time speaking in both at the same time. "You two are NOT pets to me, remember that. We can work on whatever you feel the most comfortable with later, but remember, if I say 'No', that I care more about your understanding of the meaning of it than the actual... Command of it." That was the idea, anyway. Like 'come', Morgan was sure that the two would be able to understand the importance of 'no' as they continued working.
[3]
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Post by Morgan on Jun 16, 2019 12:06:05 GMT -6
Teaching intelligent beings, let alone beings that may just be more intelligent than humans, was much harder than Morgan had thought. It wasn't the actual teaching aspect of it that was difficult; it was actually the icky-feeling that Morgan got that this felt a bit too much like training an animal. That was not exactly the best part of Morgan's day, that was for certain. The tat-lungs were both accepting this information at different rates. Seimei looked aggravated, but didn't look... Surprised. Perhaps he had been a bit more understanding of this due to his past. Ryuusei, however, looked... Unpleasantly surprised, but quickly resigned to this in such a way that Morgan figured he was already finding out positives; ways to make the injustice exploitable.
The dichotomy between the two was shocking in some ways, but Morgan did enjoy getting to know the two tat-lungs well enough. "If you two want, I can continue explaining the concept of no, or answer questions. I also plan to explain the concept of the opposite of no as well, soon, so that we can do this better." Morgan was sure that at least Ryuusei would have questions, and it would help them better understand the concept of no. Perhaps some empathy explanations would help as well?
[4]
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