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Post by Noa on Dec 26, 2022 1:42:28 GMT -6
So what if he used it for his own convenience? It wasn't as if it was doing him any good otherwise.
He picked the first likely looking cave he saw, and walked in. He felt Rhys coil around his shoulders a little tighter in apprehension, but at this point Noa had no idea why Rhys thought there would be anything to worry about in the caverns. "Don't be a baby about this," he said. "We've come down here so many times."
{Yes, but... Well, you had a bad spell that one time, and if you lose consciousness, I can't get us out of here,} Rhys pointed out.
Noa shrugged. "Maybe I'll teach you to teleport one of these days," he said. It seemed like a bit of a waste, when he could perform the spell himself, but maybe it would prove useful in a pinch, if he ever did lose consciousness.
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Post by Noa on Dec 26, 2022 1:45:28 GMT -6
Unfortunately, the problem wasn't as unlikely as it had been in the past. Fainting spells weren't usually the form that Noa's condition manifested in, but sometimes the nausea or the headaches were bad enough that he would black out. Not terribly often, in the past. This year... It was harder to say. He could count a few occasions, and there might have been more of them that he couldn't properly recall.
His words seemed to soothe Rhys a little, anyway. {I'd like that,} the Faeron said. {You'll teach me to read too, right? You promised.}
Noa probably had promised Rhys that at some point. He'd meant to, of course. They'd just never gotten around to it. He wasn't going to do that now, since they were on a mining trip, but he gave the matter some thought and sighed. "The problem with that is that you need to know Common first."
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Post by Jack on Dec 26, 2022 18:00:45 GMT -6
A couple of stones lay glittering the wall of the mine.
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Post by Noa on Dec 31, 2022 22:00:07 GMT -6
Rhys tilted his head to one side, uncomprehending. {What do you mean?}
Noa didn't look at him, but focused his efforts on trying to find a likely place to set up shop. He didn't know whether he felt like going deeper into the caverns today. His health hadn't been as bad lately as it had been earlier in the year, but as it stood right now, he was still the only one of the two of them who could get them out of here in a hurry if things went south. Absentmindedly, he answered Rhys's question, his attention more on the task in front of him than on their conversation. "You use your telepathy to communicate," Noa said. "I might be speaking to you, but the reason you can understand me is because you're skimming the meaning directly from my mind, right? That means you have no real grasp of Common."
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Post by Noa on Dec 31, 2022 22:03:10 GMT -6
He went on. "For that matter, you don't have a grasp of any language. And without that basis to build on, teaching you to try and read a script -- any script -- would be a futile endeavor. You'd have no idea what anything meant."
{Oh.} Rhys deflated somewhat, ears drooping in disappointment. For a time, they stayed like that, with Noa surveying the rock wall around him and Rhys... contemplating things, Noa supposed. He wasn't exactly watching his own familiar. The work he had to do was annoying enough to occupy him; the trouble with not heading further into the caves was that the entrances tended to be pretty well picked clean. And right now Rhys wasn't acting as a mining familiar either, so Noa had to trust in his own skills and knowledge of masonry to try and tell where there might be something of value to dig into the rock for.
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Post by Noa on Dec 31, 2022 22:05:15 GMT -6
He wasn't about to start swinging the pickaxe around without a plan, or at least an educated guess. Not only was that more likely to bring the place down on him, but it was a colossal waste of effort and time. And the biggest reason he had picked up any masonry skills to begin with was because strength wasn't something he had in plentiful supply, so he had to make his strikes count by knowing where best to place them.
Eventually, he found a spot that seemed like it had some promise, and began unpacking his tools. As he did so, Rhys finally spoke up again. {Does it take a long time to learn a language?} the Faeron asked.
Noa shrugged one shoulder. "It depends on a lot of things. How much you practice, your own aptitude, and how similar it is to other languages you speak... Though that last one doesn't apply here."
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Post by Noa on Dec 31, 2022 22:07:51 GMT -6
If anything, actually, Noa suspected it would be harder for Rhys to pick up a first spoken language than it would be for even other sentient creatures. He was too used to relying on his telepathy, and Noa wasn't even sure if he was used to listening for audio cues. They did practice on it when they did their training, but if Noa had telepathy, he knew he would probably use it as a shortcut even when it would have been better not to.
Still, Rhys wasn't necessarily a slow creature, and he seemed at least somewhat motivated. Maybe his progress would surprise Noa, when the time came.
{What about you? That thing Briar does with his hands, that's a language, right?} Rhys said.
"I'm surprised you noticed," Noa said. "But yes, that's sign. He understands Common too, which makes things easier, but he uses his hands because he can't speak."
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Post by Noa on Dec 31, 2022 22:10:36 GMT -6
At first, Noa thought it was some sort of birth defect or some issue with Briar's vocal chords, but the truth turned out to be much more interesting: the Sprite was missing his tongue. Someone, at some point in the past, had cut it off. Technically Briar still had his voice, though he wasn't able to form proper words with it at all, and Noa supposed he preferred to pretend to be a different kind of mute because it was easier to explain.
{He never talks when he's... talking,} Rhys said, {but he does all that with his hands. Though it's slow for him. It's funny, like... he thinks one way, then has to change it to another, before he can get the words out. So I know what he's saying but he always says it twice, and slower the second time.}
"Is that what it looks like to you?" Noa mused.
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Post by Jack on Dec 31, 2022 22:44:24 GMT -6
Are those some stones in the wall there?
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Post by Noa on Jul 31, 2023 17:43:17 GMT -6
That did shed some light on the state of Briar's linguistics. Noa had never thought to wonder about it before, except maybe in a slightly offhand sort of way; when they were interacting, mostly it was Noa doing the talking. Noa had assumed that Briar's taciturn quality was entirely because he had little to say to Noa, and wanted to avoid having to address him as much as possible. It hadn't occurred to him that some of it might be due to sign being a second language Briar had acquired too late in life for comfortable fluency.
The idea that he himself might have an easier time with sign, despite having less need for it, by the simple virtue of having acquired it earlier... A wry smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. What sort of irony was this?
{It's pretty strange to listen to. Like an echo,} Rhys said.
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Post by Noa on Jul 31, 2023 17:48:03 GMT -6
"An echo with a stutter," Noa said.
{What's a stutter?} Rhys asked.
Noa blinked, then laughed. "You know, I didn't really think about this before, but speech impediments probably don't mean anything to you, do they? Not if you're just reading minds." If anything though, this drove home just how reliant Rhys was on his telepathy for communication. "Some people aren't good at talking. They're slower, or they repeat words. Sometimes it's because of a physical defect, and sometimes it's a mental one. Sometimes it's both. The ones that repeat the same sound over and over again, like a machine that gets stuck -- that's a stutter. I suppose most stutterers know what they mean to say, and just have trouble getting the words out, which is why you never pick up on it."
{... I guess I don't really listen for the sounds most of the time,} Rhys agreed, after a moment.
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Post by Noa on Jul 31, 2023 17:57:29 GMT -6
"Well, if you want to learn to read, I'm afraid you'll have to start," Noa said. After surveying the rock wall for a time, he had found a spot that seemed like it might yield something, though he didn't think it would be anything terribly valuable. Still, it was better than nothing, and it would be worse to go home empty handed after having come all this way. "The hardest part about it is going to be stopping yourself from falling back on your telepathy, especially since you won't be able to understand much of anything at first."
Noa had explained all this with the intent of merely contextualizing the process for Rhys, and as something to do while his hands were occupied. What he was doing thus far wasn't engrossing -- or for that matter, difficult -- enough to occupy his full attention, so he might as well have a conversation while he was at it.
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Post by Noa on Jul 31, 2023 18:59:52 GMT -6
He hadn't expected it to go anywhere. But apparently Rhys had gotten it in his head that this was something he wanted to do now. {Can we try it? Say something to me. I want to see if I can understand anything!} The Faeron's enthusiasm was palpable enough to be annoying.
Noa paused for a moment, weighing his options. Briefly, he entertained the idea of shutting Rhys down. He hadn't come here to give language lessons, he had come here to mine. But with how keyed up Rhys was, he probably wouldn't let go of this easily. And it wasn't as if Noa couldn't talk and mine at the same time, though he rather doubted he would be as effective at either when his attention was split.
With a sigh, Noa said, "Alright. But understand that if you cheat, it only hurts your own progress. I'm not going to enforce anything."
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Post by Noa on Jul 31, 2023 19:02:18 GMT -6
There was actually a spell that would cut Rhys off from Noa's mind full stop, but Noa didn't want to cast that just yet. It lasted quite a while, and Rhys didn't exactly have a way to talk back without his telepathy, so it would be hard to test for listening comprehension too. For that matter, Noa expected he would have to do a lot of explaining, so for the moment, it really was a matter of trusting Rhys to tune out when he was supposed to.
Right now, at least, the Faeron was fully earnest and on board. {I won't cheat, I promise! Give me a minute... Okay, I'm not reading you anymore. Say something!}
Noa was still a bit skeptical; he felt that it was hard not to take the easy way if it was still available. But, well, he'd agreed, so he said, "What do you want me to say?"
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Post by Nadia on Aug 2, 2023 1:29:22 GMT -6
Red seems to be the color, here.
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