cooperation

[alicornucopia]

Two girls are moving their hands through the air and speaking together in perfect parallel.

Two girls are looking expectantly at a circle of red chalk on their floor.

Two girls have done something exceptionally stupid.

with Harry (andaisq)

with Isabella (Eva)

with Arcane (kappa)

with Miles (kappa)

with Nick (Rockeye)

Comments

[alicornucopia]

Not a total for the entire engagement, but in the battle it's specifically reporting on, Mekand reports three "irrecoverable losses" and Pleia's deaths are estimated at thirty.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

Nick looks a little green. Thirty- That's worse than any pirate attack, worse than an entire island village burning down. And it was in one day.

It takes a minute of deep breaths to remind him that thirty all at once by violence really isn't that bad, compared to less noisy deaths by starvation and accident and disease and old age in a hundred other places.

He tucks the newspaper into a pocket, intending to recycle it out of sheer habit. Then he looks for the magic laundry basket he originally came out for.

[alicornucopia]

There are magic laundry baskets available at a furniture store.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

He buys one. He's getting hungry, though.

<Keo, would you mind if I get something at a restaurant instead of the cafeteria? I won't make a habit of it.>

[alicornucopia]

<Don't pay more than three aaberik for a meal, but that's fine.>

[rockeye_stonetoe]

He doesn't respond in words, just a little mental acknowledgment. He picks a restaurant offering food below three aaberik at random - Tahaan's.

[alicornucopia]

Tahaan's is apparently a "Saraanlan" restaurant. The menu has "substrates" and "flavorings" with a warning that you shouldn't put more than two flavorings unless you know what you're doing.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

He doesn't recognize the names of about half the flavorings. Feeling adventurous, he chooses rice with blueberry and something random from the stranger half of the list - "chocolate."

[alicornucopia]

And in short order he is brought blue-brown, sweet-smelling rice pudding.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

He can see what they meant by the warning not to use more than two flavors. Even two is pushing it, especially since both his mix-ins are so sweet. It's still delicious, though.

When he's done, he tries to figure out how to pay for it.

[alicornucopia]

The waitress can take his credit stamp, although she's confused about why he's so puzzled.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"I have no idea how most things work here. I've been in Esmaar for a grand total of less than twenty-three hours."

[alicornucopia]

"Well," she says, "welcome!" And she scans his stamp and goes off.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

He smiles and grabs his laundry basket and starts trying to find his way back to the same street he entered the city with.

[alicornucopia]

If he sticks to the gridded commercial areas and can distinguish the cardinal directions he should be all right.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

He attempts to use his compass. This does not work. He watches the sun instead - it's afternoon, so that direction is west. Off he goes, back to the edge of the city, back to the school, drop his basket off in his room, take a shower and change clothes, then once again to the library.

[alicornucopia]

The library continues to librar.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

Nick attempts to find a book about how to learn Leraal.

[alicornucopia]

This library is geared exclusively to students who already speak it, so it's kind of lacking in that area. It does have dictionaries and grammars, neither of which will work well for their intended purposes while he's under a translation spell.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

And none of the dictionaries are in Anglish, of course.

Hm. It's not like he has anything against mind-magic as a category of things. Just things-done-to-him-without-permission.

<Keo?>

[alicornucopia]

<Yes?>

[rockeye_stonetoe]

<Can you make me know Leraal? The limitations of this translation spell are becoming inconvenient.>

[alicornucopia]

<It'd take me a few angles, but it's technically within my abilities, yes. What do you need to know Leraal for?>

[rockeye_stonetoe]

<Angles, not hours or minutes? I suppose it would be stranger if you did use hours. I mostly just don't like relying on an ongoing effect like the translation spell, I'd feel more comfortable without needing it. It's apparently not trivial though, so if you have better things to do, how can I learn Leraal myself?>

[alicornucopia]

<You could hire a tutor - I'm afraid there won't be any books on it written in your native language, but a dragon tutor will be able to speak it, that's one of the things dragons can do.>