Reading Rainbow

Log Info

• Title: Reading Rainbow
• Emitter: Eztli
• Characters: Eztli, Skielstregar, Aelwyn
• Place: The TarRaCe
• Time: September 1st, 2022
• Summary: It's time for another writing lesson! Hosted by none other than the smallest sith, medium and large join in on improving their writing capabilities. The former, Aelwyn, understanding why it's important to learn the small parts first even if they have no meaning on their own while the latter, Skielstregar, works on his penmanship (he can't write small).

The Tarrace, early afternoon.

Eztli often tried to vary up her lesson environments, in order to keep things varied and hopefully a bit less boring. This time, the small sith-makar had chosen a table in a quiet corner of the Tarrace. Now it was laden with several books, sheets of parchment, and writing slates, all set out neatly for two people, along with a few plates of sandwiches, snacks, and a few pitchers of (non alcoholic) drinks. Eztli sat at one end reading one of her books while she waited.

In the distance, a ruddy scaled figure was working. Or rather, finishing up work - cleaning up the last few tables and putting aside the bottles.

A while later Aelwyn stands besides the table, a considering look on his face. Unlike his usual, he was dressed up for TarRaCe - black loincloth with dark cloth hanging from the sides, a white blouse with gold cufflinks and buttons from the top opened. Pencil was pushed behind his pointed ear and a notepad was hanging off the small pockets sewn into the loincloth/skirt. The sith-makar could not be tamed.

Letting out a quiet rumble by himself, he moves to take a sit. "Spellreader," He bows his head, and then moves to carefully sit in one of the chairs. "Gratitude for showing this one letters again."

A towering makari ducks under the entryway, reflections from the lowering sun scattering across their silvery scales and the silver halberd thudding in tandem beside them, used as a walking stick. They've a new set of clothes, still a brown shirt and pants, but fresh.

He scans about the space, perks up, then ambles on over. "Peassse on your nesssts, Eztli, Aelwyn," he rumbles, finding a seat that can support him as he slides into it. "They managed to get all the oil out. It was a silver over all for the clothessss." Getting that out there quick because he knew the Dancer's priorities.

The halberd is set aside.

Eztli looked up from her book and set it aside, so she could face Aelwyn properly. "I didn't know you were capable of wearing a shirt, Aelwyn." The small makari chuckles. "Of course, happy to help. Take a seat, have something to eat and drink."

"Oh! And welcome Skielstregar, peace on your nest. I'm glad you could make it, thanks for being here."

Aelwyn watches Skielstregar makes his way over, and he bows his head towards him. "Silver." Then he pushes his hand into the folds of his loincloth, and fetches a shiny coin that he offers to the large makari. "Silver."

Turning back towards Eztli, he looks at the spread of food, drinks and writing utensils. "Hmmh." He picks at his shirt. "This one is not sure if this shirt wishes to be worn." His tail sways behind him - but eventually his attention drifts towards Skielstregar. He attempts to lean in to whisper. Then he instead taps the larger male to make him bow down instead.

'Spellreader needs to be repaid.' The ruddy draconian whispers urgently. 'She even got the drinks.' Leaning back, he stares at the silvery sith-makar firmly, before his attention returns towards Eztli. "More letters today?"

Skielstregar chuckles to Eztli. "Thisss one jussst wantsss to be around friendsss is all. And, who knowsss, maybe they can write a little better."

The silverscale takes the silver coin, but his brows raise as he leans down to listen to Aelwyn. A brow rises. 'Um... okay?' he whispers back in a nearly incomprehensible bass.

Getting himself settled, he collects a small serving of food and drink for himself, rumbling a thanks to Eztli in the process as the day's activities get sorted.

"Of course, you're always welcome, Skielstregar." Eztli grins. "You too, Aelwyn. I'm glad I was able to catch both of you at the same time, so! Aelwyn, you kind of took off a bit abruptly last time."

The small makari pushes one slate and chalk in the direction of each of the makari. "I was going to give this to you last time to keep practicing, but that's okay. Have something to eat and drink, settle in, and I want to see how you're doing with writing out the tradespeak alphabet from last time. If you could as well Skielstregar, I'd just like to see where you're at currently."

Aelwyn stares at Skielstregar with a cold stare. Not helping. Nudging at the larger male's side with his elbow, he rumbles quietly. 'We must honor the trade of equal value.' He tells him underneath his breath.

When he turns towards Eztli, he's all grins. "Spellreader spoils us." He picks up some of the drinks and foods in front of him, before staring at the chalk and slate in some amount of trepidation. With one, he fetches out the notepad from his waist and shows it to the smallest sith-makar. "Wrote on this." It still looked like a pile of noodles; but there were some characters in there.

Fingers wrap around the chalk and he rumbles by himself as he slowly nudges at the edge of the slate.

The large makari meets Aelwyn's gaze with confusion. 'Uh... thisss one- oh! They understand now', he whispers back with a smile before simply placing the silver coin he got from Aelwyn onto the table. "For the drinksss and food!" he announces to Eztli.

Skielstregar reaches for one of the slates while monching on something or another. "Thisss one'sss Trade isss well," he relays after wiping off his maw with the back of his hand. Chalk obtained, it sits awkwardly in his taloned fingers before there's the tell tale sign of >tac-tac-tac< of chalk on slate before he shows Eztli.

It's the Trade alphabet alright. But the letters are... really big. He scratches his neck, looking off to the side.

"Oh, thank you, Aelwyn! I'm glad you were still able to practice on your own." Eztli grins, taking the notepad to read through. "I can definitely see the improvement, but there's still some that need work. That's what we're here for, though!"

The small makari looks to the silver coin, blinks once, and chuckles. "Ah, that's what Aelwyn was trying to put you up to. Don't worry, I'm not expecting anything from you two being here, but thank you. I'll put this towards some more supplies and food next time."

"Like perhaps, something for you, Skielstregar. It must be difficult for you to write with chalk, quills and pens designed for smaller folk, maybe? That's why your writing is larger. I could see if I could find some that would fit your hands better with a fine tip, or larger feather quills. It looks good, though!"

Aelwyn turns his head towards Skielstregar. Really, a coin? The Dragoon seems to ask with his eyes, before he turns around and slides a silver coin of his own. "Of course, she is being too kind on us. Makes this one wonder why, though perhaps we do have our upsides." He gives a toothy grin, flicking the chalk between his fingers with ease. Yet, when it nears the slate it just stammers.

A few moments later, the slate is raised - a bit of tilted away from the larger makari, though the letters were easily visible all the same. Instead of his more flowery script that said nothing, this time the lines were more staggered and ragged as they tried to trace those unrelenting lines of the tradespeak.

Skielstregar at this point just shrugs in slight exasperation. What? This one doesn't deal like this! he seemed reply in body language. "Thank you. Yesss, thisss one isss usssed to writing implementssss that sssoftskinsss use," he nods to Eztli, turning towards her. "To be honessst, thisss one learned to write with talonsss and fingersss instead of thisss. When they were in oruch tribesss, we would paint inssstead."

He shakes his head, glancing to Aelwyn's work but not commenting on it. "If you get sssuch writing thingsss, they would be pleasssed, but you need not go out of your way for ssssuch things, Eztli."

"If you think I'm being too kind to you, then I would sincerely like you to reevaluate your own sense of self worth." The small makari huffs. "I'm buying food and drink for my friends and helping teach them to read and write because I want to and it's the right thing to do, not because of any ulterior motives."

"That's good though Aelwyn, I can see you're learning, and putting it into practice. It's something that will get easier with practice, it looks a bit rough because you're taking your time with each letter, but when you get it memorized, a smooth motion for each will be much clearer. That's why repetition is so key."

"Ah, that makes sense, Skielstregar. Painting requires thicker lines usually, as would using one of your claws, given the size. Just a matter of tools and practice as well I think, so you can get used to different forms of writing. And think nothing of it either Skielstregar, I would be happy to find something for you."

Aelwyn nudges Skielstregar on the side with his elbow. Fingers flick the chalk in the air and then he grabs it. "Learn." He rumbles under his breath.

Turning towards Eztli, he bows his head. "This one is grateful. It is a task, an effort, and she should be rewarded for it." The ruddy scaled draconian responds. "Such as with a dance." A grin returns on his face. Then he turns his head towards Skielstregar. "Does he dance?"

Meanwhile, coming back to the lesson, he gestures at the slate. "But why are these letters... stiff? They look... so dead." He mutters, rubbing the end of the chalk against his snout. "This one has never understood." Taking the piece of chalk, he makes an concentrated effort to write down a letter. It is very stable in its instability.

Skiel hums, "If you ssso wisssh, they won't ssstop you," in a chuckling rumble towards Eztli before he's nudged in the side. Again. It was his turn to just stare.

His gaze tracks the chalk flick before he chuffs and wipes his slate clean. "Thisss one doesss not work like you do, Aelwyn," he sighs. "No, thisss one doesss not dance. Their tail isss too big."

Slowly, carefully, he starts writing letters. Small and blocky. But slowly. "You do not learn how to ssswing a glaive around to tap potsss without usssing a small ssstick firssst," he points out.

"I still haven't gotten a chance to see you dance. Is that something you're offering if I kept teaching you? Well, I was going to teach you anyways, but that's certainly incentive to keep going, isn't it?" Eztli chuckles. "I could teach you to dance too, Skielstregar, or Aelwyn probably could. I don't think there's anyone who couldn't dance at least to some degree, and it's fun!"

"You're judging it harshly when you're only just starting to learn, Aelwyn. You need to practice till the writing is second nature, and there's not pause for letters at all. Then everything will flow easily from one to the next, and you'll be writing anything you need or feel in no time." Eztli reassures. "Skielstregar has it right. Start with the basics, so you have a firm foundation to build off of."

Aelwyn lets out held air. "No, Silver does not," He agrees, before he leans in and nudges the larger makari on the side. "If he did, he'd say yes before he could say no when offered a dance by a handsome lass." He rumbles with a grin and gestures towards Eztli. "Spellreader understands. A big tail is not an obstacle; it's a challenge." He glances down. "A really, really large challenge."

Twisting his lips at the other comments. "This one still apologizes for the oil, Silver. He has not done that before." He rumbles as he holds out his slate. "It's just..." He takes in a deep breath, and then lays the slate back down. "This letter," He slowly scrawls something on the slate. "Has no meaning. It looks like this letter," Another scribble. "No meaning. Should they not sing? Is that not how books work? Letters that tell tales?" He continues making a curvy line on the slate. "Meaning."

Skielstregar's chalk breaks a slightly as he's halfway through his slow writing process. "U-Uh... s... sure?" he answers uncertainly. "Thisss one isss willing to learn, but just know that they may break sssomething. They are well aware how large they are."

Oh. That's it. He's just embarrassed about breaking something.

He's nudged. Again again. This time, Skiel's tail swishes over to thud against Aelwyn's thin tail. "Thisss one would anywaysss. They played in your performance, no?"

Speaking of. Skiel holds up a hand and shakes his head. "It isss fine. There wasss no foul nor harm. You are forgiven."

Down his attention goes to Aelwyn's slate. "Lettersss are notesss. Stepsss. None of it hasss meaning on itsss down. When you ssstring them together, you get song and dance."

"Well, I'm happy to teach, and I do look good, or try to." Eztli chuckles.

"But, you're thinking of it the wrong way Aelwyn. If you want to write, you need to be able to replicate the letters. And they do have meaning, even on their own. For example, the order matters. B comes after A in order, which matters for organization. If you are looking for something that starts with a certain letter, if files or books are properly sorted, you can always find them quicker based on that!"

"And each letter can sing on their own, too. In most musical pieces, notes have a letter attached to them after all. A single letter, with others, can put a song to paper, much like notes can."

"Handsome lass yes, Silver? Worth knocking few pots over?" Aelwyn replies with a rumbling grin, with a thinner tail thwipping against Skielstregar's way larger one. "Be gentle on him, Spellreader."

Tilting his head at the explanations, he bows his head. "Hmmh." He looks at the slate in front of him. His hand then moves to lay flat across the slate. Moments later, he gestures with his fingers and quiet rhythmic tapping follows. His tongue finally slips out in a low hiss. "This one has not thought about it that way before. An order." Rumbling, his tail sways. "Even if it is a senseless order."

A figure approaches him and whispers to him, and then with a low growl, he turns towards the other two. "Apologies, but kitchen needs me." He bows his head towards the both of them. "Gratitude for the lesson and company, Silver, Spellreader." With a heavy sigh, he straightens and heads towards the back, with chalk and slate in hand.

Skielstregar snorts and shakes his head. "Yesss, perhapsss," he rumbles. "In a larger ssspace with erm... less eyesss?" He taps the tips of his fingers together.

His dead eyes crinkle in a smile. "Sssee? There isss rhyme to the reassson for all of thisss."

A little sigh leaves him as Aelwyn is pulled away. "Peassse on your nessst, Aelwyn. Be sssure to pratice!"

His attention falls to the slate before him. "Hmm... well... might asss well practice and eat all thisss food, no?" he chuckles to Eztli.

A sip of a drink, chalk in hand, his blackened tongue sticks out in a blep of concentration as he begins slowly writing on the slate...

"The order has sense because it is given sense, Aelwyn. The letters and words have meaning because everyone has accepted the meaning intended behind them." Eztli chuckles. "At what point does it become truth? That is for everyone to decide and agree upon. For books to share to reach that conclusion, for signs and gossip in the streets to use until it becomes commonplace."

"Oh, you need to leave already? Well, alright, take care, Aelwyn." Eztli half huffs, waving to him. "Make sure to practice like Skielstregar said, and make sure you're practicing your dancing if you're promising it at some point."

"Oh don't worry, I know that practicing when you aren't used to it can be embarassing. I'll find a spot to practice that'll work, I promise. But that's for another time. It's a good thing you showed up, there's no way I could eat or drink all of this on my own!"

The small makari leaves her seat to walk behind Skielstregar, and after a moment she drags a chair over so she can hop up on to it, resting a hand on his shoulder as she watches him work, offering a few suggestions here and there and getting a better idea of how she can make writing easier for him.

-End Scene-