2020-10-27: Coffee, Cake, and Linguistics!
| Coffee, Cake, and Linguistics! | |
|---|---|
| Bobbi, Thorn and Vic run into each other at the Nexus and talk on various subjects | |
| IC Date | October 27, 2020 |
| IC Time | late morning |
| Players | Bobbi, Thorn and Vic Rasmussen |
| Location | Nexus |
A library is a wonderful thing.
One of the more democratic things in the world, the ability to go to a place that has volumes upon volumes of books available, for free, maintained and updated frequently, is a godsend when you want to find out something. In Thorn's case, the Prospect Public Library wouldn't have what she was looking for, so today she finds herself out in the Desert at the Nexus for the second time in a few days. Thanks to Bobbi loaning her a motorcycle, she didn't have to suffer the indignity of an Uber dropping her off at a gas station two miles down the road and, instead, could pull up and park on the red and blue dirt bike like a normal person. After a little situational awareness, and a quick once-over by the Mouse Guard, Thorn made her way to the library where she started researching things. Books on Time and Correspondence and Spirit warding. The first two not as much as the third. There's an order to things she's following and research builds on itself.
Thorn is sitting at one of the central tables with a few books stacked on one side, a notepad in front of her, a laptop with more notes, and a pair of earbuds in, listening to a playlist of EDM and Synthwave downloaded from YouTube.
Having been working in the computer lab since the night before the music seems to have summoned Vic from her work as she walks into the library with a 'spill-proof' mug of steaming hot coffee in each hand. "Good music choice," she says as she looks to see who exactly it is that she's speaking to.
It's quite, until it's not. The arrival of the BRAT, that is. The door opens and Bobbi sort of hop-skips out, a bright smile on her face. Today she's wearing denim overall short-shorts -- the pockets sticking out the bottom -- over a red tee, matching red socks with the iconic adidas stripes, and a pair of high-top Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars. Making her way around the car, she pops the trunk, leans in with a little wiggle and comes out with a small dish in her hands. Bobbi's been baking. Another grab in and she's got a metal thermos too. A bounce in her step as she makes her way into the library. "Gueeeesssssss whaaaat I got?!" Bobbi calls out as she sets the baked goods down on a nearby surface, unscrews the top of the thermos and takes a gulp of her tasty beverage.
Thankfully, the library is fairly soundproofed, but whatever Bobbi slammed inside that BRAT makes enough noise to overpower the sound warding and Thorn's music to boot. Still, with Vic's arrival, the music is turned down to a more conversational undertone level to allow for more talking than bouncing along with the beat. Chestnut colored hair pokes out from behind the mound of books, Thorn getting to her feet and stretching, rising to her toes before waving. She's dressed comfortably for the weather - jeans and a T-shirt with some simple shoes covering her feet. Nothing flashy or brand name, but stuff that's definitely comfortable and appropriate for the weather. "If it isn't the traveller from another timeline." Thorn says with a grin. "How you is, Vic?"
When Bobbi appears, Thorn gives the painted woman a wave as well, a grin appearing for a moment before she re-takes her seat, leaning over to peer at the baked goods which, somehow, appeared just when it was time to get hungry. "It's almost like the setup to a joke, but I'll bite. Ahem." She straightens a little. "What do you have, Bobbi?" If those are anything like muffins, she'll probably end up giving Bobbi the biggest hug she can.
Vic's outfit is typical for her - jeans and a t-shirt, in this case with a G.I.Joe themed pie chart of colored lasers and knowledge. "I'm doing well Thorn, haven't heard from you since meeting at Roasters," she says to her fellow VA. Upon Bobbi's entrance she drops into barely accented Italian and greets her with a warm, "Ciao bella!" and a smile.
As Thorn comes over, Bobbi returns the affection, wrapping her up in a gret big hippie hug. Rocking the two of them side-to-side, Bobbi takes the time to allow their hearts to synchronize and chakras to align. Stepping back from the hug, she holds onto Thorn's shoulders and gazes into her eyes. "Ran out of berries," she begins to explain, "I figured I'd follow along and deliver the goodies rather than going to the store." Letting go of Thorn's shoulders, Bobbi makes her way over to the dish and removes the foil. "Blueberry Boy Bait," she declares as she puts her hands out to present what looks like an almost cakey pie-variant, blueberry gooeyness peeking out. "Hey Vic," Bobbi says as she turns to look at the other woman, giving her a little wave of the fingers of her left hand, that giant palm sigil tattoo momentarily visible.
"It's been a busy week for me. Initial meeting with all you mage-types at Prospect Roasters, finding a place to live, and being introduced to this place." Thorn lets out a breath. "It's crazy what's going on outside the barriers of this place, too. If I couldn't turn off what I'd see, I'd be stuck in here with blinders on to be sure to not see what's going on out there. Perfect place to hide something you don't want anyone looking for."
Cheerful, Thorn is, actually lifting Bobbi off her feet for a second before setting her back down again thanks to a little tilt back with arms around waist. Then the confectionery is displayed and, with a muffled 'ooooh' Thorn heads over to pluck one from the foil-wrapped plate, holding it in one hand and breaking off small crumbly chunks with the other. She'll be sure to sweep it up when she's done. Leave it as you found it, after all.
"Oh, I nearly forgot, if you're a language type, i'm giving Latin lessons on the 2nd at Prospect Roasters. I thought it'd be a way to get some information out to people what might not have it and meet some new faces. Both good things."
Vic nods to Thorn, "Understandable, my first weeks here were a bit crazy also so I get it. Hope everything's going well though?" She glances at the food and grins; she hands one of the two mugs to Thorn and says, "That looks delicious, Bobbi. I hope you plan to share?" As an aside she says, "I'm very interested in that, Latin is not one of the dozen languages I know," to Thorn.
"You need to be careful in the Cobre," Bobbi explains to Thorn, a bit of seriousness behind her smile. "They kinda don't like to talk about the history of The Nexus," Bobbi adds to this, "but it's storied to say the least. Glad they got the MouseGuard and Train setup." With these mysteries unexplained, Bobbi grabs herself a square slice of Boy Bait, taking a bite while she holds a hand beneath to catch any crumbs. "rris rill rwarm," Bobbi comments as she enjoys her first bite of herlatest baked goods. Picking up her thermos, Bobbi works to open the cap and takes a drink to wash down the pastry. For those close enough, there's a faint smell of booze and fruityness. Some might think it's a bit early to be drinking, but Bobbi probably knows what she's doing, right? "Of course," Bobbi says as she looks to Vic, "please, help yourself. I loved making and sharing baked goods. This is a rustic fruit dessert variant I just found out about, so I had to give it a try. Pretty good. Besides being tasty, rustic fruit desserts have the most charming names. Grunts! Slumps! Buckles! and of course, Boy Bait! Just darling, don't you think?" There's a pause and almost a grave tone as Bobbi notes, "You should learn Latin, it's important."
Oooh, coffee. One of the more important food groups, and something Thorn tends to enjoy more than the energy drinks Rufus is living on in the computer lab. She takes the mug in both hands and lifts it with a grin, taking a sip of the steaming brew. "Well, you're more than welcome to make Latin lucky #13. So far I just know the three, but I'm working on ASL with Sharon. Give me time and some learning of Time," Note the distinction there, "and I'll be a polyglot just like a goodly portion of the mages I've met around here." While she could probably come up with a mechanical or electronic way to do this, knowing them outright is like entering a cheat code to the universe and seeing portions of the world that one might normally not see. So she's all for learning them, but isn't above using a little magic to make the study more efficient.
The Boy Bait - why she'd need it she has no idea - is savored, the fresh blueberries popping on her tongue as she chews, the sweetness and frutiness all combining to make a very happy Thorn. "We should probably let the Mouse Guard have a little of this. Are there rules about feeding them, or is the Nexus the one who takes care of them?" And any curiosity about researching the Nexus is thre, but with that subtle-not-subtle warning, she'll chalk it up to just being 'it is what it is' and leave it there. "It tastes like there's butter in here? And how did you get this consistency without eggs? You must have a chemist on staff or an innate ability to make baked goods do what you want them to without the requisite components...."
Vic gets her own slice of the coffee cake and, appropriately, eats it along with her coffee, commenting on it with a low and deeply pleasurable mmmm. "Delicious, it was time well spent, Bobbi," she says about the cake and then asks, "If they don't like to will you anyway?" about the Nexus' history.
With a nod Vic says, "We should compare notes on known languages, Thorn. I do know American Sign, though its not the only sign language that I know."
Showing continued interest in the original subject she asked about, Vic also asks, "Is there anything more than the normal concerns about a desert with the Cobre that we should bee aware of, Bobbi?" of the inked mage.
"That's because it has all those things," Bobbi explains to Thorn, "I don't want to try to veganize a recipes the first time I make it, so a little bit of cheating." Bobbi gives a little shrug to this and takes another bite of the Boy Bait. After swallowing her Boy Bait bite, Bobbi grins and looks around, her eyes a bit shifty as she confesses, "I, uh, know a /few/ languages." Understatement of the year. Vic's mention of another sign language gets a slow turn and a raised eyrbow from Bobbi, "That sounds intriguing. Something from your dimension, I presume?" Bobbi thinks about the other questions and explains, "The desert is expansive. Many things call it their home, but not as many call it their final resting place. You can tell that from the kind of spirits you encounter throughout. I'm told there's a few places you absolutely don't want to go. This used to be one of them, we're not The Nexus's first owner."
"Probably not, unless I have a reason to." Thorn responds to Bobbi, taking another bite of the Boy Bait, a few crumbs tumbling to the floor to be cleaned up later. "The only languages I have are English, obviously, Spanish, and Latin, both written and spoken. So...Yeah. Pretty good for a sleeper, not so good for a Mage that needs to be able to handle multiple languages to get anything done." There is a giggle at the slow turn Bobbi gives Vic at the mention of another language. "Uh-oh, Vic...you have the wild Bobbi's attention, promising her somethign she does not know."
"The history of this place, of lots of places, are like the surface of a pond. There's the surface that you see, and then all the stuff beneath that the surface hides, moves around, or simply displaces, with a few places poking out if you know where to look or...more likely...where to not steer your boat." The places to not go. "I doubt there's a local map that's marked with places to go."
Vic nods to Bobbi, "Good to know, not that I know much about Spirits," and then, for both of them, she says, "I assume its not unique to my world because if it is the split in the timelines is far older than I thought. I know Akashic sign also you see." She then asks, "Do either of you want the list of the languages I know?" adding, "I totally can share if you wish."
"Well," Bobbi begins to say as she reaches into the top of pocket of her overall short-shorts and removes a folded piece of vellum, "I've got a map, but it's more than just local." Unfolding the map, Bobbi makes visible what looks like a constantly shifting kaleidoscopic map reminiscent of a gilded illuminated manuscript. "Like for example," Bobbi notes as she lightly touches the map and it zooms in on a run down Old West style town wracked with aggreived spirit, "that's the Ghost Town, don't go there. Actually, there's two Ghost Towns in the Cobre, one's good, one's bad, don't get them confused." With that, Bobbi folds back up the unusual map, tucking it into her top overalls pocket as if no explanation was needed at all. Vic's comment gets immediate attention from Bobbi, as she waggles her eyebrows and wonders, "Akashic Sign Language, you say? Care to teach me /that/ one? You know I'm always happy to teach you in return, be it one of the languages I know -- even the magickal ones -- or more information about some of the Night Folk, or perhaps something else. Of course, once you learn Latin, I'll happily lend you the book I wrote this Summer. I think your practice is a bit different to get full insight from it, but there will definitely be intersting things to learn."
She just carries that around? Thorn leans in to peer at the wonderous item - what else can it be? - and at the nonchalance that Bobbi uses to explain the bad place to not go. Thankfully it seems to be in the deep desert and would take some time to get to on a motorcycle, and even then, assuming you survived the trip out there, you'd still have the spirits to deal with. "Wow..." she says, taking another bite of her Boy Bait chasing it with some coffee. "That's handy."
Turning to her laptop, Thorn types a few more things into it, leaving it open to add some more notes, bascially keeping refrence of the cool thing she just saw and, if one looks, notes regarding warding locations against spirits, sanctuaries and the like have been referenced, cross-referenced, and organized. She's thorough, and she's doing her due diligence.
Vic nods to Bobbi. "I think I can do that sure. Its not like they have a serious presence here to ask if they mind, right?" She then says, "I recently picked up a bunch of Chinese languages and Italian," and asks Bobbi, "Speaking of, how's the plan to go see the opera with Joe? We were thinking of shopping for clothes I believe?"
"Yeah, pretty handy," Bobbi agrees as she finishes off her piece of Boy Bait and then sucks the crumbs off her tattooed fingers. "Friend made it for me," she explains to them, "she couldn't tell me how she made it because like trade secrets and all, but then I accidentally found out when I learned some other things from another person. That was a good day. Knowledge and a real gingerbread house, how can you go wrong?" Bobbi smiles as Vic offers to trade her new knowledge. "Well, that sounds good," Bobbi notes to Vic, "we can probably mesh the lessons with the clothes and the pretzel. You just gotta let me know when. You were saying La Boheme, right?"
Secrets are, from what Thorn has seen, something to be hoarded. To be kept safe, distilled into little bottles, only to be brought out when they are most needed, since sharing a secret lessens its power somewhat. They're to be shared with those who are worthy, those who put in the time, or simply those, like in Bobbi's case, who get lucky enough to be there to figure it out when it happens. The trick is to be ready for those times. It's something Thorn strives for.
"You know, speaking as many languages as you both do, it's amazing we can hold as much knowledge as that, just to bring it out whenever needed. I always thought it was cool how you can just talk and then your mind sort of...switches gears, I guess? And your thoughts come out in the language you want. I mean..I can swap from English to Spanish to Latin on the fly without losing my train of thought. Getting you two's proficiency? That's going to take some time.
"I grew up in a tri=lingual household, so my brain just processes languages better than most I think," Vic explains mater-of-factually. "English of course as I was born and raised in America. My brother was born deaf so I learned ASL right along with him as we grew up and my mother and Lola spoke Tagalog around me so I learned it at the same time." She sounds like this is just a fact of life because, for her, it was. "Spanish in high school came easily as my Lola spoke it fluently also, we bonded over my lessons. Some of my others are just for fun but with that as a foundation I picked up languages quickly. More quickly now that I can apply Mind and hypercramming techniques to the learning."
"Beyond switching gears," Bobbi begins to tell Thorn as she takes a sip of her boozey thermos, "there is the joy of blending. I'm kinda the master of multi-lingual punning. I almost put that sort of effort into my latest book, but I feel like there's such a thing as being too cleve for your own good." A grin as Bobbi adds, "All that knowledge in there and I still find myself chasing the fluffy tailed squirrel more often than I'd like to admit." Bobbi looks up with a slightly goofy smile, clearly giving chase to the brain squirrels." Bobbi nods to Thorn and explains, "I also was raised trilingual, as well as having triple citizenship. Which would probably surprise you if you saw how I grew up. Might as well have been on the cover of White Trash Quarterly. Oh! And I was just brushing up on my Spanish because that computer program you gave me got stuck in Spanish mode. Was pretty useful. I think it helped me learn computers better, in it's own way."
"Isn't..." Thorn says, sitting down in her seat, her mug of coffee sipped daintily, her baked treat vanished some time ago into the depths of her belly. "Isn't that just obusification? And a little bit of showing off? It's like the person who wrote the Voynich Manuscript - he decided to make up a new language just because he could and people are still working on the silly thing, trying to figure out what it is." Knowing this library, there's probably a copy on the shelves somwhere with a translation guide nearby, but Thorn hasn't looked. She sits back and listens to the pair talk about Languages, growing up, and all that fun stuff. "My upbringing was in a dual language, where I ended up having to teach myself English. Turned out okay, I guess."
Vic smiles mischieviously, "Dad got mom into Trek so you could add another language to my childhood, but many people don't like to think of Klingonese as a real language but it so totally is. Between that and my learning Japanese at college when I was introduced to anime... trust me the geek boys find that totally sexy." She wriggles her eyebrowns suggestively. But she also says, "I'd actually like to sort out the Voynich Manuscript at some point. Maybe even using Mind and Time to pick the author's mind as he wrote it," quite seriously.
"mmmm, that's sort of what I meant by too clever," Bobbi agrees with Thorn, "and I don't really know the purpose of the Voynic Manuscript, so I can't comment on that. I do know it has some superficial similarities to Codex Seraphinianus, which members of my House designed with purpose for magickal reasons. But ... when you're sharing arcane secrets in the form of a confession, some obfuscation can be necessary." Bobbi has mentioned before that her book contains many secrets relating to the Spirit world, but just what she is 'confessing' has never even been hinted at. "Ok, Trek," Bobbi says as she looks down and brings a hand to her chin, really thinking about this, "that's the one with the Tribbles, but ... " Bobbi looks to Vic and asks, "What's anime?"
Thorn says, "That's why it's still mysterious. No-one likes an unsolved mystery. Just like some of those lost episodes of Dr. Who that the BBC erased because who would want to watch old versions of Dr. Who, people will scour the world to find the smallest hint that lead them somewhere else." There are thousands of examples of that, too. KRONOS at the CIA Headquarters, any number of books that are missing and the like. "Anime is...whew." Okay, how to put this. "You know how cartoons, here in America, are mostly for kids? In Japan, they're not, so you get hyper-detailed animated shows that run the gamut from super serious to funny to sad to violent and everything in between. All in this realistic style wtih characters that have big eyes, multicolored hair, and some really common stereotypes. We'll have to sit down and watch something, some day. Start you out simple with something good, like Spirited Away, or Princess Mononoke, which I /still/ think was partially written by a Garou..." She giggles. "Anyway...I'm nearly done with my studying here, Bobbi. I'm going to button up, head back into town, and get cleaned up. You want to meet and go over my notes later?"
Vic is nodding along with Thorn's description of anime until... "Garou? What is that?" she asks as her face goes to total confused mode, almost missing Thorn's following statement. "Hey, don't forget to shoot me an email so I have your contact information also, Thorn, okay?"
"hmmm," Bobbi says to Thorn as she thinks about this, "Do the Pokemon count as anime?" Bobbi gives a little nod and adds, "You know where to find me, havea great day. No rush to get the bike back, so enjoy and stay safe." Looking to Vic, Bobbi explains, "Garou are werewolves, creatures made of flesh and spirit. Just one of the changing breeds, but by far the most prevalent. Like Vampires, they are a group that protects the secrecy of their existence with a vengeance. You never want to even hint to those groups that you know they exist or worse that you know one of them is of that group. A very likely death sentence, and for those of their kind that know you know, but don't say? A death sentence for them too. They take this very seriously. The Garou especially are wary of will-workers due to a fundamental cosmological conflict between the way we are and the way they are. Be careful, you will never win in a fair fight with them."
"Okay." Thorn snags a pen from somewhere and scribbles her email and phone number on a sheet of paper, folding it and passing it over to Vic. She knows Bobbi has her information so....yeah.
"Pokemon count." she adds, packing her bag and listening in to the explanation of Garou - far beyond what she knew, other than 'they're shifters' and 'don't fight them because it'll suck on your end.' Vic gets a smile and a wave, Bobbi gets a hug, and out Thorn goes. Shortly after, the sound of a motorcyle firing up can be heard and then, she's gone...
Vic starts showing Bobbi signs from Akashic, explaining them both in English and the completely unrelated ASL that they share in common, giving some of the basic words both for general communication and for talking about Spheres and Traditions which are, themselves, basic signs in this specialized sign language. Interspersed are questions about the Garou: "How did you learn about them?" "Have you ever had a run-in with them?" "Do you know if I know one? Without identifying them naturally!"
Bobbi's spaciness is replaced by an almost equal level of studiousness as Vic begins to teach her, she proves to be a quick study. "I have actually not encountered a Garou," Bobbi explains to Vic, "my knowledge of them is purely academic. I'm actually more familiar with their lesser known cousins. I'm not sure that I'd want to have a run in with one of them, at least not when they're angry. A group of Mages tried messing with one of their kind awhile ago, but they made some beginners mistakes." Bobbi pauses, looks right in Vic's eyes and says, "Four dead Mages."
