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She looked back at Nana, sincerely intrigued. "I can tell you're speaking Galactic Standard, that's what the translator is working off of... But nobody uses Gallard anymore since the translators were invented..." She cocked her head. "Go ahead, try me. I'd love to learn a bit, and thank you in your own tongue."

Nana walked around Kessie snuffing her large nostrils with her eyes squinted, clearly appraising her. "Nobody can speak Nana. No. Not even little metal bits." She then opened her mouth and made an incredibly complicated symphony of sounds. It seemed she was speaking from her lungs, her throat and through her nose all at once, each doing something entirely different. There was a gutteral cough and click, a mixture of udilating hissing and spitting along with little growls and barks. She spoke what seemed to be a sentance and then gave Kessie a raised eyebrow.

Kessie stared intensely at Nana as she spoke, letting her instincts, as well as her own wide experience, do their thing. She could tell this language was unlike anything she'd heard before.

She was silent for a moment after Nana finished, flexing her lungs, throat and nostrils experimentally. She opened her adaptable Raro mouth into a shape similar to the shape of Nana's, and repeated what she was pretty sure was one of the individual words. Without context it was hard to get ahold of the meaning.

"I need to hear more." She said, her eyes flashing and her pupils dilating in exhilaration.

Nana gave a shrug and began gesturing as she spoke. And after awhile Kessie started getting bits and pieces of what seemed to be a battle poem.

Kessie listened hungrily, concentrating as only a Raro could. She started absorbing the grammar first, her brain picking out the tell-tale patterns and setting up a sort of lattice to hang the words on as they came. Meanwhile, another part of her brain was parsing vocabulary. The gestures and body language helped a lot with that. She nodded, as her agile mind ran the words and the grammar through permutation after permutation, only semi-consciously, as the two processes met in the middle. Nana's language was very different, and the girl could see how it didn't play ball with translation technology, what with so many moving parts. But, as she listened, coherent meaning began to creep in, and she felt a thrill as understanding burgeoned like the sun rising over a hill.

The recitation was fairly long, and presented a pretty good sampling of vocabulary. When Nana finished, Kessie smiled.

"It was beautiful, and bloody." She said, in a language nobody else in the room could understand. She switched back to translated Raro. "But, I still don't know how to say 'thank you.'"

Nana's ears fell and her usually beady eyes widened, glistening for a moment before tears ran down her furry cheeks. Without any warning she threw her arms around Kessie's knees. "My ears have not heard for so long, so very long. It is beautiful. So beautiful. You wonderful wonderful child!"

Kessie was taken completely off guard, and, for once, didn't know what to say. To her surprise, she found her own eyes misting up. 'Wonderful child'? No one had... ever... Said anything so nice about her before. She bent into a squat, and, sort of hesitantly, wrapped her own arms around the old lady. She stared over Nana's shoulder at a spot on the floor, brows furrowed, as a couple of tears rolled down her own mottled cheeks.

What sort of a con could this possibly be? It had to be real!

Nana held on for a long moment, patting her back gently. Finally she pulled back, wiping her old eyes. "Thank you, katchini. (the word meant 'precious child' but also relayed notes of precociousness, as well as a claim of comradery with the subject. One did not use the word for any child. Only one you knew well and cared for.) You come and talk to Nana (The word Nana was now understood as a self-declared title that meant 'wise caretaker of silly young things') any time you like." She patted Kessie on the cheek.

Kessie gave Nana an uncertain smile, and just nodded, unsure what to say. Her heart had definitely been touched, and she didn't know what to do.

She straightened up and wiped her cheeks, not embarrassed, but curious. As a Crackling, she'd thought she'd become pretty good at keeping down her real emotions. But apparently all it took to undo that lock was a few words and a tight hug.

Tertio watched it all with great interest. Now he grinned at Kessie. "I guess we know who the favorite grandchild is going to be."

Haven't colored anything completely in colored pencil in quite a long time. I really enjoyed it. I think I must do it more.

A part of an ongoing RP.

Kessie belongs to Artoveli

Description

She looked back at Nana, sincerely intrigued. "I can tell you're speaking Galactic Standard, that's what the translator is working off of... But nobody uses Gallard anymore since the translators were invented..." She cocked her head. "Go ahead, try me. I'd love to learn a bit, and thank you in your own tongue."

Nana walked around Kessie snuffing her large nostrils with her eyes squinted, clearly appraising her. "Nobody can speak Nana. No. Not even little metal bits." She then opened her mouth and made an incredibly complicated symphony of sounds. It seemed she was speaking from her lungs, her throat and through her nose all at once, each doing something entirely different. There was a gutteral cough and click, a mixture of udilating hissing and spitting along with little growls and barks. She spoke what seemed to be a sentance and then gave Kessie a raised eyebrow.

Kessie stared intensely at Nana as she spoke, letting her instincts, as well as her own wide experience, do their thing. She could tell this language was unlike anything she'd heard before.

She was silent for a moment after Nana finished, flexing her lungs, throat and nostrils experimentally. She opened her adaptable Raro mouth into a shape similar to the shape of Nana's, and repeated what she was pretty sure was one of the individual words. Without context it was hard to get ahold of the meaning.

"I need to hear more." She said, her eyes flashing and her pupils dilating in exhilaration.

Nana gave a shrug and began gesturing as she spoke. And after awhile Kessie started getting bits and pieces of what seemed to be a battle poem.

Kessie listened hungrily, concentrating as only a Raro could. She started absorbing the grammar first, her brain picking out the tell-tale patterns and setting up a sort of lattice to hang the words on as they came. Meanwhile, another part of her brain was parsing vocabulary. The gestures and body language helped a lot with that. She nodded, as her agile mind ran the words and the grammar through permutation after permutation, only semi-consciously, as the two processes met in the middle. Nana's language was very different, and the girl could see how it didn't play ball with translation technology, what with so many moving parts. But, as she listened, coherent meaning began to creep in, and she felt a thrill as understanding burgeoned like the sun rising over a hill.

The recitation was fairly long, and presented a pretty good sampling of vocabulary. When Nana finished, Kessie smiled.

"It was beautiful, and bloody." She said, in a language nobody else in the room could understand. She switched back to translated Raro. "But, I still don't know how to say 'thank you.'"

Nana's ears fell and her usually beady eyes widened, glistening for a moment before tears ran down her furry cheeks. Without any warning she threw her arms around Kessie's knees. "My ears have not heard for so long, so very long. It is beautiful. So beautiful. You wonderful wonderful child!"

Kessie was taken completely off guard, and, for once, didn't know what to say. To her surprise, she found her own eyes misting up. 'Wonderful child'? No one had... ever... Said anything so nice about her before. She bent into a squat, and, sort of hesitantly, wrapped her own arms around the old lady. She stared over Nana's shoulder at a spot on the floor, brows furrowed, as a couple of tears rolled down her own mottled cheeks.

What sort of a con could this possibly be? It had to be real!

Nana held on for a long moment, patting her back gently. Finally she pulled back, wiping her old eyes. "Thank you, katchini. (the word meant 'precious child' but also relayed notes of precociousness, as well as a claim of comradery with the subject. One did not use the word for any child. Only one you knew well and cared for.) You come and talk to Nana (The word Nana was now understood as a self-declared title that meant 'wise caretaker of silly young things') any time you like." She patted Kessie on the cheek.

Kessie gave Nana an uncertain smile, and just nodded, unsure what to say. Her heart had definitely been touched, and she didn't know what to do.

She straightened up and wiped her cheeks, not embarrassed, but curious. As a Crackling, she'd thought she'd become pretty good at keeping down her real emotions. But apparently all it took to undo that lock was a few words and a tight hug.

Tertio watched it all with great interest. Now he grinned at Kessie. "I guess we know who the favorite grandchild is going to be."

Haven't colored anything completely in colored pencil in quite a long time. I really enjoyed it. I think I must do it more.

A part of an ongoing RP.

Kessie belongs to Artoveli