[open post: Kei ryezich Ravkayash?]

[ravkanwitch]

Nina makes friends very easily. This is a known fact. Despite what's going on internally, she's friendly, exuberant, and silly when she's around others. When she moved to the Little Palace from the orphanage, she immediately made a few fast friends with other Grisha who were around the same age. One was a young girl from Fjerda -- rescued from the Drüskelle, who would rather burn their own at stake than admit that Grisha were human -- and they were best friends. Her friend didn't know the Ravkan language that well, so Nina began learning Fjerdan to bridge the gap. Her instructors immediately saw promise and placed her in multiple language courses where she thrived. Fjerdan (the language of the enemy) ironically became what she excelled in, to native fluency. Her Kerch (the language of commerce) is near perfect. Shu and Zemeni were next, potential rivals or partners of Ravka. Kaelish because it was fun. Suli was the most difficult to grasp, a dialect of Ravkan but also entirely different. In any case, she didn't see it as work, she saw it as a way to connect more deeply with others.

Since arriving, Nina has noticed that everyone at the mansion has a different accent, if you can call it that. It's clear that none of them share the same language, but she processes everyone's language the same, somehow. She started experimenting, speaking Fjerdan with Laertes, Shu with Binghe and Lan Wangji, Kerch with some of the other residents like Nightingale and Janet. It's possible it changes her accent to something closer to theirs -- she thinks it does -- but it doesn't seem to change what she's saying. At least it's a way to maintain fluency, just in case...

She has also noticed that there are some areas of the grounds, some little pockets, that don't seem to translate what she's reading or saying as clearly. She first noticed this when she wandered a little too far into the woods and pulled out a book to read in an attempt to be more cultured (before she became swarmed with bugs and had to give up) -- but there was a moment where the language in the book seemed to be entirely different. It's been happening more frequently lately.

In the wake of a successful (?) talent show, Nina has found one of those pockets. She is sitting at a desk strewn with books about languages, deep into studying English, French, and Chinese simultaneously. She would absolutely welcome company, whether to discuss the talent show, languages, or anything else.

Comments

[sagramore]

"Oh, yes, that's exactly what I mean. Laertes does the same thing, though I suppose thou canst not hear that either."

[ravkanwitch]

"Only just a hint of it," Nina admits. "It may be because I think in Ravkan." Now her brow is slightly furrowed, wondering if she tries to think in Fjerdan, could she? She is at a native level of fluency. If she did, would that change how all of the languages are translated for her?

She shakes her head, laughing a little. "Sorry, I was thinking. This is my one academic pursuit, otherwise it's all crossdressing and convincing Luo Binghe to stage fight me."

[sagramore]

He laughs. "You know, I do find both of those admirable and even appealing. To hell with academics."

[ravkanwitch]

She grins. "There is an art to stage fighting. I've only punched a man a handful of times-- no, there was that other situation, and then-- well, a couple handful of times. In order to fake it but make it look real, there's a specific angle from both the person throwing it and the person taking the punch."

[sagramore]

"Will you show me?" To be honest, he finds this more interesting than the language problem, which is mostly interesting when it involves Laertes.

[ravkanwitch]

"Sure! First, you extend your fist in front of you with your arm straight," Nina says, doing so herself; she extends her arm straight and closes her hand into a fist, "and stand until your fist is just touching mine. This makes sure we have enough space between us."

[sagramore]

He makes his own fist and touches it to hers, paying close attention.

[ravkanwitch]

"Now when I swing my fist towards you, I want you to throw your head back following the line of the punch. We'll do it in slow motion first. Ready?" She throws a punch towards him (slowly) aiming slightly higher than her own head and as she's swinging, she claps her other hand on her chest to making a slap noise, dropping it quickly.

[sagramore]

He does it (with all the theatricality she might expect from someone like Jesper), dropping his head back as if she'd just hit him hard, and takinh a reeling step backwards.

[ravkanwitch]

She claps her hands together, pleased. "Incredible. It works best when watched from behind the person punching, so you don't see how far apart the two people are. You should try to throw the punch now! You'll also need to clap your hand up to your chest at the same time to create the sound effect... but then drop it right away so that it isn't there while I'm reacting." She holds her fist out again so they can recalibrate how far apart they're standing; Sagramore can definitely throw a hefty punch and she doesn't want to get in the way of it.

[sagramore]

"So noted." He holds out his own fist until they touch -- his arms are definitely longer than hers -- and then takes his stance, doing his best to loom forbodingly. It's somewhat undercut by his obvious delight. "When thou'rt ready."

[ravkanwitch]

"Ready! Remember to swing downwards so it looks like you're going for my head."

[sagramore]

The punch he throws is gorgeous -- he gets the angle of it perfectly -- but he mistimes the slap to his chest so that the sound effect doesn't actually line up. "Christ!" laughing. "Let me try again."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina laughs, amused (it was pretty funny) and readies herself for his next attempt.

[sagramore]

This time he gets everything aligned properly and the punch "lands". He laughs again. "There! That was better!"

[ravkanwitch]

Nina lets out a slight yelp when the punch "lands" and it sounds quite convincing. She looks at Sagramore, stunned, holding a hand to her cheek. "Sir! There was no need for that! I didn't mean to flirt with your sister." --then she breaks, falling into laughter.

[sagramore]

"If you thought you could use your wiles on my sister, lady, you have a lesson coming! --Yes, all right, next time we do talents this is what I want."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina laughs. "You were great. Maybe we could put on a play next."

[sagramore]

"It would be a delight. That'll be my exchange for lessons in swordplay. We can fluster Laertes at the same time."

[ravkanwitch]

"We used to use it as a distraction tactic all the time," she smiles a little, thinking fondly about how her and Jesper would try to argue about the silliest things. "If you ever want to fluster Laertes, I'm in. It's a deal." She holds out her hand to shake.

[sagramore]

Sagramore shakes back firmly. "Signed and sealed, my lady."