His cheeks reddened suddenly. "Because...er...well...I can't even read it," he stammered, chagrined.
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| Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-04-2014, 09:00 PM
Zhi pulled a face at that, one that counted as just a bit gobsmacked, but she quickly tried to cover that with neutrality. "Err. . .ye can't read it? Why not? I thought ye could read. . .?"
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-04-2014, 11:15 PM
Lolo cringed visibly. The rubedo character of his cheeks deepened further still and he became tense, nervous. His face contorted with clear confused struggle.Â
After an interim filled with uncertain half words he motioned Joz over to an empty table. Pushing aside bottles and tankards he set two books before him; one completely nondescript and the other small and thick, screaming its age with every stain and crack across its aquamarine surface. The first he laid down carelessly, the latter with great intention, his hand lingering over it once it was set. He opened the newer, nicer seeming book, and indicated with a wave of his hand the words and letters within. "This is the Eorzean alphabet. I've read it all my life. I can recognize a few others, as well." He opened the aquamarine tome gently, the tips of his fingers almost dancing across the page as he traced the lines of the shapes and characters within. "This?" he began breathily, "I...don't...understand." The screwed-up look of his face was unreadable, not for any clever opacity, but for baring too much at once.
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-05-2014, 12:32 PM
Zhi trembled as she sat. She fisted her hands and stuck them in her lap, leaning forward to get a better look at the book. "Why don't ye find some bloke what can read it, then?" Her expression had some interest in it, but there was also confusion in the way her eyes slid over both books and her eyebrows pulled together.
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-05-2014, 02:11 PM
Lolo appeared exasperated. "I've tried doing just that. Thaliak confound it, that's half the reason I moved all the way across Eorzea!" he muttered harshly, mostly to himself.
He composed himself somewhat and turned his eyes back up to Joz. He smiled wanly and was quiet.
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-05-2014, 02:16 PM
Zhi frowned. Her hands were pressed tight to her lap under the table where Lalataru couldn't see them shaking. Some of that strain was present in her shoulders; she looked tense. "Someone wrote it -- don't that mean there's someone t'read it? Why d'ye keep a book ye can't read -- I mean. . .I've seen ye carryin' this afore, haven't I? What's it about? Why's it so important?"
Her nails pressed into her palms. It hurt. It felt clean.
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-05-2014, 06:34 PM
Lolo's nose crinkled and his lips pursed as he responded, "It means there was someone to read it, at least." He pulled the tome back around toward himself, ignoring for the moment the other book. His eyes and fingers moved across the page, pulled, magnetized. He spoke.Â
"You're asking a great many questions, Miss Joz, and it's very well indeed that you should. And that is why I've given so much for this book, why it above all others is my constant companion. That is exactly what makes it important."
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-05-2014, 06:45 PM
He's an arcanist.
"'Cause ye can't answer questions?" She'd already lost interest in their conversation. She was imagining a pulse of power between her shoulder-blades, a last salute from a man whose motives were, frankly, baffling. Sleeping, she thought. Yeah.
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-05-2014, 07:37 PM
"'Cause ye can't answer questions?"
He grimaced at that. "Because it is a question, Miss Joz, and questions are for asking. Axiomatic, yes, but it is essential to the character of the arcanist. If you would be one, then you must never stop asking questions."
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-05-2014, 07:42 PM
Zhi resisted the urge to put a finger in her ear and jiggle it around. She hadn't a single reaming clue what he was talking about. Instead, she put on a face full of uncertainty (she got the last part, loud and clear), and nodded.
She had an idea. "So. . ." she drew the word out, "should I keep practicin' me aether flingin', or are ye gonna teach me letters t'day?"
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-06-2014, 11:10 AM
Lolo stacked the two books before him and placed his hands across the top. "You'll need to do both before too long. Keep practicing Ruin until you feel comfortable with it, but only at the Gate or outside of the city!" he admonished. He cocked his head and gazed off thoughtfully for a moment.
"I don't have any...er...level-appropriate books here in the city, but I may have some that we can use at my room in Wineport," he mumbled to himself, and lower still, "There or in Ul'dah...no, better to simply buy them here." His head snapped forward again and he addressed Joz directly, saying, "I'll need to return to Wineport for a few days. I can have Styrmsthal bring a few primers by your home and we can begin in earnest when I return, or, well, you may join me in Wineport." He waited expectantly.
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-06-2014, 11:33 AM
Perfect.
"I'll wait," she said. "I'll practice hard, sir!" Her smile was hesitant, but she opened her eyes a little wider, leaned a little more forward, looked at him like he was her crowning savior. She wanted that imprint to last with him. She wanted him to remember her eagerness, the shy enthusiasm, the acceptance of him as her teacher. Joz was worth saving.
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-06-2014, 05:48 PM
He nodded his assent. "I'll send word when I've returned. Do try to at least memorize some letters in between your casting practices. Think of them like arcanima symbols, like Ruin. They each have a meaning and a shape, but just as casting is easier with a personal touch, so too is reading and writing more natural once you've developed your own handwriting." He nodded again and slipped the books back into his pockets. He moved as though to stand and leave, but stopped himself and settled back down.
"Have you still got any food left at home, Miss Joz?"
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-06-2014, 08:54 PM
"Yeah, okay," Zhi said to the first: the uneager response of someone forced to do something they weren't fond of. But she was looking at him with attentiveness and determination. Even if reading was anathema to her, she would do her best.
The second question brought out a whole other response. Her eyes dropped away, the smile faltered. "I'm doin' fine, Master Lolotaru. I'll see ye in a few suns, aye?" She stood to go.
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RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] |
06-09-2014, 12:15 AM
Without moving from his seat, Lolo called after her, "Miss Joz! Are you sure?"
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