simulsimul | another thing; w/ fafnirs and skeletonenigma; cw for suicide talk

[Good. They're getting somewhere, if slowly; and now Kratos knows the word for an affirmative. He lowers the book, watching the woman's shifting emotions with some degree of curiosity. What had Skulduggery said to her? Hmh.

[Skulduggery's request gets a blank look, but the hand is practically universal; Kratos finds the money Skulduggery had given him, but doesn't give it back right away. Instead he holds it up.]

Currency. Yes?

[The 'yes', in English, with a nod.]

No.

[That, in Tethe'allan, with a shake of his head. Get that out of the way first, and then he can learn the numbering system using the money.]

OK. [Skulduggery's head has tilted a little to the side in confusion.] We've established you're an exceedingly blatant thief. That's a good first step. Do you want the translation?

[He pauses, then carefully repeats the word Kratos used, following it up with:] Money. Currency. Payment.

[Whatever Skulduggery's saying, Kratos only stares back blandly, until Skulduggery's words take the cadence from earlier -- the repeat of the words. Alright. They can start there. Kratos repeats those words and then nods.]

Yes.

[Again, this is in English. He finds the smallest of the coins, hoping that the size corresponds with the number on it, and holds it up.]

Money. Currency. Payment.

[In English. Then, in Tethe'allan:]

Coin.

[He holds up the banknote and shakes his head. They've never had anything like that, on Aselia. He holds up the coin again, and repeats the word 'coin'. Then he taps the number on it, and holds up a finger on his other hand.]

One?

[Ah. He wants to know more about the denominations.

It's a good thing Kratos is exceptionally intelligent, Skulduggery reflects, or this would be much more trouble than it's worth. As it is, he's glad he let the cloaked woman get away; this is an intellectual exercise he hasn't had in a very long time.]

No. [Skulduggery holds up five fingers instead.] Five. Five cents. We do have one-cent coins -- [Four fingers lower, leaving one finger raised.] -- but Ireland avoids using them. I don't have any there. [He points at the cash Kratos has and shakes his head.

In this strangely fluid form of communication, they manage to identify most of the coins before the sales assistant returns. Skulduggery's glad for that; if Kratos's culture, whatever it may be, doesn't use banknotes, then it would have been difficult to explain that the note represented both 5 euros, and 500 cents.]

Will this help? [The assistant holds up a children's thesaurus, a little smaller than Skulduggery might have expected, but complete with pictures. She also presents an alphabet book, roughly kindergarten-level, or so Skulduggery assumes. He doesn't know much about the public education system.]

What do you think, Kratos? [He indicates the books.] Can you use these?

[It's an educational few minutes. By the time the woman returns, Kratos has 'no', the numbers zero to nine, and some level of understanding the currency system. It's still fairly nonsensical, and nothing like the system of weighted gold coins he's familiar with, but at least he should be able to use the coins.

[It's the paper notes he's more concerned about. The numbers on them go high, and he doesn't know how many coins equates to a note.

[Kratos hands the money back to Skulduggery and takes the books, flicking through them with all customary gravity. The book of letters he can see will immediately be useful. The other will as well, but it's much thinner than the book of words he already has; after a moment he concludes that's probably just as well. Between the three books he appears to have the resources from extremely basic to advanced. Surely that will be enough.

[He looks up and nods firmly.]

Yes.

Temporary exceedingly blatant thief. [Skulduggery mutters as he takes the money back, earning him an odd look from the sales assistant. He waves a hand to indicate she shouldn't pay any mind, then points to the books Kratos has.]

We'll take both of those and the dictionary, please.

[With the books scanned and paid for, Skulduggery leads Kratos back out into the street, where it's begun to snow. It's only a little flurry, and the snowflakes melt the moment they hit the ground, but it's still enough to put a scattering of white on peoples' shoulders.]

I'm a skeleton. [Skulduggery points at the dictionary.] See if you can look that up before we get to the car. Skeleton. S.

[Not that Kratos will be able to read the definition, but who knows. Maybe there'll be pictures.]

[There's Yuan's tone again. Kratos throws Skulduggery an amused glance and follows the woman to the counter where money changes hands. He pays very close attention to the transaction, looking at the numbers on the back of the books, and eyeing the machine she uses with curiosity. In comparison to the value of gald, these seem very cheap. Kratos repeats 'Merry Christmas' before they leave, and the dubious frustration in the woman's face dissolves as she smiles and says it back.

[Outside, the snow is at least familiar; but it brings with it some feelings. Kratos looks up into the sky and remembers the evening he met with Lloyd in Flanoir, pressing his hand against the locket under his shirt. Lloyd had given it back to him before he left.

['You can't go out there without us,' Lloyd had said. The thought makes Kratos smile unconsciously. He hadn't opened it until long after they'd left Aselia. He hadn't realised, until then, that Lloyd had commissioned a picture on the locket's inside door, of himself and Colette, Genis and Raine.

[Skulduggery talking pulls Kratos's attention from the sky, and he follows the other man down the street. It's obvious which book Skulduggery intends for him to use, but Kratos goes to the one with the letters instead, flipping through it until he finds the 'S'. He remembers it from the 'Christmas'. There's a few images there. A snake, a sun, a face with a 'sad' expression.

[Kratos opens the larger books as they walk, noting the order of the letters in the smaller book to find the place in the larger one. There aren't any helpful pictures in this one, and there are ... a great many words.]

Skeleton?

[It's a bit questioning. Some of the sounds are unfamiliar.]

[Ah, well. It was a bit of a long shot.]

Yes. That's me. [Skulduggery points to himself.] I'll show you what it means once we're a little more out of sight. Pity you couldn't have landed here a couple of months ago.

[At least then, there would have been a couple of skeletons in the store windows.

Time travel still isn't entirely out of the question, but more and more Skulduggery suspects that Kratos is from another world without streetlights, without paper money, and without many forms of technology Dublin takes for granted. On top of that, he still has the niggling suspicion from earlier, the vivid memory of Kratos's face settling into an irritated frown upon seeing the little decorative angel.

Again, Skulduggery wishes Valkyrie were here. Again, he has to wonder exactly what it is she hasn't been telling him.

Once Skulduggery and Kratos make it into the parking garage, which a great deal emptier than the street outside, Skulduggery looks around to make sure they're not in sight of any security cameras and then pulls his glove back just far enough to reveal the gleaming white bone underneath.]

There. Skeleton.

[So then. It's a word for Skulduggery -- but Kratos doubts it's a word for human. Kratos leafs through the books some more, and by the time he thinks to point out one of the other passersby to ask what they are, they're already inside where it's far emptier of people. He feels marginally more secure, at least. It's a building, but the ceiling and pillars are thick stone; and though he can still sense the light and lightning mana in them which indicates the presence of wiring, at least if he has to use stone he can be assured he won't risk destroying whatever power source the city uses.

[Kratos peers at the bones of Skulduggery's wrist. It's a cleaner bone than the dank, splitting bones of the skeletons Kratos is used to destroying. That matches; Skulduggery's being appears more ... whole.]

Hmh.

[With that being the only reaction Kratos continues in the direction they'd been heading. A young man moves at cross purposes to them, toward one of the stationary vehicles sitting in a marked lot. Kratos turns back to Skulduggery and inclines his head toward the young man.]

Human. Skeleton?

[The first is in Tethe'allan; the second in English, both low enough not to be noticed by the man across the way.]

[If Skulduggery still had a face, he'd be frowning. He had been hoping Kratos's reaction wouldn't be negative, of course, but he'd been prepared in case it had. What he didn't expect was no reaction at all.

And yet, there is one -- just one Skulduggery can't see. Kratos seems to understand there's a difference between what Skulduggery is and what everyone else is, but he hasn't shown any sign of surprise, either. Like he's met living skeletons before. Like the fact of Skulduggery's existence is normal to him.]

No. [Well, in a way, but that level of semantics is not one Skulduggery feels like descending to until they've gotten a little better at communicating.] Human. Mortal.

[He hesitates, and shakes his head.] Not mortal. Forget mortal. Human.

[Skulduggery would prefer not to be the one who passes on demeaning bias to their world's first interdimensional visitor. He likes to think he's better than that.]

['Not' is near enough to 'no' that Kratos gets the gist of that one, and the rest answers his question sufficiently.]

Human.

[He repeats that thoughtfully in English, then again in Tethe'allan, and comes back to Skulduggery. His gaze is probing and thoughtful as he looks at Skulduggery and Skulduggery's frankly ridiculous outfit. Skeleton, for what had obviously been bones; presumably the word for a complete bone structure of an organic being. Kratos nods toward him.]

Skulduggery. Human skeleton?

[Or is he the skeleton of something else? Their scans had shown human mana, but there had been so much of it that if there's any other sentient beings on the planet, they hadn't been able to tell from Derris-Kharlan.]

[Skulduggery doesn't answer right away, surprised yet again. When he does speak, there's a smile in his voice.]

Yes. Human skeleton.

[Which implies Kratos is familiar with skeletons, but not with human ones. That is, if Skulduggery's being perfectly honest with himself, a little terrifying.

He gestures at Kratos and asks the question before he can think it through too much.] Are you human?

[He looks human, but so do vampires. So do angels, as a matter of fact, apart from a select few obvious differences.]

[The question is obvious, and if only Skulduggery knew what a loaded one it is. Kratos answers without hesitation and a firm nod.]

Yes.

[An angelic human, perhaps; but still human. This is a distinction he's blurred too often, for too long. He does not intend to forget it again. An angelic nature, for him, should always be secondary; and it's the great tragedy of the crimes perpetuated on the other angels that their previous natures had been completely consumed by lifelessness.

[For a moment Kratos stands, half debating. He has mixed feelings about both hiding and revealing his angelic nature. He had done both, and always in the wrong moment. He does not want this to be a situation where he does the opposite of what he ought, as he has for so long. Skulduggery did not have to reveal his nature, and it seems if there's anyone on the planet with a strange state of being, it would be a sentient skeleton.

[It's Skulduggery's honesty which decides him. Kratos adds:]

Human angel.

[Ah. That answers that, then.

If Skulduggery pretends this is an entirely normal thing to discover about someone, he can almost carry on as though nothing just hitched the thoughts in the back of his mind like a tyre bouncing over a deep rut in the road. Angel. Human angel. Not a fact, not quite yet, since there are probably deeper explanations neither of them can give voice to for now. Human angel implies the existence of angel angels, after all. Angelic levels. In the grand scheme of things, Skulduggery still doesn't know as much as he'd like.

He's still quiet for a touch too long before speaking.] Just so you're aware, I'm only giving you the benefit of the doubt because you don't like tree angels.

[The benefit of what doubt, exactly, Skulduggery doesn't say. It's not as though Kratos would understand.

By this point, they've reached the Bentley, and Skulduggery gives it an affectionate pat before unlocking it and opening the passenger door for Kratos.]

Flying tends to attract attention. This way, you can read.

[An angel dropping into the middle of Dublin at Christmas time. Just Skulduggery's luck.]

[The length of Skulduggery's silence does not bode well, but at least he keeps walking; Kratos can work with that. He follows Skulduggery in silence. Although Kratos can't understand the words when Skulduggery does speak, there's an element of dry resignation there which suggests Skulduggery is not about to do something foolish.

[As far as Kratos is concerned, that could be either outing him, attacking him, or attempting to worship him. The last is the least desirable, at this point.

[The affection Skulduggery has for his vehicle is clear, and it makes Kratos shake his head in vague amusement. Inside it's not dissimilar to a carriage, except that it sits lower and the front is comprised of a dashboard more akin to a rheaird -- except for the wheel in the place of the handlebars.]

Hmh. What's it called?

[Kratos pats the vehicle and then points to the large book of words.]

Carriage?

Car. Vehicle. Automotive. Bentley R-Type Continental, one of only 208 ever made. [A brief pause, and then, with a note of amusement:] Car.

[Skulduggery leaves the passenger door open and walks around to the driver's side. Kratos is taller than Valkyrie, so he'll probably need to put the seat a little further back. Valkyrie won't be happy about that. Skulduggery will simply call it punishment for hiding what might be very important things from him.

It only belatedly occurs to him Kratos won't know how to put the seat further back.]

Seat belt. [Once they're both in the car, Skulduggery demonstrates by putting on his own.]

[That's a lot of words, descending from the usual range of applicable words to what is clearly more descriptive, and clearly owing to pride. Kratos recognises that numbers are said, but not the complete digit. At least Skulduggery realises the ridiculousness of showing off the vehicle when Kratos can't understand him.]

Car.

[This is repeated with the same degree of amusement, and then Kratos ducks his head to take a seat inside. There isn't much foot-room, but judging by the position of Skulduggery's seat -- and a bit of logic -- Kratos surmises the chair should be able to move. Rheaird saddles could be so adjusted as well; usually there was something on the side ...

[Yes, there they are; more than one, with helpful images on them. After a bit of adjusting to account for the speed at which the seat moves back, and the awkwardness of having to move the chair while sitting in it, Kratos achieves a bit more leg-room and then obeys Skulduggery's motion to use the belt.

[This is done rather dubiously. It doesn't look particularly comfortable, and it does seem to be extremely restrictive, judging by the tension on the band. If he has to fight, it could be a problem. Still, Skulduggery doesn't seem to be expecting a fight, so Kratos trusts him by rather doubtfully buckling the belt into the clip on the other side, as Skulduggery had done.]

[Kratos, as always, is intelligent enough to work out how to adjust the seat for himself, and to put his seat belt on when asked. If he really is an angel, Skulduggery doubts the seat belt would be any extra help in a crash, but there's always the law to consider.

Not that Skulduggery considers the law very often.]

Thank you. [He sounds properly cheerful again as he turns on the engine and puts the car in gear. The Bentley is much quieter than other cars its age, not to mention many modern cars; but it's still a non-hybrid engine, and therefore still noisy. In deference to this very likely being Kratos's first time in a car, Skulduggery backs out of the space much more slowly than he's used to.]

Do angels need to sleep?

[He asks the question as it occurs to him without thinking, but they did cover 'sleep', if Kratos remembers.]

[Kratos starts as the car vibrates to life, one hand reaching down to keep the books on his lap and the other gripping the door handle. He can feel the turn of lightning mana in this as well; are all machines on this planet driven by electricity?

[That might explain the taste of the air. Steamboats, coal fires -- one of the reasons why magitechnology was so heavily favoured was because of the more obvious impact the former had on the environment. Magitechnology may be worse, but its effects are far more subtle. Even so, Kratos is beginning to doubt the wisdom of the technology here.

[Still, the rumble is not precisely unpleasant, though he prefers a rheaird; Kratos relaxes his grip after a moment.]

Sleep.

[He knows that word. Kratos folds his hands and pantomimes putting his head on them, just like Skulduggery had before the bookstore. He still doesn't quite know the context of the question, but the answer is the same.]

No.

Wonderful.

[The word's half dry sarcasm, half genuine. Skulduggery's gotten used to having time to himself while others sleep, but all the same, it's about time he had some guaranteed company.]

I'll assume you don't have to eat either. [A short, not-at-all-genuine sigh.] Very well. I'll take you back to my house and decide what to do with you from there. Careful with your reading -- you might get carsick, and that'll make us both unhappy.

[Skulduggery puts the car out of reverse and drives.]

Then again, angels probably don't get carsick.

[After this last comment, he falls silent. People usually like it to be quiet when they're reading, he's sure. The purr of the Bentley's engine is the only sound until they leave the car park, when a medley of Christmas music, other engines, and the occasional horn blast join the sounds.]

[At first Kratos looks around with impassive interest as the car moves forward up the ramp and into the street, clearly marked with lanes. This seems more difficult than riding a rheaird; there is always the risk of crashing into a mountain, of course, but that requires a loss of altitude, and rheairds are uncommon enough that the risk of running into another one is remote.

[How fast can a car go? They're near enough to the ground that it must surely be dangerous regardless of speed, especially given the width of the lanes and the presence of numerous other cars. Judging by the lot where they were kept, cars are exceedingly common.

[After a minute or so Kratos turns his attention to the books, beginning with the book of letters. He pages through it, sounding out the letters, until he reaches the page with 'P'. Among several images, there is a picture of a planet with rings around it, not unlike several planets Derris-Kharlan had already scanned.]

Planet. Hm.

[The car pulls to a stop and Kratos looks up to see they're at a set of red lights. Just as well; Kratos would not have wanted to distract Skulduggery from his surroundings, though surely Skulduggery must be wondering where Kratos had come from -- and why. Hopefully, knowing that Kratos is from another planet will avoid the possibility of Skulduggery thinking he's divine, or worse, responsible for this one.]

Skulduggery.

[Kratos holds up the book and shows Skulduggery the page, tapping the image of the planet, and pointing to himself.]

Hm? [Skulduggery glances over to look at the picture of the planet, and catches Kratos's gestures.] Planet? You -- you're from another planet?

[It takes a second for the enormity of that statement to catch up with the fairly unthinking logic of charades translation.]

You're from another planet?

[This second time is more incredulous than anything Skulduggery has said thus far, including his reaction to Kratos being an angel. Angels, after a fashion, make sense. The Faceless Ones exist too, hitchhiking their way through hundreds of alternate dimensions. To an open-minded sorcerer, angels also existing is not outside the realm of possibility.

But angels from outer space?

That sounds like the premise of a bad science fiction movie.

The light turns green, and Skulduggery has to return his attention to driving. That doesn't mean he isn't very aware of Kratos sitting next to him, nor does it mean he isn't contemplating how he met Kratos -- cracking pavement after a fall from a very great height.]

[The fact that Skulduggery feels the need to repeat the same sentence, combined with the 'planet' and the increased incredulity in his tone the second time, tells Kratos exactly what that sentence is. The repeat of that word 'you' suggests that's the part which refers to him.]

You're. Ah.

[Kratos goes back to the letters, seeking out one which corresponds to those sounds. The book, it proves, also has words for the passing of time, hours to years, day and night, and seasons. These are not immediately helpful.

[Next he consults the other two books in conjunction. He finds 'you', but doesn't understand the explanation; that's alright. He finds it in the thinner book, and this does have pictures. 'You' leads him to 'I' leads him to 'be' leads him to 'am' leads him into an increasingly deep circle of vocabulary with all his dogged intensity.

[By the time the car pulls up, Kratos is using the second picture book to sound out some basic sentences, and only stops to look up when Skulduggery turns off the engine.]

[Forget reporting him to the Sanctuary. By this point, Skulduggery probably has a moral obligation to report Kratos to three or four different mortal governments.

Not that he will, but it's sobering to remember that.

By the time they pull up to the house on Cemetery Road, Kratos is reading at a primary school level. This doesn't surprise Skulduggery anymore. He turns off the engine and fingers his mobile phone for a moment in thought.

Valkyrie won't thank him for disturbing her. Ghastly has made it clear he's not available until after sunrise. For the next few hours, he's on his own.]

Pick up anything useful?

[It's a house. This, at least, looks familiar, even if the architecture is very different from what Kratos knows. Mana-signatures are distant; there are other buildings down the street, but the lights are dark and Kratos can't sense anyone inside.

[Unfortunately, he also still can't understand Skulduggery's question -- though now the sounds and individual words are clearer. He's sure he can guess the intent behind it, however; something along the lines of 'how are your studies going', he thinks.]

Yes. I am --

[Hm. How to finish that sentence. He doesn't have very many words yet. Kratos flips through the intermediate book, to the list of easy phrases he remembers being there, and the one whose picture, of someone receiving a gift, indicates gratitude.]

Thank you. Your -- time.

another thing; w/ fafnirs and skeletonenigma; cw for suicide talk

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