Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 6)

Tasia grinned, looking up at Tadaaki. "I like her!"

He smiled down at his daughter. He was fairly certain Tasia hadn't met a single person she didn't like yet. "She seems very nice."

"Can you read?" Tasia turned back towards Ua. "Do you like frogs?"

Tadaaki was getting slightly exasperated that this continued to be Tasia's icebreaker questions: reading and frogs. The best things in life, apparently.

(I made both human and goat versions of the Marrow Man on Hero Forge, plus all the rescued slaves and Anneke's aunt and brother, and I wanna make more but I don't know who I've left out)

Gaius once again played translator. Ua took a deep breath.
"Can't read, love frogs," she said haltingly.
"She can't read," Gaius told Tasia. "But she likes frogs quite a lot." He turned to Ua. "Where's Imali, little one?"
"Sleeping."

(omggg I NEED to see them :eyes: )

Ky was making an active effort not to sulk, even though that's what she felt in her soul right about then. But she watched the exchange, making a mental note that she'd need to teach Tasia, at least, and possibly Aashi new languages so they'd be able to talk to the other guests here. It'd be good for them to each have someone close to their own age they could talk to. Plus then there were all the reading lessons. Plus Ky taking swordsmanship lessons. Between all the fighting and reading and language tutoring, she probably had plenty to keep her occupied for quite a while. Not to mention all the time she'd spend hanging around Zander now that they could have some privacy at last.

(I'm highkey setting her heart up to get broken in a few hours xD)

(I screenshotted all of them and will be dropping them in the characters section of the discord right after I finish this post!)

(Gaius might have a heart when it comes to Zander and Ky spending a little longer together; we'll see)

Gaius dipped his head; he hadn't seen Imali since his departure but a woman her age needed sleep, certainly. "Want to walk with us?" Ua nodded, still clinging to Ada. Ada hoisted her up into her arms.

(ayee! Excited to see!)

Tasia also tugged on Tadaaki's shirt to get him to hoist her into his arms again. Then she looked at Gaius. "Can you teach me akakakaktarakan so I can talk to her?"

(Also I discovered the "enhance" option on Spotify playlists and like quadrupled Ky's playlist lol and I just got started on Pratik's and song titles came up like 'God Syndrome' 'Living Legend' 'Pretty Little Psycho' 'Wrath of a Titan' 'Fallen Angel' 'They Don't Care About Us' 'Blood Runs Red' and 'Killer in the Mirror' -- a lot don't have the right vibe, but the titles alone crack me up that this is what Spotify has inferred about Pratik xD)

(Oh man what is this?? What is enhance??)

"Let's start with reading and work are way into other languages," Gaius suggested. "I'll teach you a couple phrases to begin with if you like, but let's get a handle on reading and writing in Upper Tongue and Totallisa first. And Ua speaks Natai; Ada speaks Akarataran. They're quite different."

(So at the very top of the playlist under the title, like right where it says how long the playlist is, there's a button called 'Enhance' and if you click it it adds a ton of suggested songs, but there's a little green bubble by them so you can differentiate them from your original list. And then there's a little plus or minus sign that you can use to decide whether to keep the song or get rid of it, but if you hit the + then it suggests 3 or 4 new songs with the same sort of vibe. All of my lists were under an hour, pretty sure, and now we're creeping up on four hours for each of them because it's a scary good algorithm haha)

Tasia blinked at him. "So there's... thfree languages not just two?"

Spoiler

(Oh my gosh I gotta do that for my characters now!)

"Far more," Gaius said with a small smile. "More than you can count on your fingers and toes."
"Rickard knows them all," Ada informed him, and Gaius glanced at her, smile faltering.
"That's a useful skill to have." He turned to Tasia. "Ada says there's a fellow here who speaks every language."

(Do it! I've been like a kid in a candy shop with it haha it also introduced me to a few new songs that I absolutely love on a personal level haha like they don't fit Ky's list, but I like them, so I made a new playlist for them haha)
(Also if Ada knows about Rickard's language ability then Pratik would, too, so can we just pretend that he didn't mention languages at all earlier? lol that's my b)

"Whoa!" Tasia said eagerly, grinning. "I'll have him teach me all of them."

(also hi, yes, this is my alt xD I have an agreement to stop at exactly 8,500 posts this month and I'm p sure I have 1 more to post from my primary since there's lag but I'm going to give it a few minutes first to be sure I don't go over lol but then I'll be using this one until the leaderboard resets in like 1.5 hours lol)

(Ay lovely new avi!!)

(Sure no prob! I remember Rickard mentioning his language skills to Pratik before, so I thought that was what Pratik was referencing without giving too much away)

(Oh man good luck then!!)

"Maybe he will." If Gaius decided he could stay. Rickard sounded timid, and Pratik seemed to trust him. Again, he'd have to see how Sera felt.

(haha thanks! I've enjoyed the chaos this account generated xD)
(and nah this was fully Shady having no capacity for retaining plot lol)
(also, thank you!! Mailice and I are both too stubborn to lose xD so we agreed on sharing #1 at 8,500 so I'm really nervous about miscounting and accidentally being a dick and going over while she's asleep -- ergo why I'm stopping one post short to be sure before I make the final post)

Ky was curious to know who this man was who spoke every language. She felt oddly threatened by that knowledge. He must have been a better slave than she was -- she'd only learned a handful, not every language. He was clearly far smarter than she'd ever be.

(Ky: I have only learned to read, write, and speak six languages this year. Clearly I am a failure)

(Rickard, basically a gifted child with a penchant for languages: I speak over thirty language but looked at a book like one time and cannot read or write; clearly I am worthless)

They came to the room that was to be Gaius's oldest brother's adult room. It hadn't been touched since Oscar's death, but Gaius had seen to it that it was prepared for Tadaaki and, anticipating the choice to sleep in the same room, he'd had two comfortable cots brought up in case they decided they wanted to sleep in separate beds. A stuffed bear toy purchased from the nearby village sat prepared for Tasia.

(Their combined inferiority complex almost rivals their intelligence lol)
(whoaaa hold up, I have missed important plot -- they had another brother? and... Tomhas named his son after him?)

Tasia gasped, running in and grabbing the bear. "Is this for me?"

(I wouldn't expect you to remember; he was mentioned way, way, way, wayyyy back in part one when Gaius was in the graveyard. Oscar died as an infant, two years before Michael was born. Gaius never knew him but he goes to his grave sometimes to think. He likes to imagine Oscar would have been a better older brother than Michael, but none of his family members ever talked about him. Tomhas did name his son after Oscar, to honor his memory.)

"Indeed it is." Gaius nodded. "Sera picked it out for you at Marcella's request. She wants you to have something so you can participate in her and Mattathias's games."

(oooh okay cool! Now that you mention it, I do very vaguely remember the whole graveyard scene, but I most definitely didn't remember all that haha)

"THANK YOU!" Tasia grinned, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Thank you," Aashi murmured, far quieter, as she nodded to Gaius with a smile. It was a thoughtful gift -- above and beyond, given he'd already opened his home to a couple of strangers because Tomhas asked him to on Ky's behalf. But Tasia would remember this for years to come, no doubt.

Remember when their entire family was together.

Aashi refused to dwell on that thought for even another moment longer. Her family was together for now. She wasn't going to think about how unlikely it was that they'd stay that way for long.