Ky smiled, a genuine one this time, and followed him quickly.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(I love how they’re all like ANTICIPATE!!! Every single time they show it to someone new haha)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Emery threw open the doors and stepped inside. "Behold!!"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky followed him in and then stopped short, mouth falling open in shock. It was massive. And the — the snake — and the shelves — and, gods, how many librarians did he have scurrying around in here? And-and-and—
She wanted to read every single one of them. And yet she wouldn’t be able to read even one.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Is this cool or what?" He walked backwards so he could talk to her. "We have everything in here."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
It took Ky a long moment to snap back into the conversation. She took shook herself and then nodded. “It’s… breath taking.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
He grinned. "Well. Knock yourself out, go have a look at things! I'll keep a few steps behind."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky smiled at him and dipped her head then strode forward.
No reading.
No reading.
Not the titles. Not any signs that may or may not be in here. Nothing at all.
No reading.
That’s what got her into this fucking mess to begin with. Claiming not to be able to read and then getting caught reading.
She’d do better this time.
She strode down the first aisle, admiring the spines of the books as she did her absolute best to change the focus of her eyes every second or so and not linger on a single book whatsoever.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Emery, as promised, followed a few steps behind enjoying her reaction. He also watched her eyes; he'd done this enough times with new arrivals to catch when they were reading or paying attention to specific subjects and titles.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
She was focused nearly as much on not reading a single thing as she was taking in the enormity of the collection. She stopped as she got to the end of the first aisle and glanced around at the seating area that opened to them. "This place is incredible." She turned back towards Emery with a little smile. "Do you like to read?"
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"I love to!" He grinned. "Maybe one of the Ashes can teach you too, if you want."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"Oh, I would never." Ky shook her head quickly. "I don't want to be a bother."
She also didn't want to have to try an act as hard as trying to pretend to learn how to read. It was hard enough not to read when all she had to do was glance around the room and not let her eyes linger long enough to read anything. How the hell would she stare at a book and pretend to not know what it said? And how would she know how quickly she should pretend to pick it up? And, worse yet, what if Ash decided to try to catch her in a lie and intentionally teach her some of the sounds wrong and then have her read something. If she pronounced the sounds correctly when he taught her 'wrong' then it'd be a death warrant. Absolutely not.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Someone else, then," he suggested. "It's a great skill and there's a wealth of knowledge in here."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"... that's very true," she agreed, dipping her head. Gods. She'd need to ask Aleth whether this was a good idea or not. "It does seem that way. I've never seen this many books in my life, between all the rooms I've ever been in in my life."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
