driftfleet | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Elim Garak and YOU
Broadcast: Network wide at first; to the Red Fish ship afterwards
Action: In his room
When: December 28th

[A wholly pleasant smile appears on the network. While the face it's attached to is . . . reptilian, to say the least, at least the smile is friendly. Prominent ridges outline Garak's cheekbones and where a human's eyebrows would be; his black hair is neatly combed back from his face.]

I wonder . . . while the planet below is quite charming, I find myself rather disliking the temperature. And while I can amuse myself with embroidery, I find myself wanting nothing more than a good book. Do any of you have recommendations? I'm somewhat familiar with Terran literature; a friend of mine even says I have a favorite genre: realistic fiction, if that's any help.

My sincerest gratitude to any who might help.

[A beat. He cuts off the feed and adds to the members of the Red Fish:]

Coil. Might I ask you to stop by when you've a spare moment?

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[he nods, and follows it up with signing out the letters 'C-O-I-L.'

then he points at Garak and does the same for his name--but at least slows down enough for the other to see how each letter is formed. he's not the best teacher in the world, but he's at least going to give it a halfway decent shot.]

[He watches intently, his light blue eyes narrowed as he tries to memorize each finger movement. He feels as if he's in the Academy again, not knowing anything and learning on the fly. Fortunately, Coil is a far kinder teacher, and goes slowly enough that he thinks he understands.

Cautiously, he signs: A I O L

L K

And then another sign that's an attempt at an R.]

[Coil doesn't even bother with shaking his head to inform Garak that he's done it incorrectly. he just moves through the signs one more time-- 'C-O-I-L' and then 'G-A-R-A-K.' and then on the letters that most resemble the roman characters they are meant to represent (the C and L in particular) he pauses to trace how the shape of the letter matches how his hand is shaped, to help show how it makes sense.

just little logical tricks to help the information stick.]

[He nods slowly, staring intently at his shipmate, and then signs back-- accurately this time, his lips curved up into a satisfied smirk.]

Well, now I can call for you, and you for I.

[he nods--straightfaced, very businesslike.

however, he at least offers the sign for 'good,' even though he doesn't follow up with the explanation of it. maybe it's straightforward enough of a gesture of graciousness to not need much of an explanation.]

[He doesn't understand the exact word, but the gesture is understood, at least. Garak raises a ridge and beckons a finger.]

Palm, please?

[he... hesitates at first. brows knitting together, he leans away just an inch and fixes his new crewmate with a clear look of suspicion.

and he keeps that look going when he finally... slowly... holds out his hand--fingers marked up with little parallel lines of scars, and palm covered with a wrapped band of leather.]

[He notes the hesitation, the wariness, and respects it. He enjoys making people feel terribly uncomfortable at times, but Coil has been nothing but friendly up til now, and he doesn't want to hurt him.

So: carefully, gently, he takes his hand and pulls it up, until it looks as if Coil is telling him to stop. Garak presses his own palm to his, palm to palm, with light pressure.]

It's how friends say hello, or good-bye.

[and the boy clearly has no natural knack for this sort of friendly contact--holding quietly tense as if something unexpected could happen at any moment, glancing between Garak's eyes and his hand as if he can't quiet figure the whole thing out.

...he gets it, on a basic level. but it's strange and foreign and much closer than he is used to being with strangers. if even a normal handshake feels strange to him, this is even more so.

but he nods, after a minute, acknowledging that he has indeed learned a thing.]

You can stop, if you'd like.

[He smiles at him and pulls his own hand back.]

Lovers, relatives and friends all have variations on it.

[oh, permission is nice. he pulls his hand back as quickly as politeness allows.

and he nods again... and kind of dusts off his hands without thinking about it. he's a little wrapped up in his own thoughts now, and only some of them are concerning trying to work out what next to teach.

it doesn't help that all three of those examples that Garak explains puts him a little ill-at-ease.]

[RUDE. But his smile doesn't flag.]

Are there signs for words, or is it spelling things out letter by letter?

[oh, he nods! along with the sign for 'many.']

You're going to have to give me a bit of context, I'm afraid.

[But he signs back accurately enough.]

[ah, and here's where his tablet comes in handy. he writes out a list.]

Many
Signing
Words

[and then follows up with demonstrating the signs for them. he's better at teaching, this time. maybe eager to use a more distant mode of communication after the one that involves physical contact.]

[He signs back at him, his eyes narrowing again as he tries to mimic him. He gets many and words, but it takes him twice to get down signing.]

It's been ages since I've learned so much. It's wonderful.

[and maybe to be a challenging teacher, or just to be a little bit of a jerk, Coil starts repeating back Garak's words as he finishes them, but in sign

he'll at least get to see what a sentence looks like in context, at the very least.]

[Oh my god RUDE. Garak's smile widens in delight, though, and he stares intently at Coil's hands. He can't pick them up, no, but he's aware of what he's doing.]

Oh, well done.

[A purposely short sentence.]

[--ah, and this one is easy. it's more or less the same as the sign for 'good' that he'd given before.

so, it's a simpler and more symbolic language than an exact word-for-word translation.]

Edited 2015-01-04 07:38 (UTC)

I see.

[He mimes it, and purses his lips, trying to memorize the words. It's going to take him ages before he'll be able to communicate well-- but if he can get a few more words down, he'll be able to watch and learn, at least.]

When did you learn all this?

[after pointing at himself, he holds up ten fingers and then one.]

Not so long ago, then.

[But that open-palmed gesture has him noticing Coil's hands.]

My, but those are some fascinating scars you have.

[And doesn't he know them. His own hands twitch, but he doesn't hold them up for inspection. Cardassian skin scars far less easily than human; he doesn't have the same scars, though not for lack of trying.]

[his gaze holds for a second, quiet and unreadable, before he points questioningly to his own mouth.

because there are plenty of scars on his face to see--around his missing eye, more dramatic ones dinging up the line of his mouth--and those are the ones that people typically notice and question first. so, he's not going to draw attention to the ones on his hands if that turns out to not be what Garak means.]

I rather meant your hands.

[at first, he defensively balls up his hands... until he decides better of it and holds them up a little instead, splaying his fingers. showing his hands as innocently as he can.

and he tilts his head, clearly questioning.]

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