(no subject)

[parricida]

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?

Comments

action;

[mortalcoil]

[--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.]

action;

[parricida]

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?

action;

[mortalcoil]

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

action;

[parricida]

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.]

action;

[mortalcoil]

[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.]

action;

[parricida]

I rather meant your hands.

action;

[mortalcoil]

[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.]

action;

[parricida]

[He tips his head in reply, unable to help it when Coil does as well.]

How did you get them, might I ask?

action;

[mortalcoil]

[for his part, Coil does a very good job of seeming as though he's thinking about how to explain it, and then shrugging as if it's simply a bother for him to try putting into stilted words. he shrugs as if it's nothing. if Garak didn't already have a hint in his head, it might have been completely believable.]

action;

[parricida]

They're rather severe scars to not remember!

[He says it jovially, but his eyes are still keen, watching to see what Coil will do.]

action;

[mortalcoil]

[he sighs just a little--enough of a rise and fall of his shoulders to say that it really isn't worth the explanation. and then he goes to sign his answer, but... right. Garak doesn't know that language yet.

so, he finally gets his tablet, and writes out 'GLASS.'

and again, it might have been believable to someone who doesn't know better.]

action;

[parricida]

Ah.

[Better, much better. Coil gets a C+ in Garak's mind-- if he'd been quicker with the story, perhaps he might have been believed, but as it is, at least he tried.]

Well. I suppose if you break a glass, I'll have to save you from it.

action;

[mortalcoil]

[and Coil's way of changing the subject is to give the sign for 'clumsy.' with fingers splayed and the way his hands wobble, it's a pretty easy one to guess the meaning for.

maybe they can just move past the whole scar thing.]

action;

[parricida]

Fascinating! And clever. Are many words gestured so demonstrative, then?

[And it's as if they never broached the subject at all.]

action;

[mortalcoil]

[he nods, and then runs through a few more where the meanings are pretty much obvious. he and Zhas are sloppy, shorthand signers anyway--they've come up with several that they consider better than the originals.

the signs involving looking, speaking, reading, sitting... he'll stop and explain if Garak has any questions, otherwise he'll just continue to run through whichever obvious ones come to mind.]