04 ❀

[princessia]

Who: Elize Lutus and YOU maybe?
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: FS Starlight, at the parks!
When: February 14-20ish?

[VIDEO]

[ The broadcast opens up to show a young girl with fluffy blonde hair, only about eleven or twelve years of age. She's sitting down, out in the park. She has a notebook, a stash of pens, her mage staff, and her doll next to her. ]

...I'm Elize Lutus. Hello. I've been here for about ten months now? I think. If anyone needs help with anything, let me know. I'll do my best.

[ That's mainly directed towards many of the newcomers to the fleet. Then there's an awkward pause. That's not the reason why she's making a video broadcast in the first place. For someone as shy as Elize, she normally dislikes recording herself for the entire public to see. ]

Um... so, I've been learning a lot about other worlds. And Jove has been teaching me how to write in the common tongue! She taught me some Elvish words too. Like falon. That means friend.

[ The reason she decided to record herself is to show off what she has been learning, her achievements, like a proud child. She opens up her notebook, holding it open to the screen. It's lines of sentences written in the common tongue, recognizable to those who come from Thedas. (It looks a bit like this.) Some lines are written in practiced repetition. They're extremely basic sentences like "my name is...", "how are you?", simple greetings, etc.

Everything is written in sparkly, pink gel pen ink that she bought from the station. It's written neatly too, with no smudging. She made sure the ink dried! ]

When I get better, I'm hoping to write a letter entirely in common tongue.

[ She flips the notebook over to look at her own writing. Her shoulders slump in disappointment and her proud expression begins to falter, like there's a moment of disbelief that the letter she writes might not reach. She then looks back up, putting on a brave smile even though her cheeks are red with embarrassment. She'll get this letter delivered, somehow. ]

If... anyone wants to hang out or something, I'm at the park. Or, we can just chat over the communicator. That's fine too.

[ACTION]

[ And as she mentioned in the broadcast, Elize will be in the park. She's laying down on her stomach, being diligent and practicing writing down sentences repeatedly in her notebook. ]

Comments

action

[percolates]

[What a cute child. Ciri caught that broadcast, and decided it wouldn't hurt to go over and say hi in person rather than over the feed. It feels more natural, even if it's less convenient. So, spotting the girl, she quietly approaches.]

Hello there.

[And to not be creepy--]

Elize, was it?

[princessia]

Oh!

[ Her shoulders tense up. Oops, she got startled for a moment anyway. She was too absorbed with writing all over her notebook.

She looks up. An unfamiliar face, but she offers a smile. She did invite people to come spend time with her after all. ]

Yes, that's me. Hello.

[percolates]

I'm Ciri. I saw your broadcast. [She ventures closer to peer down at that notebook. It's all squiggles to her. Just as Elize's little show of Elvish was different than what she's familiar with, she imagines there must be dozens of versions of common, too.]

You're a very studious little one, practicing this all on your own.

[princessia]

[ She sits up, cross-legged and sets the notebook on her lap. Writing in the Rieze Maxian alphabet was the only language she knew of until recently. ]

Well, I have to practice really hard if I want to write a good letter.

[ A good, legible letter. ]

video

[pneumo]

Oh! I'd like to hang out...!

[ And hopefully mamaCiri won't mind/see/listen to that since she's always, always watching.. But How could Sascha pass up such an opportunity?? Hardly anyone just offers to hang out here. They're all so...surly. ]

[princessia]

[ She's shy, but she likes making new friends and having company. It gets lonely just writing sentences and vocabulary words all day. ]

Um... hello. [ Awkward smile. ] Sure, you can! Do you know where the park is?

[pneumo]

Yeah, I fell asleep there the other day. [ Literally just passed out on the lawn until night rose again. He's hoping though that today, if he carries an umbrella, that might be different. ]

[princessia]

I fell asleep here too! It's a nice place to take a nap.

[ Proobably didn't pass out as long as he did. She just curled up in the grass with her doll and dozed off. ]

video;

[stefanged]

Hey, it looks like you're making serious progress. Good job, Elize.

[There's some serious pride in his voice as he smiles at her.]

I think your teacher - Jove? - would be pretty proud too.

video;

[princessia]

Hi, Stefan!

[ She beams happily, glowing with delight especially to be praised by a friend. She does hope Jove would be very proud too. After all, Jove is like a mother to her. ]

I hope so. I'm going to try to keep getting better and better.

video;

[stefanged]

From what I can see, you're doing pretty good already.

[Not that he has much room to judge. He's far from familiar with Thedas's common tongue.]

If you're still at the park, I'm gonna head over in a few. The photos from our ["impromptu modeling job"] thing came out, so I wanted to show you in-person.

video;

[princessia]

The... photos?

[ It takes her a moment to understand what he's talking about. She learned of the term only recently and there isn't anything like photos in Rieze Maxia. There's paintings, but no photos. But she quickly realizes what he's referring to. ]

Oh, the pictures! I'll be at the park for awhile. Let's look at them together.

video

[bryces_pup]

[This must be the Elize that Cole told her about the other day. So Riona's understandably curious as she hops on the device to respond.]

Oh, I don't miss learning the letters. Thedas common tongue can be a pain. [She smiles.] But I must say, you have excellent penmanship and your letters are well-formed. Jove must be very proud.

video

[princessia]

Oh, you're from Thedas?

[ Only somewhat surprised. Through the months she has been with the fleet, she has met several Thedosians. She does hope Jove is proud and hope that she can make her even prouder. Cullen, too, when she can find a way to see him again. She's learning to write, especially for him. ]

...Thank you. It's not so bad. There's less strokes than what the Rieze Maxian writing system has.

video

[bryces_pup]

I am. My name's Riona. I don't know how much you know about Thedas, but I come from a kingdom called Ferelden.

[She's curious as to how much Elize has learned about her world. From what Cole said, she wants to visit.]

Really? [Dramatic shudder.] I'd be loathe to learn that, then. Do you know how to write in ... Rieze Maxian as well?

video

[princessia]

Ferelden... I know there's a lake there?

[ It's where Cullen came from and there was a lake from his childhood there. Admittedly, she recognizes the name, but she doesn't know much else about it. Most of her knowledge of Thedas is about the spirits, people from the Inquisition, Skyhold, the animals...

And the mage circles... which she very much does not like the sound of. ]

Yes, I can write it easily. Wanna see?

video;

[survives]

[So Leanne can't read a word of that. Not. A. Word.

But she still claps at the camera, grinning brightly.]

That's so pretty, Elize! Great job!

video;

[princessia]

Pretty? I... guess? Thank you, Leanne. I hope to learn more and more.

[ Thedosian common tongue is kind of plain-looking to her, honestly. But the gel pen ink makes it pretty at least. ]

video;

[survives]

[It's very different to what Leanne's used to and pink and sparkly what's not to love??]

It looks really pretty. [A nod.] I bet you're already learning a lot, huh? I'm sure you'll be able to write that letter really soon!

[A pause.] Is that what you're doing now? Practicing?

voice;

[nerdeology]

[He's... actually in that park, and can see where she is from his spot by the fountain. Initially he stood up to approach her, but considering her initial reaction to finding out he's invisible, he'd rather avoid frightening her. Thus, she's getting a call-]

Hello, Elize?

voice;

[princessia]

[ She's occupied with writing away in her notebook until she receives the call on her communicator. Her expression brightens up when she recognizes the voice. ]

Mikleo, hi!

voice;

[nerdeology]

You sound happy. Are you having fun?

voice;

[monolike]

[OH! She's actively seeking out company! Oh gosh, he's so happy for her, and for Cole and Stefan too!!]

Who are you gonna write your first letter to?

voice;

[princessia]

Oh... it's...

[ She looks down, her cheeks turning a faint red and squirming a little in place. It's still kind of embarrassing telling people that she's writing to someone that she views as her father. A person that she met on the fleet, not someone blood-related from home. ]

T-to my father...

voice;

[monolike]

[ahh, crud, he should've known.]

To Cullen, huh? [poor, poor kid.] Do you mind telling me what he's like? If you want, anyway. It's okay if you don't want to talk about him.