Knowledge is Power

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

[Big Boss waits for so_damn_stoic in the usual place: a kitchen.]

[He hopes that Null made mental list of 'c' words for review. John's ready to start teaching him 'd' and 'e' words, assuming that he's ready.]

Comments

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

........... [Facepalms for real this time.]

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

[Just blinks and tilts his head, confused by his commander's reaction.]

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

_{Fraaank. You never, ever take your Dad...Commander on a date with you.}

Dates really are..it's meant to just be you and her. Just the two of you.

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

If that's the appropriate protocol then... Perhaps you and I can go hunting after I have learned the alphabet? A sort of incentive...

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

It is. Trust me on this.

[Father/Son time?! This idea makes him happier than he think it should, considering he's a newbie at this whole Dad and/or Commander thing.] Yes~ Of course.

Ready for your next letter?

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

Yes, Sir. I am.

[And Big Boss probably isn't aware just how happy he's making Frank. Even though it doesn't show in his tone or expression and even if he doesn't entirely grasp the idea of family, he wants to be around John.]

What is my next letter?

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

[John will take what he can get. This is better than nothing which is what he has a whole lot of just before he arrived here. He can't say how thankful he is to be here right now-]

'E'. Its name is pronounced 'Ee' and it can make an 'eh' sound or an 'ee' sound. It can start words off like 'elation' and 'excited' and fills words like 'feed' and 'fed'. It's a tricky letter because it shares a sound with the letter 'i' and 'y'. 'E' can also be silent like it is at the end of the word 'one' and 'before'. Often an 'e' at the end of a word that contains another vowel can denote that the vowel should be pronounced like it's name...like in the word...'name'. The 'e' at the end signifies that the 'a' in 'name' should have a long vowel sound: 'A'.

Hmm...maybe that was too much at once?

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

[Frank focuses on his commander's words, repeating them to memorize it. It is pretty confusing.]

'E'. Pronounced as 'Ee', 'eh' or 'ee'. 'Elation', 'excited'... Occasionally silent... Similar sounding to two other letters... Can denote a long vowel...

'Endurance', 'espionage'... Those are 'eh' sounds. 'Elisa', that's 'ee'...

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

Yes, very good, Frank. Another word with a long vowel and a silent 'e' is 'smile'. [He writes down all the words including that one on the paper between them.]

Another word that contains the letter 'e' is 'freedom'. It has two 'e's. [He writes it down as well.] Ah- 'love' ends with an 'e'. [He scrawls that out, too.]

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

....

[He pauses.]

Hnn...

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

[He watches Big Boss scrawl out the letters, paying attention to the strokes of each letter. He's confused when the man stops.]

...Why did you stop?

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

'Love' breaks the rule...it ends in an 'e' but the 'o' makes more of a 'uh' sound than an 'o' sound. Hmm.

...

'Life'...that one [he writes it down] has a long 'i' with a silent 'e'.

_{There we go.}

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

...Love seems complicated.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

Heh. Heh heh.

Yes. It can be.

[He chuckles a little more. Frank has never been more right in his life than right now.]

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

[Frank isn't sure what he said that amused his commander so but he doesn't really care. He's just content that he seems to have made the man happy.]

Long vowel sounds... What about a word like 'spine'? Is that a long 'i' sound made by a silent 'e'?

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

Yes. [He writes down that word.] See, the other vowel, it's right in the middle and there is an 'e' at the end.

Very good. You're learning this very quickly~

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

After the letter 'C', I have come to terms with the idea that this language does not make very much sense and it logically will continue this trend as I proceed with learning the rest of the alphabet.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

Good. You adapt to new confounding situations fairly well.

I don't even have to warn you that there will be more of that.

Do you want another letter or do you want to study the two you have for now?

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

I have to adapt, Sir. I'm the perfect soldier.

...Do you believe I can handle three this time? Is the next letter a bit less confusing?

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

Good. I'm going to hold you to that.

You could. The next letter is another consonant. It really only has one main way it can be used. It's the letter 'F'. It's name is pronounced 'eff' and it makes that 'ff' sound. It also has a bit of a 'vv' sound in one word: 'of'. [He writes it down for him.

It starts out words like 'full', 'food', 'fat', 'fruit' and 'funny'. [John scribbles these out for him.] It ends in words like 'off' and 'dwarf'.

Try thinking of a few more words that contain or start with the letter 'F'.

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

'Eff', 'ff', sometimes 'vv'. 'Full', 'food', 'fat'--

...Sir, this lesson is making me a bit hungry.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

Have you not eaten today??

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

...

No, Sir.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

...well, what are you waiting for?

[He gestures behind him.]

The fridge is over there and there's all sorts of tasty things in the cabinets. I thought that I told you to eat before we study? It's harder learning on an empty stomach. [He taps his index finger on the table and sighs.]

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

...My apologies, Sir.

[No sense in keeping this hidden now]

I assumed you would be available for a lesson the other day. Prior to seeking you out, I caught and ate a frog -- it happened to be a poison dart frog. [mumbles a bit] After being scolded by an older Big Boss and Elisa I have been cautious with what I ingest...