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]

....

[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...

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

You ate a Poison Dart Frog!?

...

You know you could have DIED, right??

What possessed you to eat that thing? Why didn't you just get something from one of the many kitchens in this building? [Really, his inquiring mind would like to know.]

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

I am well aware of the risk I took now.

[After the reactions of both Elisa and the elderly Big Boss he was anticipating John getting upset with him too.]

It was a foolish thing to do and my logic was flawed. I apologize.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

[He huffs.]

Now I'm not so sure you should be taking a girl to go catch frogs if you can't tell which ones are deadly and which ones aren't... [This, being a valid point.]

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

I can understand the difference now, Sir.

I'll stick to catching Otton frogs. A fat, brown frog is tastier than the colourful ones anyway.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

Hnnnn-

[Grumbles.] ...alright.

Definitely make sure that you stay away from the colorful frogs. Many of them are not safe to eat and are really only safe to look at.

[He rubs his forehead.] This is enough for today.

Make sure you see me tomorrow. I will have a couple of things for you.

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

Yes, Sir.

I'll practice the letters I have learned today as well.

[He gathers up his papers]

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

Don't forget to grab something to eat. [This was said as he rose to his feet. He subsequently stretches and yawns, wandering over to the cabinet to rummage through them for a snack or two.]

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

Understood.

[He grabs an apple out of a fruit basket on the counter and bites into it to hold it in his mouth as he rolls his papers up.]

[With a mouth full of apple] phhank 'ou, hirr.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

[He gets a glance of that and he can't help but smile.]