xvii. dictated, action

[heloise]

Paradisa
For my Giovanni. If you would be so kind.


[ Lucrezia can be found at highest roof with a wooden box inlaid with pearls at her feet. It is small and finely made, but the real (belated) gift is within: a white silk shirt fit for a little prince with golden narcissus embroidered on its sleeves. She turns away after enough time, retracing her steps back to her room. ]

Ovid once wrote, est etiam placuisse sibi quaecumque voluptas: virginibus cordi grataque forma suast.

But mirrors never turned out for good.

[ Translation goes: Besides, all women take a secret pride in being fine or else they are belied; for when the conscious maid explores her mirror and finds she's handsome, she herself adores. ]

Comments

[heloise]

And show me, which you will.

[heloise]

Do you think our languages are weird?

[i_got_this]

Whatever. We're just as good soldiers as anyone else.

[South continues to stew for a moment, seeing Lucrezia come back with the bodice but not quite register what's in store for her.]

[kryptonian]

Admittedly, yeah, but I've gotten used to them. I can think in English just as easily as I can think in Kryptonian.

[heloise]

There are other battles we may have more penchant for.

[ She holds it up, like a vest, for South to put her hand through. ]

[heloise]

And here we are given another language.

[onlyanapple]

Certainly, you have to learn from someone.

[i_got_this]

If you're going to say 'wit' I'll leave that to you. I'm fine with shooting people's faces.

[She puts her hand through the bodice as suggested.]

[heloise]

I wait eagerly for that invitation, Crowley.

[heloise]

[ And Lucrezia starts putting the lace through it, taking her sweet time. ]

Can all disagreements be solved by "shooting people's faces"?

[onlyanapple]

I promise it'll be delivered soon.

[kryptonian]

Yet another. The "Common Tongue" or something? "Paradisian?" "Paradisan?" Hell if I know.

[heloise]

I prefer Paradisian. [ So that's how it will be. ]

[heloise]

How might I prepare for such lessons?

[onlyanapple]

The less prepared you are the better, really.

[heloise]

Ah, is the surprise part of the lesson?

[i_got_this]

Pretty much. Okay, so it's not the best way to argue with someone, but hey -- if they're bringing a pistol to the table so am I.

[kryptonian]

Fair enough. Nobody seems to talk about this weird Paradisian language much, it seems to just be taken as a given.

[onlyanapple]

It'll be the best part, I promise.

[heloise]

Fighting fire with fire, now?

[heloise]

I can hardly wait!

[heloise]

An experiment, perhaps, whether a common language can foster peace?

[ She chuckles to herself. ] But the Italians already know the opposite is true.

[i_got_this]

Yup, because sometime that's the best way to go. [And sometimes stealth if South ever took it seriously]

[Also wow is she sill lacing? South's not used to clothes takig so long.]This is so time consuming -- how long is this going to take altogether?

[kryptonian]

Oh? Why is that?

[heloise]

[ She's almost done, tugging hard at the threads before trying it up in a neat ribbon. ]

That is like asking how long it would take to finish a good meal!