The Perk, Thursday Afternoon

[era_two_triangle]

"Explain."

It had started innocently enough. Peridot had ventured out beyond the confines of the school grounds in order to take in the sights around town. She'd learned enough of the local written language now to recognize the 'Per' part of the building that she'd stopped in front of, mostly thanks to Karla teaching her how to write her own name, and had been simultaneously fascinated and disgusted by the sight of the humans within shoving organic substance into their mouths, and then making it disappear, either immediately, or else after mashing it up first depending on whether that substance was a solid or a liquid.

And so, curious enough to want to understand what was going on, and what the purpose of the Per* building actually was, Peridot had gone inside.

Now, a good two hours later, she'd learned how to spell Perk, intimately understood the chemical differences between decaf and Colombian dark roast, learned where milk came from, and had threatened to disassemble the espresso machine three times in order to better understand the inner mechanics. There was a line behind her, which she refused to move out of the way for. And nobody was explaining the reasons that people kept putting things into their mouths and making them vanish.

The barista was looking more than a little ready to just walk out on the job.

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[sharp_as_knives]

"It's a convention for greeting others formally in this society," Hannibal offered helpfully. "You grasp hands." He did his best to carefully grasp what he could of hers. "Then shake." He demonstrated with one careful up and down.

Which was a little odd, as her arm didn't move. Hannibal just shook his head and let go. "It works better with solid palms."

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot had solid palms. She just wasn't showing them off in polite company if she could help it. Wouldn't that be scandalous?

She looked down at her fingers as they floated back to hang out at the end of her arm, where they belonged.

"What's the purpose of a greeting like that?"

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal shrugged. "It's simply the polite thing to do. It possibly comes originally from a desire to ensure that neither of the people involved was carrying a weapon. At least not in their primary hand."

Ambidextrous or left-handed people not included.

[era_two_triangle]

Or people who kept their weapons hidden away in their gems. Or in their lions.

"So it's a crude safety measure," Peridot mused, a little smirk on her lips. "That's possibly the most sensible human habit I've seen yet."

[sharp_as_knives]

Or in their pockets, even.

Hannibal chuckled. "Very crude. But still polite."

[era_two_triangle]

"Polite," Peridot echoed before giving a smile that was something approaching wry. "I have a lot to learn about human concepts of 'polite.' There are apparently protocols in place for human interactions that are more complex than I had imagined."

Which was pretty impressive for a species whose members lived and died well within the amount of time it took to even incubate a new Gem.

[sharp_as_knives]

"And they change according to the society, standing, age, and familiarity of those involved," Hannibal said cheerfully.

It was simple!

[era_two_triangle]

At least Peridot only managed to look slightly disgruntled about that.

"Of course they do."

OF COURSE THEY DID.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smirked. "There are a lot of different human beings. But it's not impossible to learn it all."

[era_two_triangle]

"I sincerely hope I'm not here long enough to learn it all," Peridot replied. "But if it's something that can be taught..."

She shrugged.

"I want to understand this place if I'm going to be stuck here."

She was just really bad at the approach.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Everybody who knows it was taught it by somebody," Hannibal pointed out. "What would you like to learn?"

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot was silent for a moment before looking at Hannibal thoughtfully.

"I could prepare a list. But the longer I spend here, the more questions I end up having."

[sharp_as_knives]

"The more you learn, the more you'll be able to deduce for yourself," Hannibal said. "Building the framework takes the longest. Start with the most basic things you don't understand, and if the details don't make themselves plain, you may at least have the skills you need to research what they are."

[era_two_triangle]

"Research is my specialty," Peridot... bragged, mostly. She had a very specialized skill-set, so she had to cling to the ability to boast whenever she came across it, clearly. "It's just a matter of figuring out what to research first."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Correct," Hannibal said, amused. "So, where will you start?"

[era_two_triangle]

That... was a good question. Peridot frowned for a minute, and then, almost tentatively, she piped up with, "Reading."

A pause.

"I'm getting closer to having it, though. Even after my initial underestimation of the number of possible combinations and functions for each letter, your alphabet remains far more simplistic than the written word from Homeworld. And from there, I can learn anything."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal nodded. "It's difficult not knowing the local language. You speak it, at least. But literacy will make everything else easier. English is a challenging language," he confided.

[era_two_triangle]

"I've mastered how to write my own name," Peridot replied, and yes, there was a stress on mastered, because she was going to put those victories of hers onto a pedestal for all to see. "The rest should come fairly easily. Once I figure out the purpose of all the little dots and squiggly things, and have the twenty-six main characters memorized, it's really just a matter of repetition to make certain it comes naturally."

She hesitated, and then added, "... Right?"

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal inclined his head. "For the most part. You'll likely find some of the more obscure uses tripping you up for some time, but once you know the basics, context will help with that."

Said the man for whom English was his fifth language.

[era_two_triangle]

"Once I understand the context as well, yes," Peridot agreed. That one came out more than a tiny bit wryly.

Today was really starting to prove to her that she had quite a way to go, yet.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal chuckled. "As I said; the more you learn, the more other things will grow clear."