LICHY TRIGGER FINGER ☆ "spanish practice"

[roan ;]

[align=center][div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: times new roman;"]♡ — It wasn't really a secret to anyone that Roxanne liked Spanish. Roan's mother loved the language dearly ever since she had heard and been taught it, and that love had been passed down to Roan, if only because it was one of the three languages he was gradually coming to learn more and more of. What Roan did know of Spanish was somewhat mangled, considering the 4 month old had a relatively short attention span, as was typical of kits his age. However, he always loved flaunting what he did know and remember of what his mother had taught him, and he also loved practicing it. After all, if he practiced enough, he could talk to mama in Spanish, and make her smile because she could hear beautiful words coming out of her little baby's mouth! Just the thought was enough to make him bounce with excitement, and as he left the house that morning as usual, he decided that it was going to be a practice day. He bid his mother goodbye and gave her a great big smile, before he darted off to find animals to talk to.

Needless to say, when a child randomly wandered up to someone and started speaking a foreign language to them, most people awkwardly walked away, or just weren't sure how to react in general. So, Roan had taken to practicing Spanish by talking to feral or prey animals, since they never gave him weird looks when he tried talking to them, or brushed him off unkindly. His first target today was a blue jay, the bird sitting up in a tree high above him. Grinning broadly, the child climbed up onto a nearby stump before he spoke, mewing loudly at the poor confused bird, "¡Hola, pajarito! ¡Tus plumas son muy bonitas! ¿Crees que mis colores son bonitos? (Hello, little birdie! Your feathers are very pretty! Do you think my colors are pretty?)" The child was happily meowing away, and the jay just blinked slowly at him, cocking its head to one side before chirping and flying off. Smiling, the boy took this as a success and went rushing off, enthusiastically moving from animal to animal as he blabbed various phrases and words in Spanish. For what it was worth, he was actually getting pretty good. That did not, however, make it any less strange.

After a while, Roan had come across one particular conversation partner that he found very interesting. It was a beaver, sitting down near the shore and searching for bits of wood that were floating down. Roan had been talking at the creature for several minutes now, and had even received a few – unintentional – nods in response, so he felt very pleased with himself. After a few minutes, the kit's eyes grew nearly comically wide, a grin coming over his face at his new idea. Stumbling forward, the child spoke enthusiastically as he pulled eagerly at the beaver's tail, "¡Oh, señor castor! ¡Tienes que venir conmigo ahora mismo! Eres tan amable y bueno escuchando, ¡puedes ser mi mascota! ¡Mamá te amará! (Oh, mister beaver! You have to come with me right now! You're so nice and good at listening, you can be my pet! Mama will love you!)" The beaver itself was, rightfully, very startled and confused by this, and began to let out little yelps and chitters as the child pulled at its tail, seemingly very determined to bring the creature home. Anybody who passed by the scene would be... well, rather out of the loop, to say the least. That was, of course, if they didn't speak Spanish themselves.

[ocelot .]

Revolver was also someone who appreciated Spanish, though for different reasons. Roan and Roxanne both got the love of Spanish from a love of someone else, and if you stretched it, the same could be said for him - but in all actuality, it had been picked up along with his fervent love of cowboys. It was impossible to avoid, really, and so he had learned a little bit of it - not much, but a bit. Enough to understand what people were saying in the books he saw. Yes, there were certain things that got beneath his very well constructed facade of geniality, things that caused him to open up and show a more genuine joy and entertainment, things that helped keep his zest for life intact, so that his plans wouldn't be slowed down by something like depression or boredom. Westerns were one, something he wholeheartedly enjoyed, gaining an appreciation for things like duels and quick-draws, as well as his fashion style and speech patterns. The second, something he had discovered recently, was children - specifically, Roan.

Now he wasn't going to go all mother hen on him or anything - no, as an ocelot, he understood territory, and Roan already had a good enough parent. Still, though, the kid was adorable. It put a smile on his face, something that was common enough, but only rarely in a truly genuine sense. Usually it was mocking, or in a false friendliness. He supposed it was just harder to lie to a child to manipulate them - it just felt overly cruel.

So when he found the kid having a conversation with a very uninterested beaver, he didn't find himself leaving him alone to his devices - rather, he decided to join in. His justification: it would give him a chance to practice his Spanish, at least. Even if it was with a child and a beaver. "¡Hola, chamaco! ¿Que hubo?" (Hey, kid! What's up?) He asked, in his best Spanish - most of his knowledge was just slang, and he hadn't met a real speaker, but he was doing his best. Hopefully he was understandable.

tags - "speech"

[ROXANNE R.]

CANNIBAL QUEEN { .:*・°☆ } ——— [size=10pt]info

Roxanne definitely loved Spanish, it reminded her of someone that had been dear to her at one point. But, the things she cherished never seemed to stay, she knew that was the harsh way of life and Roxanne was already coming to terms with it. But, that hadn't stopped her from teaching her son the language she had grown to love so much. It was always so nice to hear him speaking the dialect he was taught, Roan gave her a kiss and started going outside more frequently. It made her happy knowing that he was enjoying his time outside even though, she still worried quite a bit about him. She was already up and cleaning her home in case she got visitors which wasn't for quite some time, she used her tail to sweep away at dust and sand that gathered over the night throwing it outside with a swift movement of her tail. Roxanne was concentrated onto her task for the time being until she could hear two people speaking outside; her son and the cowboy.

She stepped outside shaking her tail rapidly in the air before her gaze locked onto both Roan and Revolver, her pupils widened at the sight of a beaver. Did Roan drag them all the way over here? Did it hurt him? Was it going to hurt him? The thought made her whole body puff up as she strode over soon catching onto the Spanish that her son was speaking, which immediately soothed her. He was getting so much better at the language itself, it made her heart flutter with pride even if it only subtly distracted her from the animal he had brought back. She would have put on a stern face at her son but she wasn't even able to do that as she spoke with a faint smile on her maw "Where did you bring this from, mijito?" She finally asked with a tilt of her head still very much wary of the beaver. "character's speech."

[roan ;]

[align=center][div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: times new roman;"]♡ — Two very different figures arrived to observe Roan's ill conceived plan to take a beaver as his pet. The first, the cowboy that Roan had been hopelessly curious about when he had first seen him, and the second, his mother, whom he immediately beamed upon seeing. Surely she would love what he had brought! After all, she had Kal and Brunhild, so why couldn't he bring a pet of his own that he had found? His new friend Fluffy would protect him just as well as the crocs. Deciding to do what his mama had taught him was the polite thing, Roan addressed Revolver first, looking towards the older male and taking in his slightly sloppy Spanish. It was slang, which, while something his Mother used, was not the type of careful Spanish she had taught him. Still, he could mostly get the meaning, and that was enough to make the child bounce a little, his wings faintly fluttering behind him. He was getting better and better at understanding! Still, Revolver already had the look on his face of someone who wasn't as at home speaking Spanish as either Roan or his mother, so the child took mercy, speaking in English instead, "Hello, mister cowboy! This is Fluffy! He's my new pet. I was talking to him in Spanish, and he seemed really happy, so I think he'd love coming home and living with me and mama!" The logic seemed so very simple in the child's mind, even if it was a rather roundabout way of justifying dragging a poor beaver along against his will. Still, it was far from the first time that a child had used strange logic to justify their actions.

Turning his attention now to his mother, Roan let out an enthusiastic chirp before moving behind the beaver, pushing him forward. The creature flailed a bit, looking up at Roxanne helplessly. Roan, seemingly unaware of the poor thing's discomfort, said happily to Rox, "Like I said mama, this is Fluffy! I named him that because... well, he's Fluffy! He's real nice, and he likes Spanish. I think he should be our pet, like Kal and Brunhild!" Truly, the two crocs were less like simple pets and more like loyal and watchful protectors and members of the family, but Roan saw them as such because of the way they obediently followed him around – even if that was as a result of his mother's orders. It hadn't even occurred to him that possibly "Fluffy" wanted to remain in the wild, or perhaps even had a family of his own out in some corner of the large island that the Typhoon called home. He had a very one track mind, which would hopefully be something he could grow out of as he got older, if only for the sake of the local wildlife.

[ROXANNE R.]

CANNIBAL QUEEN { .:*・°☆ } ——— [size=10pt]info

His name was Fluffy and he liked Spanish?

The answer made her stifle back an amused giggle as she looked between both the beaver and Roan, her gaze completely softening at the sight. She wouldn't have been against her son getting a pet but even if the creature wasn't sentient like the rest of them, surely they still had a mate and a few cubs to go back to. Right? She knew that she wouldn't have liked it if someone kept her as a pet and she wasn't able to see her loved ones on a daily basis, she would take a deep breath with her smile still soft and more prominent on her somewhat exhausted facial features. She would stand beside her son only to run her tongue over his ears with a gentle purr as she began to explain to him why he wasn't able to keep "Fluffy" the beaver as a pet "Mi corazón," She said giving his face a few kisses only to continue with a soft sigh "Fluffy probably has a family to go back to and I'm definitely willing to listen to your Spanish too. I'm sure all our crewmates would love to hear it," Or she would make them stay, she knew a few of her crewmates would stay to listen to Roan speak in a dialect he was getting so well at even if some of them would be rather confused. Rox would wrap her arms around Roan briefly pulling him into a hug before looking down at him wondering how he would react, hopefully, he wouldn't take it to heart but then an idea came to mind.

A new smile forming on her maw as she said in a more hushed voice to Roan "Maybe instead of a beaver, I could get ya a little aquarium. Con un montón de pescados y un pulpo." The fishes would be an easy task but she wasn't so sure how she would manage to get the octopus but, she would try if it meant that Roan would be happy.

( translation: With a lot of fishes and a octopus )
"character's speech."

[MYERS]

[align=center][div style="text-align:justify;width:55%;font-family:verdana;"]Language is a funny thing. Like any art, it breathes of life - it exists as a living being just as it can die all the same, surviving only by careful preservation. In the same way a child is taught to scribble and then to draw, they are taught to speak, to put words to the images in their head and make sense of the world. And while any living thing could speak in grunts and growls, language made communication a mortal thing. It gives birth to new voices, it dies with age. It is driven to extinction simply by forgetting that it occupied the same space as the rest of the world.

Roan is passing the Spanish language to a feral beaver.

The grizzly bristles for reasons he cannot describe. Ironic, how words could fail. He wants to attribute his discomfort to the rodent, for it could easily scratch the boy's eyes out, bite with massive teeth - but he knows, under the surface, that this is not the source of his fear. Ahab hangs back, watches in silence; in spite of his size, he's good at keeping quiet, blending into the thick palm bushes and vines.

A single, dark eye tracks the ocelot as it moves, too casual, into the clearing. There is a part of him, smothered deep, that urges him to react. Call out. Ask if they've met before. Because - it knows him. It - he - has to recall. The clean, white rooms, the voices, the words they spoke to him, often in languages he did not understand. He is the enemy of his enemy, but they are not friends. Ahab works a lip between his teeth.

Thinks - remembers - and forgets.

Roxanne sweeps up her child before him and he is suddenly standing in the underbrush, silent like a nervous fool. The bear muscles his way past a particularly heavy rope of vines, ducking beneath the wide frond of a palm leaf. It's easy for him to get lost in thought. It was something he had to work on; at least, that was what he'd been told. "Is he alright?" A wary glance is cast on the beaver, and he thinks (for the second time, the first forgotten) that it may be a danger.

[roan ;]

[align=center][div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: times new roman;"]♡ — Roan couldn't help the small pout that curled on his muzzle when he heard his mother's words, wise as they may have been. He had really been looking forward to keeping Fluffy as his own, and introducing him to the rest of the family, like Kal and Brunhild. However, his mother was right, and his disappointment was being swiftly smothered by the movement of arms around him, Roxanne hugging him in close. He glanced back to Fluffy for a moment before he enthusiastically hugged back, mumbling to his mother as he nuzzled into her fluff, "Fluffy has a family? Oh no! I don't wanna take him away from his family. I wouldn't wanna be away from mi mama..." He cast another long glance at Fluffy, the beaver seeming to have calmed down somewhat now that he wasn't being manhandled – although the creature did look anxiously in Ahab's direction when the bear emerged from the shadows. Roan offered Fluffy a little smile before looking at Ahab, saying cheerfully from his mother's grip, "I'm okay! And señor Fluffy is too! Or, well, he will be once I let him go. He's gotta see his family!" He nodded firmly after his statement, as if he was reminding himself of that as well.

Upon hearing his mother's second offer of a compromise, Roan's eyes lit up with excitement, his body bouncing a little. He squirmed from her arms and turned to Fluffy, saying as he turned the beaver around – the creature letting out a disturbed noise kn the process, "I'm sorry señor Fluffy! I didn't realize you had a family to get back to! Please go on and have a happy day with them... feel free to visit whenever you want!" The child smiled broadly, and the beaver eyed him for a moment in what seemed to be confusion, his gaze flicking between Roan, Roxanne, and Ahab. When the beaver had apparently deemed it safe, he turned and shot off, rushing back towards where he could come from so he could hopefully regather his scrap wood. Roan deflated for a moment, obviously sad to see his new friend go, but quickly recovered, turning to his mother, "I can really have an aquarium? ¿Con un montón de peces y un pulpo? (With lots of fishies and an octopus?)" The boy seemed absolutely enraptured with the idea, already seemingly imagining what it would be like to have lots of little fish and a big octopus friend to watch and feed.