[ She laughs a bit, can't help a glance around the room. It's sparse but for the books, which she supposes suits him nicely. ] I do not know what that is.
[ She expects he'll tell her. He never really misses an opportunity to gush, which she finds endearing. ]
[He falls in beside her, in fact glad for the chance to elucidate on what in his opinion is an incredibly cool thing.]
The Rosetta Stone was a really key archeological find in my culture's history. It was this decree that'd been carved into a stele in three languages, thousands of years ago -- Greek, which is still well-understood, Egyptian hieroglyphics, which no one had any clue about, and... oh, what was the third one. Sumerian? Demotic? Anyways, something we had some translation for.
[He offers a sheepish shrug for his lapse of knowledge there.]
In any case, because it was the same thing written out three times, it became this kind of figurative codex for sorting out hieroglyphics in particular, which had been very opaque up until then. Pictographs, right? They look like they should parse, but they rely so much on cultural context. It was one of the most illuminating discoveries in archaeological history.
Anyways. [This time he flashes her a grin.] What it means is that you're probably going to have your hands full translating until they fix this little problem, aren't you?
[ Half-listening to his explanation, she watches the light filter in through the windows and catch in his red hair. She tries to burn the image into her memory.
He spares her the lead-in, which she appreciates. Her smile turns softer, sadder. ]
No, I will not. [ She reaches out, lifts a hand to watch how the skin between her fingers stretches out and lets light pass through, warms it pink and hot. There's so much she doesn't want to forget, like how the sun feels. ]
ALASTAIR has called me back to my world, Evan. I am needed by my people. [ Her hand drops again. ] I came to say good-bye.
[That catches him sideways, legitimately takes a moment to sink in. It stops him in his linguistic tracks, although confusion is his first bald-faced reaction.
Oh. Oh, no, but that's... that's the thing about being with ALASTAIR, isn't it, that's the thing that eventually happens. That's what most, if not all of the people here are hoping for, in the end. To be sent home. To be reunited with the worlds they've all been so unexpectedly torn from. He stares at her, and there's an effort made in him to perk up, to engage with that information like it's something she wants to have happen.]
That's... Kida, that's. [It's not great, he's going to miss her. He's surprised by the degree to which he realizes he's going to miss her.] That's really something. When... did you find out?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2016-08-20 06:20 pm (UTC)[ She expects he'll tell her. He never really misses an opportunity to gush, which she finds endearing. ]
no subject
Date: 2016-08-20 06:37 pm (UTC)The Rosetta Stone was a really key archeological find in my culture's history. It was this decree that'd been carved into a stele in three languages, thousands of years ago -- Greek, which is still well-understood, Egyptian hieroglyphics, which no one had any clue about, and... oh, what was the third one. Sumerian? Demotic? Anyways, something we had some translation for.
[He offers a sheepish shrug for his lapse of knowledge there.]
In any case, because it was the same thing written out three times, it became this kind of figurative codex for sorting out hieroglyphics in particular, which had been very opaque up until then. Pictographs, right? They look like they should parse, but they rely so much on cultural context. It was one of the most illuminating discoveries in archaeological history.
Anyways. [This time he flashes her a grin.] What it means is that you're probably going to have your hands full translating until they fix this little problem, aren't you?
no subject
Date: 2016-08-21 12:08 am (UTC)He spares her the lead-in, which she appreciates. Her smile turns softer, sadder. ]
No, I will not. [ She reaches out, lifts a hand to watch how the skin between her fingers stretches out and lets light pass through, warms it pink and hot. There's so much she doesn't want to forget, like how the sun feels. ]
ALASTAIR has called me back to my world, Evan. I am needed by my people. [ Her hand drops again. ] I came to say good-bye.
no subject
Date: 2016-08-21 01:09 am (UTC)Oh. Oh, no, but that's... that's the thing about being with ALASTAIR, isn't it, that's the thing that eventually happens. That's what most, if not all of the people here are hoping for, in the end. To be sent home. To be reunited with the worlds they've all been so unexpectedly torn from. He stares at her, and there's an effort made in him to perk up, to engage with that information like it's something she wants to have happen.]
That's... Kida, that's. [It's not great, he's going to miss her. He's surprised by the degree to which he realizes he's going to miss her.] That's really something. When... did you find out?