Sequel

I could only updated one this morning, I chose Sequel. As this was quite clear and for some reason I keep forgetting my plotting for Partners, so I have to go and dig it all back up again. I'm going to write it down this time, as its aggrivating me. I know the bits of major plot, I know the leader(s) and such. But the little bits to fill in the blanks just keep slipping away.

Could have something to do with the new schedual.

They never do get the television on. I kind of wanted to see how Mm would react to moving pictures that weren't the news.

Read, review and enjoy.





He woke from a nap just as the lights went up. Rel frowned about him and rubbed the blur from his eyes. His days were shorter and his body complained if he tried to push it longer than absolutely necessary. Long gone were the fourteen hours of work and six hours of play. His grandfather had always said it would happen, but Rel didn’t think it would have when he was so young.

The thing that broke the silence was his stomach growling. Rel groaned and dropped back to the bed. His body’s metabolism had changed since he had started sleeping longer.

Mm’s head popped up over the side of the bed, a hopeful look twisting his features.

“Mm,” Rel grunted, forgetting for a moment the Sidhe’s name, “what?”

The Sidhe pointed towards the food cart, overflowing with food. Rel’s stomach growled in protest as he thought about going back to sleep. Mm offered him a hand and he took it, using Mm to pull him out of bed. Everything hurt again. He shuffled to the food cart and sat in the stuffed chair that Mm had dragged to the cart. The Sidhe stood, Rel sat and huffed out a breath.

He hurt all over. Rel’s hand trembled as he reached for the food. He clutched the hand back to himself and frowned, wondering what was wrong with him.

Mm picked over the food and handed Rel a large mushroom cap. Rel knew the name of it but it escaped him for the moment. P-something.

He bit into the mushroom more for a show of being polite than because it raised his appetite. It tasted like mushroom. Rel didn’t mind mushrooms, but he didn’t love them either, especially not raw. And this specific mushroom was well known for its protein and its strange taste.

Like someone had soaked it in bacon grease…

It was the grease part that turned Rel’s stomach. At Mm’s insisting motion, Rel ate the entire mushroom cap, grimacing at the way it settled in his stomach. The next thing Mm handed Rel was some kind of sandwich, which the Sidhe obviously made himself for the badly cut bun and the chunks of chicken rather than slices. Chicken with cheese and some kind of green thing that looked like an herb.

Which was never a safe thing to eat when a Sidhe offered it to you.

But Rel ate it none the less and discovered that the herb was actually some type of bitter lettuce, that brought out the flavouring of the chicken. He ate that and everything else Mm offered him. A majority of the cart went to Rel. Rel was surprised that he could eat that much. His stomach was full and bulging and he was content, not even sleepy.

Mm found a piece of paper under one of the platters and handed it to Rel. Rel thanked him and read it.

Children’s shows.

Scrawled in a masculine hand with no explanation as to the meaning. The waft of aftershave told him who had written it. Mik.

Rel’s mind did a little leap before he focused and considered the possible logical aspects of the note. Children’s shows for what? And where could he get children’s shows he didn’t even have a …

Television set?

Rel glanced over at the forgotten, unused and very expensive piece of machinery hanging on the wall. He looked back at Mm and sighed, wondering why he hadn’t thought of it himself. Visual stimulation in another language could help a person learn the language. How many languages had he learned just by watching some television shows?

Ten, but that was besides the point, really, wasn’t it? The Sidhe only had to learn on, their language.

“Let’s watch the television, Mm,” Rel muttered, standing from the cart.

Mm jabbed at the bottom compartment excitedly, wanting to know what had been sent. Rel walked around the cart and slid open the door. After the markers, he wasn’t really expecting anything. From within he pulled out two books. One was his blood bible, with a removable label that said “Rel’s book” the other was a thick book, a children’s learning series all collected into one volume. This one said “Mm’s book” and Rel handed it over to Mm immediately.

“Mm bwaaak.” Mm puzzled over the words on the cover and looked at Rel.

Rel pointed at the book, then at Mm, “This is Mm’s, only Mm’s. And this one here, only mine,” Rel hugged it possessively, as he had seen Mm hug his blanket.

The colour drained from Mm’s face, the Sidhe looked horrified, from his book to Rel and back again. Had the Sidhe been told that reading was taboo? Not allowed? How did Rel explain to Mm that it was alright?

The man motioned for Mm to sit and the Sidhe did, right by the food cart. Mm blinked up at Rel with those big eyes and looked like he was expecting a slap. Rel sat beside him and set the blood bible aside. He moved so that he and Mm were sitting side by side.

“This says, Mm’s book.”

“Bwaak.”

“Booo the ooo sound.”

“Ooolk.”

What child could speak the language fluently, anyhow? Theirs was one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn. Multiple meanings for multiple words and some words, some of the older words, had more than one meaning to start with. Tone and context and such.

“Mm’s book.”

“Mmmmwasss b….bbwoook.”

Better. Creepily better.

“Good,” Rel opened the cover and skimmed to the first page of the learning book. He pointed to the first letter of the alphabet and the picture beside it, “A, is for apple.”

Mm frowned and pointed at the apple picture, “ample?”

“Apple, fruit,” Rel made a motion of eating and Mm’s frown deepened, but he nodded along.

The Sidhe looked at B, as in, banana, “Banneerena.”

“Banana,” Rel made certain that he was enunciating.

Mm pointed at the letter B and looked at Rel.

“B,” Rel pointed at the B and tapped it as he spoke before pointing at the banana, “B is for banana.”

“B?” Mm peered close at the page, “Bzzzz?” the Sidhe cocked his head as if looking for the insect.

“The letter B.”

Mm looked at Rel out the corner of his eye, obviously not understanding what a letter was or why people spent so much time talking about them when there were more important things in the world. Which was strange, as Rel had never gotten that much out of one look before. But at the same time, Rel didn’t have the vocabulary to explain to Mm how the words he read on the page were made up of letters and how they knew that the words were spelt correctly, only if they new the letters that made up the words.

All Rel could do, for the moment, was shrug. There was no way to explain it with hand motions.

Mm shrugged and pointed at C. C is for corn.

Soon Mm had figured out the letters. The Sidhe knew the basics of how to pronounce the letters, knew what sounds the letters were supposed to make, even if he didn’t understand what he was reading. Like handing a child a chemistry book…

There were a few that Mm got caught on, but a majority of the letters the Sidhe got quickly, and after hearing the sound for “L” Mm knew how to pronounce the next two letters. No reminders.

Rel wondered if all Sidhe were as smart as Mm was, or if he had just gotten a genius.

And if all Sidhe were this smart… why did they act ignorant? How had Mm’s family been contained for generations for slaughtering and the such? What lies, what drugs…

Rel looked over the walls. Well, he knew some of the drugs. But many of them were new to the market. So what drugs had been used in the start? What had made the Sidhe bow to the crazy people?

He wasn’t entirely certain he wanted to know.


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