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Post by lichlord on Jun 14, 2018 6:46:10 GMT
Rei looks to her after seeing it.
"We... We can turn back if you'd like, Holly."
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May 31, 2023 21:25:23 GMT
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Post by Raven on Jun 14, 2018 6:49:20 GMT
"N-no. It's alright. I just didn't expect the forest to be so... bright. It seems almost unnaturally bright, but I'm probably just imagining things. I think I am just so used to the forest next to the swamp that I just thought that all forests were supposed to be dark and 'spooky'. Let's keep going, yeah? We're doing this for you, after all."
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Post by lichlord on Jun 14, 2018 6:51:49 GMT
"Do you want to come back when it's not morning? Maybe it'll be darker then? You have been working hard to acclimate to the day after being in the swamp for so long... maybe it's just the remnants of that?"
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Post by Raven on Jun 14, 2018 6:54:26 GMT
Holly shrugs. "It could be. What do you want to do instead then, while we wait for the day to grow darker?"
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Post by lichlord on Jun 14, 2018 6:58:53 GMT
"I mean if I knew that I wouldn't have been pacing in the room..."
Rei thinks for a moment.
"Do you want some early reading lessons? I don't know when Clay will be out here for me to actually teach him... Otherwise I guess maybe we could go back into town and ask like you originally wanted? Or just go back to the room? I don't really know..."
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Post by Raven on Jun 14, 2018 7:00:43 GMT
Holly squeezes Rei's hand. "Let's try the reading thing. That should keep both of us occupied for awhile."
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Post by lichlord on Jun 14, 2018 7:07:23 GMT
"Ok we'll do that and come back later."
Rei and Holly head back after encountering the complete opposite of spooky (But for the girl half-ghost and raised in a swamp and the other girl brought up to chase down spirits I guess that would throw them both off) and head back to the room. Rei pulls out a similar training book to Clay's, but for ghost types. Rei was wondering when she purchased it how much of it was 'real' but it seemed to have enough info she wasn't aware of. She sets it down in front of Holly.
"So I know you know 'somewhat' how to read and write. Did your sister teach you?"
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Post by Raven on Jun 14, 2018 7:09:47 GMT
Holly thinks for a moment. "I'm sure she must have. I only know the absolute basics. Just enough to navigate a human city if I ever had need to." She smirks at Rei. "I've needed to put that to use a lot more often than I originally thought I would."
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Post by lichlord on Jun 14, 2018 7:29:32 GMT
"I guess that's because of me, then."
Rei tries to smirk back.
"Kinda like the thing I got for Clay, this is a book based on training ghost pokemon. So I figure it'll have enough words and phrases you will recognize, and a good starting place. I'm going to sit here right beside you and if a word is tripping you up I'll point it out and you keep reading, ok?"
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Post by Raven on Jun 14, 2018 7:30:39 GMT
Holly nods and sets to work. It's not nearly as long as Rei might have thought before she gets tripped up by several bigger words...
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Post by lichlord on Jun 14, 2018 7:31:59 GMT
Rei quickly points them out, and advises Holly may want to read out loud, and Rei will just chime in when needed to make it run a bit smoother.
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Post by Raven on Jun 14, 2018 7:49:07 GMT
Holly begins to read out loud, trying her hardest to puzzle out words.
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Post by lichlord on Jun 14, 2018 7:56:13 GMT
Rei sits by her side, patient as could be, interjecting with big words as needed. Whenever Holly gets a big one on her own, Rei sneaks her a kiss on the cheek as a sort of prize.
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Post by Raven on Jun 14, 2018 8:02:28 GMT
Holly blushes the first time Rei sneaks in a "kiss prize" and resolves to work even harder to learn the bigger words on her own. She still struggles, but she's a quick learner. It's no more than a few hours before she has managed to read the majority of the book on her own, with only a few of the more "out there" words stumping her still.
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Post by lichlord on Jun 14, 2018 8:09:12 GMT
Rei puts her hand on Holly's to stop her.
"I think that's enough for today. We can't be overdoing it all at once. You aren't just learning information, you are trying to learn and use a new skill."
Rei looks at her.
"Feeling ok?"
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Post by Raven on Jun 14, 2018 8:10:55 GMT
Holly rubs her temples a bit. "Words are hard, Rei. Why is reading so much harder than talking?"
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Post by lichlord on Jun 14, 2018 8:15:32 GMT
Rei snuggles up behind Holly after putting the book aside.
"You are trying to associate little images of... squiggles and tiny pictures basically... with words and ideas, feelings, things..."
She rubs Holly's shoulders as she was hunched over that book for a while trying really hard. She probably needs some de-tension.
"It's sometimes a bit humbling to think about. How far humans have come that reading can be 'normal' and just a thing when it has taken hundreds of years to figure out and actually use. I would feel great that you've come this far."
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Post by Raven on Jun 14, 2018 8:25:37 GMT
Holly definitely appreciates the shoulder/neck massage. Feels so good after being hunched over that book thing. She prefers actions anyway.
"I suppose so, yeah. Sister always says that words are deceitful and that actions speak to one's true intentions more than anything they could say to you."
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Post by lichlord on Jun 14, 2018 8:39:57 GMT
Rei kneads in as Holly seems to be liking it.
"They 'can' be deceitful, sure. But you can't always rely on actions. It's sometimes best to use you words. Something that multiple people had to forcefully teach me recently."
Rei leans in.
"And words can be nice and comforting. Like 'I love you."
Rei smiles.
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Post by Raven on Jun 14, 2018 8:48:16 GMT
Holly giggles and cranes her neck back to steal a kiss from Rei. "I love you too, Rei. So what now?" She asks as she returns her neck to its original position.
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