Missed Steps and Pitfalls

[Nayt]

Kei tried, but ultimately could not suppress a short laugh-- one that sounded akin to a giggle, for that matter. Hrothgar was a funny guy. It didn't seem like he was trying to be funny, though, so she really tried not to laugh, but-- hey, it was a good thing. It meant that on some level, he was a charming guy, or at the very least he had the potential to be a real charmer.

"Well, that makes us pretty marketable, then, huh?" Kei reasoned, "I'm not that great with Pittman or Gregg, but I'm pretty dependable with Gabelsberger."

Which could only mean-- and this was something a learned scholar like Hrothgar would be able to pick up on very easily --that Kei had spent a lot of time in Greoul before.

The Gabelsberger style of shorthand was good for any language, but it was best for Greoulian. Which meant that, when translated into longhand, it could be easily translated into two different languages, making it fairly versatile. It wasn't widely used outside of Greoul, though, and since the End, Greoul wasn't really known for its scholarly institutions. Most of the island nation had been wiped out, and though there were talk and rumors of some folk having survived, there was no documented proof of it as of yet.

Still, there was a mass exodus from Greoul when everything went down. There were still a great many speakers of the language in the world . . .

[adi]

"Gabelsberger?" Hrothgar repeated, unable to stop his eyebrows from sliding up in curiosity. Any nervous chuckling that had begun at hearing Kei giggle at him was forgotten immediately.

"I haven't heard of anyone writing in that style since.. well, since then," he admitted. This new information was surprising to Hrothgar, he wished to know more. Unfortunately, when the scholar was comfortable enough with someone to ask questions, the flow of chatter and inquiries was not easily stopped.

"Where did you learn Gabelsberger shorthand? Do you know Greoulian? I mean, I've never learned it, learned it-- I can say a few proverbs and ask for help and simple things like that-- but that is about it. Most languages I do know besides common are archaic and dead, which is not very helpful. Did you have family in Greoul, or just from around the area?"

[Nayt]

"Uhmm, well . . ." Kei began hesitantly, "No, my family's far from Greoul."

Though it really wasn't anything to be hesitant or cautious of. All that stuff was in the past. The only influence it had on her now were a few trade skills.

"It was just, uh, well-- I had a boyfriend there. I guess," she said as they continued to walk, "And I lived with him there for a year and half. But he sort of ditched me to spirit away to Cizok with another girl."

Kei cleared her throat. Water under the bridge, anyways. Sure, she was still a little bitter about that, but hey, she was seventeen when it happened. She was still just a kid back then.

"Still, it was a nice place. I learned a lot while I was there. Like Gabeslberger shorthand. I was a scribe for a few researchers. Most of their names are impossible to remember, but I know one guy's was 'Rune.' Which is kind of a weird name for Greoul, but anyways . . ."

It'd been awhile since Kei had brought that up to anyone; it was hard to evade the urge to turn it into some drawn out story. A lot of her life's experiences were like that. It was one of many reasons she rarely voluntarily talked about those sorts of events in her life. No one wanted to be bored by her life story.

"It kept food on the table for me and a lowlife, that's for sure."

[adi]

This was not the conversation Hrothgar had mentally prepped himself for-- the mention of an ex-anything made Hrothgar's already tentative grip on social graces slip. Especially ex-boyfriends.

It seemed whenever the topic was brought up, he said the opposite of what he should have. If he tried to defend the ex's actions, the woman with whom he was conversing would simply roll her eyes or seem a bit disgruntled, and if he echoed the woman's sentiments about the ex and said she was wonderful, then she would be put on the defensive and assume he was going for the rebound. He could never win with the topic of exes came up.

"Oh," he said in response. Smooth, Hroth. Smooth as sandpaper. The scholar paused, unsure of what to say. "Well, that's cool. Not the whole ex situation, of course, and I won't pry about that if it's not something you want to delve into."

"But you still got something out of it in the end!" Hrothgar shrugged, tucking his hands into his pockets as they walked. He shrugged as though to roll the awkward topic off his shoulders. "Was Gabelsburger the only thing you learned, or just the most memorable?

[Nayt]

"Well, I mean, I learned other things, yeah," she said with a shrug of her shoulders, "That was just the most relevant thing at the moment."

But that got her started on really thinking back to Greoul. She'd taken up a few hobbies while she was there, some she wound up getting pretty decent with and others she absolutely failed miserably with in every way, and still couldn't do for the life of her to this day. Like gardening. Of all the skills she should have become a master at whilst in a place like Greoul, Kei's ability as a gardener was limited to staring incredulously at an influx of weeds and being completely incapable of telling them apart from the plants they were crowding.

"Back in Greoul, I picked up what, umm . . . little medical knowledge I can claim," a lackluster amount of knowledge that Hroth was already very aware of, "But I think what I learned the most, 'sides Gabelsberger, was self defense. There was this guy teaching classes there. It was the only time I ever took self defense classes. Or ever learned it at all. Which was kind of irresponsible of me. I mean, I was on the road for a few years before going to Greoul, and I was pretty much just a defenseless kid that thought she could fight the world bare-fisted."

Which ultimately led to her fateful meeting with a total jerk that she should never have fallen for, a guy who physically saved her from a bind that could've ended with a complete loss of dignity, (what little) innocence (she had left), and maybe her life, and then she was over to Greoul for a year and a half.

"Oh, and, uh, by the way," she trailed off awkwardly, "Don't worry about the whole ex-boyfriend thing, okay? Seriously, it was seven or eight years ago. It's not even a touchy subject anymore."

Why she even had the urge to say that, Kei hadn't the slightest clue. But she was making the mistake of not thinking before she spoke.

[adi]

Hrothgar shrugged again, deciding that even if the subject of ex-boyfriends was not a touchy one, he didn't have much to say about it. Kei's reassurance was enough for him to know that he had not upset her, and that was all he had been avoiding. He didn't need, nor really care for, any more information on the matter.

"Self-defense does sound like a smart pursuit. I mean, not even counting this business with Aiden, it is a very valuable skill," Hrothgar said. He had no room to talk. Any attempts in Hrothgar's youth to teach the young boy how to throw a punch was met with a puzzled look and a query of 'What did they do that I should punch them for it?' Any answer he was given was either shrugged away in preemptive forgiveness or a cheeky remark about how dumb it was to get mad over something like that.

"I mean, I think if it came down to it, I could do something," Hrothgar admitted. "I've never really been in a situation or environment where it takes precedence to negotiation, though. So I don't really know."

[Nayt]

"Well hey," she looked at him with a smile, "Maybe I could teach you some stuff one of these days."

One of these days when they weren't tattered and already beaten to hell, that is. They were a bit hard pressed to do much of anything useful right now, what with the sleep they got last night. 'Least til they'd had a few nights of sleep in a comfortable bed, she'd no plans of doing anything too physically taxing.

Anyways! We have some trade skills. We just need to find a place to put them to--

Hroth and Kei turned a corner, passing by the entrance of a fairly wide building. The front door was heralded by a long set of steps, and a stone engraving above the door read "Scaeth Research Center." The whole building looked fairly secure and well built-- thick enough that it could've survived a couple of external explosions, let alone internal. There weren't any other structures around it, either.

--use.

Kei stopped dead in the street and stared up at the sign. She really hadn't the slightest clue how they got here. They'd just been wandering these winding streets for a little while, talking each other's ears off. Which was perfectly fine. It might have found them something great, in fact. If there was one thing Kei knew about researchers and scientists, it was that they loved to talk and hated to write . . .

"Hey, Hroth?" Kei asked without breaking her stare, "I think we're in business."

However, one thing that Hrothgar would know that Kei would not was the word "scaeth." It was a word from an old Ulsterian language, one of the many languages that helped form the Common tongue they all spoke today. The word in question meant "shadow."

[adi]

"Looks like a shady sort of business," Hrothgar nervously punned, following Kei's line of sight. Even with Kei not knowing the origin of the word 'scaeth', it was alarming to see such a fortified looking building in the middle of a city. Generally such fortification was considered towards the edge of cities, closer to the walls in case of siege.

It could be possible that it was an old building, and once stood at the edge of the town before expansion-- which could be possible, considering the age of the key word. However, the lack of buildings around it seemed to indicate that someone had either purchased the land around it, or that no one wanted to build next to it. With walls looking like they could survive explosions, it was a toss-up whether it was due to keeping people out of the research, or the research inside.

Hrothgar didn't like it. It gave him the heebie-jeebies. But, money was money, and the ache in his shoulders and the grumbling in his stomach was eager to remind him of it. "Then again," he said, more to himself than anything, "It's not like we'll be in the thick of it, right? We're just scribes."

[Nayt]

Kei quirked a brow at Hrothgar. She didn't get the joke. Didn't think it was a joke, either. In fact, in taking it seriously, she came to roughly the same conclusion as Hroth did: whatever research that went down in this place was important enough to make sure people stayed out or the research stayed in. Or both, maybe.

"I, uh," Kei cleared her throat, "Yeah, um . . . researchers are sort of . . ."

Now that she thought about it, that made this place a lot less endearing. She'd never dealt with a location this fortified before, regardless of the scientists' that employed her as a scribe. Some of them were quite clearly insane, but they never conducted research in a veritable bomb shelter of a fortress. The research here might have been dangerous-- but then again, there was little chance they were going to see any sort of danger. Right?

"As scribes, I really don't think we'll see anything. We'll probably just get a loudmouthed scientist rattling on about something. At least, that's been my experiences with scientists," Kei shrugged her shoulders and let that be the end of her apprehensions, "Anyways, let's knock. See if anyone's home."

And with that, Kei began to climb the stairs to the front door, where she'd rap her knuckles against the wood-framed door confidently . . .

[adi]

"I haven't worked with scientists much," Hrothgar confessed, following Kei up the stairs. Though he would never admit it, he made sure to keep at least half a step behind Kei. It was cowardly, but faced with an intimidating building like the research center was not in his area of expertise.

"Mostly business owners, actually," he added on as a bit of an afterthought, letting the conversation drop as Kei reached to rap her knuckles on the door. The building acoustics were set up in a very strange way-- Hrothgar could swear the whole building sounded hollow by the knock seemed to echo for quite a length.

There was a large portion of silence as they waited for some sort of response. He rapped his own knuckles on the door harshly, eliciting only more echos. Hrothgar was put on edge a bit, shifting his body so that he was perpendicular to the entrance, looking around for some kind local to tell them the building had been abandoned or some other signal that they could leave.

He raised his hand to knock blindly at the door as continued to look around the curiously quiet street. His knuckles swiped at air. The door had opened without so much as the softest creak or generation of breeze.

"Oh," Hrothgar withdrew his hand cautiously, running it through his hair before donning the obvious cap. "I guess it's open."

[Nayt]

And in the end, Hrothgar lifted his hand to knock upon the door when it had just been opened, knocking upon the air, as Kei and an older, yet tall and esteemed, gentleman watch confusedly. It was only after this awkward moment that Kei, too, realized that the door was open, and that and Hrothgar were, in fact, standing before an older man. Elder though he may be, this individual was decidedly tall-- frighteningly so, in fact. He had to be six and a half feet tall, or at least wearing tall as hell boots, because he absolutely dwarfed Kei and Hroth. He had a long face, heavy, wrinkled lines about his face, and gray hair cut in what looked vaguely like a New Xexorian military crew cut.

If there was any doubt to this man's profession, it would be blown out of the water the very second one looked upon his attire. He wore a white lab coat down to his knees, with a New Xexorian black-and-white three piece suit beneath of it. Well, maybe there'd still be doubt, but he was at least a classy fellow, and he was involved in some brand of science or medicine or both.

Exactly what Kei was hoping for.

"Can I help you?" he asked, his voice deep and guttural.

Kei, however, said nothing. At first, that is. Hrothgar was likely to respond before she even had the chance to-- and with good reason. Suddenly, Kei had no idea how to word her inquiry.

[adi]

Hrothgar didn't know that his neck popped when faced with a nearly ninety degree angle. After the man answered the door, he heard it quite clearly. He figured that he would become quite acquainted with this sound if he was going to work with this man.

"Hopefully?" Hrothgar finally forced out after an uncomfortably long silence. Where did someone get a lab coat that long? What did you feed a man to get him that tall?

"Uh," he continued, a veritable bastion of eloquence. Did he work by the door specifically to deter solicitors? Hrothgar was pretty sure if he did not need a job he would have already mumbled something about the wrong address and been on his merry way. He gestured towards Kei and himself, hand wind-milling as he collected his voice. "We need jobs. We can scribe. I mean, we can work as scribes. Uh, sir. If you were in need of some. Perhaps?"

[Nayt]

"Uhhh, ummmm," Kei stammered.

Sometimes Hroth could be a tough act to follow. He was so awkward (and blunt) that she found herself twice as awkward (and indirect) as he. Well . . . no matter! If they botched this job, then they botched it, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"Y-yeah!" Kei chimed in, "We're trained scribes, and this is a research facility, and well . . ."

"You'd like to know if we'd pay for a pair of scribes, then," the man said.

Kei nodded along with that and smiled to the best of her ability-- but it was rightfully forced, and made her look a wee bit goofy looking. Unintentionally so, but such was life: when a situation dove into the depths of cosmic comedy, all universal values worked against you to ensure the perpetuation of hysterics.

"The answer is yes," said the man, "But the pay is meager and our men are run ragged. They talk quickly and contradict themselves regularly. Are these workable standards for you?"

Kei turned her head to Hrothgar and shrugged her shoulders. Meager pay and stressful work conditions? Honestly, how much worse was that compared to what they'd been going through before? The whole penniless thing, trying to find places to sleep and all that, stressing about an acquaintance of theirs almost dying-- stressful conditions to be sure, but they weren't getting paid for it.

[adi]

"Sounds about standard," Hrothgar offered the best grin he could offer when faced with such nervousness. He didn't mean to diminish or write off the fact that the work would be stressful, but it was not uncommon conditions for a scribe.

Hrothgar had learned early in his adolescence that a patient scribe with chickenscratch for penmanship under duress was often far more valuable than one with the finest handwriting and no patience when put on the spot. Things could always be re-written to be more legible on the scribe's own time, a practice that Hrothgar was quite familiar with.

"May we start immediately?" Hrothgar asked. He wanted to avoid saying that they were absolutely penniless at the moment, but he was sure that the doorman had already figured that out. "We would like to, I mean. As soon as possible, at least."

[Nayt]

"I see," he said humorously.

The man sounded as if he were on the precipice of a sigh at all times. They needed only to hear him talk for more than a minute to reasonably conclude that much. He took a step back, leaving enough room for Kei and Hrothgar to enter before the door could be shut behind them.

"You may," he said as he invited them in.

Kei looked once at Hrothgar, before shrugging her shoulders and stepping inside--figuring that he'd follow beside of her. The second she-- or they, perhaps --were inside, though . . .

"But," the man intoned heavily.

Which, in turn, almost caused Kei to jump out of her skin. It was actually quite dark in here, and once she and Hrothgar were both inside, the door would shut behind them, leaving only a torch at the end of a long corridor as their only standing source of light. Kei was unable to contain the urge to laugh slow, nervously, and under her breath.

"What you see is strictly confidential. If you speak of it outside of these walls, we will be very disappointed." He paused and proceeded to add: "You do not want to disappoint us."