Mar 15 17:14:19 108 PA - Discussion of Education
From Chronicles
Mar 15 17:14:19 108 PA.
HAPPY BURGER
A corner booth is where Monique has settled herself. There is no sign of food upon the table, though she does have a drink. Outside is where Tornaq is, and thankfully he doesn't seem to mind the drizzling rain falling upon him. He peers through the window, watching the little shaman. The small Inuit woman has been made considerably wet from the rain, which is perhaps the reason for her seeking shelter here. The drink is nothing more than water, in a paper cup, and with the cold rain having soaked her, she's even turned a little pale. Cold might not bother her as much as others, but cold and wet isn't a good combination for anyone -- Inuit blood or otherwise. Both of her feet are drawn up beneath her, and she sits cross-legged on the bench, her boots tucked beneath the bench so as to not make things dirty.
Gabriel remains dressed in his warmer weather gear, the snow gear having apparently been put away for the remainder of the year when Mother nature screwed everyone over yesterday with a "warm" day. Of course, warm was only about ten degrees above freezing on his Fahrenheit scale, but when you've been trained and lived as he has, that's warm. Today in the early afternoon, with the rain coming down, it may be cooler, but his jungle hat is keeping the rain off of his head, and the weather resistant chemicals in his clothing maintains a constant sluicing of water. Stepping into Happy Burger is always an assault on the senses, and he has to stop and pause for a moment after closing the door behind him. Yes, screaming kids and screaming parents as you'd expect of a place done up in yellow, red and various shades of orange fiberglass. Monique is seen and acknowledged with a happy wave, though he doesn't hurry over to her first, instead making his way to the counter to place an order for something that in theory might pass as food.
Tornaq's nose nudges against the glass, and from the fog that appears, he whuffs a breath there. The small Inuit woman lifts her left hand to lightly touch the glass on the inside near to where his nose is, and a little smile touches her lips. She looks across towards the door, and she lifts her hand to offer a little wave to Gabriel. She watches him head towards the counter, and then she lifts her glass of water to take a small sip of the liquid within. She gives a little shiver, then lifts her right hand to rub her nose a bit before returning that hand to her lap. Quiet, perhaps a little subdued.
Happy Burger is nothing if not efficient, and in what may seem like the blink of an eye to some, Gabriel is holding an orange plastic tray with some "chicken" nuggets, fries and some kind of vanilla ice cream in a blow. He waves a hand to Monique again before heading to the soda area to fill up a large paper cup. Doesn't take him long to make it over to Monique's table, eventually. Standing with a smile, he asks politely, Kentucky drawl in full swing, "Mind if I join you and Tornaq?" Then the observation, "You're surprisingly damp, Miss Monique."
Occasionally whilst Gabriel is getting his food and drink, Monique looks to him. Yet for the most part, her hands are let to rest within her lap. She gives another little shiver as he draws near, and at the question he speaks, she gives a nod. "Can join, I not mind," she says softly, a smile touching her lips. "Was outside, did try get most of mud off before coming inside," she says, blushing a little bit.
Gabriel slips into the seat across from the little Eskimo girl with a smile. A knowing, fatherly kind of smile. "No need to blush, Miss Monique. But truly... I am surprised to see you so wet. I would have expected seal skin or something else impermeable."
"Parka old," she says softly, then lifts one of her shoulders in a faint shrug. "Seams need be... made good against water, again," Monique says, a small smile touching her lips. She claims her cup of water, lifting it and taking a sip of it before replacing it to the table. "Would be drier, but... did slip, fall... landed in water, so it not help," she says softly, her dark-eyed gaze holding to him.
The older man can't help but chuckle a little. "You? Slipped and fell? That hardly seems like you. Tornaq's really slipping up in his duties! Want some chicken?" Gabriel holds out a nugget. Then, in a protective way of his own, "How'd you fall? And where are you going to get new material for a coat? Only naturally water-resistant thing I've seen around here, at least on a large scale, were those huge lizards that Miss Daeni - God rest her soul - hunted. Maybe... maybe I can help you out with something?"
"Tornaq try prevent fall, but only so much he able do," Monique says, lifting a hand to touch the window's glass. "It happen sometimes. Even though live here a while, am not used to mud," she admits, blushing a little bit. Mud is worse, in her opinion, than slush or ice or snow or anything that winter brings. "I hunting, in forest. Ground not even, was going down hill. Tornaq try reach, try grab, but... slid down hill, end up in water at bottom," she explains. She at least managed to get most of the mud off of herself, as rain is very useful for that. "I never hunt lizards. Usually avoid. I not know what use for make new coat. I need find makings for what use in North for make things not let water pass. For make, need things I not able get, easily. Can help?" she asks, sounding a bit hopeful.
Gabriel would reach across the table, leaning slightly to offer a hand. "Can help, want to help, would be honored to help, and you would make me very happy if you let me help. I've been hunting these forests since September, and there are deer, other large animals. Catch a few of those - good meat too, incidentally - take their hides to someone who can treat them..." He pauses shortly, asking, "I don't know if you could sew it up from there, but if you needed it done for you, or even just some professional help, I'm sure that we can get that, too." He sighs and his face takes on a humorous look. "Yeah, if you're not used to mud, if you're not used to terrain that isn't flat, I'm sure that it can be a bitch. You go other place around the world, it's like ice, but a lot worse."
The small Inuit woman lifts a hand to place it in the one that Gabriel offers, and then she gives a small nod. "Thank you. Appreciate help, need help," she admits, a small smile touching her lips. "Deer good, yes. Have killed before. Use arrows. Tornaq help, too," she says, her dark eyes showing a sparkle to them. "Usually dry extra meat. Save for days when not have good hunt, reserves almost gone," she says, blushing a little bit. "Can make something for treat leather, can sew leather. Treating only last for so long, and parka not be treated for long time... many winters," she muses, a thoughtful cast to her voice. "I used to snow, ice... winter things. Used to mostly flat ground, too," she admits, a little smile touching her lips.
The older man gives Monique's hand a little squeeze, smiles and holds the greasy nugget closer to her. "Food reserves almost gone? Have some chicken." Then, after some thought, "I used to be good with making my own clothes out of nothing, though I'm afraid that my time travel, or whatever it was, sucked some knowledge out of me. But I can help get the hides for you, and get whatever it is that you need to tan them, or treat them. You, young lady, sound like you need a new wardrobe. Not the kind of thing that a young girl should have happen often - but sometimes it comes time that it's necessary. Sometimes clothes get worn, sometimes they're outgrown." Gabriel shrugs. "Time to get you some new clothes." His eyes suddenly become very bright. "In fact, Miss Monique, if you'd be interested, we could make learning your numbers part of the process. It's easier to learn when you actually have a reason to learn."
It's raining outside, and Tornaq sits just beyond the window next to the table that Monique sits at. His black leathery nose is pressed against the window as he peers in. The small Inuit woman returns the squeeze to his hand, giving a small nod. She looks to the chicken nugget that he offers, blushing a little bit before accepting it. "Thank you," she says softly, then munches it in a trio of bites. "Can work with leather. Learn many winters ago," she says, a smile touching her lips. She blushes a little at his words about getting a new wardrobe, and she lifts one of her shoulders in a little shrug. "I not buy clothes. Not yet," she says, looking to him through her lashes. She blinks a little, then tilts her head to one side. "How mean? How make learning numbers part of get new clothes?" she asks, curiosity to her voice. She has a cup of water sitting on the table in front of her, and Gabriel has a tray of food. It's the early afternoon, and the temperature is only a little bit above freezing -- enough for things to be melting and a general mess outside.
After pushing his tray of nuggets across the table so that it should be blatantly obvious that he's giving them to Monique, or at least most of them, Gabriel sits back and looks at the little Eskimo girl for a while. "Okay, consider this. We go out and we hunt the deer, and we get the leather. We hunt raccoons, or rabbits or something to make the fluffy part of the outside of the parka, the fuzzy part that breaks up the wind." He holds out a hand, hoping that line of thought is being followed. "Now suppose that I can look at you, and I can look at the leather and pelts, and I say, 'We will need four pieces of deer leather to make the big part of the coat, and twelve raccoon and rabbit pelts to put along the edges.' Alright? Now let's say that we're working together on your boots. It's easy for me to tell you to 'stitch that seam ten times to make it waterproof without being wasteful.'" He shrugs a little. "If you don't know the numbers, I have to show you with fingers, or groups of stones or something. On the other hand, perhaps you think I'm using too much deer, you think that you only need three -" he holds up his four fingers versus a demonstration of her three "- you wouldn't know how to tell me without holding up fingers. Sure, we can get along in a clunky way using fingers, but when you get into bigger numbers - more fingers than you have - it's hard. These are just some very easy examples."
A glance is given to the tray of nuggets pushed her way, and then she lifts her dark-eyed gaze back to him. Blushing a little at the unexpected gift of the food, and she reaches out to claim another chicken nugget. This, too, gets munched in a trio of bites, chewing each bite thoroughly. "Raccoon good, fox too. Rabbit good for fuzzy inside, is warm and soft," she says thoughtfully, then takes a moment to lick her fingers. She follows the line of thought, it would seem, giving a small nod. She blinks a little as he starts to mention numbers of animals needed, and a little smile quirks at the corners of her lips, and she gives another nod, a bit of a sparkle rising to her dark eyes. She understands what he means, even if she doesn't understand the numbers that he's using. "Bigger numbers, like number of children you have? Is hard show with just fingers," she says, quirking a smile. She empties the rest of the chicken nuggets, one by one, laying them out on the paper lining of the tray. "Teach how many?" she asks, looking to him.
Gabriel offers up a good sized chuckle. "Yes, bigger numbers, like the number of children that I have are very hard to show using fingers - and there are much, much larger numbers." But then he has to squint a little at her question. "Teach how many? Do you mean how many people have I taught, or how many numbers can I teach? Because once you begin to understand how numbers work, most people find it surprisingly simple - and this is only addition and subtraction." Hopefully that covered the issue.
Monique raises an eyebrow slightly, and then she lightly shakes her head before pointing to the lined up chicken nuggets. "Teach how many?" she asks again, pointing to them to indicate them. She looks to him, and a smile touches her lips, a bit of a blush to her cheeks. "I not know addition or subtraction. Not understand how numbers work... yet. Want learn," she says softly. She's wanted to learn for all the time that she's been in Kingsdale, and probably even before then as well.
Gabriel explains quickly, "Addition means making bigger numbers, having more things. Taking two stitches and adding it to three stitches gives you five stitches. Or going to the market with five rabbits, selling four, leaves you with one rabbit. Then you get on into how much money you get... and so on." He then takes a moment to peer into the little basket of nuggets. "You have eight nuggets right now. Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one and finally zero, or none." After canting his head to the side, he asks, "Learning is something that takes time, and you need to practice it. We'd need to meet so that I could show you. Makes it a little harder since you don't know your letters, either... but we can make due. Numbers are a separate language. When would you like to start?"
Monique snags one of the nuggets from the tray, munching on it thoughtfully as he tries to explain addition and subtraction. Her brow furrows a little bit as she looks over the remaining ones, and she gives a small nod. "Understand learning take time. I not mind give time, give practice. Maybe can learn letters first, then, if would make easier?" she suggests, raising an eyebrow slightly. She gives another little shiver, having occasionally been doing so throughout the time she's been sitting here. Licking her fingers, she then lifts her hand to brush a bit of hair from her face and push it over her shoulder. "Maybe start tomorrow? I need go be dry, be warm... but, can meet tomorrow. Tornaq bring me to you, tomorrow," she says, giving a small nod. Another of the chicken nuggets is snagged and a bite taken. "Be safe, Gabriel. And, thank you, for teachings. I look forward learn tomorrow," she says, her dark eyes showing a sparkle to them. She scoots to the edge of the bench, then pulls her boots on before standing, and she stretches a little bit. "Will see tomorrow," she says, giving a small nod. With that farewell given, she starts to head towards the door to return to the rain.
Gabriel waves a hand and snatches back what's left of his nuggets. "Goodnight, Miss Monique. See you tomorrow." After that, it's primarily attempting to suck down what barely passes for a meal, though the unlimited soda is always fun. At least, until your bladder begins to complain, and you discover that Happy Burger's restroom is for employees only.
