ahappylie | o23 [Voice]

[Written and Filtered to Martel | 60% Hackable]

Martel-san? Did you see Ted-san's post? He is asking to make miniature stations of the Welcome Center out in the forest and I do believe that might be a good idea for those who can't reach us in time. What do you think?

[End filter]

[He switches to voice and he's just sort of rambling as he doodles little shapes in the corner of his journal.]

Mm, I suppose making signs would be a good thing to do what with this cold snap running. Would anyone like to help? I'm in the apartments today but I should be heading out in a bit to gather up the wood.

Oh! And Nagakura-san? Enjoy your explorations! I'm glad you're going out for your turn because I think...I've done more than my share for a bit, don't you? [He laughs and suddenly changes gears]

It's almost spring~ I can't wait for it to come. I've always so loved the spring. The plums would be in bloom right about now, the festivals going on up at Tenjin-san, the faintest hint of the flowers' scents mingling in the air... I like the cherry blossoms, too, but there's just something wonderful about plum blossoms. Maybe it's because of a poem I heard once.

Actually, I wonder if this place has cherry trees. Come April, they should bloom, if they do.

What do your people do in the spring? Do they celebrate it at all? We have a great many parties under the trees and share sake and other treats while watching them. Kyoto had such beautiful trees everywhere. It was like the entire city was dressed in clouds of pink and white...

My, but I'm nostalgic today. How silly of me.

[OOC: Affected, but taken. Please wait for Kohaku

amber_archangel to post first? After that you can troll away. Thank you♥]

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Alright, that's good then! [She will just watch him as she sips her drink. It looks easy enough at least..]

[He finishes putting the post to the signboard and then turns it over sliding two flat pieces of wood over the top of the signboard to create a little roof. This requires a little more effort and some bangs with the hammer to get the sign to fit into the grooves he cut out earlier. It takes him a good few minutes and then he pulls away to look at it, tapping the hammer here and there to make sure it's all even and perfect.]

If anyone, I'm glad it's you who came to keep me company. I was hoping you would.

[You make it look so easy! She's...pretty sure she could do that.]

You asked, so of course I would come!

[Only because he made a lot of these and messed up a lot, too. He ends up fiddling with the sign a bit more before he says it's really finished, then sets it to the side to begin the next. He smiles when she says that though, his hands coming to a rest on the wood. A moment later he'll reach out and pat her head.]
It's always nice to hear you say that.

[Yay, headpats! She's smiling at that.]

[He rests his hand on her head for a moment and then pulls back, turning to his work again.]
Have you been learning much on your reading lately?

[Aww. She'll go back to watching him, trying to be a quick learner]

It's getting harder now that I've learned all the easy words.

[He makes sure to go slowly so she can learn a bit easier.]
That's to be expected. Patchouli-san is a good teacher, I hope?

Yes, she is!

Good. You study hard with her now, hm? Soon you'll be able to read more than I can.

I do study a lot, but it keeps getting harder..

That is what happens when you get better at something, Kohaku-chan.

It gets harder? But learning magic was hard, and it gets easier.

Does it? I've never learned magic, so I didn't know that.

[He pauses and considers this, then sets his hammer down, leaning back on his hands.]
Maybe it's just certain skills that get harder then. There are so many words out there to know and so many different meanings to them all. But once you get it, it's such a good feeling.

Yes, once you learn the spell, the more often you use it, the easier it gets!

[That makes her look worried. Oh, she is starting to dread having to learn all the words..]

I hope so..

Ah, then I suppose it's somewhat the same. The level of the words gets harder, but once you have it down, it gets easier bit by bit to recall the word.

You must be advancing very quickly if you're already to hard words.

[He reaches over and pulls a brush and inkwell close to him, dipping the tip of the brush into the ink to draw a single kanji (春 "spring") on a nearby piece of paper.]

The more you know, the wider your world becomes.

Kind of...the words just get harder when they're longer.

[She's gonna be looking that over for a while, and nodding at that last part. She's not learning that!!]

That's pretty!

[He laughs a bit and nods] They tend to do that.

Thank you. This is my native language's writing system. Perhaps when you get better at reading, you'd like to learn this, too?

Yes, if you don't mind teaching me!

It would be my pleasure.

Thank you!

Now, let's get back to this, hm? Do you think you want to try? Or would you rather just watch?

I'd like to try!

[He nods and takes the hammer, turning it around to hold the handle out to her. Once she's taken it, he'll start setting up a new sign to be hammered together.]
I'll hold the pieces together. It can be a bit awkward doing both.