But why have your character scream ‘cunt’ at a girl he likes when there are much better ways to show palilalia and embarrass your character?
An excerpt from Dragon Tamers:
“‘Ofa! ‘Ofa! ‘Ofa! ‘Ofa! ‘Ofa! ‘Ofa! ‘Ofa! ‘Ofa!”
The twins stirred. Moonlight poured through the hole in their tent and it took a moment for Chelsea’s eyes to adjust. Charlie’s took even longer.
They finally sat up, their hair flying in every which direction, their mouths filled with dirt and grass, their backs aching from the rocks. It took them a moment to figure out what had pulled them from their dreams. Their ears simultaneously twitched as they finally heard the repeated word.
“Is that Dr. Nigel?” Charlie asked, rubbing an eye.
“Either that or we’re being attacked by a Tongan-speaking parrot.”
They both realized that either scenario was completely possible. Their knees ached as they crawled out of the tent, staggering to their feet. Chelsea helped his sister over to the campfire, stepping around a sleeping Sapphire. Afi was snoozing on top of her head. Sparks flew from both dragons’ nostrils as their snores drowned briefly drowned out the string of repeated words. Chelsea pulled his sister out of harm’s way, both laughing. Afi stirred at the familiar nose. With a screech and a ‘Ma’, he flew down to land on Charlie’s shoulder, nibbling on her hair. Sapphire continued to sleep, occasionally snarling.
Chelsea looked past the larger dragon and frowned.
Dr. Nigel was sitting on a log, rapping his hands against his thighs, rhythmically saying “‘Ofa!” as if his life depended on it.
“Doc?” Chelsea asked. “Doctor Nigel!”
“Are you okay?” Charlie asked.
He continued to say the word, staring at the fire, not even acknowledging their existence. Shrugging, the twins sat down on the adjacent log. Charlie began plaiting her hair, much to Afi’s discontent, as her brother sharpened his knife.
After a few minutes, the noise screeched to a halt. Dr. Nigel shook his head slightly before looking over at them. “Um, did you guys hear me?”
“No offense but everyone in the world could hear you,” Chelsea said.
His sister’s elbow dug into his ribs as she said, “It’s fine, Doc.”
Still, the dragon tamer rubbed the back of his neck, dark patches rising on his cheeks. "I can’t even remember what that word means.”
“‘Ofa?” Charlie asked. “It means a lot of things. Mercy, compassion, love---”
“Yes, that’s right,” he said, snapping his fingers. “I’m used to it meaning ‘love’. You two tried to set me up by having me say it to Amelia.”
“Technically, we wanted you to say, ‘‘Oku ou 'ofa 'ia koe‘.”
He ignored Chelsea’s comment as he said, “Aha! I was saying the Tongan word for ‘love’. Perfect. Well, there’s one mystery solved.”
“Not really,” Chelsea said. “Why would you randomly think about the Tongan word for love? In the middle of the night? Followup question, do you sleep?”
“It’s overrated,” said the Dragon Tamer absentmindedly. “And I don’t know why I thought of it. I’ve said weirder, believe me.”
Charlie pulled a protesting dragon away from her hair, all while saying, “Well, what were you thinking about before---you know---?”
He stared at the fire for a few seconds, his eyes narrowed, before suddenly looking up, realizing that they were still there.
“Wait a minute, you two actually sleep,” he said. “Go on. Go do that.”
They laughed but weren’t about to argue. Charlie seized her brother’s shoulder and they made their way back across the campsite. Afi, who was now angry at his mother for her lack of hair contribution, flew up to sit on Sapphire’s head. The twins had just reached the tent when Dr. Nigel leapt in front of them, looking ecstatic. “I just remembered what I was thinking about!”
He hovered over them, causing them to lean back and cry:
He opened his mouth before pausing. His smile slipped and he shrank back down, looking away as he said, “Nothing. Never mind. Goodnight.”
He went back to the campfire without another word. The twins shrugged and entered the tent, curling up in the grass.
“So, what do you think he was thinking about?” Charlie asked, burying her face in a clump of dirt.
“Who knows?” Chelsea asked. “It probably wasn’t important.”
Out on the log, Dr. Nigel found himself smiling at the fire. When an enraged Afi let out a loud bleat, the Dragon Tamer laughed and stretched out his arm. He flew down, landing on the palm of his hand, and Dr. Nigel lifted him up to his shoulder, giving him the opportunity to nibble on his hair.
The Dragon Tamer looked from the miniature dragon to the larger one to the silhouettes in the tent. His eyes found the fire again and his smile stretched.
