#syphaswill

[swordandfang]

It's been awfully quiet without Trevor these days. Sypha is itching to go out and see people again. Anyone! "There's a traveling market a few towns over," she hints. No subtly.

“A market?” Alucard smiled, certain that he understood the real implication behind Sypha’s words. “Would you like to come with me? I could use a few more herbs.”

@syphaswill

[swordandfang]

"My people are..." Sypha pauses. Calling them idiots before was unkind. "Set in their ways and a bit hypocritical. When the Speakers first started, they were meant to keep a true history for all people. It's a little bit different now with books and stories that can last longer than the people meant to tell them. Reading is part of being able to tell a true story. /Why/ we don't write is a question you would have to ask my grandfather. I have yet to get an answer from him that satisfies me."

Alucard’s smile was wry and a little sad. “People do seem to become set in their ways with time,” he agreed. “I think that it must become more difficult to handle change as one ages. My father was… much the same way.”

He frowned, realizing that perhaps comparing his father to Sypha’s grandfather wasn’t very tactful. “Perhaps not a wholly accurate comparison. I mean no offense. I only mean that it can be difficult to change a man’s mind when it has been set in place for so long. Your grandfather may think that books are fragile because they can be destroyed, or unreliable because near anyone can pen them.” He shrugged. “On the other hand, people are just as easily influenced or destroyed, on the whole. Do you think you will try to change your people’s ways?” @syphaswill

[swordandfang]

"Are you telling me how to best enjoy my work?" She's giving you a bit of a stink eye, Blondie. "I'm starting to doubt your love of literature, you know. A real book lover wouldn't be able to read just one at a time!" -- Syphaswil

Alucard flashed Sypha a grin. “Please. I wouldn’t dream of telling you what to do! I only find that it can be difficult to focus on multiple books at the same time without mixing up the specifics.” He paused. “Actually, I’m a little surprised you take to reading so well, given your people’s preference for oral tradition. You must be something of an exception, hm? Or does that apply only to how information is passed along rather than how it is obtained?” @syphaswill

[swordandfang]

Sypha plops down next to him, a pile of books in her lap. She settles with a bit of an 'oof', having obviously not thought this entirely through. "I didn't know which one to read first!" She says, stacking the books in the space beside her on the couch. "So I decided to take them all. That's reasonable, right? I think it is at least."

Alucard startled slightly at the sound and the shift in the couch, a bit too absorbed in the solitary book in his own lap to pay his surroundings a great deal of attention. He looked at Sypha inquisitively, then blinked at the sight of the small library she’d gathered in her lap. “You realize you will still need to select a book to begin with,” he pointed out with a laugh. “I don’t recommend reading them all simultaneously.” @syphaswill