Selenite

Steven universe OC roleplay account

[tempestgem]

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Sapphire hummed, settling down more and taking a look at eir books. “Yes, I think I understand now,” ey hummed. “Thank you for your clarifications.”

Ey started flipping through the younger child books, assessing which one would be easiest to start with in the settled silence.

Selenite nodded and cozied up with her bird book, legs tucked up into her cloak. She looks like she’s cuddled up in a half fluffy blanket on this couch. Selenite sure looks at home in Libraries.

[tempestgem]

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Sapphire was a bit baffled by all of these rules, but nodded anyway. Ey’d always known the Gem language, and the idea that human children struggled even worse than ey was, to the point of needing specific shapes and designs to separate book types, was almost as alien as eir presence on this planet.

“A sort of compendium, then?” ey asked.

“Yes, precisely.”  Selenite nodded and settled back into her spot on the couch. “So do you think you’ve got it from here? Or do you have more questions?” She asked, not quite yet getting nice and comfy with her bird book.

[tempestgem]

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Sapphire hummed, bringing back over a few books that fit the description of less advanced books. Ey presented them as if asking for confirmation of eir suspicions that these were the proper books.

“I wonder why those designs choices were made,” ey hummed. “Why wouldn’t you just label them accordingly? Wouldn’t that be easier?”

Ey settled down onto the floor again, however, seeming content with being near Selenite in case ey had more questions. “I’ll have to find this dictionary later,” ey mumbled.

“They are, but younger humans have difficulty reading and are more drawn to images than written languages. The images are for their benefit.” Selenite looks at the books presented “Yes I’d say these are about right. Another thing about less advanced books is that they tend to be wider and thinner, Uh, more window less brick. This is to allow more images in the pages and wider text, I think. ” 

Selenite picks up a children’s novel for demonstration. “This one has more pages, but each page is smaller. This is undoubtedly meant for intermediate readers, humans that are still rather young, but have learned enough to read without the aid of pictures. Does that make sense?” 

“This doesn’t only apply to novice books though, some rather wide books are also thick with advanced knowledge, these typically contain detailed information about a specific subject.” 

[tempestgem]

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Sapphire followed along, echoing the noises under eir breath and letting out a soft sigh when things began to get even more complicated. Ey nodded to show ey understood, scanning over the pages carefully.

“Oh, yes,” ey said, looking back on eir fort. “I suppose I may have overprepared just a bit. I’m not sure which ones are more advanced until I open them. Future vision is… Unsuited to sudden tasks.”

“That’s fine. Humans do have a saying ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’, though the covers do provide a pretty good indication of what you can find inside. The less advanced ones tend to have, uh, ‘cutesy’ and stylized images on them. More advanced ones can still be stylized, but can often be more detailed, or even lack any notable images on the cover at all. Once you feel you’ve got a good grasp on the language, I recommend looking at a ‘dictionary’. You won’t find many of those in this section, but I know where to find them.” Selenite’s not particularly suited for the role of teacher, but she’s doing her best.

“A ‘dictionary’ is basically a list of human words. There are rarely any pictures in them, but they have descriptions and meanings of each word. It’s a very valuable tool when you come across words you don’t recognize.” 

[tempestgem]

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“Yes,” Sapphire admitted, the smallest amount of sigh in eir voice. “Some of these letters don’t fit together quite the way I assumed they did, and relearning this habit is… difficult.”

The book in question was one that taught sounds, and the pages displayed certain trickier combinations of letters that had left the blue Gem stumped.

“Oh, yes. This written language is... Flawed. It’ll take a while to remember all the ‘rules’... And even then the rules often have exceptions. Alright this ‘T’ and this ‘H’ make a sort of thhhh sound, so like ‘thought’ and ‘think’ both start with this sound and those letters. Uh let’s see... ‘P’ and ‘H’ make a “fff” Sound though I’ve no idea why, there’s already a letter that makes that sound and that would be ‘F’. “G” and “H”..... Oh that’s a tough one uh.... Sometimes it makes an ‘F’ sound and sometimes it doesn’t make a sound at all?” Selenite does her best to explain as much as she can. She’s still not an expert at reading the English Language. 

“There are some slightly more advanced books that discuss these, I suggest tackling them after you finish with the simpler ones. I can help you find them if you need me to, though you’ve got quite a collection over there” 

[tempestgem]

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Sapphire nodded, walking about to scan for more books ey might find useful. Ey found several similar books scattered among the shelves, tucking them all under eir arms. Once ey was satisfied with eir haul, they drifted to sit on the floor close to where Selenite sat. Ey had a feeling ey was going to have several issues at first, but ey also had no reason to disturb her quite yet.

As expected, a problem came up. Sapphire shifted from eir small fort of reading material, bringing the current one over and standing by to let her finish her text.

Selenite places a feather between the pages she was on and looked to Sapphire. “Do you need my help?” She asked, gently closing the book on the feather as a bookmark. “Let Me See” Selenite sat up to look at the book Sapphire brought.

[tempestgem]

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Sapphire listened intently, mumbling the words under eir breath as ey took note of each pattern and area that Selenite mentioned. If ey were to come back, especially with the others, it would be good to know the layout of the building.

Ey followed closely behind when Selenite started to the children’s section, ignoring one young human’s wondrous glance in eir direction as they whispered something about a queen. Ey took the book, taking in the colorful binding with a soft hum. “I trust your judgment,” ey said. Ey tucked the book under one arm, giving Selenite a small curtsey. “Your help is deeply appreciated.”

Selenite nodded and picked out a children’s book on her favorite subject “If you don’t recognize something in the pictures go ahead and talk to me, I’ll read the word for you.” 

Selenite got comfy in one of the couches left about for people to relax in while reading. “I’ll be right here.”

[tempestgem]

rainbow-of-gems:

Sapphire nodded in thanks when Selenite held the door, waving as best as ey could to the librarians waiting at the counter. She understood the words they spoke to em, but ey couldn’t think of a proper response. “Where do I find the books?” Sapphire asked. “Those do sound… quite enjoyable.”

“Books in general are kept sorted by their ‘genre’ and by their order in the human English ‘alphabet’. The books we’re looking for are often kept in a very colorful section with all sorts of figures and toys... And I see it over there” Selenite pointed to the children’s section, decorated with plush animals and little figures of mythical creatures and books. Overall, very easy to spot.

“I think the first priority should be finding an alphabet book. That should teach you all of the letters and the order humans like to put them in. It should also teach you the written words for some objects that start with each letter. The pictures were very helpful early on.” Selenite heads to the colorful wonderland of children’s books to search for a proper book to start with, eventually settling on a large picture book with the most prominent symbols on the cover being 'A' 'B’ and 'C’ with the pictures of an Apple, a Cat, and a Book under each respective letter. “This should work just fine” She stated, handing it over to Sapphire.

[tempestgem]

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Sapphire took in the patterns of letters and certain sounds attached to them as they walked, occasionally lagging behind the taller Gem and having to rush to catch up. Ey was slightly irritated with eir shorter legs, having wanted to be able to take this walk without having to focus on keeping up. The curse of being a Sapphire, perhaps?

“Yes, please,” Sapphire said, nodding. “You said there are materials made to assist in learning their written language, correct?

“Yes. They’re made for human children, but they served me well enough.” Selenite went in through the entrance and held the door open for Sapphire, looking around for some form of guide or map. “There are also usually comfortable places to sit and read. These are really nice places, I think.” 

[tempestgem]

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Sapphire’s eyes scanned the sign a few times, almost able to make out the word. Ey knew some letters and sounds, gotten from listening to the others and future vision, but the sign still managed to only make the smallest amount of sense.

“I see,” ey hummed. “I’ll have to remember that for next time.”

Selenite follows the direction of the sign until she comes across another to follow. She repeats the process, stopping now and then to make sure Sapphire follows, until they reach the library itself.

“This is it, we’re here.” Selenite points to the entrance “That’s where humans go in to read the books” Then to the return slot “And this is where humans put the books back when they’re done with them if they take them out of the building. Do you want to go inside now?”

[tempestgem]

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“I noticed,” Sapphire said, almost tinging on a joke. “To each their own.”

Ey nodded, starting off towards the nearest human town. Ey almost subconsciously summoned a lacy, almost frost like scarf, which wrapped around eir neck and hung over eir gem, hiding it.

Selenite simply held her cloak as she usually does, content to allow her gem to masquerade as an ornate cloak clasp. 

Selenite followed and kept an eye out for signs directing to the Library as they entered town. “There!” She exclaimed, pointing at one such sign. A simple pointed sign with the word Library written upon it “That says Library, and the point at the end marks the direction to the one in this settlement.” Selenite waited for Sapphire to get a good look at the sign before moving on.

[tempestgem]

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“I prefer cats, but dogs are quite nice,” Amethyst said.

“I could show you the way to its border,” Sapphire said. “Beyond that, I think I’ll be a bit lost. But if you can read the signs…”

Ey stood, leaning over to Amethyst and giving her a soft peck on the forehead before turning to Selenite again.

“I’m more of a bird gem, myself. Shame they’re not easier to approach, though.” Not that Selenite has any room to judge

“I can read the signs. There’s usually a few that lead to the Library as well. Lead the way.” Selenite prepared to follow Sapphire. Time to go on an educational adventure.

[tempestgem]

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“That sounds the most likely,” Amethyst agreed. “They’re quite a bunch. Humans and dogs.”

Sapphire sat up straight, looking at Selenite. “That would be… ideal. We don’t – well, Amethyst, would you like to come?”

Amethyst looked up from the cat in her lap, shaking her head gently. “You have an easier time navigating human cities without incident, love. You can bring them back to camp.”

Sapphire nodded, the smallest pout on eir lips, and continued, “I don’t have plans for the rest of the day so it would work.”

“Dogs are interesting creatures, I can see the appeal.” Selenite thought about the last time she met a dog. Soft, friendly enough, couldn’t follow her when she flew off, though. 

“Alright, do you know the direction to the closest human settlement?” Selenite didn’t exactly keep track of where she was going when she was pursuing the bird that led her here.

[tempestgem]

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“Humans like dogs more,” Amethyst explained. “Or at least, that’s what I’ve come to believe. That or dogs are simply not as capable of living without their humans.”

“How soon, perhaps?” Sapphire asked. Ey was quite curious about the human world, now, and if ey could get information without having to wait on some … well, goofball Gems, that would be an ideal situation.

“Maybe. Maybe a little bit of both.” Seleinte thought about the symbiotic relationship between humans and these mammals. She knew that ravens worked well with a wild sort of dog. ‘wolves’ she thinks. Often using their own noises to call them to injured prey, and then picking at the scraps left behind, getting a meal it would otherwise be too small to safely and easily eat.

“Hm? Oh, I could probably take you now. Show you what to look for when you’re looking for one, maybe help you pick out the books meant to help young humans learn to read. Those were very helpful.” Besides, it would be nice to get all that out of the way and get back to her feather collecting.

[tempestgem]

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“I think Carnelian calls those dogs,” Amethyst offered, sitting down and letting the cat curl up in her lap. “The ones that wander human neighborhoods and places of business?”

The cat was audibly purring, apparently happy with the flood of attention it was receiving. Sapphire was quite amused with this creature, scratching it under the chin.

“Could you perhaps show me the library sometime, Selenite?” Sapphire asked, sitting back on eir legs and smoothing eir skirt.

“Probably.” Selenite carefully rubbed the cat’s ears, silently noting the creature’s strange ability to rumble in a pleasant manner. “I didn’t see that many wandering on their own, though. Not as many as this sort of creature, anyway.”

“Yes, I could. I’ve seen several. There’s usually one in most human settlements, I think.”

[tempestgem]

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Amethyst snorted at the suggestion that they liked her hair, which was… probably true. They enjoyed sleeping on it when she went to lie in the sun to doze, and even get themselves tangled in it.

“I can believe the second one,” Sapphire commented, a smile on eir lips. “Humans breed these little ones, don’t they? Do they do that with all animals or just the smaller ones? What about pigeons, I wonder.”

“I don’t know. I’ve seen plenty of humans with larger animals like this one but... Uh, Different.” Poor air gem doesn’t know how to describe dogs. “They had bigger... beaks.”  She’s trying her best.

Selenite gives up and just goes to pet at the cat as well. 

[tempestgem]

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Sapphire followed, drifting over to the animal and leaning down beside it. Amethyst had gotten it to play with her, letting it jump and claw at her hand while she pretended her hand was another cat.

“Interesting,” Sapphire said, looking to Selenite. “Quite a few come around camp, especially when the others bring back human food to eat. They all seem drawn to Amethyst, for some reason…”

“Maybe they like her hair? I’ve also seen that these creatures also have very large, more independent counterparts. Maybe they associate her with those very large kin?” Selenite speculated uncertainly. Cats are not her best subject. “Or maybe she’s just a generally pleasant and non-rowdy gem to be around.”