Third Unused Utility Belt | Video

[hellofist]

[Hello there Barge. Cass is in the library, sitting on the floor with a bunch of books spread around her. When she turns the feed on, she's got a copy of A Tale of Two Cities in her hands. She'd recognized it as the book she had tried to read when she had stayed at Tim's apartment, but it was only the spine and the cover she knew. She still has no idea what it's about, or even what it is.]

Um. Don't know lots of things. Trying to learn. Reading, how to... use comm. But...

[Well, staring at words and trying to will them into making sense? It's not very effective.]

Need help. Had offers. Cashing in. [It's possible she got that phrase from Dean.] In library. Anyone can come, need... lots of help.


(ooc: ABSOLUTELY ANYONE is welcome to come and see Cass about reading, even if they haven't previously talked to her about helping out. Come and poke the little bat!)

Comments

[hellofist]

[It takes her awhile. She stumbles over the R and the U, but eventually she has told Steph all of the letters. Once she's done, she doesn't look too pleased. This is a long word and she knows what's next.]

Sound it out?

[ichoosefight]

Give it a try? The G is going to make a 'guh' sound. [ Prologue is a hard word though. Crazy French words. ]

[hellofist]

[Why couldn't you have started her out on something easier, Steph? Now you have to sit there and listen to her make funny noises.]

Pp- ro... Pro... [That's about the only part of that word. At least O has the sense to sound like what it's called.]

[ichoosefight]

[ Steph waits a moment to give her a full chance to try it, then butts in to help. ] Prologue. It's a tough one. The next one is easier. Do you know what 'prologue' means? [ It's a pretty specialized word, she wouldn't be at all surprised if Cass has never heard it. ]

[hellofist]

Nope.

[She doesn't look ashamed about it, at least. That's just a dumb word, so she's not giving it much credit.]

[ichoosefight]

It means, uh... [ It means that she wishes she had a dictionary, but a basic definition will work so oh well. ]

The part that comes before the beginning. It's like a bonus chapter before the rest of the story starts.

[hellofist]

But... Why? Why not, part of whole thing?

[This makes no sense, Steph. Who invented bonus chapters anyway?]

[ichoosefight]

I guess in case you want to skip it. Epilogues are the same way.

[ She shrugs, then points to the first word of the opening title. It's 'Summer'. ]

[hellofist]

[Sorry Steph, Cass is still stuck on this whole prologue thing.]

Skip? It's part... of the story. Shouldn't skip.

[ichoosefight]

You'd think, but people can be pretty lazy about reading. [ She'll just leave her finger on that word, then. ]

[hellofist]

Then... Not important?

[There is still no sense to be had here. Why put something in the book at all if people aren't going to read it?]

[ichoosefight]

I think it depends on the writer. I always read the prologue. Sometimes it's vital to the story, sometimes it's not really.

[hellofist]

Hmm.

[Weird. But, Steph is still pointing out the word, so Cass leans into to see again. It's an S, and she grins.]

S, for Steph. Easy.

[ichoosefight]

Good. You know the next one? [ She hopes 'summer' is a bit easier than 'prologue'. ]

[hellofist]

[She does. She lists out the letters, haltingly and slowly in a way that's bound to test the patience of anyone. Cass is getting frustrated with herself, because it's taking her a whole five minutes to sound out these two syllables.]

So... S-suh... [She goes quiet, mouthing it under her breath so Steph won't hear her stumbling over the word.] ... Soomer?

[Not quite, but at least it's close?]

[ichoosefight]

Close. Does it sound like anything you know? [ Come on Cass you can get this, she believes in you! ]

[hellofist]

Hmm... [She's staring at it so hard, thinking of that she just said...]

Sooner?

[ichoosefight]

Not quite. Try it with an "uh" instead of an "ooh".

[hellofist]

With- Oh! Summer!

[There is a Batgirl beaming at you like crazy right now, Steph.]

[ichoosefight]

Perfect. Alright, one more word. [ It's 'term'. ]

[hellofist]

[Oh good, it's really short. Not as good as is or anything, but it's better than prologue.]

Tee... Tear...

[ichoosefight]

And the last letter? [ She hears that hesitation. ]

[hellofist]

M. Tearm? [That's no word she's ever heard before, so she must have gone wrong somewhere.]

Teerm... [Nope. Steph's name has a funny sounding E in it, so maybe... But no, when she says it that way it still doesn't make sense.]

Don't know.

[ichoosefight]

Term. [ She learned with phonics, and she knows there's other ways but... well maybe this isn't a great book to start with. ]

Summer Term. Like at school. So this takes place at a school during Summer.

[hellofist]

But... E. Not U. Dumb word.