Falling asleep in the arms of a sleepy, cuddly Simkha was incredibly easy. Simkha was basically the perfect teddy-bear. Assuming the idea of teddy-bears existed in Simkha’s universe?
Tali and Simkha spent most of the next day in Simkha’s flat. Tali spent the morning doing calculations to build a Bagel for her rescue-me-from-the-hologram project. She double-checked her maths as she went, recording her results in her SIGN frame. Tali assumed Simkha was working on schoolwork—transcribing notes and organizing them in an outline.
When Tali asked what Simkha was doing, Simkha said ??Uh. [It] bwurdt [called the] wa-sho-ver-tech-n?que. [For] Erchaeobotanu.??
By the early afternoon, Tali needed a break. She flopped across the loveseat and made a silly face at Simkha, trying to snag her attention. Simkha didn’t notice. She turned back and forth between her notes and her laptop and typed furiously.
Tali hadn’t seen the new, grown-up Simkha in this kind of fugue state yet. She spent a few minutes observing Simkha, the little furrow on her brow, the sharp motion of her eyes, and the restless bouncing of her leg. Tali smiled softly and tapped a foot along with Simkha.
As a child, Simkha would throw an absolute fit whenever an adult made her stop in the middle of one task to perform another. Young Tali had seen how much that distressed her friend, and took it upon herself to protect young Simkha from unnecessary interruptions. She had been Simkha’s most ardent protector.
Of course that was then and this was now. Both girls had changed, to varying degrees.
Adult Tali had years more schooling under her belt. She had learned in the classroom about autism, mental derailment, and specifically autistic experiences of distress. Adult Simkha had probably learned the same things, and learned to minimize her own distress.
And, of course, some interruptions were necessary. So Simkha would probably tell Tali to interrupt her in order to meet her own needs.
Yeah, needs. Needs like… leaving the flat. Like having adventures. Like having adventures with Simkha.
Tali pulled out the chair across the table from Simkha, crouched on it like a gargoyle, stared at Simkha, and waited.
After seventeen seconds, Simkha blinked. She refocused her eyes. She looked up, saw Tali, and her lips twitched into a smile.
??Sim-khaaa?? moaned Tali. ??[I am] booo-ored! [I] wanna go out! [I] wanna eat! [I] want [exercise]!??
??Uhhh,?? said Simkha. ??[Do you] ?n ku?er gean wolle???
Tali cocked an eyebrow and said nothing.
??Uh, Ku?er??? repeated Simkha. She walked a hand across the table using two fingers as legs. ??Ku?er me? tyn fuotten???
??Hmmm,?? said Tali. She lifted one leg up, raising her foot above the edge of the table. ??[Is this called] ‘fuotten?’??
??[Um, yes],?? said Simkha. ??In fuot.??
If fuotten meant “foot,” then ku?er must mean “walk.”
??[Yes]!?? said Tali. ??[You-me is foot-walk. Walk is good!]!??
Tali pestered Simkha for more English words while they got ready to go out. She got words for
<blockquote>
162. Walk,
163. Foot,
164. Feet,
165. Toe,
166. Sock,
167. Shoe,
168. Sandal (equivalent, but distinct to “shoe”), and
169. Bag
</blockquote>
As soon as Simkha was ready, Tali rushed down the stairs and out onto the street.
Ahhh!
Tali thought this Fir-stox-ford city was way nicer than Tangiers. The weather here was comfortable. The air was pleasantly warm. And this particular day was perfect for an adventure. Tali basked in the afternoon glow while Simkha locked the door behind them.
Tali seized Simkha’s arm and dragged her off in an arbitrary direction. Tali marched them up one road, down another, and all the way along a third.
Soon enough, Tali and Simkha came upon a bustling city square. To one side of the square, a steady stream of people spilled out of one of those pointy Christian temples. To the other side of the square, a small mob of middle-aged people in self-similar clothing milled through a cluster of artsy-looking booths. All those people talked loudly in tones that reminded Tali of pointless university feuds.
Tali cocked her head as she observed. She tilted to just the right angle, then waited for her SIGN to do its thing.
After about an eighth of a second, her display winked out, spent another quarter second loading, and then activated Social Analysis Mode—SAM for short. The acronym wasn’t actually SAM in High Tongue, but Tali would have agreed that SAM sounds much better than ?h?N.
Tali’s SAM highlighted the closest member of the crowd first, a middle-aged man wearing a tweed suit.
??ANALYZING PHYSIOLOGICAL EMOTIONAL SIGNS…
VERY PROBABLE: Disgust, annoyance
PROBABLE: Hunger, arousal, confidence
POSSIBLE: Satisfaction, distr—??
With a flick of her eyes, Tali switched her SAM to group analysis mode.
??ANALYZING INTERPERSONAL INTERACTIONS…
SALIENT DYNAMICS: Group loyalty, fear of outsiders, fear of exclusion, fear o—??
Tali glanced behind her, where Simkha wore an anxious expression.
??NO GROUP DETECTED. INDIVIDUAL ANALYSIS RESUMED.
ANALYZING PHYSIOLOGICAL EMOTIONAL SIGNS…
VERY PROBABLE: Anxiety
PROBABLE: Anxiety (elevated), fear, determination, arousa—??
Tali flicked her SIGN back to standard mode. She didn’t need help seeing past Simkha’s poor attempts to hide feelings. She could tell this was not the right place to begin their adventure.
Tali picked a new direction and led Simkha away. After about four minutes, they reached the river and stopped.
Tali noticed something odd. Or more accurately, she felt an ambiguous feeling that something was different about the district across the river.
Just what was the difference?
Maybe it was the style of the buildings? Comparing them directly, Tali thought they might be a little bigger, newer, and more closely packed than the buildings over here. But that didn’t feel like enough of an explanation.
Maybe the difference was in the pedestrian streets? The walking streets were set further apart from the automotive streets and didn’t even follow the same grid layout. The connecting paths were set off by bollards. And the pedestrian areas were brick-cobbled in a style similar to the older parts of the Bweim-Biew campus.
Or the difference could be in the writing? Both sides of the river were practically covered in signs, banners, and other words.
At first glance, both scripts appeared identical. Both used glyphs that were almost-but-not-quite identical to the crude alphabet she had learned for Saxonnaise. A second glance revealed that the script across the river had adopted a whole host of diacritics not used over here.
But for all their differences, the two districts had much more in common. They were constructed from the same materials. Their architectural details seemed like variations on the same theme. And they were joined by several bridges, allowing for a fairly steady flow of people hither and yon.
??[Simkha, what is that place]??? asked Tali.
??Uh,?? said Simkha, ??lyg, [what is it named]???
??[Yes, what is it named]??? said Tali.
??[That is],?? said Simkha, ??Saxe-Occ?dental.??
Simkha pointed down at the river.
??[That is] ?n ?r?v?er. [It is called] te ?r?v?er te Teems.??
Simkha spoke with a slight edge to her voice, prompting Tali to look again. Simkha did her best to wrestle her face into a neutral expression, but she had not become more skilled at hiding her thoughts over the years.
??[What is], er, [what is not good]??? asked Tali. ??[This place, Saxe-Occidental. It is…] er, [Is it not-good?]??
Simkha ducked her head.
??[No],?? she said. ??[It is good].??
??[Then what is not-good]???
Simkha pouted. Tali waited. Simkha gestured to the district across the river as she answered.
??Yn Saxe-Occ?dental, se [talk] te Franske [language]. [I do not talk] Fransk.??
Tali nodded. She had thought about the language barrier as a potential obstacle to a proper adventure with Simkha. But maybe she’d been thinking about it wrong. Maybe it could even be an advantage. She smiled.
But how could she get Simkha to go along with her plan??
??[Good we],?? said Tali. ??[Talk me. Relax you. Happy you. Happy me. Happy we. Walk we! Good]???
Simkha closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She set her jaw. When she opened her eyes, they gleamed with determination.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
??[Yes],?? said Simkha. ??[Good]??
??[So you took Simkha] op ?n [d??a??te?] [all afternoon],?? said Hrefna. ??[And she spent all afternoon to] pesocht [teach you English]???
Tali sat next to Simkha at Mika and Hrefna’s kitchen table. Tali had figured out that this was a sort of weekly study group, although nobody was studying the same materials. Tali struggled to follow the conversation.
??[It] bw?e [not a] [d??a??te?]!?? said Simkha. ??[Tali] bw?e [clear]—[‘Adventure’ is the] goede [word]. [Her] pezgr?uw?ng bw?e [clear].??
??Hreffie! [Simkha] sefoldle [not] tease,?? said Mika. ??[Simkha], negearye [her]!??
??[No]!?? protested Hrefna. ??[Do not] negearye [me]! [I] s?l, lyg, utdoen [my clothes]!??
??[What is], er, [what is] ‘[d??a??te?]’??? asked Tali.
To Tali’s left, Simkha squirmed and sat kinda weird in her seat, her legs half-crossed and half propped against the table. Moving clockwise from Simkha sat Hrefna, with one leg in front of her and the other crossed to splay out and touch knees with Mika on her other side. Next to Mika sat an exceptionally thin woman with a dark brown Titus cut who introduced herself as ‘Corey’ and sat with almost too-perfect posture. Finally, Jneffner sat between Corey and Tali, her body turned away from the table and her legs hooked up under her chair.
??[A] ‘[d??a??te?]’ [is what you and Simkha did this afternoon],?? said Hrefna.
??[A] ‘[d??a??te?]’ [is] gedlig [what you and Simkha did this afternoon],?? said Mika. ??[But if you and Simkha] hie bwest [g?i?rl?-fr?i?en?ds]. Bwechtsye, [do you know what] ''[g?i?rl?-fr?i?en?d]'' [means]???
??[What is] ‘[g?i?rl?-fr?i?en?d]?’??
??[It is], lygas, uh, lygas [me and Hrefna]? [Or if you two also] bw?ene, lygas, tutsye [and had]-ende [sex]. Bwechtsye, [you] bw?erzgyndl?g [do not know] tutsyen [or sex], bwol???
??Moatte [we] temonstrearye, pebe??? asked Hrefna.
??Freegye [ask Simkha to show] om [you ''sex'' later] fennacht te l?tten,?? Corey told Tali.
Simkha choked on nothing.
Tali may not have understood the whole conversation, but she could absolutely understand teasing Simkha. She allowed a sly smirk to grow on her face.
??[Nooo-o],?? corrected Tali, ??[I know ‘sex.’ Simkha teach me ‘sex’ already. Simkha teach me ‘sex.’ Right away, first night I see her].??
Hrefna cackled.
??G*d ferdomme. Et tu, Tal?? Et tu, Corey???
Simkha groaned, turned towards the rest of the table, and hid her face
??[I taught her the word for ''sex''], [but it] bw?e [not] se, uh, [that]. [We know] eldlegear [that I am] te swag [for that]. Foar sef?er''t [I know, Tali is] hundert pros?nt heterosegzueel.??
Tali grinned at Simkha
??[Tali, you are an] oproer,?? said Hrefna.
??[A sex]-grep me?tsye [not mean that you want to] neuge,?? said Corey.
??Meh,?? said Mika, ??[I do not] t?ng [that she is on the team] fen [Jneffner].??
??N?mmen [wants to be on my team] bweze,?? sighed Jneffner. She made an odd expression.
Tali frowned. She cocked her head to the side until her SAM turned on.
ANALYZING PHYSIOLOGICAL EMOTIONAL SIGNS…
VERY PROBABLE: Melancholy, anger
PROBABLE: Insecurity, anxiety, excitement
POSSIBLE: Disgust, anticipation, vigilance
Tali flipped her SIGN back to standard mode.
??...[but I] freegye [you]: freegye [her not],?? said Simkha.
??[Jneffner, is not true],?? said Tali. ??[We are team here. We want team you.]??
??Hmph,?? grumbled Jneffner.
??[Tali is] lygwols gedlyg, [Jen]?? said Mika. ??Lygas, t?ng [about why Georgia kept making] ?n grep [that you must] temug [be] p?-[sex]-ueel, [in the] sms-groep. [The] sms-groep [is] ?n totaal, lygas ... seppyzge sosyadle-[club]. Seppyzg synd?gaat? Bwetever—[my point is that was her] men?er [of saying that you] hearre [on the team].??
??Queer Qabal?? said Corey. ??T?ge-Teng.??
??[That is a better name]?? said Mika, ??[But this is] ?n oare sms-groep. [You are not in it]. [We will have to] feroarye [the name] ne?''t [when you have] tefoege.??
??Utse?n [Georgia named it] GyokkPlokk,?? said Hrefna ??[and that name], lyg, [works for Corey already].??
??[So], uh,?? said Jneffner, picking at a nail. ??[Simkha. Tali. What did you two] e?ns t?en? [Did you] echt eldl?n?ch [learn English all afternoon]???
Tali looked at Simkha and raised an eyebrow. Simkha shrugged. Tali figured she could explain their afternoon, given what they’d done.
??Er,?? said Tali. ??[We go to adventure. We go to place. We adventure to place. Simkha teach to me to words to adventure].??
??[Yeah],?? said Simkha. ??[We talked about what we did. I taught her words as] ned?ch.??
??Ogee, [Tali,] t??d [for a] test. [Tell us what you two did]???
??Erm, [yes]??? said Tali. ??Hmmm. [We go-ed to over-river. To French city. We see-ed big small child. Small child played to foot-ball].??
??[Many small childs],?? corrected Simkha.
??Uh,?? said Hrefna.
??[Many small child-ren],?? corrected Corey.
??[Simkha take foot-ball to from many small children],?? said Tali. ??[Kick foot-ball to sky].??
??Bwechtsye!?? said Simkha. ??[I] fong [the ball when the kids] kontrodle ferdlearen. [Then I showed them how to] gyongdleren [it].??
??[Kicked foot-ball faaa-aaar to sky]…?? said Tali.
??[You were] tease te [me, weren’t you]??? said Simkha.
??[And she did it well, didn’t she]??? said Hrefna.
??[You can] gyongdleren [a football]??? asked Jneffner.
??[Yeah],?? said Simkha ??[I''ve been a] pytsye obsedearre [with football]-trukyes [for], lygas, ?n pear gy?er.??
??[Did you] bwolr?s [consider a football team]??? asked Jneffner.
??[And then we find big world, little city. Many little city. And Simkha smoosh, smoosh, smoosh! Kill, kill, kill! Smoosh-kill all the little city.]??
??[Smoosh smoosh, kill kill]??? asked Mika.
??[Did you] gyonges [find that], lygas, tolve-meter [tall globe built], lygas, [into the] hoege [of that museum]??? asked Corey.
??[Yes]!?? said Tali, ??[Globe is word! Big mu-se-um, big world-globe]!??
??[What was all the ‘smoosh’ and ‘kill’], ten??? asked Mika.
??Ummm,?? said Hrefna. ??Fensels [it] bw?e [smooshing and killing all the cities] sk?ldere [onto the globe]???
??Uh, [yeah],?? Simkha admitted. ??[It] bw?e.??
??Hell [yeah],?? agreed Hrefna. ??[smoosh and kill is,] lygas, [the] fenselsspreggend [thing you do at the big globe].??
??[Then we go to ca-fe],?? said Tali. ??[Simkha buy me cute drink, cute pas-try. And two cute girl, they talk to us. They ask if we to-ga-ther. Oh! Like ‘date!’ Like ‘girlfriend’]!??
??[It] bw?e gr?f [a date],?? said Hrefna. ??[What did you tell the girls]???
??Erm,?? said Tali. ??[One girl, she asked to give to me to… num-ber? Yes, num-ber. Simkha tell to me to the meaning of num-ber. I say to girl, I no. She not], erm, [‘my type’]?’??
Mika and Hrefna exchanged a considering look.
??[Don’t] ?ens [think about it, you two],?? said Simkha.
??[And two girl],?? said Tali, ??[ask to give to Simkha to number].??
??Oh???
??[And Simkha say ‘AH, AH, ER, ERM, AH, ERM, NO, YES, NO, ERM,’ yes]???
Hrefna cracked up.
??[So two girl, she make the word to the napkin, give napkin to Simkha, go to away].??
??[Did Simkha keep her number]???
??[No]!?? said Simkha. ??Fensels [not! I took Tali back to our flat and we did schoolwork]!??
??[Schoolwork]??? asked Jen. ??[Tali, you have schoolwork]???
??Eh,?? said Tali. ??[I write maths].??
??[Took her back to our flat?]?? Mika smiled. ??[I am] pl??d [that you two are] me??noar komme!??
Tali grinned. Simkha groaned.