milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Sometime shortly before this, Nita enters the bar.

And while the Suit she's wearing doesn't quite resemble the one in the icon -- it's still very black and very snazzy.

She's taking a well-deserved coffee break somewhere that doesn't have Neeble.

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"How on Earth would you not pay attention?" Matilda wonders, blinking. "It's right there. Oh, well. I suppose we can't all be enamoured of language for its own sake."

She's finished her preliminary read-through of the folder by this time, and reaches for a celebratory stick of celery when she closes it.

"Like I said: lazy."

She nods at the folder. "Think that'll keep you for a while?"

"Certainly. If you don't mind, though, could you see about finding me a more extensive lexicon and grammar for later? I like to have all my materials on hand, even if it's probably going to take me some time to get through this."

"I'll see what I can do. Is there any particular field you've got a particular interest in? It'll be a lot easier to get you specialized vocabulary than an overview."

"Everything, of course."

She grins.

"I realize that's not terribly informative. Er, let's see-- I'm in my second year at Cambridge studying linguistics, philosophy, mathematics, chemistry, and physics, at the moment. Does that help?"

". . . Not really."

She sounds amused, and impressed.

"Let's start with physics, though." Wry: "Not that that particular lexicon is exactly small or stable, of course, but it's got a wide set of applications."

"All right." Brightly: "You'd be hard pressed to find a subject I'm not interested in, really."

"No particular affinities yet, huh?"

"Like I said, I'm interested in everything. Languages particularly... are there any people in your home universe who spend their time studying the Speech itself, on its own terms?"

If there are, can she meet and/or become one, preferably both?

"Grammarians? I think so. Somebody has to try and keep track of the way the language changes."

With satisfaction: "That would be a fun job."

She shakes her head. "To each her own. I think I'd get frustrated within a week. The Speech evolves at an incredible rate."

Tilda giggles.

"But that's the fun part," she protests.

A snicker.

"If you say so."

She checks her watch, and startles. "Ah, crap, Zed'll kill me if I'm late. I'll try and check in with you and see how you're coming on that soon, okay?"

"Of course. Thanks again!"

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