translation plot

[mix_it_up]

Asami is settled in a booth, a cup of jasmine tea by her side and a copy of 聯合日報 spread over the table in front of her. The headlines are still dominated by the aftermath of the Equalists – she's currently reading an article about the Republic's preparations for its first presidential election.

The black-and-white photos splashed across the pages include a young woman with her hair tied back, an older woman wearing slender armor that appears to be made of thin blades of steel, and a large building lined with four columns and topped with a wide dome.

Asami props her elbow up on the table, and rests her head in her hand, tapping her fingers on the paper, but still reading attentively enough that she doesn't notice the conversations occurring around her.

[ooc: Asami speaks the standard language of her world, which is similar to spoken Chinese languages, but not mutually intelligible with any specific variety. Her newspaper, and her writing in general, will be in Traditional Chinese.]

Comments

[grandadmiralartcritic]

Thrawn makes his way in from outside, where he has been enjoying wildlife and clear skies, unlike his surroundings in Coruscant, at the Royal Imperial Academy.

His lieutenant's bars are on his shoulder, and his uniform is much different than the furs he wore the first time he arrived here. Red eyes catch sight of Asami, and he approaches at an easy pace.

"Asami," he says, in clear Sy Bisti (just like before), "[I am pleased to see you here again.]"

[mix_it_up]

Asami glances up, lowering her hand and straightening in her seat. She blinks a few times, but then assumes she must have misheard him.

"[Hello]," she says, her expression quickly pulling into a smile. "[I'm sorry, I didn't see you.]"

[grandadmiralartcritic]

Thrawn brow furrows very slightly, even as a thin smile passes across his lips. He pauses a moment to listen to the ambient noise around him to make sure his hearing isn't suffering. And when nothing seems particularly muffled --

"[I'm sorry, can you repeat that? I'm afraid I didn't understand.]"

[mix_it_up]

Her smile slips, her confusion returning. "[I don't] -"

But then she stops. She knows, this time, that she's hearing the words he's saying. Asami looks away from him, out to the bar, watching the other patrons for the first time since she'd come in.

"[I think something's wrong.]" Asami looks back up to Thrawn, but then lifts her eyes in a self-deprecating sort of way. If something is wrong, he won't understand that, either.

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"[Do you mind if I sit?]"

Thrawn exhales, gesturing toward the empty side of Asami's booth.

"[Whatever translation was previously being applied, it seems to no longer be working now.]"

He repeats himself in Basic, just in case, and a second trade tongue after that, but none of that seems to help.

[mix_it_up]

Asami can follow the gesture well enough to nod, also motioning toward the other side of the booth.

"[I'm sorry, I still don't know what you're saying," she says, shrugging. But then she glances down at her paper, and closes it, folding it over several times. She pulls a pen out of her pocket, and leans over the folded paper, writing something along the white space at the edge of it.

你能讀懂這個嗎？ She turns the paper in his direction.

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"[I suspect that this is not going to change any time soon]," Thrawn allows, taking his seat in the booth.

He peers over at the writing, and while some of the shapes of the lines seem like they ought to be readable, they really aren't.

It is the work of a moment to type something out on his datapad, resting it on the table and sliding it in her direction, so that she can try her hand at reading, as well.

[mix_it_up]

Asami stares at the writing, which apart from looking nothing like her own, looks nothing like the 'Earth' language Bumi had once shown her.

She looks back up to Thrawn, and shrugs, a little helplessly.

[grandadmiralartcritic]

His own smile is a little dry, and accompanied by a slight tilt of his head toward the rest of the room.

At least it's not an isolated problem.

He reaches out with one hand and gestures at the room at large. Should they investigate?

[herr_bookman]

Autor approaches Asami with a wave, speaking in German. "[Hello, Asami. It's good to see you. It's been a while.]"

[mix_it_up]

Asami looks up, and smiles apologetically.

"[Autor, I'm sorry, I can't understand you.]"

[herr_bookman]

Autor stops, and blinks at her. "[Wait, what? Why isn't the bar translating everything?]" he says, and then switches to French, just in case. "[Can you understand me now?]"

[mix_it_up]

"[I still don't understand]," she says, shaking her head.

But she reaches for her newspaper, holding up the note she wrote for Thrawn along its edge:

你能讀懂這個嗎？

(Given that she knows she's written in her language for Autor before, she's fairly sure this won't work. But it's the only other option she can think of.)

[herr_bookman]

Autor stares at the language, and then offers a shrug to Asami. "[I can't read that. It... It looks like Chinese. Can Bar translate?]" he says, pointing first to the written words, and then to the bar.

[mix_it_up]

Asami's blinks to the bar as he points to it, and then she also shrugs.

Maybe?

[herr_bookman]

Autor holds up his index finger in the universal gesture of "one moment," and takes the newspaper to Bar. He returns with two napkins: one written in Chinese that reads, "Yes, I can," and the other written in German that reads, "It says 'Can you read this?'"

[mix_it_up]

Well, Asami can read one of those napkins.

But she can at least recognize the letters on the other napkin, and even if she doesn't know what it says, she can guess that it may have helped. So she starts to rise from the booth, nodding in the direction of the Bar.

[abitofawildman]

Like a bad yuan, Bumi always manages to turn up.
Something that happens more and more now that the flagship of the United Forces Navy has been moored in Republic City.

"Like a fine wine, that woman just gets better and better with age," he says from over Asami's shoulder.

"Dad looks good too."

[mix_it_up]

Asami straightens, an instinctive jerk of lifting her head from her hand and leaning back in her seat, but she also looks up, and smiles.

"It's nice to see you, too."

[abitofawildman]

"Nice to be seen," he says with a megawatt smile. "May I?" he gestures towards the chair.

Make no mistake, the asking was a mere formality, in that he's already in the act of sitting in it before Asami can reply.

[mix_it_up]

Asami doesn't object, though she closes her paper and folds it over.

"How are you, Bumi?"

[abitofawildman]

The smile twitches slightly, before shifting into a mug of an ambivalence.

"Good," he says finally.
It's a complicated time of flux for pretty much everyone, and Bumi's not entirely sure if Asami's up for any serious talk.

"You?"

[mix_it_up]

Asami's also feeling that ambivalence. She's had enough time to feel some distance from all of it, but each step of that distance has come with wading deeper into the aftermath.

She takes a deep breath. "I'm fine."

It's a little quick, and she seems to realize this, as she smiles again, and adds, "I am."

[abitofawildman]

He nods, pouting ever so slightly.

"Good. Good-good. Though, it'd be okay if you weren't.
I'm not," he says with a shrug.

[mix_it_up]

She lets out a breath.

"You're right," she admits. "I just don't always feel that way."