more_flexible: (Gorgeous)
[personal profile] more_flexible
Jack had been fortunate enough to get a few books in Persian, as well as some historical texts on military movements of Persian troops. It certainly wouldn't be the most stimulating conversation for a first...what was this, anyhow? Not a date, not a lesson...not that it mattered anyhow. Jack hated quaint little labels for things.

So, he'd brushed up and grabbed a bottle of pineapple wine and two cups and stopped at Bagoas's hut to see if he'd like to go enjoy the evening with him and have some fun with other tongues.

Date: 2007-04-15 12:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hiseromenos.livejournal.com
The promise of pineapple wine and hearing my own language spoken was perhaps the most enticing thing I had yet encountered on the island. Mimi had recovered reasonably and was being looked after by Toshiko, so I was alone at the hut when Jack arrived. "Would you like to come in?" I asked, glad to see him. "Or go somewhere else?"

Date: 2007-04-15 12:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] captainjack.livejournal.com
"Let's go outside. We can watch the sun go down while I slaughter your language," Jack smiled, nodding off to a distant path.

Date: 2007-04-15 12:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hiseromenos.livejournal.com
"I do not think that is what will happen," I said, falling into step beside him. But the sunset over the water was one of the things I liked most about this island, and I had seen far too much of my own walls as it was.

Date: 2007-04-15 01:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] captainjack.livejournal.com
He chuckled, sauntering along at an easy pace. "You have a lot more confidence in my memory than I do," he said, leading the way through a tangle of undergrowth and holding it back for Bagoas.

Date: 2007-04-15 01:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hiseromenos.livejournal.com
I ducked beneath the branches, flashing him a smile. "Even not speaking a language for a while," I said, "does not mean it is gone forever. It will come back."

Date: 2007-04-15 02:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] captainjack.livejournal.com
"I think that's true for most everything," Jack said, his heart skipping lightly at the brightness of Bagoas's smile. "I've been reading up. It was easier to remember once I'd gotten through some history."

Date: 2007-04-15 03:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hiseromenos.livejournal.com
"History," I said. Persians, all Persians, are enamoured of it, and some Greeks as well. "Alexander was fond of Kallisthenes."

Date: 2007-04-15 03:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] captainjack.livejournal.com
"I always enjoyed Xenophon, and Strabo was good for understanding the troops," he said, then fell silent for a moment before continuing in Persian.

"The Persian right-wing cavalry matched the Greek allied and Thessalian cavalry, while the Greeks and kardakes matched the phalanx - six 2,000-man taxeis, plus 2,000 or 3,000 hypaspists, drawn up eight deep. The Persian peltasts to the left of their hoplite-phalanx were probably opposite Alexander’s Companions. Their left-wing troops outreached his right." This sort of thing was always the easiest. Numbers and left and right...simple. And probably boring as hell.

Date: 2007-04-15 04:00 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hiseromenos.livejournal.com
Perhaps it shuld have been dull, but it was not. His accent was far from perfect, harsher than it should have been, more like a Macedonian than a true Persian. But it was my native tongue, and I rejoiced in the hearing of it.

But my stomach twisted, too, for it was not just any battle that he was describing. It was one I knew. For a moment I was quiet.

"Xenophon wrote of that."

Date: 2007-04-15 04:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] captainjack.livejournal.com
"He would have write it correct if he was in the battle, and not to watch the battle," Jack replied, wincing as he spoke, knowing how badly he was conjugating. It was awful enough that he stopped walking and rubbed his eyes for a moment. "That wasn't right."

Date: 2007-04-15 05:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hiseromenos.livejournal.com
"No," I said, unsure of what I meant. "And I do not mean he was wrong. Only that I remember it."

Date: 2007-04-15 05:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] captainjack.livejournal.com
"Yes, yes," Jack agreed, shaking his head. "You will be patient. Conversation is hard more than military and sex," he said slowly, trying hard to get the words right.

Date: 2007-04-15 05:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hiseromenos.livejournal.com
"It is all right," I assured him. It was true, in any case; fighting and sex seem to be the most universal, primal urges of men. Talking was far secondary. "I am glad to hear you speak it."

Date: 2007-04-15 05:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] captainjack.livejournal.com
"Maybe some wine helps," he chuckled, finally finding the path opening up and becomming more sandy as the beach came into sight. "And in time for the sunset, too. Come on," Jack smiled.

Date: 2007-04-15 09:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hiseromenos.livejournal.com
I could not help but smile at that. "I do not think wine has ever hindered conversation," I teased him, "only what words are actually said." We reached the beach then, long pale sand stretching out to both sides against the darkening blue of the sea and the sky above it. Although I had seen sand in my time in plenty, the sea was still something incredible to me, something that stirred my heart and made me wonder what lay beyond it, what more my lord could have taken. It was breathtaking.

Date: 2007-05-12 03:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] captainjack.livejournal.com
"I'd have to agree," Jack laughed, laying a hand lightly on Bagoas's shoulder. "Should we sit over there?"

Date: 2007-05-14 01:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hiseromenos.livejournal.com
"Yes," I said, turning up to glance at him before starting that way.

Profile

more_flexible: (Default)
more_flexible

September 2021

S M T W T F S
   1234
567891011
1213141516 1718
19202122232425
2627282930  

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

  • Style: Marry the Night for Ciel by nornoriel

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jan. 6th, 2026 01:00 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios