Do you like green eggs and ham? [OPEN]

[Dagiel]

Dagiel was bored. He'd been wandering around all day but he didn't have any of that money stuff Remiel said he needed. He'd tried staying in the house with the magical people box thing that he had been told is called a television but there was nothing interesting to watch; just vulgar people shouting at each other because they think they're having a baby or a programme about a woman who helps you look after your dog. So, he'd gone for a walk, browsed shops but couldn't buy anything and eventually he'd come across this place. A Library. He'd heard about it before but he'd never gone inside. Nate sometimes came here to get books and now Dagiel was curious. He stepped inside and looked around.

The place was absolutely packed with books, books and more books...and a couple of dvds. He smiled and remembered that Nate had told him that you didn't have to buy them to take them home. You just had to get a library card then borrow them for a bit. He went to the counter to ask about a library card and filled in a few forms. He was amazed how simple it was, just a few forms then he had his card and he could borrow books. He'd specifically chosen the card with the cartoon elephants on it, they made him smile. He pocketed the card and looked around for a book he thought he might like, eventually finding something called 'Heart-Shaped Box'. He opened the book to have a browse and frowned. Ah...that's right...he'd never learnt to read...Sure he could pick out a few words when reading signs or a poster but he couldn't read this well. He sighed and put it back, sitting in the little beanbag area and wondering what he could do. He spotted someone else wandering the shelved and walked over, tapping their shoulder softly.

"Um...excuse me. I know this sounds silly but...I just got this awesome library card and I want to read some books but I'm not very good at reading. Are there any super easy books I could read that have like...I dunno, like ten words on every page?" he knew it sounded silly for a man of his age not to be able to read but fish didn't write so he never read. "I don't mind what kind of book it is, as long as it's easy enough for me to read it."

[Reikas Esterion]

Reikas was bored. He was bored but like so many other things he did not show it. Irina did her own thing a lot, leaving the demon alone in the house. TV was only so fun, but he wanted to get out. He didn't want to go shopping though. He always felt a little uncomfortable using his master's money to buy things, especially Irina who earned some of hers by fighting like a caged dog.

He could go window shopping...Or to the boardwalk but he didn't really want to. He was fully satiated finally after spending enough time with Irina and Belial that he didn't need to be around people. And for a rare moment, he didn't particularly want to be, either.

Library. He hadn't been there in a long time. They were a dying enterprise these days, like all the bookstores. Sure, Irina had her own personal store of books, but Reikas still wanted to get out to somewhere new. It was a quick walk to York. Sure, it wasn't a new new place, but he hadn't been there in long enough that it was close enough. The building was the same as ever, old as dirt. Older than him, maybe. He liked things that looked older than he was. On a whim he tried to find the cornerstone to date it, but there were shrubs and things in the way. It probably wasn't, though...This whole city didn't exist back then.

He walked inside and offered the librarian a polite nod, then, feeling old, wandered over to the history section. He paused in front of the shelves on American revolution, and a strange feeling came over him. It was the indescribable feeling of age as experienced by a youth. He was only two years younger than the country he was now a citizen of. A series of British colonies starting a war with his home island, he could practically give a firsthand account of the entire history of The United States, or at least some tiny part of it that he'd lived in.

A tap on his shoulder startled him out of his reverie, and he turned and offered an automatic smile. Libraries were not a place to fear strangers.

He was careful not to let the man's appearance take him by surprise, but goodness, he had wings. Just like Belial only...proper. Proper wings, all white and useful-looking. The smile faded to curiosity as the man continued. Illiterate? Reikas might have been more surprised if he hadn't been feeling so nostalgic. Widespread literacy was quite a new concept, historically speaking. And it was regressing year by year as the slave trade expanded once more.

His speech was unusual, though. Extremely modern for someone his age. He spoke like a teenager, but not a stupid one. Interesting. Maybe he looked older than he was. Usually it was the opposite.

"Uhh, yes," Reikas said, sounding incredibly intelligent himself right there. "There's a children's sections right...Mm." He started to point, but realized that it was in a far corner of the library hidden from view by this particular section. Any direct-line gestures would indicate a path through several solid shelves of books in which one could get quite lost fairly easily.

"This way," he said, lowering his hand and gesturing for the man to follow. He headed out of the shelves, like a man very used to serving others, and looked back over his shoulder to make sure the winged wonder was following.

"Freed slave?" he asked conversationally. Though who would free a man that looked like that, he couldn't guess. Well, that was a lie, he could guess. Irina would be first on that list. Or close to at least.

[Dagiel]

Dagiel smiled in return as the stranger offered to show him to the children's section. He was a little disheartened by the fact that he'd have to start all the way back at the start, with books about the ABC and Biffer and Kip or whatever they were called. However, he also knew that everyone had to start somewhere so there was no point moping about it. Besides, some children's books had awesome pictures that helped him read; it certainly beat sitting there pretending to read a book that was far too complex for him. Still, he was a little taken aback by the man's question. Did he really look like a slave? Did angels get captured and sold as slaves on Earth?! He frowned slightly at the idea and looked to the man beside him.

"No, not a slave. Freed or otherwise. Do angels usually get treated as slaves down here?" he asked innocently, he hadn't been down on Earth all that long. "I used to be an angel guardian of aquatic creatures but I came to visit a fallen angel and didn't realise that visiting fallen angels results in banishment. Oh, I'm Dagiel by the way."

He offered a hand out to his new companion and smiled softly, He liked meeting new people and everyone on Earth seemed so much more interesting that the angels and fish he spoke to when he worked in the Afterlife. He didn't mind giving his story either, people tended to get curious about his wings and he liked to show them off a little if the truth be told. Then again, admitting that your main job is babysitting fish doesn't always guarantee a long conversation with people. But this guy seemed nice and understanding...and a lot more able-minded that Dagiel was at the moment. He looked around the shelves and smiled, picking out a particularly colourful one by the title of 'Do you like green eggs and ham?'. He looked to his companion and sheepishly shuffled his feet.

"Would...you stay here...and read with me? Just in case I get stuck with a word?"

[Reikas Esterion]

((You really should have kicked me about this one Soph, I am so sorry. I absolutely did not mean to neglect this thread and I did not run out of muse or anything. I literally forgot it existed. I am so sorry and I will reply to it for you and please please please if I ever do anything like that PLEASE send me a PM asking me to post. Please. I deserve to be hit repeatedly with a plastic cactus for replying once, then never again.))

Reikas was good at hiding it under a cordial courtesy, but inside he marveled at the simple revelation: this man was an angel. At first he had reservations; perhaps he was a type of demon that called themselves angels, but the more he spoke, the more it sounded like he was from...well, up there. And yet he spoke so lightly of such things, of "banishment" and visiting fallen friends. Maybe Heaven wasn't all it's cracked up to be.

"Reikas, pleasure," he introduced as he continued to lead the way, taking Dagiel's hand in a firm but brief greeting handshake. "I've never met an angel before, so I wouldn't know, but I haven't seen terribly many slaves with wings in the trading rings, so...probably not. I just guessed because around here it's pretty rare for free citizens to not be able to read. Not that it's a problem," he amended quickly, "it's just unusual."

He stopped as they reached the shelves and gestured, watching this interesting stranger look around the books. He was about to bid the man farewell when Dagiel asked him to stay. He hesitated.

"Read with you as in..." Dagiel had said he couldn't read well, which suggested that at least he could read somewhat, so Reikas wouldn't be teaching him letters at least. He could do that, hang around a bit. "Sure, let me find something of my own, and I'll be happy to stay with you if you need help. Alright?" He offered a friendly smile.

How interesting. Spending time with an angel who was barely literate. He wondered how old the man was. He was careful not to think too hard about the religious implications of meeting such a creature, though. There was no place for any sort of otherworldly belief system in his lifestyle.

[Dagiel]

(hey hun, don’t worry about the lack of post XD I was a little inactive thanks to uni so it’s ok, gonna be more active now though. I know that there was a lot going on with different people and school and such so I didn’t wanna poke too much xx)

Dagiel smiled when his companion introduced himself, he had a firm handshake and seemed friendly enough. He could tell that this guy was unsure about what it was to be an angel but he met a lot of people who wondered what he was like and where he came from, so it was no real bother to him when Reikas told him that he'd never met an angel before. He wasn't surprised when Reikas told him that everyone could generally read either; Dagiel had never really been given the opportunity to read much while he was in the Afterlife. They didn't have much in the way of fictional writing up there. He sat on one of the colourful beanbags and looked to Reikas as he agreed to sit with him.

"Thanks, it makes me feel a little less overwhelmed if I know there's someone here that can help me out a bit." he smiled and opened the book to the first bright page. "So what kind of stuff do you read Reikas?"

He read through a few pages of the book, the pictures helping him to identify what was happening. A small creature was riding a large creature and holding a sign saying 'I am Sam' then he would return with a sign saying 'Sam I am'. Dagiel smiled, the simple language was building his confidence slowly, he turned the page and smiled, 'Do you like green eggs and ham?' it was an absurd thought, to have green eggs and ham, surely they would be moldy. Still, he read on and stumbled as the text got a little more advanced. He struggled for a moment, his confidence melting a little to uncertainly. He turned to Reikas and bit his lip softly.

"Um...Reikas? I was doing well but I got stuck on this word." he pointed to the book where the word 'anywhere' lay under the image of Sam-I-Am and the protagonist. "What does it say? Sorry to bug you."

[Reikas Esterion]

"Histories mostly these days," Reikas replied to Dagiel's initial question. "It's nice to know what's been going on in the outside world while I've been stuck around here. I'll be right back." He headed off back toward the historical section, but found a fairly recent book that charted the supernatural revolution and its cultural impacts in the United States. It was about time he caught up on the big picture, it had been a while since he'd had any form of global perspective from a non-speculative source with proper hindsight.

He returned to the children's section just in time it seemed, since Dagiel was already looking a bit anxious. He didn't even have time to choose a seat before the angel looked up at him and asked about a word. The demon made his way over and crouched beside Dagiel's beanbag to look.

"Anywhere," he pronounced slowly. He pointed at the word with two fingers. "If you come across big words like that, see if you can find any smaller words in them that you recognize. A lot of times, finding a smaller word helps you figure out what the bigger word is, or how to pronounce it. See here, this is a compound word, 'any' and 'where'. If you put your finger over part of the word..." he used one finger to cover up the "where" portion, "...you can focus on pronouncing another."

He looked up at Dagiel and switched fingers, covering up the "any" part. "See?" he asked, "A lot of big words in books like these are like that." He pulled his hand away. "They're meant to build on what you already know by using combinations of words and letters you're already familiar with. Make sense?"

He reached beside himself somewhat blindly and moved a hand around until he found a beanbag chair to pull close. He sidled it up right beside Dagiel's and sat on the floor, stretching his legs out and resting his back against it. A b*tch slouchy for his tastes, but he could deal with it for now. This way he could easily glance over at Dagiel's book should he need to at the same time as the angel. Worked for him, and he got to practice some English as well.