One way or another Athessa has brought to Isaac's attention a book, procured for her by Mhavos, called La Langue des Fleurs.
The bulk of the text is translated into Trade, thankfully, but now she's pointing at an illustration. It seems that the notes below each drawn flower weren't considered important enough to translate, or that the translator assumed whoever read the book would actually read the book and be able to fill in that gap.
"J'espère," she reads, in a...passable approximation of the real pronunciation. "What does that mean?" The flower in question is that of the hawthorn tree, lovingly rendered in pastel colors and crowned with a hand-written label.
"Ah," He squints, points with the end of a pinky (hands occupied with a knife, some sort of root). J — ah. That's what she means. Well, still better than Ilias. "I hope."
"Protects against hexes, or so my mother used to say." If she said any such thing, he doesn't recall. Seems doubtful; Hawthorn trees don't grow in tenements. "Planning a bouquet?"
His manner's breezy. Athessa is pleasant enough company, and she hasn't broken anything yet.
"What? No," don't be absurd, her tone says. "I wanted to see if this flower language would be useful at all." In truth, she's trying to parse as much of the language as she can without actually reading the book. It'd simply take her too long and she'd have to read aloud and sound out the words--
"What about that one? The lilac? je n..nai...n'ai...jamais?" She gives up trying to embarrass herself even more than sounding out Trade words would and just angles the book towards him and points again.
"A bouquet is eminently useful," For the young, the fripperous, and anyone whose correspondence is reviewed by armed guards. "Though here I may recommend speaking directly. Je n'ai jaimais aime que vous: I never liked you."
A short gesture with the knife (away from Athessa).
"Really, it varies more than that. The meanings go in and out of fashion — not strictly reliable as code."
She makes a face at the idea of a useful bouquet. Maybe if you had to hide a knife.
"I was thinking something more...indirect than just handing someone flowers," Like having someone set all the tables in an outdoor cafe with agapanthus blossoms to send a message about the Divine. "If the meanings change so much, that could actually be helpful for using it as code, because if only the sender and recipient know the key, then it's harder for the message to be intercepted. Right?"
Agapanthus. J'éprouve pour vous un amour divin. I feel for you a love most divine. A code within a code, potentially.
"Sure. Maybe not in the field right away, but--" She shrugs and starts flipping through the pages to find the next illustration. Maybe she'll try it around the Gallows, first.
"You'll know to think twice if you get flowers out of the blue, I guess."
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action; post-dated to after the laura situation has calmed down
The bulk of the text is translated into Trade, thankfully, but now she's pointing at an illustration. It seems that the notes below each drawn flower weren't considered important enough to translate, or that the translator assumed whoever read the book would actually read the book and be able to fill in that gap.
"J'espère," she reads, in a...passable approximation of the real pronunciation. "What does that mean?" The flower in question is that of the hawthorn tree, lovingly rendered in pastel colors and crowned with a hand-written label.
no subject
"Protects against hexes, or so my mother used to say." If she said any such thing, he doesn't recall. Seems doubtful; Hawthorn trees don't grow in tenements. "Planning a bouquet?"
His manner's breezy. Athessa is pleasant enough company, and she hasn't broken anything yet.
no subject
"What about that one? The lilac? je n..nai...n'ai...jamais?" She gives up trying to embarrass herself even more than sounding out Trade words would and just angles the book towards him and points again.
no subject
A short gesture with the knife (away from Athessa).
"Really, it varies more than that. The meanings go in and out of fashion — not strictly reliable as code."
no subject
"I was thinking something more...indirect than just handing someone flowers," Like having someone set all the tables in an outdoor cafe with agapanthus blossoms to send a message about the Divine. "If the meanings change so much, that could actually be helpful for using it as code, because if only the sender and recipient know the key, then it's harder for the message to be intercepted. Right?"
Agapanthus. J'éprouve pour vous un amour divin. I feel for you a love most divine. A code within a code, potentially.
no subject
"A good point," He manages to not sound surprised. "If you could coordinate volumes for reference. Trouble, of course, should one's enemies catch on."
A light shrug.
"But isn't that always the trick in novels? Hang a lamp in the window, wear a flower in the pocket. One wonders how many accidents come of it."
no subject
She thinks about the mistakes that could be made if looking for someone wearing a flower, and there are multiple people wearing one.
"I guess passphrases would be too predictable?"
no subject
"You do mean to try this, don't you?"
no subject
"You'll know to think twice if you get flowers out of the blue, I guess."