Two dorks walk into a library....

[bostonhowler]

♥ Who: Brigid and Edgeworth
♥ Where: Library!
♥ When: Sometime after she's herself again
♥ What: Dorking out, mostly over the Chronicle
♥ Rating: If this gets above PG, I will be shocked

Brigid takes a run every morning, tries to find a job up until about mid-afternoon, and then decamped to the library for some serious translation time.

But today, she's having trouble settling, and often finds herself wandering among the shelves, trailing her fingers along the shelves, staring at the books. It's an Ogham day, and those are always slow slogs through slashes, is-that-a-slash-or-a-smudge, and staring at her Ogham dictionary that is far from complete. She'd much rather be translating the Latin, but the Ogham needs translated too. Unfortunately.

Sighing, she forces herself back into the seat. Alright, one hour of Ogham, and then she can go home, clean up and go for a run.

She can't help but notice the silver-haired man that continuously looks over at her. She finally gives up on the Ogham and stares back. It's impolite, but she's frustrated enough not to care.

Comments

i like big books and i cannot lie

[turnaboutson]

To be fair, Miles had been rude in the first place by staring. He at least has the good grace to be embarrassed. Still, it's not every day you see a woman poring over a gigantic book and clearly engaged in translation work.

He has to admit - he's more than a little intrigued. So since he's been caught looking, he walks over. "Pardon the intrusion," he says politely, "but may I ask what that book is?"

I'm so glad you made that joke

[bostonhowler]

She sighs. It's not in her to be rude. Still, she protects the Chronicle with her life. So, she says exactly what it is. "Family history." She says with a smile. "Some in English. Unfortunately for me, it's also in Ogham. Which means this modern day girl has to translate it."

She has her translations out, and most of them are innocuous. She keeps the steamy bits for at home.

"My name is Brigid Finn." She offers her hand.

[turnaboutson]

"Miles Edgeworth." He shakes the offered hand. "That's quite a hefty amount of history."

Ogham, though, that's something he doesn't know. "I don't think I've heard of Ogham before."

[bostonhowler]

She chuckles. "Irish clan history. Most of them were good Catholics." Meaning large families. She knows her Da wanted several more children, but her mother dying had... well. No reason to dwell on that right now.

She turns the Chronicle so he can see. The slashing lines across the page actually mean something and aren't just tally marks. "It's an ancient form of Irish," she explains. "Before the Church came to the island." There is some Latin - ancient Church Latin - in the margins.

[turnaboutson]

"Aha." She didn't need to say another thing. The implication was quite clear.

When she turns the large book, he leans over to peer at it. It resembles shorthand, in some ways. He knows some Latin, outside of what a lawyer generally needs to know, but medieval Church Latin is as different from the Latin he's learned as Old English is from modern English. "And you're translating all of this? The Ogham, and the Latin?"

[bostonhowler]

She nods, turning the book back so she can read it. The marginal notes are always fun to read. The scholars had all had opinions on things in the book. Especially when Druid had turned to Priest.

But yes, it's Church Latin. Something far different from the Latin used in legalese or medical practices today. And she reads it. She can write in it too, if she tries, but it takes concentration from her. "Of course. My cousin -" Alpha "- wants it translated to share with the family."

[turnaboutson]

"That's a heavy load. And it's just you? None of your other cousins are helping?" Would that he had a family that large. The Edgeworth family reunion is just him and his father's grave. Franziska is his family, too, but not by blood.

"How much have you managed to get done?"

[bostonhowler]

She laughs. "Most of them are far more concerned with other things." She says, with a grin. "Apparently, sitting with dusty old books, written in long dead languages holds no interest for them."

Then, she looks at the book and sighs. "Not even a quarter. Of the three quarters I have to translate. The stuff from about the eighteenth century on is in English." She shrugs.

[turnaboutson]

"At least you don't have to translate those parts. Small mercies, I suppose." Then he laughs. "It's interesting to me. I can't imagine what else could occupy their time. But then again, I've always been interested in research."

[bostonhowler]

"Translate, no, rewrite, yes." She sighs. "Unfortunately, there wasn't standardized spelling until the nineteenth century so some of the wording is... unusual." That's putting it nicely. Some of it is downright bizarre. She'll have to figure it out when she gets there. "Research is basically all I do. My Ph.D is good for teaching and research, unfortunately, little else."