knightofratatosk | [Accidental Voice]

[It's late in the evening after a busy day of work at the tea shop, cooking and chores, and animal-wrangling that Emil finally sits down to flip through his journal and catch up on the events of the day.

He's taken to using a certain Christmas card that Buffy gave him a couple of years ago as a bookmark in the journal, both to keep it from getting lost or damaged and because it's bulky enough (being one of those musical cards) that it makes it easy to find his place right away. It's never occurred to him that sticking something that plays music into a journal that can broadcast things to everyone else whose journal is open might not be the best idea-- he always keeps the card closed, and besides, he's been doing it for a long time without any issues.

Today, however, he's so tired and the couch is so comfortable that he ends up starting to doze off as he pages through the journal. Everything is fine for a while... until he rolls over a bit, dislodging both journal and card from their places on the couch beside him and sending them toppling to the floor, the card landing half-open atop the also-opened journal. Of course, this immediately triggers the card to start playing music....

So Luceti, enjoy the very tinny version of "Jingle Bells" that is currently being broadcast over the journals. Emil has no idea his journal is even on.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jingle Bells?

[Give him a moment here to wake up enough to figure what is going on, then--]

... oh no, the card fell open! How long has it been playing this? I'm really sorry!

[He almost chuckle, just almost. Emil couldn't see it, but he cracks a smile.]

Not that long! But it's okay, I just wasn't expecting to hear it in the middle of the year.

[A little past the middle of the year, technically speaking. But details.]

[Good grief, this is embarrassing. Hopefully not too many people heard it...]

It's one of those musical Christmas cards... I'd been using it as a bookmark in my journal, and I guess I must've bumped it while I was asleep.

[There are probably other people who heard it. But that means looking up from his sketchbook to check the other replies.]

Oh, no wonder. [It make sense compared to...a musicbox or something.] And that's pretty likely. It's a pretty neat idea to use it as a bookmark. But I think you should use it for other books in case this happens again.

You think so? [Now Emil sounds a little pleased.] I'd been trying to find some way to store it so that it wouldn't get knocked open by accident. We've got a lot of animals in the house, so things are always getting knocked over. I was just trying to keep it safe.

Yep, I think so. [Kouki does admit it when someone's pretty original or creative with things.] That must have make it tricky, but your household would never get boring.

But the card still get knocked open in the end.

Yeah. I think it's time to move it to another book and find something else to use as a bookmark instead. Maybe I'll go look at the store to see if they have any actual bookmarks there...

If you can't find any bookmarks, you can always make one yourself. Give it your own personal flair to the design, while you're at it.

Out of cardboard or something like that, you mean? That's a good idea.

Yep. Or just cardboard paper, since it's thin enough to put between the pages.

Maybe I could even put a pressed flower on it or something. I read about that in a book once! You press the flower and then you glue it onto the paper.

You can do that! Just make sure you laminate or cover it, so the flower's protected from dirt and dusts.

Laminate...?

[Emil does not know this word.]

[Let's see if he can explain it...]

It's like...covering and sealing it in protective plastic, so it won't wear off that easily. Most people back home do it to protect certificates and stuff.

[Now that he thinks about it, can they even do that in Luceti?]

Oh, I think I get it. Kind of like putting it into a plastic bag to keep it from getting wet or dirty?

[He can understand that, even if it isn't quite the right concept.]

That's right! Something like that, but more compressed and not as baggy. Unlike a plastic bag, once you laminate them, they're covered until they're worn out.

[Or ripped apart.]

That sounds really convenient. So how do you do it? Do you need some kind of special tools for it?

You can laminate with a machine, but I know there's self-laminating sheets for more hands-on laminating. If you can find them in the shops, you can stick and cover your bookmark with them.

Oh, that does sound easy! I'll look for some of those in the store. They'd just look like clear pieces of paper or something like that, right?

Yep! And they can be usually all rolled up, like kitchen paper towels. Just for easy storage and having enough to use.

You know, now that you've told me about this, I bet that would make a great project for the art club-- making bookmarks like that. It'd be easy enough that everyone could do it.

That is a good idea. People can also compare their designs with each other as well, too. If we're going to use bookmarks a lot, it'd be nice to see what designs we picked in the end.

Yeah! Everyone could show off what they'd made at the end of the club meeting. It'd be a lot of fun, and people would get something useful out of it, too. Everyone can use a bookmark for something.

Uh huh! And even if they don't end up using it, it can also be a nice present for someone.

[Win-win!]

Exactly! It's the perfect idea for a club project.

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