Flashback Plus and Minus

A young Rohka learns some skills from a maid and an owner of a Beer Hut.

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A city floating in the center of a lake, Ravok is a place of dark beauty, romance and culture. Behind it all though is the presence of Rhysol, God of Evil and Betrayal. The city is controlled by The Black Sun, a religious organization devoted to Rhysol. [Lore]

Plus and Minus

Postby Rohka on May 23rd, 2021, 4:23 pm

82nd Day of Fall, 500 AV

“I want three because I want one too,” said the little Rowboat, holding up two fingers on one hand and one finger on the other.

Sandra laughed, picking up the five-year-old child and placing her atop the bar table.

“You’re too much trouble, you know that? You’re lucky your mother isn’t here, I’m sure she’d have a word with you about what you’re asking for. That stuff isn’t for you, alright? Tobacco and ale are for adults. Stop asking for it,” said the blond-haired young woman, pinching the girl’s cheek.

“Now stay here and continue on the newest practise page. Don’t press too hard with the charcoal or you’ll break it. I’ll check on you in a few chimes,” said the barmaid, giving the girl a book and a writing utensil before walking off to serve the patrons at The Beer Hut.

Rohka flipped the book open to where they'd left off last. Sandra was teaching the basics of addition and subtraction. Vida, Rohka's mother, had trusted her to do so while Meer and Mattias did their business at the Hut, investigating leads and staking out the next development and infrastructure plans for the city. There was only so much a family like theirs could do, having settled on the Lakeshore much later than the establishment in the city centre. The Lumber Company was beginning to make a name for itself and the men were sizing up the market for what it truly was. Vida didn't mind that her young daughter was being taken into such an environment. She knew it would be good for her. Getting the girl exposed to the grime, the filth, the hard truths of life early on was exactly what was needed for her daughter to grow up and become the woman Vida needed her to be... as the oldest granddaughter. The matriarch would need a solid foundation, and Vida had all the faith in the world that she could raise her daughter into being fit to handle every part of the business: the dark, the light, and even the murky grey.

Rohka picked up the charcoal and looked at her first set of problems. They were different than last time, where Sandra just left everything on the right side of the equal sign blank. This time, some of the problems looked like they had answers, but were missing parts of the question.

The first one said 5 + __ = 9

The girl bit her lip as she thought about it. She put the charcoal down and raised her hands. On one hand, she knew she had five fingers. She looked at her other hand.

"I need nine fingers?" she asked aloud.

A man chuckled, overhearing her question, but continued to pretend like he was wasn't watching her.

Rohka counted aloud, looking at her other hand. "Six, seven, eight, nine."

She looked at her left hand holding five fingers and her right hand that now had enough fingers up to hold nine fingers. She then counted her left hand.

"One, two, three, four."

Rohka beamed, figuring it out, and quickly scribbled the number four into the blank space.
Last edited by Rohka on May 23rd, 2021, 4:44 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Plus and Minus

Postby Rohka on May 23rd, 2021, 4:24 pm

Sandra came back and checked her work.

"Good job," said the barmaid, hugging the girl as she looked over the page. "Don't forget that zero is a number too, okay? I know I didn't put it on the other pages, but I wanted to see what you'd write in this case. You can't just change the answer," said Sandra, containing a chuckle. The five-year-old was stumped on a problem that said __ + 1 = 1

Instead of skipping the problem, Rohka decided to cross out the answer and replace it with the number two, filling the blank with the number one.

"Zero isn't adding anything though," said the girl, her brows knitted together.

"Yes, but it is still a number. To make the equation true, you need to add the right number. Even if the number is zero."

"Even if the number is adding nothing?"

"Yes," said Sandra, laughing. "Even if it adds nothing."

Rohka pursed her lips in understanding before making the correction on the page.

"Very good, Rowboat. Reading for your next exercise?"

"No," said the girl, her voice in a whine.

"It's a game, okay? I've brought you your friend so you can both play together." The barmaid tapped the shoulder of the man in a conversation next to her. Recognizing that it was his time, he bid his adieus to the patrons and made his way over to bar table, taking a seat on a high stool in front of Rohka, looking up at her.

Rohka's cheeks began to blush as she beamed at Malfasar.

"Hi Roh, you ready? I hear Sandra's got a new toy for you. She wants you to practice until you're better than me. I don't think that's going to happen."

Rohka's face quickly shifted into one of angry determination and the usually grizzled old man began to laugh.

"Mal, I just need you to keep her company for about ten chimes as I prepare the next batch for the incoming patrons. It's a rushed bell right now, and I know you could use the break." she said, rubbing his shoulders. The man nodded gruffly in understanding and returned to face the girl as the barmaid disappeared behind curtains and shelves.

The man dumped a pouch full of coins on the table and gave Rohka a singular dice toy.

"It's simple, Roh. This pile has fifty gold coins. You'll count out twenty five of them, and I will count out twenty five of them. You and I will have an equal number of coins. Makes sense so far?"

"Yes Mal."

"Great," said the man, beginning to pick up his coins and gesturing for the five-year-old to do the same.

"Now, we're just going to play with luck. You and I will take turns rolling this dice and we will subtract the number shown from our pile. The player with more coins in their pile at the end of each round wins a point. You keep track on your book there. You can go ahead and roll first for every round."

"Who wins the game, Mal?"

"The person who doesn't lose all their coins first." said the grizzled man with a grin.
Last edited by Rohka on May 23rd, 2021, 4:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Plus and Minus

Postby Rohka on May 23rd, 2021, 4:26 pm

Being as old as she was, and having thought of Malfasar as her friend, she hadn't realized that the man had given her running start to lose.

In his pile, there were two coins left.

In hers, there were three.

It was her turn to roll. And she rolled a six.

"Better luck next time, sweetheart," said Mal, laughing.

The girl had won every single round. Every round except for the last one, she had more coins than him. Rohka was laughing and grinning after every round, so sure that she would win.

Did the points even really matter when the way to win was set from the very beginning?

Sandra returned and saw the hurt in the girl's eyes. She started scolding the owner, reprimanding him, reminding him that he was playing against a child and that he should know better.

Meanwhile, the young Calico took the lesson to heart.

She could not let her fate stay in the hands of luck. Not when there were men like him in the world. People she thought were her friends, people who willingly played games with her, only to watch in glee as she lost what she had.

The lesson simmered in her little mind as she went back to the problems Sandra began to create for her.

The problems she would continue to learn from.

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