a/n: just realized I sort of forgot disclaimers. oops. I don't own it, in case you were wondering. if I did, I'd be rich. if I had a million dollars, I'd buy a green dress (but not a real green dress, that's cruel).
::: Chapter 3 ::: You Say I'm Crazy, Well That's Not Fair
"Kaby-yo."
I ducked my head into my bloody bedsheet to hide what must have been the nineteenth eye roll of the day. I think the pronunciation rules of Leggy dearest's native tongue must be fundamentally different than that of Spanish, because, despite hours of effort, he has not once said my chosen name correctly.
Speaking of my present covering, no, I have do not have any idea why my bedsheet came with me to this world, which I am now almost positive is Mr. Tolkien's Middle Earth. I'm pretty sure no human commoner—as I believe I am presently—would have access to 600 thread count white cotton/polymer bedsheets. Though with the way my day is going, I'd be sincerely impressed, but not overly surprised if someone proves me wrong in the near future.
"No, that's still not it. It's Ca-BYE-yo."
The blonde elf made a disgruntled noise as he tried to figure that into his speech. At least, I think it was a disgruntled noise as I'm sitting in front of him on this massive snorting beast he dares to call a horse and can't see him well enough to properly judge. And boy oh boy. Just as a passing warning, never, ever, not in a million years voluntarily hop on a huge fricking dinosaur of a horse (with no saddle because this elf is fricking weird) when naked and residing in a female body. Especially when you've just spent half an hour getting a massive hole in your stomach patched up so you don't bleed to death. My sheet doesn't help. This is pain. And suffering.
"Here, here, look," and this must be my thirty-third attempt to explain it, "it's spelled C-A-B-A-L-L-O. In the language of origin, the double L makes a Y sound. As in tortilla, and silla. It's just adding an 'eee' sound to the end of the vowel preceding it and a 'yuh' sound to the beginning of the vowel following it. Because caballo has an A before the double L, it makes a sound like an uppercase I, and the O after it sounds like a YO. You get me? Cah-bye (like bai) -yo."
There was silence for a few moments as my elven traveling companion turned this over in his head.
"Kabiyo."
I let my elf-induced headache vent itself out in a loud groan. I swear he's doing it on purpose. Unwilling to let it go, but giving it a pause for now, I grumbled halfheartedly, "Your C sound is too sharp."
"Hn," said Legolas noncommittally. I'm just glad that he progressed from calling me Cabby followed by a wuff of air like getting punched in the gut. It's a start.
