This is today's freebie, inspired by a backchannel prompt from bairnsidhe . It also fills the "Smile" square in my 10-31-19 card for the People-watching Bingo fest, and the "Anger / Frustration" square in my 11-1-19 card for the Transbingo fest. "Speakin' in Tongues" They hadn't been in this dimension for a day before Quinn became utterly frustrated with the locals. Nobody wanted to treat him as a man, or treat Pat like a person at all, and Quinn had had enough of this. So had everyone else. Quinn realized there was about to be trouble when he saw Chris smile at their stuffy hosts. The leader was going on about how they couldn't leave until all the academic paperwork had been completed, even though Ash and Alex had wrapped up their research hours ago. "This guy's on way too much T," Quinn muttered, shaking his head. "He's libel'ta go off and do sumpin' stupid," Chris said with a nod. The hosts frowned, but it was clear that they couldn't understand either the slang or the honey-thick accent. Schrodinger's Heroes had long since mastered the art of speakin' in tongues. "You got plans?" Quinn said. "Ah'm fixin' ta go back ta our place," Chris drawled. "I have a penny for the fuse box," Alex said. "I'm black on patience," Kay said. "Let's hit the silk." Quinn was ready for anything. "Chí'as, wic, taw ..." Ash counted in Wichita. The lights went out. Their hosts squawked. Schrodinger's Heroes hustled out the door, hands finding each other even in the darkness as they made their way homeward. There was something to be said for speakin' in tongues. * * * Notes: Hormone replacement therapy (HRT): The process in which transgender people choose to take a prescription of synthetic hormones. For transgender women, that may include estrogen as well as testosterone blockers. For transgender men: testosterone (T) . Irritability and other mood issues are known side effects of testosterone . It can increase dominance conflicts. Libel'ta - (libel-tuh). Liable to, or, more appropriately, likely to, as in "He's libel'ta go off and do sumpin' (see sumpin' below) stupid." Sumpin' - (sump-un). Something, as in "Sumpin's gotta' give." Ah - (ah). The letter "I" or the sound produced by the long "i", as in ahce (ice), tahr (tire), lahk (like), or mah (my). Fixin' - (fix-in). About, when used with to, pronounced "tuh", as in "I'm fixin' tuh go to the game." Or, the whole of the side dishes included with a meal when made plural "fixins", as in "We're havin' turkey and all the fixins." Place - (place). A particular though perhaps undefined parcel of property often preceded by a proper noun to provide definition, as in "the o' (see o' above) Johnson place." Not to be confused with the English slang "place" meaning residence, as in "my place" or "your place". If you want to invite a Texan over to your "place" and the "place" to which you are refering is a 400 sq. ft. apartment, expect to be escorted to the nearest state line. 'Black' on ammo, fuel, water, etc. – A common phrase which denotes that a particular resource is gone. Hit the Silk – Ejecting from an aircraft and utilizing a parachute. Wichita Word Set English (Français) Wichita words One (Un) Chí'as Two (Deux) Wic Three (Trois) Taw