Jesper and Sol talking about speech patterns
"Is good." Jesper smiles, pulling Sol closer into his lap.
"Is good?"
"Yes, is."
Sol looks up at him, grabbing his face and pulling it down to meet hers. He catches the hint to open his eyes. He does.
"Jesper," She begins. "What does that mean?"
"Huh?"
"You say 'is good' a lot. Unprompted."
"Umm..." Jesper's tongue flops out of his mouth limply as he searches his thoughts. "Is good."
"Yes, but what do you mean when you say it?" She rubs her tiny little horns against Jesper's chin.
"Is good to be good. Umm... Imp does not have the words."
"Is it a question? Are you asking if I am okay when you say that?"
"Huh... Mmm... Sort of. Maybe."
"Or are you telling me you are okay?" She grabs his large hands and begins playing with them.
"Imp does not know. Is like... to say... is good. No. Hum... Is like..." Jesper closes both eyes tight, thinking hard. "Is like to say is happy. That imp is happy."
"Oh!" Sol perks up, her mouth wide with excitement. "'Is good' is Jesper's way of saying you're content?"
"Yes!----hehehe---is happy with Sol and Kena. Is nice to hold and kiss." Jesper laughs.
"Aww. Is happy with Jesper too." Sol pulls Jesper's hands in a way that invites them to wrap around her. Her arms reach around Jesper's neck in an embrace.
"Imp is sorry about... Mmm... How... Is not good with words. Does not know how to explain these things. Is not like Sol at all with many words. Good with putting together many words!"
"It's okay! You and Nona speak similarly! So it's not so hard."
"Nona is very easy to talk to! Hehehe---uses simple, easy words like Jesper!"
"Yes! And, I'm not sure if Kena would admit it, but he likes to shorten his sentences too, like Jesper."
"Yes! Does! Does like to talk to Jesper in this way. Is very easy to understand." Jesper opens his eyes wide, getting a good glance at Sol sitting in his lap. "Kena uses short sen-ten-ces, yes!" He thinks for a moment. "Kena does say... Mmm... Kena does say this thing---says 'this one' to Jesper---imp does not know what this means."
"Ohh. He is silly! Yes, he does say 'this one'." Sol pulls back to make sure Jesper is following along. Her playful voice fades. "It means you. It's just another word to talk about somebody." Sol digs her pointer finger into Jesper's chest. "Why does Jesper only refer to others and self by name?"
"Ohh... Hehehe---does not know."
"Can you say you?"
"Ohhh... You. Hehehe---is strange! Is not thing natural to say."
Sol chuckles.
"You is Sol!"
"No!" Sol erupts into an uncomfortable laughter, lightly pushing into Jesper's chest as if trying to make an escape from his grasp. "Stop!! This is strange! I do not like it!”
“Hehehe—is not good at all!”