Slippery Creatures (The Will Darling Adventures, #1)

by K.J. Charles

HE TOOK THE TRAM, WATCHING huddled people out of the foggy window and the pools of yellow light from the lampposts grow and fade as they passed. There was a persistent drizzle in the air by the time he got out, not quite rain, leaving a film of droplets over his clothing and hat. He shook himself like a dog as he went into Kim’s building. The doorman had clearly been given his name because he let Will go up with a nod. Will knocked on the door. Kim answered. His rooms were warm, and well lit, with half a dozen lamps giving the place a domestic glow. He was wearing a velvet smoking jacket in a deep purple shade, and matching velvet slippers. Will stood in the sitting room, wet and cold and entirely out of place. “Sorry,” he said. “You look like you were having a night in.” “I still am,” Kim pointed out, hanging up the damp hat and coat. “Would you like a drink?” “I...” He wasn’t sure if he wanted to drink, to sit on a sofa and make awkward conversation. “Have you eaten?” “Yes. Thanks,” he added a bit too late. “Are you here to give me the information?” “No.” “Has something terrible happened that I ought to know about?” Will managed a smile. “Not yet.” “Well, that’s all the other options,” Kim said, and stepped close. Will didn’t move. Kim examined his face, eyes searching. He moved his hand up slowly—not tentative, simply giving Will time to push it away or step back. He didn’t. Kim’s fingers brushed his cheek, then slid down, over his jacket front. “That’s a dramatic flowe...

supine /ˈso͞oˌpīn/ I. adjective 1. (of a person) lying face upward. 2. ‹technical› having the front or ventral part upward. 3. (of the hand) with the palm upward. 4. failing to act or protest as a result of moral weakness or indolence • supine in the face of racial injustice. II. noun a Latin verbal noun used only in the accusative and ablative cases, especially to denote purpose (e.g., dictu in mirabile dictu “wonderful to relate”). III. derivatives 1. supinely adverb 2. supineness /ˈso͞oˌpīnnəs / noun – origin late Middle English: the adjective from Latin supinus ‘bent backward’ (related to super ‘above’); the noun from late Latin supinum, neuter of supinus. In grammar, a supine is a form of verbal noun used in some languages. The term is most often used for Latin, where it is one of the four principal parts of a verb. The word refers to a position of lying on one's back (as opposed to 'prone', lying face downward), but there exists no widely accepted etymology that explains why or how the term came to be used to also describe this form of a verb. Latin edit See also: Latin conjugation § Supine, and Latin syntax § The supine There are two supines, I (first) and II (second). They are originally the accusative[1] and dative or ablative forms of a verbal noun in the fourth declension, respectively. First supine edit The first supine ends in -um[a]. It has two uses. The first use is with verbs of motion. In many cases, it indicates purpose: 'Mater pompam me spectatum duxit' is 'Mother took me to watch the procession'. 'Legati ad Caesarem gratulatum convenerunt' is 'The ambassadors came to Caesar to congratulate him'. The translation of this first usage of the first supine is similar to, if not identical to, the Latin clause of purpose. A second usage is in combination with the future passive infinitive. In this second usage it indicates fate; for example "occisum iri"[b] means 'to be going to be killed'. It mostly appears in indirect statements: ' Occisum iri a Milone video' is 'I foresee that he is going to be killed by Milo'. Second supine edit The second supine, which comes with adjectives, is rarely used; only a few verbs have been seen to commonly adopt the form. It is derived from the dative of purpose, which expresses the purpose of a thing or action, or the ablative of respect, which can translate as "with regard/respect to" and is used to indicate to what extent or in what way the main clause is true. It is the same as the first supine but replacing final -um by -ū, with a lengthened u. Mirabile dictū, for example, translates as "amazing to say", where dictū is the supine form. The sense is generally passive, even if usually not explicitly marked as such in idiomatic English translation; for example, difficile creditū, "hard to believe", is more literally "hard to be believed", or "hardly believable". Sanskrit Germanic languages edit In English grammar, the term "supine" is sometimes used to refer to the to-infinitive. The to-infinitive is seen in sentences like "To err is human; to forgive divine." In Swedish grammar, the supine is used with an auxiliary verb to produce some compound verb forms that closely resemble perfect forms. Inspired by the tradition in Swedish grammar, some linguists identify a similar form in the Danish language.[4] In Icelandic grammar, sagnbót (usually translated as "supine") is a verbal form identical to the neuter participle, used to form certain verb tenses. Finnic languages Romance languages edit In Romanian, the supine generally corresponds to an English construction like for [gerund]: "Această carte este de citit" means "This book is for reading". Additionally, the supine in Romanian can be used to express English constructions such as “I have things to do,” which would be translated as “Eu am niște lucruri de făcut.”