I DON'T NEED A BABYSITTER | OPEN

[SJ Taylor]

SJ, Burrito (her seeing-eye dog, real cute and real fluffy), and one of the school staff members walked into the school. First period wouldn't start for another 20 or so minutes which was a good thing- because she had to get a tour of the school, obviously, before starting her first day. But... They weren't prepared for that even though it was clearly written in her file that she was blind and would need assistance throughout the day for the first several weeks. She heard form the grapevine that they usually pair students together in circumstances like hers, but either they had forgotten that she was blind or was just terribly underprepared. 

"So... How is this going to work?" 

"Oh, we'll just have a student babysit you for the next couple weeks."

'HAHA WHAT. IS THIS WOMAN FOR REAL?'

"!!! I MEAN- Ohmygod I am so sorry. That came out wrong- what I meant was--"

"--it's okay. It happens."

SJ forced a grin. A lot of 'it' would be happening until the people around her got used to her. In time, she'll just be another face in the crowd.

She had no idea where she was, but she assumed they were in front of the office. She figured it'd only take a couple days, max, to figure this school out- because let's be real. Just how big could this school possibly be? Perhaps SJ should've done more research on the school before coming, and she was starting to regret not being more thoroughly prepared. Her thoughts were cut off, however, when the staff member's shrill voice pierced her ears--

"Seira, this is...uh, I don't know. But they're going to be your guide for the next week in place of an in-school suspension."

'Uh...what...?'

"Okay! I've got a ton of paperwork to do so ta-ta! Welcome to 259!"

"................................"

[Richard Stock]

Theme Song: 09 ヒャダインのカカカタ☆カタオモイ C Instrumental by Studio Tram? I Think?

Richard had the unfortunate luck of walking to school early... and spotting Simon. The huge-armed Latino immediately began filling his ears with apologies for ditching him last cafeteria, due to being in the Nurse's office (which Richard had discovered was a lie) and broke into his typical schpiel of his grandiose plan designs for the two of them today. As usual it appeared to involve a car ride, as usual, it seemed to involve meeting up with a group of girls, and as usual, the young Englishman's accent seemed to be a contributing factor in spite of what an absolute bore he was. Presumably, he was being invited to balance out the numbers again (a feat that so far, seemed to elude Simon spectacularly).

"No, serious! That mamacita from Thermon's class'll be there, but we need a couple more guys to make it a 6-to-6 ratio, y'know? We'll ride in the car---"

"---God, no," Richard's face turning a mild sickly green from the thought of entering Simon's car a third time when they spotted a dog being walked by a girl who was being accompanied by what looked like a school staff member. They walked passed each other, Richard's shoulder bumping into the man's---

---WHEN A LONG SET OF ARMS CLASPED DOWN ON HIS SHOULDERS AND HELD HIM IN PLACE, SHUFFLING HIM IN FRONT OF THE GIRL.

Faithful Simon, ever one to notice danger, waved and ran off.

"UH, CATCH YOU AFTER SCHOOL! DON'T FORGET!"

"YOU BLOODY WANKER---"

---"Seira, this is...uh, I don't know. But they're going to be your guide for the next week in place of an in-school suspension."

Did.

Did this guy just threaten him into a in-school suspension if he didn't... what was he doing again?

The hands on his shoulders would release and Richard began to realize that he had been trembling up to this point, the blood flowing back where the man's fingers had been pressing down when a hastily written-upon paper was slammed into his stomach, leaving him breathless.

A glare was shot at him, practically dictating for Richard to read the long note. And as Richard read it hastily... his blood ran cold. He was getting coerced into... touring this girl around the school?

"Okay! I've got a ton of paperwork to do so ta-ta! Welcome to 259!"

"................................"

"..."

How the hell was he supposed to catch up on homework now? He'd have to contact Wren and Remy to make sure he covered on the egg project. He stared into her green eyes (they stared so powerfully), brown hair, and attire and found himself thoroughly impressed with her fashion sense. Not to mention, much like everyone else who went to this school, she was about... 8 inches taller than him. And... why was this girl walking a dog into school? Was she sick? He scratched the back of his head, adjusting his ponytail, still trying to figure out his newfound predicament.

"...Richard Stock. Your guide,"

And he reached out his hand to shake hers.

[SJ Taylor]

"...Richard Stock. Your guide."

SJ's eyes, although staring, were never staring directly at him...but don't let that fool you! To make up for the lack of sight, she (perhaps naturally) picked up good habits and being aware of her surroundings, and her full attention was on the boy. Funny thing though- he probably thought he would just be a guide for the day, but unfortunately he would be stuck with her ALL WEEK! Perhaps even more, but SJ always took pride in her excellent memory and sense of direction. 

"Seira Jae Taylor, but you can call me SJ, and this fluffy guy is Burrito." 

Also, blind people totally shake hands! Or at least she did- she extended her hand, which knocked into his and then there was this awkward shaking of hands because this was not usually how she did this. That was just an awkward short tangle. Usually, she would extend her hand first and the person would meet hers...but again, he probably was trying to treat her like a normal person. She was a little embarrassed, but it was something she could easily brush off. And besides...it's not like he didn't read her file, right? 

"I know I'll need a guide for the next week- are you my guide next week too, if I need one? Or is that something I have to ask the administrative office?" 

She made the motion as if she was going to start walking and Burrito instantly got up, guiding SJ to his side. His harness made it easy for her to travel without running into people, and she was already granted permission to leave class 2-5 minutes early to avoid the cramped halls of students during passing period. But then, with the notoriety of this school, she figured it might not be a bad idea to bring her cane. Especially since she's not a fighter, you never know if you might need to whack someone... 

Buuuut leeeeeet's not get too ahead of ourselves. 

"It would be helpful if you walked me through my class schedule first so that Burrito and I can start mapping a routine, but also letting me know the rooms along the way. And towards the end of the week, we can like, test me?"

Was she overwhelming him? 

[Richard Stock]

Even while she extended out her hand to shake his---which turned into this awkward gripping of forearms before their hands finally reached each other, Richard remained unperturbed. Rather, his attention was transfixed on her eyes... that never seemed to quite meet his. As they finally shook hands, he side-stepped to look back into her. He'd finally put two-and-two together and suddenly the note (while airing on the side of complete irresponsibility on several levels from the School Administration) made a whole lot more sense.

"Seira Jae Taylor, but you can call me SJ, and this fluffy guy is Burrito.

...



"A pleasure," he'd respond after a while.

Did SJ know how to fight? Why had she ended up in this school? This suddenly made the importance of his (irresponsibly) assigned duty that much more importance. Richard tended to avoid fights by being very quiet and if need be... escaping. But he had his eyes to help him with that. SJ on the other hand would need to learn the literal layout of the school in order to learn escape routes or avoid trouble.

The pressure on Richard was high. Not only was he a Freshmen (as he noted that SJ looked pleasantly more mature), but he was also a recent transfer himself. He was going to have to learn the school faster than she did, for her sake.

"I know I'll need a guide for the next week- are you my guide next week too, if I need one? Or is that something I have to ask the administrative office?" 

...



"Until you are set,
"I've been assigned to be there.
"Don't worry, SJ."

'Leave all the worrying to me.'

The Freshman stared coldly at again at the note. '...until she is comfortable with the school's layout.' '...UNTIL SHE IS COMFORTABLE WITH THE SCHOOL'S LAYOUT.' It looked like at least he could go after school to pick up his schoolwork and homework, but was going to greatly mitigate his time. He was going to have to work something out, maybe have his schoolwork sent to him while he watched after her in her class. Or maybe, reasonably, he could be sent to his own class and then meet her back up. But the note seemed to emphasize her comfort and was a lot more vague and hastily written than the young Englishman cared for. There were SO MANY THINGS HE WOULD HAVE TO BLOODY CLARIFY ON.

Meanwhile, Richard carried on with the stoic, supportive attitude of a saint.

"It would be helpful if you walked me through my class schedule first so that Burrito and I can start mapping a routine, but also letting me know the rooms along the way. And towards the end of the week, we can like, test me?"

...



"Do you have it now?" he replied after a pause, of course referring to her class schedule. Otherwise they'd have to go to the office and get that (he had a rough understanding, as a Freshmen, where all the classes were fielded in and most classes could be found with common sense and... sight of the increasing/decreasing numbers of the rooms, but there was still a possibility for error.

And then she was asking to test him. Richard admired SJ's thoroughness. Richard also began to think how he needed to start quizzing himself on where the rooms were.

This was a bloody disaster waiting to happen.

'...Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks...'

"And yes, of course, yes."

He looked down at the dog. 'Burrito,' as the dog was named was one of the fluffiest animals he had ever seen. Not knowing that you shouldn't pet a working dog, he wanted to. But the mounting stress and desire to keep calm kept him still.

Adjusting his satchel around his arm, he waited, and would stretch out an arm if she had hers on hers. But he wondered how she would read it. Would hers be completely in Braille or have a written portion to it as well if she had it?

[SJ Taylor]

"Until you are set,
"I've been assigned to be there.
"Don't worry, SJ."

"Haha thanks. Hope this isn't too much trouble."

Even though she believes Richard to be an in-school suspended student, she didn't think much of it. People at her old school got in-school suspensions for some pretty ridiculous things (could be that it was because it was a private school). 

"Do you have it now?"

"Oh! Yeah, hold on."

She pulled out her iPhone from her back pocket, hits the one button and asks Siri to turn on voice-over. From there she hover-swiped her phone until Siri spoke of the app she wanted and pulled up the document by double-tapping. Switching from a flip phone where she could feel out the buttons to a smart phone was actually the best thing that happened to her. Everything she had to do was done using a voice control, and although it might take longer time than having sight, it was still a nifty thing. And, she would hand him her phone- or rather, he would have to grab it from her.

"You can send the file to your e-mail if you want. That might be easier- sorry, I should've thought to print it out for you."

In the file that was handed to Richard were several orange slips of paper excusing him from class either entirely or to leave early to aid another student. These orange slips of paper were pretty stupid to freely hand out because copies can easily be made, and the fact that there was no start date / end date ... But at least it was something, right? 

Also, assuming that he had never interacted with blind people before...

"Just so that you're aware, when you're pointing things out, using an analog-clock method works best for me. A lot of people forget I'm blind and point- and that's okay! I'll stop you if that happens, no hard feelings. And when we go somewhere, it's best if we walk together? So if you don't mind me holding onto your arm, or your elbow?" 

It was maybe a lot to take in... But SJ was really excited to get started. Finally, something aside from the monotony of private school life. Little did she know, she might just come to appreciate repetition and familiarity down the road. And really, what sane person after reading a description of 259 would willingly choose to attend this school? Well... It seemed like Richard would be stuck with SJ for the next week at the very least, and she couldn't help but feel that he would be her first friend here, if not by choice then by force, heh, heh. 

But actually, it was a curious thing though- right? 

Why was anyone attending this forsaken school?

[Richard Stock]

"Haha thanks. Hope this isn't too much trouble."

'Hahahahaha.'

"Ah, no, not at all."

He wasn't about to admit that to her. That would be terribly impolite and inconsiderate to her, considering how much she no doubt had on her own plate, just figuring things out alone.

SJ whisked out her smartphone and then proceeded to blow Richard's mind.

It was so simple, but he watched her in awe with an increasingly frowning face as she displayed the wonders of technology in its conveniences, talking to the phone, pulling up the files... For a moment, Richard realized he almost forgot that SJ was blind. He felt painfully, shamefully ignorant.

She held out her phone and it ended up just a little shy of where he could grab it... and then he remembered again and took the phone from here, looking at it.

"You can send the file to your e-mail if you want. That might be easier- sorry, I should've thought to print it out for you."

Richard shook his head lightly... and then thought better of it and cleared his throat.

"No, no worries here."

He proceeded to read over the files, his thoughts wandering to how SJ probably made Siri read it out to her. SJ, he began to (again, ignorantly) realize that SJ had to train herself to be very perceptive, keeping her mind particularly sharp. Otherwise, if she forgot anything in the message, she would have to have Siri read everything all over to her again or possible highlight at random and hope for the best---or so he theorized.

But as he finished reading the files, SJ would hear a large, relaxing sigh escape out of Richard. Excusing slips. Not being in class meant he would still have to teach himself a lot to keep up with the classes, but this was better than losing points for lack of participation or not being able to do all his homework during class. He quickly sent himself a copy of the e-mails, vaguely thinking to Simon and how he'd abuse the hell out of these. Wanker.

"One moment, sorry."

Sending the e-mails, Richard took out his... flip phone. He had a budget and didn't really expect to know anyone here too intimately, focusing more on blending in and keeping out of trouble, but he was already quickly regretting not budgeting more of the school's given allowance to a better phone. The accessibility and moreover the lack of lag made reading e-mails a pain... He'd have to print out better copies at home or the library. For now, this would have to suffice.

"Just so that you're aware, when you're pointing things out, using an analog-clock method works best for me. A lot of people forget I'm blind and point- and that's okay! I'll stop you if that happens, no hard feelings. And when we go somewhere, it's best if we walk together? So if you don't mind me holding onto your arm, or your elbow?"

Analog. Nodding to himself more than her (he couldn't really nod to her, after all), SJ was really on point with how much he was forgetting that she was blind. But walking together, grabbing onto his elbow... he glanced at her.

...And noted to himself that he was just going to have to emote and articulate himself more. Still...

"There's no problem there," he replied definitively, trying to emote a comforting smile to the end of his sentence (how do you do that). He looked at the phone again, reconfirming.

"English class. Ready?"

He briefly wondered if he should hold out his hand, grab hers, let her grab his as he mentioned and puzzled briefly on the little nuances of how to do it, before decidedly leaving out his hand for her to grab, unless she saw him doing the same thing. In which case...

"I'm grabbing your hand," he would confirm to her, before doing so---if he needed to.

In the back of his head, Richard was still more than mildly miffed at the school administrator who forced him to do this, literally because he was just walking by, but things were working out, and he was going to learn a lot more than something he could learn in a normal class.

Maybe Richard smiled. Briefly, of course.

[SJ Taylor]

Had anyone else with sight learned to use Siri and the "hands-free" mode of any smart phone, they would certainly be more frustrated because they're used to the instantaneous gratification of a phone. Phone starting to lag? People either reboot it or just buy a new one entirely. But Seira... She didn't know any better. For SJ, this was as fast as she could get with a phone. It wasn't exactly a hassle when she didn't know a more hassle-free life. Kind of like when internet was first born. Dial-up in the early 90s? No problem. But now, people can't stand it because they've experienced better. 

SJ had her schedule memorized. She was thankful for her memory otherwise moving about would've been significantly harder and would've taken much, much longer than what she was currently anticipating. She made up for her lack of sight in a lot of different ways, but sometimes...she thought she just had a normal amount of memory, and people were just surprised at hers because of their already preconceived low expectations of her. She learned to develop tough skin, but sometimes (very, very few times) it pissed her off. 

"English class. Ready?" 

"Yeap." 

"I'm grabbing your hand." 

".....okay." 

Uh, usually she would hold out her hand and the guy would just place his elbow by her hand for her to take. She was trying to figure out if someone hand just held her hand and, well, no- because it was much harder to 'control' or guide someone if it was hand-to-hand. And they would find out the hard way, by how she kind of strayed and would get pulled back, yeeeesh~ And, additionally, as her guide he would have to be a step ahead of her.

With a grin, she pulled back her hand and instead, grasped hi arm directly above his elbow-- 

"This might be a little easier. Also, it's helpful if you're walking a little ahead of me, but pausing for a second before making a turn. And if we're approaching steps, it would be good to let me know otherwise we're both going to take a tumble, haha." 

No, but seriously. He would notice that her grip on his arm was not a light one. Firm, but not enough to give him pain. 

'Today is gonna be a looooooong day....' 

[Richard Stock]

If SJ hadn't discovered how short Richard was by comparison to where his voice was coming from (i.e. eight inches below where she was speaking from), she would certainly discover that by how high up Richard's arm she would grab him. First she surprised him by not reaching out for his arm at all, and then she frightened the tar out of him by deftly grabbing onto where his arm actually was. He was sure this was of no surprise to her, but while he figured her to be very perceptive, Richard found that he had completely underestimated her.

Richard had a lot to learn.

"This might be a little easier. Also, it's helpful if you're walking a little ahead of me, but pausing for a second before making a turn. And if we're approaching steps, it would be good to let me know otherwise we're both going to take a tumble, haha."

"I see, thank you, then."

Richard was in this moment very glad that SJ was blind (terrible thoughts, yes, he knew), because he was extremely glad that she couldn't see the burning red on his face from his embarrassment. His voice, however, was level, practiced... natural and would be hard to discern through as a cover. Typically.

He wiggled his arm a little under her grip, just so she could get a feel for his arm (hopefully not already misleading her).

"Let's go then, shall we?" his voice composed as ever, but eager to get the burning sensation off his face. He looked down at Burrito and then back at her and would wait until she confirmed before he would begin walking---

SJ had a very firm grip.

* * * * * * 5 Minute Time Skip * * * * * *

Trying to remember all the rules while walking was, initially, proving to be difficult, while also trying to be a good host. There was oncoming foot-traffic and he went onto auto-pilot, side-stepping them quietly, before he felt SJ's anchoring grip, pulling him back into his situation. He would almost make them fall up the stairs because he just started stepping up... From there he slowed down, stopping, before he turned around the corner and began listing off the hallway they were in, the subjects that they taught in this hallway (English in this case), and noting how many classes it seemed to be before they FINALLY reached her class.

Richard, who was usually used to just keeping himself out of trouble, was having some mildly labored breathing.

"Well... here... we are, then.
"My... my apologies,
"I'll get better soon, he promised... half to her, half to himself.

[SJ Taylor]

This wasn't SJ's first time being guided by someone who didn't know what they were doing. Hence the reason why her grip was so firm. And good thing, too! When he would randomly sidestep, SJ knew it was for good reason- but she also had Burrito as her seeing eye dog who was much more experienced in being her guide. So in a sense, ironically, sometimes she felt like she was guiding him. Honestly, if dogs could talk, SJ wouldn't be fumbling over her feet right now.......

"Oh! Haha." 

SJ was slightly startled when her foot hit a step that she wasn't anticipating. She laughed it off because she didn't want to make the kid feel bad- honest. And maybe it was because she had gone through this so many times before, but she wasn't feeling the slightest bit embarrassed. It happens, you know? 

Anyway, he slowly seemed to be getting the hang of it, which was surprising because it normally took others a very, very long time. He must've been hyperconscious of how he was walking. Honestly, she couldn't imagine being on the other side of this scenario. 

"Well... here... we are, then.
"My... my apologies,
"I'll get better soon."

"Oh- it's no problem. You're doing much better than other guides I've had before, no worries- you're doing great. Thanks for taking the time."

She felt like he could use a bit of encouragement. She couldn't tell if he was flustered or not, but mind you, she had heightened senses even if she wasn't aware of them. So she heard his labored breathing- and his constant murmurs of apologies kind of made her feel bad. And to be honest, he really was doing spectacularly well for his first time. 

When they stopped by the first door, SJ let go of Burrito and reached into her pocket, pulling out a clicker. She clicked once, catching Burrito's attention--- 

"One." 

Burrito barked. 

Then SJ would reach into the side pocket of her backpack (the one where waterbottles usually go) and tossed Burrito a treat. She repeated this two more times before grabbing the harness-leash again. She did this so that, let's say she comes late, she just says a number and she's taken to the door! Of course, there must be repetition multiple times before Burrito actually gets the hang of it, and additionally, she has to repeat it every semester, but... Hey, it's something, right? 

She turned her head towards Richard, head tilted a bit down - so, yes, she did know he was shorter - and... 

"We can move onto the next class, please." 

And she would do the same thing as she did with Burrito for every class. Except instead of "one"..it would be "two" and "three" and etc.

[Richard Stock]

SJ was a very nice, pleasant, patient person, Richard decided.

...Because she neared sainthood from how he handled her when they were walking, or at least in  his opinion.

"Oh- it's no problem. You're doing much better than other guides I've had before, no worries- you're doing great. Thanks for taking the time."

---And now she was encouraging him. He had a good idea of what she probably actually (or maybe not) and he'd feel a lot more ashamed for it if he didn't need the encouragement so badly right then. He needed to stop sighing and stop being a downer.

He watched her as they got to the first door, since she didn't seem to want to move into it---which confused him. And then she started clicking at the door with a device, making Burrito bark, and then feeding him a snack. It took Richard an honest-to-God minute to even realize what was going on. By the time SJ had thrown the last practice treat, it clicked to Richard and he pretty impressed, amazed, in awe... something. Because immediately as he felt that, he had to vaguely wonder to himself if that was offensive?

After all, this was, from how SJ composed herself, a pretty normal practice for her.

"We can move onto the next class, please," she said, looking down to him. She did realize he was a tad (or a lot) shorter than her.

"Alright, next..." still noting on how perceptive she was.

He would take her through the various different classes (were they going quickly enough? Were they skipping the first class altogether? He knew this was a very important practice for SJ, but again he didn't know fully if was muddling about in some gray-area stuff). And every time, he would walk her through the hallways, he got on top of counting how many doors there were. He was... gradually becoming better at telling her what people were in front of her (though they bumped into a few folk, some him, some her, along the way, apologizing along the way). He actually impressed himself with how he knew the subjects that were being in what hallway and in what building.

But again, this was not a perfect run-through. During one of the first few turns, he turned without saying anything (his old habits were dying hard), which would probably have led to her falling down... and him as well. As though not having learned his lesson, he did it soon again on the next turn (he was probably getting in more of an initial fluster), but this time definitively falling before her to... cushion her fall. He would've accidentally pointed at buildings, but he had his satchel in his free hand.

More than a few times he would forget to use analog and say things like "Math, front-right three doors," and so on. He would catch himself frequently, but again, there was an assortment of rules and conduct that he was just compressing into here.

Finally, they would get to the sixth class. Richard kept his breathing under control, but it was noticeably ragged now from all the avoiding they had to do.

[SJ Taylor]

Oh no, OH NO, oh no.

Those turns were pretty bad. She felt like a rag doll being dragged around by a little kid- or, you know that little brace-face girl from Finding Nemo? Well he was brace-face and she felt like Nemo. And then there was the stumbling over the sharp turns to which SJ thought- oh crap, we're gonna fall if this keeps up. And then literally 10 seconds later, FLOOMP!

"Oof."

Well, that's okay. She kind of expected the falling to happen eventually. But now that they've fallen, it's not like it'll happen again, right? 

WRONG. 

FLOOOOOOOMP!

But this time, she fell on top of him. Which she kind of felt bad about because she knew she was bigger, and it's not like falling by tripping over your own feet ever killed anyone......right? 

"Hahahaha oh no. At this rate people are going to think you're the blind one if you accumulate more bruises than me."  

Laughing it off. Honestly, today was the first day at a new school so she was pretty hopeful and optimistic. Falling a couple of times wasn't going to bring her down (especially if she fell at least 1/month anyway). But if Burrito could talk or show facial expressions as animatedly as people, then he'd probably be shaking his head and head-desking at the sheer comedy of the situation. But yeah, she would get right back up to resume mapping the school out, and so far she was pretty amazed at how large the building was. 

"Math, front-right three doors."

"Where?"

Was that...2 o'clock? 3 o'clock? 4 o'clock? How far apart were the doors...? Or did the math class have three doors (which was odd, but not TOO odd since she had classes that had two). 

And yes. She heard his ragged breathing- and to be honest, she could use a little break too. 

"Next on the list is the cafeteria, right? Is it okay if we take a break?" 

And when (if) he took them to the cafeteria and sat down at one of the tables, she thought... WHY THE HECK NOT? 

"Do you have any questions you want to ask me?? Usually people are quick to blurt them out but so far you've only been telling me where my classes are, heh."

Good way to pass time while taking a break, too. She didn't think there was such thing as a stupid question- when people asked her, it was because they were genuinely curious. Someone even once asked her if she could sleep with her eyes opened. 

El oh el.

[Richard Stock]

SJ's fall would be quickly accompanied by a half a dozen apologies.

The second time when they both fell, Richard apologized easily a baker's dozen, embarrassed and hoping she wasn't too bothered. Also there was that... crushing sensation. But Richard would be struck by lightning first before he'd complain about a woman's weight. He'd show bravado in how he was fine as he slowly recovered while they resumed walking.

But she laughed it off. Again. A saint.

"The irony's thick," he'd agree.

And then the doors... the doors.

"...2 o' clock," he'd say, realizing he'd forgotten directional-analog again.

And next was indeed the cafeteria.

"Next on the list is the cafeteria, right? Is it okay if we take a break?"

"That would be brilliant," he would agree. Adjusting his arm in her grasp, he would lead her onward, resuming his duties all the while. He walked even slower... which actually helped out his timing in watching out for things (they would still bump into a trash can on the way to the cafeteria). He would lead them to a table and sit next to her (since that was the natural way their arms were locked).

He'd quickly set to work, placing his satchel before him and unloaded his thermos. She would hear the popping of a lid and the aroma of herbal tea would fill the air (Richard was curious about Teavana and had shot for Youthberry---bloody expensive though, he noted).

"Do you have any questions you want to ask me?? Usually people are quick to blurt them out but so far you've only been telling me where my classes are, heh."

"Would you like some tea?" he asked without missing a beat.

"...How do I hand it?" he would summarily follow up, whether she said yes or no, this question more serious. He'd been bunging up this part a lot, and she always seemed... awkward about how he gave things. Did he extend his hand out first? Did she? Did he need to let her know when she was grabbing him?

All the little detailed questions boiled over in his head.

[SJ Taylor]

Foomp.

More bumping- except this time, there was a hollow reverberation, which made her think they either bumped into a set of lockers or a trash can. Either way, she didn't say a word- but she was feeling pooped now that she knew they were gonna take a break. Not that walking around was tiring, but you know, a girl can only take so much falling and bumping. 

"Would you like some tea?"

"Ooh, tea would be nice- thanks."

"...How do I hand it?"

She grinned, her hand already out to accept it. 

"Usually, when I shake someone's hand or try to give someone something, I have my hand out first so that the other person can meet me. But when someone is trying to give me something, they give me a heads up first- like for tea, 'SJ, I'm giving you tea' .. then I will hold out my hand, and you will put the cup of tea into my hand. Sometimes, people add details- like if they know a beverage is going to be hot, then they warn me that it's going to be hot." 

She thought for a moment- 

"But never just grab my hand to give me something. It really startles me, and is kind of off-putting. Even if it's something like trying to steer me in the right direction, it's just always better to give a heads up first. Communication is key." 

[Richard Stock]

Richard glanced down to SJ's already extended hand... and she began to explain the nuances of how to give and take things from... hopefully all blind people. He honestly didn't know if other people were taught the exact same system as her, but refrained from asking since he didn't know how to phrase it without potentially sounding offensive. And he was perhaps... sheepish on asking her about what was appropriate way to refer to other blind people or if he was just to refer to them as blind people.

Her explanations made sense, and he was doing his best to catalog it all. And thinking better of it, SJ would hear him open up his satchel and then the sounds of furious scribbling. Note taking. Trying to remember everything from before to everything she was saying right now. And a note to himself to go over his mistakes and how to prevent them. This was looking to be some of the most draining, but rewarding homework for himself. But at her last bit...

"...

"...So in the morning..." he trailed off. She told him not to worry about his mistakes. He did anyways---he had to improve. Its just in this particular bit, he was beating himself up a bit. He shook his head. It was a useless comment.

...SJ would hear more sounds as Richard moved more bags out of his satchel, before pouring a cup for himself and taking a sip.

Youthberry. Tangy. He cleared his throat, he had further objectives and questions with this lunch.

"...Want a sandwich, then?"

More practice for him... and it wasn't like he was going to be able to give Simon his spare sandwich anyhow (Wanker had become a bit fond of the lunchtime "show" assembly).

[SJ Taylor]

She heard the rustling of his bag and the scribble of a pencil. It wasn't an uncommon practice among people to do that- at her private school, many of her teachers did so as they were trying to be as accommodating as possible. They let her type on her laptop for notes and with one earphone popped in- and she's become very adept at using the command function on her laptop because of it. At home, she had a much more elaborate set up, thanks to her family's wealth. 

"A sandwich would be lovely."

Something she was starting to catch onto was his way of speech. It was kind of choppy, but at the same time oddly poetic. She couldn't quite place her finger on it but she knew there was something. She held out her hand - palm facing up - and waited. 

Afterwards, she'd take a bite, compliment his food, and then-- 

"So, what's up with this school?" 

She's heard of its notoriety but she didn't really do THOROUGH research. She came because it just seemed like the opposite of the private school she attended, and just wanted something different.