witchesreign | Mitsuru 007 // Signs [Week 4, ISL, MWF, 1600-1700]

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Mitsuru 007 // Signs [Week 4, ISL, MWF, 1600-1700]

[Even when the world feels determined to make things chaotic, it is comforting to know that academics are still a constant.

It's with that mindset that Mitsuru heads to her languages class as quickly as possible, and doesn't waste any time with pulling up her notes and syllabus on the computer as soon as she sits down.

With what...Whatever it was that she experienced, Mitsuru lost valuable time being comatose. Time that could, and should have been spent for studying or attending classes. It's only a small consolation that this has apparently affected a large base of the student body, which instructors might consider.

Even so, she finds herself focusing less on what might have caused the problem, and more on what can be done to minimize the damage. That bizarre dream she experienced seemed to have been suggesting that she needed to place a greater focus on her sign language class, too.

After several keystrokes and one review, she stretches her hands out. Both to loosen her fingers, and do a bit of practicing as well.]

'A'
'B'
'C'

"..."

[Pause for a moment to make sure her hands aren't drifting, and then,]

'S'
'E'
'E'
'S'

[So she hasn't fallen too far out of practice, at least with the manual alphabet. Good.]

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[Technically, Rion is a student enrolled in this class just like any other. Really, he's more like a tiny unpaid tutor who's just as fluent as the teacher is, and possibly moreso, and it's just sort of understood that rather than sit there and learn the alphabet and be completely bored, it's really better for everyone involved if he just flits around helping people.

Which is what he's doing now; while for the moment he's wandering over to Mitsuru, anyone else is free to bother him at any point during this class!

... speaking of which, he is looking at Mitsuru sort of awkwardly, like he wants to talk but isn't really sure how to; he's been awkward around her ever since their encounter in the library (and not the same awkward he is around Minako, that anyone who's got classes with them can see; it's an uncomfortable, cold awkward, not a flaily, derpy, sweet awkward.)

He starts to come over towards her, takes a few tentative steps, but can't really get anywhere towards... talking to her. He knows he probably should, but...]

[And for her part, Mitsuru is engrossed in her notes. Reviewing fingerspelling and making certain she can successfully use those gestures, before moving onto the real meat; iconicity. This is where it changes from memorization to making a hard effort at figuring things out.

She isn't so completely engrossed that she doesn't hear someone moving behind her, though. And that pause in their footsteps that follows. Once it stretches out for long enough, she turns around in her seat to look.]

"Ah, Lyo-"

[Wait. They're both in class right now, and were only reviewing this material a week ago.]

'Hello.'

[She gets that easily enough; it's almost like a wave at head level. And if she notices the awkwardness, she doesn't comment on it.]

'YoU arE-'

[This, however comes a bit harder, and she does glance back at her notes for a moment.]

'How are you?'

[It's easy enough for Rion to sign back a simple answer.]

Okay. [And it's clear (just as it has so many other times in this class) that this just comes fluently to him; there's none of the little pauses, the stiff movements that other students have. This is one of the few classes where Rion is entirely in his element.

The board, though, is coming out, just because he knows some of the stuff he wants to communicate simply isn't feasible with her understanding of sign language at this point. He starts to write something, then erases. Then writes again. Then erases again. It's the written equivalent of "um" and "er" without being sure of what needs to be said.]

"..."

[And naturally, while he has his eyes on the board she can't exactly practice signing with him. Mitsuru does find herself biting down a bit of envy from just how fluent he has at the language as he keeps scrawling and erasing; it's hard not to be envious about how fluid his motions are...But jealousy isn't a conductive emotion for this situation, so she tries to shove it out of her mind by speaking.]

"Good to know. These past few days have been...Highly unusual, to say the least."

[... that's one way of putting it, yes. Rion sits down, and he's... sort of trying to make conversation, in that yes he kind of does want to talk and be helpful, but there's this knowledge that 'we're not friends' echoing in his mind, informing him that -- well. It's not like it'll mean much anyway.]

Is there anything I can help you with? I just saw you going over your notes.

[Rion shifts slightly, adjusting his weight.]

"Some assistance would be appreciated."

[And for her part, Mitsuru stays level and cool headed when she speaks. And if she notices anything uneasy in his posture or the way he writes, she doesn't comment on it. Given that they are in class, it seems wiser to focus on that then anything else.]

"...Frankly, I feel that I should be giving this class more attention. If what I dreamed about was any indication, at least."

[She does unbend enough to say that, though.]

Well, what can I help with? [He knows he shouldn't, that it's not his class, but Rion takes anyone wanting to give the class more attention personally (in a good way) - it means a lot to him that people find it interesting enough to focus on more.

Not that there's any self-interest there, though.]

"Perhaps..."

[Mitsuru glances back at the computer screen, deep in thought for a moment.]

"Most worrying is what material we might have missed while comatose. The idea of falling behind due to that is...Unnerving, to say the least."

[She frowns as she says that, giving the monitor a hard look, like that could intimidate it into coughing up a lesson and contingency plan.

Or provide something that she can focus on that isn't sleep related. One of the two.]

"Failing that, perhaps going over something outside of spelling; I feel confident enough in that, for the time being."

I'm sure they'll understand. [That's easy enough for him to say, anyway; if everyone - all the students - went through it, why would they bother acting like it didn't happen? They didn't put anyone on a rigid schedule, did they?

As for the second part - that was something he could do easily enough. The board was set down for a moment, and his hands started moving in signs that came as naturally to him as her words did.]

What would you like to go over?

[It takes her a moment to translate those signs, which Mitsuru feels embarrassed about. More so that her eyes flicker back to where her notes are, to aid in figuring out what he's saying. That feeling does, however, cut down on the time she takes to mull over her options, and so in just another moment she's trying to sign back,]

'Basic...DireCTions-'

[She's trying, very hard, to emulate that same smoothness, but it isn't coming easily. It also doesn't help that her focus is split between that and keeping her expression smoothed over, so her frustration doesn't show. Doubly so when Mitsuru finds herself speaking as she tries to sign, knowing that she isn't fully communicating.]

"...Basic directions and locations."

[If he could feel her frustration, he'd try to offer some sort of sympathy, and ask her to put herself in his shoes - just for a moment. Maybe it would help, or maybe it would just make her B| more.]

Could you say the words you want to see, please?

[It's a phrase he's used frequently, since he can't include saying words with signing them, the way the teacher can.]

"Ah-Of course."

[Mitsuru tries to get her composure back as quickly as possible...And figure out something to say, to keep this lesson moving. She finds herself reaching for the first thing that comes to mind, which surprises her a little as it leaves her mouth.]

"...Perhaps we can begin with 'Balamb' and work up from there?"

[It's no trouble at all for Rion to start signing anything Mitsuru asks, and honestly he's just happy to help. For him, this is just speaking his normal language, but while he's signing, he's not looking at his hands; he's looking at her (mostly at her hands), watching to see how she signs, if he needs to correct her on anything.]

[And for several minutes, she clearly needs that attention. She fumbles several times on repeating signals, and it seems like her mind is still caught up on something.

At around the ten minute mark, Mitsuru is silently concluding that she'll be taking something to help her sleep tonight. Preferably, without dreams. With that decided, she closes her eyes and lets her breath out slowly, picking out a few words as she does so.]

"...My thanks, Rio-

Lyon. This assistance has been invaluable, but I think that I can continue studying from here using my notes."

[Rion's not too pleased about the lack of sleep either (even if that dream was ~romantic~, and there's already been enough... tension between the two. He's trying to be helpful, he's trying to be nice and sh--

--does she even give a shit? Does she know she's being rude? No, Rion doesn't really care right now, because something is boiling over, and the response she gets is not a pleasant one.

Mitsuru? Your side has just had an appointment with Rion's fingers, as he jabs her. Hard. Enough to get her attention and not be just a small poke; he's clearly frustrated now, especially because this class is the one class where -- you know? He's supposed to get some respect.]

[Right up until she feels something stick her in the side, Mitsuru is honestly unaware of what she's doing. Masking any frustration by avoiding eye contact, and putting in a little distance has always been a viable tactic for her.]

"Hn!?"

[Of course, she doesn't really register that she might have done something wrong once she does get jabbed in the side. All she has room in her mind for is indignation, that he just had the nerve to breach her personal space.

It gets her to open her eyes, although when she does it's to glare at him in a way that says 'You had better have a phenomenally good reason for doing that.']

[Rion's signing should make it very clear; he's making eye contact and glaring right back, and while some of the words in his signing might not be clear, the gist is.]

You (adjective?) look at me when we are talking! (word?) it's like this! Say something.

[To date, Rion has never looked as peeved as he is right now, and certainly not with HER.]

[It's probably for the best that she can't translate all of those signs, as the expression and motion is enough to make her narrow her eyes.]

"You're getting yourself worked up over eye contact. Why, precisely?"

[The moment she starts talking, Rion just clamps his hands over his ears and looks at her. It is not unlike the look she would give a guy before Executing him.]

[While she can't quite beat that look, she can at least match it. Such behavior isn't something she approves of, but it does succeed at piercing some of that outrage.

Very deliberately, and almost curtly, she brings her hands up while still locking glares with him. It says something that when she's angry, and trying to clamp down and shove those emotions into the back of her mind, that her sign language becomes a lot more crisp.]

"My. Apologies."

[And just for good measure, she says that while she signs.]

"But I will leave you to calm down now."

[That next bit is a little more choppy, but she does hopefully get it across. And keeps her eyes on him, to impress that last point.]

[... and yes, Rion will turn away now; it's really probably best if he goes to help somebody else now, because he's going to be fuming about this for a little while. He's pretty sure that in one of the earlier classes, he STRESSED this -- it's really, really, REALLY frustrating.]

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Mitsuru 007 // Signs [Week 4, ISL, MWF, 1600-1700]

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