Closed [Stories in the Snow]A Chance Meet (Naira)

[Geothryn]

"Oh relax," he chided playfully. "I'm sure you'll do fine. Don't be sorry. That just gives me an easier place to start." Geo smiled reassuringly at the kelvic. He had ignored when she bit her lip, hoping it wasn't too bad but not wanting to scare her by getting too personal. For some reason he kept thinking of her in his mind as some sort of wild animal that seemed peaceable and willing to socialize with him, but might bolt off at any sudden sounds or rash movements. Geo ritually cleared his mind, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, imagining all his doubts about his ability to teach (not to mention Naira's ability to learn) flowing out through his open mouth. The coalesced on the table and muddied the desk, but he brushed them away with a flick of his will and they angrily shook their fists at him as they shambled down the hall, out the door and into the cold autumn. He wrote on the board the five vowels of the Vani language. The flowing letters were designed to almost melt into one another. Starting at the left, he circled the letter and looked at Naira. "Each sound you speak can be represented by a letter. This is 'a' in its base form." He said, pronouncing it 'aye.' "Tell me, where would you use this letter?" He was formulating in his mind a method of teaching which involved an almost endless stream of feedback from Naira. What better way for her to learn a written language than for her to examine the verbal one?

[Naira]

She listened as he spoke, getting told that she hadn't needed to worry. That it just made things easier. Almost asking how, she thought against it. She let her mind freely wonder though... wouldn't it just make it harder because she has to learn every basic...letter? Instead of sitting, she stood, licking the spot where her lip had bled. She watched as he wrote many squiggles, one after the other with the chalk. She just blinked at them. It felt like a foreign language being heard. She had no idea what it meant, but she knew it meant something. She knew she'd seen them before, the sqquiggles- letters- but she had never stopped to even attempt to catch on. It seemed silly to have to learn when she'd been around it for so long. She should have stopped beforehand.
Now, she was around an appealing male, and had to look like a full blown idiot. Not knowing how to read, write, or... anything. She had taken notice that he held the chalk a certain way. She began to wonder if everyone else wrote with the same technique. She'd known that those who did write, which was usually everyone that wasn't a Kelvic, had different handwriting. So... does that mean the way you hold it effects the way it turns out? She noticed that she still needed to pay attention and, watching him circle the first squiggle on the board, mentally prepared herself for humilation.
"A," she repeated after him. Base form? What did that mean? She was about to ask, when he had asked a question himself. Where to use the letter 'a'? She thought for a while. No words that came to mind had the sound "aye" in them. She didn't know any signs that had "a" in them. Mainly because she had never been able to recognize it beforehand. It was just another random way of language that didn't apply to her because she'd never need it. Well, now she did. She cursed herself under her breath, and then continued thinking very hard.
She held up one finger, stuck another one in her mouth. It looked like she was chewing on it, but she wasn't. She closed her eyes, squeezing them shut. She moaned a little louder than she should have. "I don't know," she admitted sheepishly. "I just...can't think of anything."

[Geothryn]

Geothryn couldn't help but notice the expression on her face when she put her finger in her mouth. It was a cross between stupefied and deliberative. It was, he thought, a cute expression. But one does not think about ones pupil that way. No matter how attractive they may be. Besides, being a Kelvic, she probably was part of the Ice Watch. She wouldn't have time for a Snowsong. He ignored the little voice in his head and thought for a moment. "Alright. Base form 'a' can be found in words like... Make. Fake. Late. Fate. Rate. Now, you tell me some." He listed a few, then motioned for her to continue with more words. Hopefully his suggestions got her mental gears rolling enough to come up with a few so she didn't feel so embarrassed, and he didn't feel embarrassed for being the cause of her embarrassment.

[Naira]

Naira's eyes lit up. She obviously understood a lot more now, than she did before he gave her examples. "Er, uh." she paused a moment. "Cake. Hate. State. Shake. Lake. Uh, mate." at the last word her face reddened, and she felt the heat rush to her face faster than her sprint. She had watched the way his face was, his expressions. He didn't seem any different than he had been when she first found him and his whistling. He was still collected, meanwhile she was...not. She also thought of the number "eight", but she had already stated enough words that she was very confident with. Well, at least she felt very sure of her choice of words. Not so much with the word "eight". She tried to read his face, trying to figure out what he was thinking or feeling.

As previous attempts to read his face, her attempt failed. But she was still grinning awkwardly, with the reddened cheeks. "Uh, those were right. Right?" she was excited to hear what he would say next. Thinking that she was actually learning gave her a sort of thrill, because learning on your own and learning with someone else are two very different things. On your own, you're by yourself, and it's boring and quiet and difficult because you yourself don't really understand the topic. Meanwhile the other person compeltely understands and makes it not quiet, and hopefully- like Geothryn- isn't boring.

[Geothryn]

Geo gave her a small nod at every word, reassuring her at her choices. His eyes turned a hard to describe shade of light-blue, indicating his satisfaction to any who knew him. When she mentioned the word mate, and he saw her reaction - blushing cheeks, awkward grin - his eyes became speckled with embarrassment, but otherwise he just smiled as usual and unconsciously gripped her shoulder, saying, "See? It's not so hard.". When he realized what he was doing, he let go and disengaged the eye contact he was maintaining, turning back to the board and clearing this throat. "Now, that's not the only way - way, that's another word - the letter a is used for. Vowels - that's, these letters on the board, can be modified with accents and other symbols that modify the way the letter looks on paper - or, well, anywhere, really - and the way they sound." He drew a small dash facing up and to the right through the top loop of the letter, then said, "This is an accent. It makes the 'aye' sound like 'ah' or 'eh' depending on who's speaking. Any words come to mind?"

[Naira]

She grinned, excited now. Majority of what he said didn't make much sense at all, but when she thought about it, he'd just said many words that sounded similar to what he was looking for in example words. She was a little caught off guard whenever he grabbed her shoulder, but she overlooked it and then went on to say some words he'd said.
But at the time she started to speak, she halted. "Um," she mumbled. "I don't...I don't know..." then she got on this furious, concentrated face. "Another," she spoke, thinking hard. "Realized, that, anywhere?" she quessed. It didn't feel right when it came out of her mouth, basically because she was unsure of herself.
"I think that's right. Obviously I'm not sure, but, I'm trying." she yawned, tongue slipping out of her mouth slightly, and then whenever she was done, her mouth snapped shut. Her tongue had already sucked itself back in by- miraculously- the time her jaws snapped together. She realized that this was a very animalistic characteristic, and she covered half of her face with one of her hands. Peeking out between her pinky and third finger, and sticking her tongue out. Then she thought about how childish she may appear, and blushing, she put her hands on the table.