Snackage, für Glenn

[RDeis]

Reyes was working at the counter of the kitchen with a certain degree of expertise, moving around the materials he was working with more quickly than some might expect possible. Occasionally he had to pause and feel around for something that he placed a bit far from where he remembered, but otherwise he was doing quite well. The boy's eyes were closed, of course, he always felt weird standing there with eyes staring into nothing, and his hearing aid turned up a bit higher than usual so he could more easily hear anyone come in. It wasn't that he thought there was anyone to fear there, but it was generally helpful to know where people were.

As usual, he was more or less avoiding people lately. He tried to avoid them because he felt a bit odd around them. He still disliked talking, he didn't like having to type into a computer or the monotone, almost inhuman voice that came out of it. Sometimes it was a blessing that he didn't have to see people, but he could still hear their pity and discomfort. It'd be much easier to simply live online where no one could tell.

[Glenn]

Walking down the hallway with her headphones around her neck and the music cranked up high, the exact settings changing with the song for whatever she felt sounded best, Tia explored the first floor with mild interest. Since arriving, she'd spent more time tying to find her way around the school to make sure she didn't get lost any time soon. After that she figured she would track down people, try to get to know a few before her first classes. Coming to the Student Kitchen, her stomach growled slightly at the smell of food. Glancing at her watch and realizing how long it had been since she had eaten, the girl glanced inside.

"Hey, am I allowed to be in here?" she called over to the one boy she saw, deciding to make sure before she got in trouble.

[RDeis]

Reyes glanced over to the doorway briefly at the question. He could hear the music clearly from where he was, and wasn't particularly fond of the song. Simply nodding a response he returned to what he was doing, pausing a moment as he tried to remember where things where and what he had just been doing. Nodding to himself he continued, listening to the sound of the blaring music to tell her location.

[Glenn]

Tia cocked her head slightly at his look and nod, wondering why he hadn't simply answered verbally. Shrugging her shoulders she didn't notice his pause as he tried to reorient himself. She adjusted the volume down quickly, anticipating a conversation of sorts. The girl expected he was antisocial, but some questions couldn't be answered with just 'yes' or 'no', and hopefully he wouldn't just let her screw up instead of answering.

The girl walked over to where he was and glanced over his shoulder for a moment before asking, "Can we eat anything in here, is there anything we are or aren't allowed?" She glanced expectantly at him, wondering why he was working with his eyes closed.

[RDeis]

Reyes listened as the girl turned the sound down, musing that he heard no fabric rustling- she must have had it out in her hand already or something. That would actually bother him quite a bit, having to hold something like that. He'd been honing his abilities to feel his surroundings and hear footsteps just so he wouldn't have to hold the cane with him so much. This wasn't merely because it was like a lightning rod of "I'm blind, pity/take advantage of me", although that didn't help anything.

He sighed gently as she walked over to him, and heavily as she asked the question. The boy racked his brain for a way to answer that that didn't involve actually speaking to no avail. Slipping his hand into his pocket, he carefully typed out a response, cringing slightly at the metallic sounds. "If something is labeled with someone's name, you shouldn't touch that. It might be easier to just use the dining hall."

[Glenn]

"Easier to use the dining hall, eh? Then why don't you-- Oooh!" she switched to a squeal of delight as the metallic sounds reached her ears. The girl had ended up glancing elsewhere while waiting for his response, feeling a bit weird at watching someone work with their eyes shut, and hadn't noticed him reach into his pocket or that his lips didn't actually move. She knew that that had to have come from some sort of computer, and was instantly curious what it was. Why he chose to use it didn't bother her, it seemed like the sort of thing she would do, but what it was was important.

"What is that, can I see it?" she asked excitedly, not bothering to wait for an answer and just reaching into the pocket and carefully yanking it out. She was gentle to make sure not to break it, her fingers instantly sparking communication with the device to make sure she didn't harm anything in the process.

"Wow, it's basically a keyboard with speech? Can you use it as a real computer? Why doesn't it have the screen up- doesn't that get annoying to use?" she asked quickly, partly of the boy and partly of the computer, analyzing it as she did and getting answers to some of her questions.

[RDeis]

'GIVE ME THAT BACK!' Reyes took a moment's pause, actually reaching into his pocket for the computer she'd just taken to comment on it. He glared at her for a moment as she started questioning the computer, waiting for her to finish as he tried to decide what to do. He couldn't yell at her, obviously. And he'd been brought up to believe violence was wrong (and couldn't tell her size, so didn't know if he would be beat in seconds) so he couldn't fight her for it. He glared at her instead, reaching out a hand for her to please give it back.

Moments like this were probably the most frustrating he'd encountered. Most things he could deal with, but the inability to talk remained the most difficult to handle. For a world that relied so much on sight, verbal communication was shockingly important.

[Glenn]

After a few moments of examining the computer in search for answers to some of her questions, she noticed the outstretched hand. Pausing with the computer held in the air as she turned to examine it, she looked at the boy for moment before realization reached her.

"Um... I...suppose you want this back," she said, coughing gently as she handed it to the boy. This was one of those bad habits she would have to break. "You could've said something..." Tia added with a bit of a grumble, trying to shove blame on something other than herself. "Unless... that's... why you... oh. Sorry about that." The girl scratched her head nervously and hoped to avoid anything in the future.

"So... I'm Tia. I'm a bit new, and probably need to learn to respect property more. What's your name?" she asked a bit shyly, hoping to make amends for what had just happened.