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Main Campfire | Afternoon | Sunday | May 23

The cabins were a bit of a change. Bod wouldn't necessarily call them a bad change but they were going to take some getting used to. He still had his own space and his privacy but it was lessened now and he'd have to remember that. After doing some unpacking, he'd wandered out to main campfire and taken a seat, taking advantage of the overcast day. He really didn't need to end up sunburned on the first day even if he knew about Karla's sunburn salves now.

So, he was out there now, a book resting on one bent knee and back against one of the logs. He knew it wasn't much of a change from what he tended to do on quiet days but Bod saw no reason that a change in setting would mean a change in routine.

[Oooh, a campfire post! Open, of course!]

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"Hey Ariel." Leda waved back. "How do you like our new rustic surroundings?"

Smiling, Ariel waved back (again, but this time, clearly, it was more direct), and was a little grateful for the whole no talking thing because, while she recognized the other girl, definitely, she so did not remember her name nearly as well.

But she nodded, lifting her shoulders in a happy little sigh that spoke plenty for how much she enjoyed all the trees and the grass and the birds and even the bees were interesting, though she had to wallop the seaweed out of one of them after it stung. It still wasn't as bad as a jellyfish sting, though.

She tilted her head questioning to return the inquiry.

"It's nice. To tell the truth it all kinda scared me last summer."

Ariel's eyebrows went up quite a bit at that. She couldn't even fathom how anyone could find all this scary; there weren't even any sharks or anything!

And even if there were, Ariel'd bested sharks before.

Oh don't get Leda started on the ocean. "Well it was unfamiliar territory." she shrugged. "I grew up in the city this place, noises I couldn't identify, unfamiliar smells...I'm over it now of course." Mostly.

Ariel was looking skeptical still. Because don't even get her started on displacement. She was breathing air here!

She shook her head slightly, gesturing to herself to indicate that she could relate to being a fish (ba-da-ching) out of water. But, she also tried to express through her gestures, she loved it! These differences were all so different and unique and everything she'd hoped they could ever be.

"Oh sure make me feel like a scaredy cat." Of course last summer she was somewhat messed up anyway. "You're right though, it is pretty cool." Leda had to guess what the girl meant. Then she had a sudden inspiration. "Hey do you know sign language?"

In Ariel's opinion, anyone who didn't go blazing forth blindly into something new could be considered a scardy cat.

...well, scardy catfish, anyway.

To the question, though, she shook her head.

Leda had spent a lot of time running away from bad things. Though she hadn't hesitated to jump in to protect her loved ones. "It's a way for people who can't talk can speak with their hands. Or for people to talk to people who can't hear. I learned it when I was a kid."

A way for people who couldn't talk to speak with their hands? Oh, Ariel was so there. It didn't matter if she was planning to be able to speak just fine and dandy after her date with Puck, but that was all the way until Wednesday which was, you know, forever away.

So Ariel looked at the other girl with eagerness, her head bobbing with an excitement and hope that maybe she'd teach her.

That had been the idea. "I'll take that as a yes please teach me these things." Leda smiled. "When do you want to get started?"

Looking around slightly, Ariel shrugged and lifted her eyebrows in a why not right now? sort of question. No time like the present, huh? She could get started on at least a few new words easy, right?

"Okay, cool. So, I started with the alphabet. So I guess we should start there, and also do a few simple words too. Sound good?"

Again, Ariel nodded excitedly, her attention completely honed in on the other girl. This could be important; she'd have to try hard to remember.

And, since she'd said it involved the hands, she gave her hands a good, preparatory shake, then clapped them together as a sort of bolstering gesture. Ready!

"Okay, here we go." And Leda went through the alphabet (http://www.signgenius.com/american-sign-language/img/sign-language-alphabet.jpg), slowly and carefully. It wouldn't do to mess up when she was teaching someone else now would it?

Ariel, just as carefully, tried to follow the other girl as she went over it, moving her hands in imitation of her own, and, by the time they got to the end, she shook her head.

So not remembering all that on just one go....

"That's okay, we can go over it again later, or just do it a bit at a time. Wanna try that some more or learn a few words?"

Ariel looked at the other girl hopefully, because she did know what she wanted to do but was trying to think of how to ask.

She could easily remember at least the first two letters. Maybe if she started with that...?

She spelled out A, followed by an R, followed by an uncertain pause, and a shrug, trying to remember the last three letters.

"Your name?" Leda guessed. She showed her how to do I, E, and L again.

Ariel watched, nodded, and then slowly went through the letters again. A. R. I. E. L! She grinned at the simplicity and almost fun of it.

Then she nodded to the other girl, pointing to her to indicate that it was her turn.

And then maybe preened a little because that was just a brilliant way to get the girl's name, since she couldn't remember and just calling her Pointy-Ear Girl didn't seem to work very well.

"My name's Leda, spelled..." And she spelled it with her fingers as she said it. "L, E, D, A." Nice and simple. A lot easier than her Elven names.

Leda! That was right! Ariel nodded and repeated the spelling with her own hands, flying through it easily since it had a lot of the same letters as her name.

Grinning warmly with her achievement, she then tried to spell out another word. She started with a T, got through an H and an A, but then bit her lip, encountering a road block with the one she wanted to get to next.