Welcome to Gaia! ::

▬▬ "In learning you will teach,"▬▬

Aldrick smiled at her excitement toward him signing. If he had known how happy the small bit of signs would make her, he would have learned previously and talked to her during art club. He caught some signs even though he could tell she was going slower for his understanding. Fantastic? Happy? Him, BSL, fun, talking.

Well, none of those were “go away and never come back” so he just rolled with it. He signed “I don’t know much BSL. Sorry.” He then said with only a few signs, “I wanted to even see if you’d like to be friends before learning all the phrases, as opposed to learning some key words. It’s just that it’s hard to learn without someone to practice with.” He signed “you and me friends” and “hard to learn”

Dang it. That would have been a great time to ask her on a date. That could wait a bit though. Right. Aldrick order of events. Get the girl to notice his existence. Impress her. Get to know her briefly. Go on a date. Or two. Maybe even five. Then break up. Keep everyone from becoming too attached. But maybe this one would be different, Jessalyn was really sweet, and he didn’t have to stay in the same common room as her all the time. Plus, maybe Rhea would help him out and do reconnaissance for him when Jessalyn was in her common room.

He held up his sketch book and wrote on it “I have extra paper too. In case you’d prefer to write conversations? How do you most enjoy talking to the rest of the world Jessalyn?” He turned t to her and smiled. He could have said it out loud, but there was just something about the silence of it all that made this more special and unique to him.

▬▬ "In learning you will teach,"▬▬

Aldrick grinned when she did the word for teach, and pronounced it to him. It wasn't perfect spoken English, but what could be expected? She had never heard the language, she was very impressive with what she did say. He signed back at her, and said the word "teach" then read her note back to him. She had beautiful handwriting too, so she wasn't just a pretty face? Aldrick was considering having to keep this one around for much longer than the others. He wrote back to her, "Writing it is, until I become fluent enough in speaking your language. I'm exciteced to learn from you, Jessalyn. Just, don't prank me and have me calling myself a jelly donut. yum_donut " He drew a little donut next to his sentence. "Would it be okay to call this lesson 1? Would you like to go with me to Hogsmeade for lesson number 2? I'll even buy you lunch. You can teach me signs for food. He smiled at her, hoping she wouldn't think it rude that he was suggesting where and what to teach him. But knowing what food signs, and maybe even some manners could be very beneficial. Plus, in a round about way he HAD asked her on a date? Was going out for lunch while learning considered a date? Was this considered a date? This could be determined later on.

"Well, we can meet before then too if you'd like, that's up to you!" yes, that was a better ending to the note than just asking about food. Let her decide when and how often they would meet, then he wouldn't be pressuring her into anything, and maybe he could really get to know her before going on a proper date. After drawing a smiley face, he passed the sketchbook back to Jessalyn, and waited for her reply.

▬▬ "In learning you will teach,"▬▬

Aldrick followed Jessalyn's motions when she signed Jelly Donut, and his own name. He smiled, with her pronounciation of his name, surely she didn't know how to say it, but this was fine, he loved her pronounciation of it. He read her letter, releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding. She would go on a kind of date with him. He wrote back to her, "I appreciate that, I'm not a fan of being a donut. I'm in art club, drawing has always been a fun pastime for me. I'm not in music, my sister Brook is in it and she scared me away from music, she plays the bagpipes, and not all that well yet. Okay, what's your favorite food, I need to know how to sign that one first, well second if you count the donut." He passed her then notebook again, and di the sign for Jelly Donut once more. he would remember these, he had to.

▬▬ "In learning you will teach,"▬▬

As Jessalyn wrote, she huffed, and hummed a bit? It was the cutest noise ever. Aldrick wondered to himself why he had never spent so much time talking to her, or any time. These little sounds and motions just made her so precious, surely he should have noticed them before. He took the notebook back and began reading, nodding with approval at lasagna. Pasta dishes were always frequent in the Knapp house, it was easy to fix them in bulk, and lasagne was pretty good, better than plain spaghetti at least, plus the little waves of the noodle sheets were fun to doodle. He began writing back, "It's not that bad I guess. But she used to chase me around the house playing them, or bursting into songs. She's a little twerp, but I love her, just not her bagpipes, they're the loudest thing she has. Why do you think Music club is interesting? How do you do the music?" He scowled, thinking about the year his parents got Brook those darn bagpipes, the worst Christmas present ever. He also hoped he didn't offend her by asking her how she did music, it was just.. she was deaf, she couldn't hear it, right?

He watched Jessalyn do the signs for Lasagne and then for cookie. The Lasagne was fun with the wavy hand underneath, the layers of the dish? And the cookie they were just straight eating? This was good, those were easy enough to remember. He signed to her while speaking out loud, "Look what I learned. Will you go on a date with me, for lasagna?" He grinned, he did get that official asking in. He probably messed up some signs along the way, how would you sign that phrase with adding what food to get? Hopefully between the signs and some lip reading, she would get the gist of what he meant though.

▬▬ "In learning you will teach,"▬▬

Aldrick was glad she said yes, and she even said it out loud! But when she didn't say the word Lasagne, he wondered why, was it hard to say? He took the notebook back and smiled at her, before reading and writing his response, "One day, if the opportunity arises, you'll show me how you listen to music? I only ever listen to classical stuff, it keeps the kids calmer supposedly. But you bet we're going to go get Lasagne, I want to see your face when you take a bite into your favorite food. I'm sure your eyes will be even brighter than they are now. Do you want to go to Hogsmeade next weekend? We could meet here, and go down together if you'd like?" He thought about asking her why she didn't say the word for her food, but he was asking a lot of invasive questions and making a lot of requests of her, maybe that one could wait until AFTER their first dates.

Now with baby Erikk in the house, Aldrick was wondering if they'd ever get out of the classical music because a baby is in the house stage of the Knapp family life. At this rate, he'd be an adult and in his own house and there would still be a no loud music policy in the house. He smiled and passed the book back to her. He hoped she didn't already have plans for the next Hogsmeade trip, but if she did, they could probably also have some cutesy dinner in a classroom? Surely the hosue eleves would make lasagne if given a special request? But of course, they wouldn't get to order off a menu then.

▬▬ "In learning you will teach,"▬▬

Aldrick nodded at the music lessons for Jessalyn, he was sure they would be better than Brooks bagpipes. Anything ahd to better than that. He wrote back to her, "Anything with chocolate is wonderful. I guess macaroni and cheese is pretty good too." Aldrick looked at the time and groaned, he had promised Rhea he would help tutor her this afternoon, and Aldrick was already late. Surely Rhea probably wouldn't mind. Aldrick continued writing, "I'm sorry Jessalyn, I must depart. I promised someone I would tutor them, and she'll report to my sister, who will report to my mother, if I ditch her. I'll see you around, and if not, I'll see you Saturday, bright and early, right here. Until Anon, Aldrick Aldrick passed the book and began packing his bag, then smiled again at Jessalyn, she really was beautiful, and had so much she could teach him about life. He really was looking forward to next week. After getting his notebook back, Aldrick took off, ready to go tell Rhea the matchmaker everything that had happened.