A Charming Meeting

A smile lingered on Aniello's face as students filtered out of his class for the hour. Teaching had its unpleasant parts and frustrations just like anything else, but he still loved doing it and always seemes to find a small aspect to enjoy about it. As the last person left, he scooped up a small notebook and a necklace from his desk before heading out himself to wander a bit. Aniello never wandered without purpose, though - he was searching for someone to talk to.

The necklace clutched in his hand was no ordinary necklace. In fact, it was a language charm, one he had been saving up for over these past months. He was pleased to finally have it in his grasp, and was ready to find someone to test it out on. Class wouldn't work - the universal language enchantments ensured that he could teach anyone without trouble. As such, he decided to search for someone in the halls.

Eventually, he passed by a rather androgynous looking person with white hair. Normally he would never approach someone first, but this need allowed for a bit of an exception. As such, he turned around and tapped the person on the shoulder, before handing to them a note from his notebook he had written out while walking.

The note read - "Hello, my name is Aniello. I am mute, but I have a new charm that allows others to understand my sign language. Is it possible that you could help me test it out?"

@Boop

It took Aniello a moment to realize that this person was indicating that they couldn't in fact read, and said realization made him vaguely embarrassed. Of course, the first time in a long while he approached someone first, it was someone who couldn't read, and thus couldn't communicate with him in his usual manner. However, he decided that the only route to take now was just to try out his new charm.

Taking the note back, Aniello nodded and held up a finger to ask the person to wait, hoping they would at least understand not to walk off immediately. With that, he slipped on the necklace, made sure he was facing the person, and started to sign. Already he could tell something was different - wearing the charm for the first time sent an odd feeling of power through to his hands. However, even as he signed he wasn't sure if it would work.

"Hello, my name is Aniello. I'm sorry, I wasn't aware you didn't know how to read." He paused for a moment, and then signed his next sentence much more slowly. "Can you understand me?"

Aniello waited patiently after he finished signing for the person to respond. He couldn't help but feel a pang of amusement when he saw the person wave their hands about in response, as it reminded him almost of what some children did when they saw him speak sign language. It did also cause him confusion though - had they understood? Was the charm working?

However, when the person responded, he was flooded with relief. This should be much less awkward feeling if the charm was now working. As he continued to sign in response to the question he made sure to sign slowly, just to ensure that it would be easier to understand him.

"I am very glad you understand." He made sure to take note of the person's name - Jo, it seemed to be - before explaining himself. "I am speaking a language called sign language. It's a language spoken using hand movements, gestures and facial expressions. I have a charm that allows you to understand it, even if you've never heard of it before."

Aniello waited patiently for Jo's response - he did understand that this must be a little strange, and sincerely hoped that he wasn't making the other uncomfortable. Their response did amuse him slightly, since he wasn't sure how to respond to that except for to nod slowly in acknowledgement.

Now, though, he was puzzled. Should he continue to talk? Aniello wasn't personally much of a talker, generally avoiding conversations unless he was teaching or was spoken to first. This was very different to him - however, he felt it would be rather rude to simply say he was done and walk away. As such, he decided yes, he was going to step out of his comfort zone and keep up the charm practice with this person. He began to sign once more.

"Yes, I would like to talk. I have never used this charm before, and I need some practice using it." He paused, attempting to think of something conversational. "You are a student, correct? I have never seen you in one of my classes before."