Odd sounds by the river [Closed w/ Ragnarok]

[Haneroze]

"So he thinks it's a hard consonant too."

Haneroze observed Ragnarok's tongue, and imitated its position. Then, after Ragnarok started, she tried pronouncing the R. But it didn't work. She kept trying for the R sound, but it kept failing.

"What's the trick to it?"

She listened to Ragnarok, then nodded after he said everything, to say she understood.

"Will it really be easier if I try with a vowel?"

Haneroze tried with the A vowel. But only the A vowel came out. She tried twice again, without any success. Thinking maybe it would be easier with another vowel, she tried with E twice. But without success, she coughed during the second try. After recovering, she tried again with O, but ended up coughing again.

"This... this is hard..."

[Ragnarok]

In times like this there's only one choice. Try until you succeed.

    Disappointed silence filled the area around the two. Ragnarok sighed as he failed in teaching Haneroze, the first time since the beginning of the listen. At times like this, problems like this wouldn't trouble him, but in this case, he was giving his voice to someone who had one disadvantage in the real world to be able to help them speak in this new reality of theirs. Maybe it was just his complex, a person who just wanted to be ethical, helping those that couldn't fully do the work themselves, and giving them that extra push to success when they're down on the ground, abandoned...lost...without any hope... His thoughts soon flowed towards his parents, wondering if they still had any hope in their only son who was disappointing them in grades; however, he couldn't hold onto the thought for long, for now was the present.

    "Okay...Okay...Keep it together Ragna...It's just a memory now. You're in a different place. You have a variety of different people to talk to, and your parents won't call you out or disown you anymore. You're on your own with no one to help you, but those that you ask for help. Only your friends can help you, and only you can pull yourself back up off the ground...Geez, going from a failed teaching in a pronunciation brings me to this. My mind is so messed up."

    The young teacher to the new student of speech exhaled calmly, as if he was getting rid of some excess heat that had been gathering from the start of their meeting. At this point, all he could do was try and lead her through the steps of pronouncing the letter R. He looked over at her, ready to explain the situation that he was going to put the two of them.

    "Okay. That wasn't great, but it's not your fault. I just messed up on explaining how to properly make the sound I guess. So, let me show you or let me pronounce the five syllables of R so you can kind of imitate through hearing, but I'll also throw in something else as well that might help."

    Ragnarok waited for the girl's facial reply before starting on his sub-lesson. He opened his mouth slowly, and began making what sounded to most, a Pirate growl, ARRR. He made sure to extend the R after the A, before properly moving on to the other five syllables, pronouncing Ra, Re, Ri, Ro, Ru; however, he waited around the allotted time of ten seconds before making the transitions between the five and the growl. Similar as before, he repeated the five syllables five times each. It was simple to him, but as for Haneroze, he knew it would be much harder for her. He watched her articulate the pronunciation of the R after his finish, taking in the small details for later critiquing.

    "Don't worry. Once you get a hold of the sound, it'll be easy. Practice makes perfect after all, right?"

WC: 512

[Haneroze]

Haneroze looked back at Ragnarok, hoping to get more advice. But ensued a long silence. With the lack of answer from Ragnarok, Haneroze lowered her head.

"What is he thinking now? I can't tell!"

She looked at the river, waiting for more advice from him before retrying. Then, after a while, he finally spoke. She listened, until he started repeating the syllables. She tried imitating again, but she still couldn't get to say the R sound. She coughed once at the Re, then just started coughing over and over on the Ri. She couldn't follow any further. She placed her right hand in front of her neck.

"My throat hurts... Did I force it too much? Thought... I felt like I almost succeeded it this last time. But... I don't think I can continue anymore..."

[Ragnarok]

Maybe it was nearing the time to close shop.

    Even though his attempts to help Haneroze proved chivalrous once more, they revealed themselves to be in vain when the coughing began once more. In reaction to this, Ragnarok placed his hand on her shoulder, trying his best to comfort her after the saddening failure of the grueling pronunciation. R was one of the harder letters to pronounce in the alphabet, and for now, it wasn't the best idea to continue or start on it for a while.

    "Hey, sorry about forcing the pronunciation. I didn't think you'd have too much problem, because of all the work we've done so far, but I just lack the foresight. Do you need some water for that cough by the way?"

    Ragnarok ended up pulling out a cup of glass that he had kept from one of his earlier expenditures in the revolting menu-created foods and drinks. With the glass, he filled it with the clean water from the river, holding it out to the mute girl with a kind smile on his face. It was the least he could do to help her out after all that had gone on. A glass of water would at least be able to help her throat after all the weary work.

    "Here. It's better if you take something rather than nothing anyways, and plus after that small incident, do you still want to continue with the lesson? I feel that you need a small break after all this to be accustomed to the language. Your thoughts?"

WC: 260

[Haneroze]

Haneroze calmed her coughs, but her throat was still feeling bad. Despite making her best to prevent the coughing, she still listened to Ragnarok. She quickly nodded as he suggested water. And as soon as he offered the cup with the river's water, she quickly picked it and drank half the cup. She then slowly breathed away, before slowly drinking the rest of the cup. Her throat felt already much better.

Ragnarok proposed to take a break. Haneroze thought so too, her throat did need to rest. So she nodded to show her agreement. She deposited the cup on the grass, picked her second notepad and wrote under the line she had written before.

<Let's meet here again!>

She showed it and smiled at Ragnarok. Then she opened her menu interface and sent a friend invitation to him.

[Ragnarok]

Social Link, go!

    The end of their session was coming to end. Ragnarok picked up his glass and deposited it in his Magic Box. After everything was arranged in its own spot, the boy looked over to the girl, having seen that she wrote something on her notepad.

"Let's meet here again!"

    He nodded at Haneroze soon after reading the message. Ragnarok was happy that she really wanted to learn how to talk. It was dedication at its finest, and to him, this conversing helped fill a void in him. The void that appeared when he had no one was being filled. He finally had someone that he could consider a friend. Moments after his inner monologue began, a sudden notification appeared before him: a friend request from Haneroze. Doubtlessly, Ragnarok accepted it, having gained his first friend in the world of Elder Tale. His face then turned towards the girl sitting beside him; he himself was smiling.

    "Alright then. I guess all that's left to do is to organize the next meeting then. Well, I guess its best if you just call me through the Interface, and only call me if you want to tell me that you want to practice soon. I'll reply with any answer I have and we can go from there, okay? I'll generally be sticking around here, because this is where I hang out most of the time, so don't worry too much about trying to find me. I'll end up back here at one point."

    He set his hand out, waiting for a friendly handshake between the two to settle their session from the entire day. Ragnarok enjoyed his time with Haneroze, and he hoped that she enjoyed the day as well.

WC: 289

[Haneroze]

Very shortly after she sent her friend invitation, Ragnarok had accepted it, after which he started giving instructions for the next meeting.

"I won't be able to formulate my request through telepathy... But I'm sure he'll understand what I want just by recognizing it's me. And... I suppose I'll also have to find another spot for training if I wish to practice alone."

As she was placing her notepads and tools back in her bag, she saw Ragnarok setting his hand for a handshake. Haneroze took his hand and handshaked while smiling. Then she stook up, quickly sweeping off the grass from her dress. Then, she headed off toward the direction she arrived from. But after around 10 steps, she turned back toward Ragnarok and bowed, before continueing her way and disappearing in the distance.

[Ragnarok]

The conclusion to the lesson finally reached its outcome.

    Ragnarok dropped his back down onto the comforting grass, seeing that his newly made friend, Haneroze, was leaving from his sights. Their lesson was over, and without her to keep him company, all he had to do now was take a rest or go on another trip around town; he preferred taking a nap while he could, before moving on in the next day. Despite most of his day having consisted of a small trip for a training expedition, and being occupied by this lesson, he ran himself to exhaustion. For now, he just needed some rest to recuperate his thoughts and decide on what he would do next.

    "Okay...Haneroze...She's a sweet, kind girl who's really dedicated, and I guess I just want to help people like her, but she might also come to request my help on multiple times, so I don't want to disappoint her. Then again, I still have my own stuff to do. Geez, this decision-making is hard...If she calls me, then I'll just have to respond with the situation I'm in. Hopefully, she'll be accepting of my decision...Hopefully..."

    Ragnarok turned to his side, looking out at the serene river, flowing forever onwards with the music of nature beating throughout the region. It was here where Ragnarok felt most calm and peaceful. It was a place where one could simply think without any distraction, and for the boy, it was a place where he could call a temporary home as well as a kind of classroom for the lessons for Haneroze. The lessons gave him a kind of happiness, a joy that filled part of the void in his body. In both mind and heart, he looked forward to seeing her again, but for now, all he could do was rest.

WC: 304