forum O/O with @Caustic-Fraust-is-The-Pokemon-Champion

Started April 14, 2020 by @MusicElle-is-here

tune

“Okay, maybe we do some vocab words? That’s what I did when I was learning to read,” he suggested, getting a bit more excited at the idea.

"Not entirely sure what you mean, but I guess I'm willing to give it a go?" Cas shrugged, toying with his hair a bit.

“Okay, cool! How many words should we start with? We’ll do easy ones at first and then we can get to harder ones,” Nick added. “I think thirty is good to start with…”

"Uh… thirty is fine, I guess? I don't know what the best thing is, to be honest…" Cas sighed softly.

“We can try this way, and if it doesn’t work we can always try something else,” Nick said, shrugging. He grabbed a piece of notebook paper and a pen.

"Okay… um… where should we do this?" He asked softly, looking at the notebook while Nick wrote.

“Do you not want to do it here? We can go outside if you want, or to my room, whichever works,” Nick suggested, continuing to write.

"I don't really care, honestly… is there like, an ideal place for it? Obviously I've never done this before."

Nick shrugged. “I dunno,” he responded. “Wherever feels most comfortable.”

"M-Maybe your room, then? You're probably most comfortable in there, at least, and that's probably best for me…"

"That's fine!" Nick responded, picking up the notebook and pen. "It's just down the hall." He led the way, trying to think of more simple words to use for the vocabulary.

Cas nodded and tailed Nick closely into the bedroom. "I'm sorry… this is probably a lot more than you bargained for, huh?"

“I mean, yeah, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t still have fun,” he said, thoughts still solely on teaching Cas to read as he sat down on the edge of his bed. “I’ve tutored kids before and I kind of like it.”

"Maybe you can be a teacher or something when you're older…" Cas sighed, sitting down beside Nick. "I have no idea what I'm gonna do."

Nick finished writing the words for Cas. They were easy and most of them were only one syllable, like the, and, and as. He handed the notebook to the other boy. “You can start with these. If it helps, maybe I could read the word, and you can repeat after me?”

Cas nodded weakly, clearly already uneasy as he looked at the short words. He couldn't understand them already, which was pretty discouraging.

Nick nodded, trying to look encouraging and cheerful. “Okay, I’ll read the word first then, and you can just copy me.” He pointed to the first word. “The.”

Cas sighed and nodded, hesitating before repeating after Nick. He felt ridiculous, but he figured that was just part of the process.

Nick continued down the list before starting up again and going three times. He tried his best not to make Cas feel dumb.

Cas was a bit frustrated with himself by now. He could repeat after Nick just fine, but his brain wasn't making the connection to the words and the indecipherable scribbles on the page.

“Do you want to take a break?” Nick asked, noticing Cas was getting upset.

Cas nodded, fidgeting nervously. "I-I just… um… I don't know if this is helping…" He sighed. "I can hear you, and I can say what you're saying, but I just… I still can't see how these mean what we're saying…"

“Hmm…okay,” Nick said, already trying to think of something new. “Do you think having pictures or something would help? I mean, I can’t draw for shit, but we could try…”

"I have no idea, honestly…" Cas ran his fingers through his hair and looked away. "Should… should I tell my teachers about this?" He asked weakly.

“If you feel comfortable telling them,” Nick responded. “Don’t tell them if you don’t feel up to it.”

"I-I dunno… I'm worried that they'll like, send me to kindergarten or something, and that would be humiliating…"

“I’m sure they won’t do that,” Nick responded. “I think they’d probably tutor you after school or have another teacher take you to their room and tutor you during class.”

"B-But there's just so much I don't know…" Cas sighed, tapping one for anxiously on the floor. "I'm so stupid…"

“You’re not stupid,” Nick responded. “You just haven’t had anyone to teach you this stuff, and it’s easier to learn when you’re a little kid anyway.”

"I guess so, but still… I'm fifteen and I'm not even fucking literate…" Cas sighed.