She shies away like some sort of frightened animal, and Raskolnikov can’t help but feel an odd sort of pity for this woman. At the same time, he thinks that understands, even if she is a complete stranger. He too is uncomfortable here, nervous and twitchy and paranoid. For different reasons, he assumes, but still. The point remains.
When she signs, he lets out a slow breath. That is like the hand symbols that the man who could not hear had used. He recognizes it, even if he doesn’t know what it means. He also doesn’t entirely know what she means by gesturing at his potatoes, but the forced smile she gives him immediately puts him on his guard. He doesn’t like smiles that don’t reach the eyes.
Still, it’s best to be polite, especially in public. The Americans already dislike him, and he doesn’t want to cause some sort of scene in this store. He returns her smile with an equally forced one of his own.
“Can you hear me?”
That’s the first thing to deal with. If she can’t hear him, he’ll have something of a problem on his hands — he doesn’t have anything to write on, and isn’t sure how he should go about communicating with her by other means.
no subject
When she signs, he lets out a slow breath. That is like the hand symbols that the man who could not hear had used. He recognizes it, even if he doesn’t know what it means. He also doesn’t entirely know what she means by gesturing at his potatoes, but the forced smile she gives him immediately puts him on his guard. He doesn’t like smiles that don’t reach the eyes.
Still, it’s best to be polite, especially in public. The Americans already dislike him, and he doesn’t want to cause some sort of scene in this store. He returns her smile with an equally forced one of his own.
“Can you hear me?”
That’s the first thing to deal with. If she can’t hear him, he’ll have something of a problem on his hands — he doesn’t have anything to write on, and isn’t sure how he should go about communicating with her by other means.