{SF} As Per Usual

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe's head tilted slightly as LDR started with his request again. He wanted to take the next...? Zoe took a few seconds to try and finish that sentence while LDR insisted otherwise. she did see him looking away, her own eyes flicking that direction. He wanted to take the next... oh! "Oh!" Zoe said, nodding. She reached down and started working the school camera off her neck, snagging some of her hair in the process. She jerked her head a bit to get it off. "Why, didn't, you, say so!" she said this last rather triumphantly, having finally untangled camera from hair. Zoe reached up and flipped some back, nodding.

Then she handed the camera over to LDR. "Right, so you know how to operate one of these, right? It's a fairly standard model, so you just have to worry about pressing the button at the right time for the most part. It's digital, but, well, these are the ones we use for the school, so they're not very complicated," she nodded and raised the camera again, urging LDR to grab it.

As she did, Zoe took a deep breath, knowing she'd need it for what she had to do next: "Excuse me?" She called, actually catching the attention of a group of students. "Would you like a picture?"

[Lister D. Reynolds]

LDR regretted ever asking as Zoe started to shove the camera towards him. He was going to actually have to take charge. And now she was getting the students interested, many of them LDR recognised. He gave a small shy wave before pretending to be very interested in the settings on the camera.

The group of students sounded happy enough to have a photo taken, although LDR was positive he heard a few disgruntled sighs. Okay. Okay, you can do this! Probably. He tried his best to give the group a smile before shrugging "S-S-So wh-where..." His face turned a bright red as one of the girls in the group gave a giggle and whipsered something "Wh-Where do you wa-want it?"

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Yes, the students wanted one, which was definitely a positive as far as Zoe was concerned. Except now she had to balance the difficult task of being there and helping LDR without actually stepping on his toes or intervening. Which proved all the harder when the girls started giggling. Zoe shot that one a particularly put out look.

"Yes, anywhere in the fair you want!" Zoe said, nodding and gesturing to indicate the fair in general. The group talked for a bit, some shooting LDR and Zoe looks while they did so. The one who giggled kept looking at LDR and Zoe swore she was whispering about something else again. Zoe had half a mind to go over and tell her off, but before anything else could be said or done, the group had decided.

They wanted a shot in front of the Haunted House, which was a short walk away. Zoe was already smiling and nodding, but making sure to leave it to LDR to confirm and get them moving in the right direction. Zoe would of course offer help if he didn't know, and she was almost willing to start pointing now. She'd already started tilting her head slightly, hoping to indicate it.

[Lister D. Reynolds]

LDR stood with his feet pointed in and held his arm whilst they waited for the group's answer. His face grew redder as the girl kept on giggling and shooting him looks. What had he done? Maybe it was the stuttering...Yep, probably the stuttering. How about we don't talk? The group quietened downed as he gave them a small shy wave and pointed in the direction of the haunted house, giving Zoe a look of complete fear.

He stepped close to Zoe and tried to give a smile. He was pretty sure he could still hear the girl whispering about something so he turned around to Zoe and spoke quietly "Uhhh...d-d-do you kn-know wh-why they're laughing?" At this there was another eruption of giggles. If it were possible for LDR's face to get any redder it would. He hurried along a bit faster, resisting the urge to just bolt away.

He stood awkwardly as they waited for the last of the group to catch up. He flicked his eyes over to Zoe before giving the group a shrug "Uhhh...I-I-I" Another chorus of giggles "I'm jus-just going to pl-place you g-guys so i-it's a nice ph-photo..." He started to try and move some of the students about but they seemed to ignore him. Why had he ever asked?

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Yes, the giggling continued. Zoe glanced over again, nearly glaring, and then looked back to LDR. "They're giggling because people like to giggle," Zoe insisted, not caring if that was even the real reason or not, "and because some people find just everything around them amusing, so they can't help it."

Which was probably the closest Zoe had come to saying something mean about someone in years, unless you counted DL as a person (and most people didn't at the end of the day). She heard the giggling again, shot another look, and then leaned over to whisper to LDR: "They only have power over you and your feelings if you let them. If they want to giggle, that's them. You can't stop that. But you can stop it from getting to you."

She nodded and then turned to face the group again. "Right," she said, nodding. She cleared her throat. "um, you're going to need to listen to him. Unless you don't want your photo? Because we could always go?" She gestured then, even taking a step away. the group hesitated, clearly not certain whether or not LDR and Zoe would actually go through with the statement. Neither exactly radiated confidence.