Duncan had been staying low and for the most part ignored in his classes. He even slept through one, though the blind man had never been one to care for school. He would personally like to be in his science class but for now, he had made his way to the art room. The blond moved with little effort into the room, having taken off his stuffy coat with how warm the building had become now. As he sat at his usual art table alone, the instructor started to explain that they would be having a new project that would require their attention over the up coming holiday break. Duncan sighed at this, wishing he could read a book right now or at least get some more coffee in his system before he glared with a paling face at the teacher saying this was a team project. He could feel the want to just run out and scream at something well up inside of him learning that it was groups of two, their partners having already been assigned to each other. He listened to the instructor walk around the room handing out sheets of paper before stopping before Duncan, handing him a paper and telling him the name of his partner before explaining what was needed for the project.
"Duncan you'll be working with Asher. Now I want all of you to listen up still. This project will be due when a week after we've returned. I want you all to learn a little something about your classmates so this should be a fun way to make something that incorporates what each of you learned about your partner. I don't care if its sculpture, painting or drawing. THe only real theme I give you is color. Now partner up and have fun!"
Duncan could hear that some of the students were happy with this project, though he could hear the swearing under huffed breaths at hating this assignment. He just stayed where he was seated, unable to learn who this Asher kid was with his lack of eyes. He knew if need be the teacher would point the other student to the stand off blond. Everyone avoided him for the most part anyways, he was just scary with how stand-offish he was no one ever got close enough to learn he was blind and he honestly wanted it to stay that way in this class.



outfit

It was the second to last lesson before school ended and Ash had been painfully watching the clock slowly tick by all day. He swore sometimes the school did something to slow down time just to make everyone suffer that little bit more.
Art had always been his favourite lesson, it wasn’t difficult and when the tutor wasn’t breathing down his neck when he was trying to think, he actually enjoyed the lazy side of it.

As always, he sat near the back of the class, right next to the window so he could stare out and daydream when the tutor decided it was time for some actual learning and bored them with her voice. Once the tutor had everyone’s attention, his eyes did the usual thing and wondered to the trees that were blowing quiet violently in the wind outside. It was another grey day that threatened to open the heavens at any given moment but inside it was rather cosy considering the place he was in.

His mind had switched off for a moment whilst he gazed at the hypnotic motions of the trees but were snapped back rather violently when he heard his name been mentioned. On his table lay a piece of paper which he didn’t bother to read just yet. He glanced over a few tables to see the tutor stood in front of a boy he had never really taken any notice in. Most of the time he hadn’t even realised he was there.
Questioning what was going on, he raised his gaze to his tutor and listened to her instructions to the class and pieced the two together. Momentarily, his stomach flipped and made him feel a tiny bit sick. He hadn’t done a joint project before. He hated pairing up in classes let alone having to put up with someone during the only time he didn’t actually have to be anywhere near them.
Watching the guy for a moment, it dawned on him that the stranger never really talked to anyone or joined in when the class got a little out of hand. Unlike everyone else he was surrounded by, the boy didn’t look like the most threatening.

Sighing, he picked up his bag and pulled it onto his shoulder before making his way through the sea of bodies as everyone switched tables. He dropped his bag to the floor and pulled out the seat next to the blonde kid. For a while, he watched as everyone else took their seats and chatted happily amongst them, the odd few doing as he was doing and glancing around to see what everyone else was doing. It wasn’t the first time he didn’t know what to say to a complete stranger.

He sighed again only this time louder and ran a hand through his hair before resting his head in his hands and turning back to the stranger. He didn’t really know anything about anyone in the school; he’d never been given the chance to so the whole concept of learning about someone was a little fuzzy in his mind.
“So… I’m Ash… but you already know that.” He started, a slight blush rising to his cheeks as he tried to work out what part came next. “I guess I’m going to need your name too if we’re gonna be working together?”


Outfit

Duncan kept his ears focused all the students moving around the room, listening for that one student that was going to step forth to his own table so as to learn who was going to be forced to work with him. He didn't so much as flinch at a book bag being dropped to the floor, even hitting against the table leg some before the blond looked over at the student. Well, at least it appeared that he was staring at the student. Duncan was rather unresponsive in expression at this Asher kid, the name having been shortened to Ash, before hearing the hesitant and questioning tone in the kid's voice.

"I'm Duncan Forester."

His voice was rather flat as he moved his eyes the slightest touch to look like he was staring over at something at the wall, his mannerisms seeming entirely like one with perfectly normal eyesight. He ran a hand over one of his wristbands before choosing to hopefully pick their media of choice.

"You good are you at sculpture?"

It was a simple question no? Duncan couldn't really draw or paint anything but he could sculpt rather well and with startling detail. This boy sitting before him though, something didn't sound or smell right about him. If there was a heartbeat it was extremely weak or nonexistent to his well tuned ears. This Asher boy didn't seem to be human from the sound of it but Duncan wasn't going to press it, only take note and caution of it.

It seemed the other kid wasn’t too thrilled about being partnered up either; at least that’s what Ash picked up from the lack of enthusiasm in his voice. He gave the boy a small smile once he’d learnt his name but that soon vanished when the boy turned his eyes to the far wall. So he had a name but he was pretty sure he was going to need more than that if he were to pass this project.
He rubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands and let out a small groan, half wishing that he hadn’t even bothered with this art class today.

Duncan’s voice made him look up again, wondering what relevance his sculptor skills had to do with them getting to know each other. He shrugged his shoulders and made a small noise that sounded very much like a muffled “I don’t know…” Before chewing on his lip in thought.
He actually hadn’t tried sculpturing before. Give him paint and a canvas and he could paint you a master piece but something that involved that much precision and time?
“I honestly don’t know… sorry.” He admitted, suddenly feeling like the worst art student in the room. “I-I haven’t really done much other than draw and paint… but sculpturing sounds fun and I’ve always wanted to try it… I’m guessing it’s your first choice?” He asked in curiosity, only now leaning back in his chair and reaching for his bag to take his notebook and pencil case.

Duncan had clearly understood what Asher muttered under his breath, not surprised. Duncan knew people took the fact they could see the world for granted, but there was no need for the other to know of his...disability. He brought his hands across the table, moving to direct his eyes at them in his thought.

"Sculpture is the media I'm strongest in. My drawing and paint skills are extremely poor."

He then remembered a theme element is color. Duncan has no idea what colors look like, only light and dark in every sense of the words. He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he glared down at the table with his cloudy blue eyes. He wanted to explain that all 'color' to the piece would need to be done by the other without Giving away that he couldn't see. Letting his eyes close for a moment, he chose to distract himself by finding out how to fulfill the other aspect, learning about each other.

"This project requires us to learn something about each other. I'm guessing it starts with us asking questions about each other? "

He sighed again, not liking that he had to interact with a person.

"Just let me lay in the flowers...this is just ridiculous..."he muttered under his breath.

Duncan found this tedious and a waste of his efforts when he should be reading a good book or working on reviving the garden outside his dorm building. He just wanted to focus on flowers and other things, not terribly planned partner projects.

Asher kept himself leant back against the back of his chair as he watched the other boy, the other seeming to take an interest in his hands now. Although he had always found painting to be easy, he didn’t judge the other as he knew that everyone was different, some taking easily to using their hands and others taking easily to using devises. Either way, with both sets of skills, they both stood a chance of creating something beautiful and worth a pass if they could get past the awkward introductions and get their heads together.

He leant forward now, taking a pen from his case and opening his notebook, seeming to have the same idea as Duncan as he wrote the others name in his usual swirly writing. He also jotted down the word ‘sculptor’ as the first thing he had learnt before raising his eyes to look at the boy beside him.
“Oh… umm, yeah. I-I… I guess that seems logical.” He said in a flat tone, scratching at his head as he attempted to think of what type of questions people asked when first meeting each other; nothing was coming to him though. It wasn’t like he was making it awkward on purpose; he’d just never had the chance to practise his socialising skills. Instead, another idea crossed his mind as he leant forward and rest his arms across the table. “Or I could just tell you a little about myself and then do the same?” He asked.

He didn’t give Duncan time to say whether or not he preferred the idea or not; he was already nervous enough with thinking about how to give the other something to go on without giving too much away about himself.
“You already got my name. I’m… 16…” –He decided to leave the part about how long he’d been 16 for out for now.- “I was born in February and I guess that could be the reason I don’t like winter much. I like anything bright and colourful… I also like writing, am a bit of a hoarder and being alone is something I seem to do best… although it’s not usually through choice…” he paused for a moment and dropped his gaze to the table, his heart sinking a little like it always did when he remembered he had no friends. “Umm… I live at home with my parents, have a pretty average life and live on the same rota pretty much every day of my life. I’m not the most interesting topic… so what about you? Where are you from? What stuff do you like?”

He now waited patiently to hear what Duncan was all about, hoping that he at least had something a little more interesting to say about himself. Admittedly, whilst trying to hide his secrets away, it was very hard for Ash to be anyone special amongst the other town folk that surrounded them.

Duncan didn't pay much mind on what was said in agreement, but his attention seemed to peak as the boy though it would be best to talk he nodded in agreement, taking his phone out so as to record Asher's responses. He had made sure it would work as he listened intently. His expression was rather unchanging in the sense as he took in what was said, cloudy blue eyes looking out of focus but intent. He ran a hand through his hair at the boy wanting to know some things on him. He sighed as he sat up straight and stared at the wall as he spoke.

"I'm 18, my birth isn't much but I was disowned by my mother after the death of my father. I was homeless for a time, nothing I'd go back to. I have a passion for all forms or flora, normally more so than people. I take joy in reading and unlike you I usually isolate myself intentionally with a personal matter in mind."

He was curt and short in his explanation, leaving out his blindness and it being a deciding factor in every step o his life, from how he was treated to what he did while in public. He left the recording feature on his phone running as he chose to ask a question of his own.

"Do you happen to have a favorite plant Asher?"

Talking about flowers or books always calmed him down and got him to unwind some from being so tense, so why not use that approach to this project?

Ash had brought his pen back to the blank piece of paper and had started scribbling down everything the boy had to say effortlessly. Each and every word was wrote in the language he found easier to register though, none of this new English slang rubbish he saw written all over school papers these days. In his household, using slang was usually met with a sharp hand to the cheek which could be very painful when the lesson was left to his father.

He was slightly surprised by the boy’s openness towards his past having learnt it wasn’t one any kid dreamt of having. Though he couldn’t remember much of his own, he still had a feeling it would have been better than that. His memories from France were the only truly happy one’s he had and even though they were vague and hazy, they still reminded him that those were the best years he’d had before everything had changed.
He was also surprised that the other chose to isolate himself when most chose to be among others. Admittedly, Ash was very picky when it came to choosing who he spent his time with but it was always better than being sat alone with his own thoughts for company.

Asher blinked and glanced up at Duncan when the question was asked. It hadn’t been one he’d expected and if he remembered properly, there was only one plant of sorts that he could think of that had always caught his eye when falling in the spring breeze. It used to cover the orchard floor at his old family home back in France and it had been his mother’s favourite flower.
He let his eyes fall to the phone on the desk and then back to the notebook in front of him.
“Umm… I don’t really know any plants. My mom used to like them… she used to let me help her in the garden but that was years ago and I can’t remember much. We had Cherry Blossoms everywhere. The white flowers used to make it look like snow in the spring. She said it looked pretty and I guess it did.”

He smiled at the old memory before he looked back up at Duncan, a brighter expression etched across his face as he chewed on the end of his pen.
“And what about you? You have a passion for flora so I’m guessing you have a few unusual ones I’ve never heard of.”

Duncan listened intently to the little story Asher told of cherry blossoms, a small smile coming to the blind man's face at it.

"They are such a lovely fragrance too. I had one cherry blossom tree in the garden me and my father made, but that was long ago now. lovely plant still."

He adored any form of flora though, and picking a favorite was always difficult for him. He seemed to stare out at the wall again as he spoke, a spark seeming to come to his words with his favorite subject.

"I wouldn't say their unusual. I grow Dahlia flowers on occasion along with Bleeding Hearts, but one plant i love the most are roses. They were the first kind of flower my father gave me and taught me to identify. they were everywhere as far as I can remember when I was small, and I plan to keep them as my closest friends and memories."

He smiled wider, cloudy eyes lighting up some as he turned to "look" back at Asher with the brightening smile.

Seeing Duncan smile helped Asher relax some, leaning back on his chair now and watching the other closely with a small smile across his own face. Yes, cherry blossoms certainly had a lovely fragrance and whenever he smelt them they always reminded him of the spring time back home. He listened intently to Duncan talk about the one he had made with his father; instantly feeling slightly saddened that he had little no nice memories of his. He didn’t let this faze him though; keeping the smile on his face and nodding his head in agreement.

The next three flowers mentioned had Asher thinking. He was sure he’d seen a Dahlia before but couldn’t place an image to it. The bleeding hearts had once been one that had caught his eye due to its unusual shape but he’d never taken an interest in keeping them and finally, the roses. Roses were seen everywhere most summers. As far as he understood, it was usually females of the middle aged that liked them the most, over growing them in their gardens every summer on along the bushes that marked the path from their front lawn. Every year he found them a bit of nonsense. If they weren’t scratching at people as they walked past they were bringing plagues of bee’s to chase the people away instead.
He shuddered at the thought and almost thanked god that he rarely had these problems anymore. The only thing he had to contain was himself pouncing at some unfortunate soul that caught their skin on the thorns as they passed. He was still coming to terms with his thirst but so far he’d had a lot more control over himself than he had initially thought he would.

His thoughts were pushed aside when Duncan looked at him, feeling his cheeks burn a little and quickly looking away when he realised he must have been staring at the boy for a good few minutes. He kept the calm, relaxed smile across his lips though at the brightened look on Duncan’s face. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he finally swallowed hard and nodded his head.
“It does seem that the rose has a habit of creeping into every good memory.” He began, staring down at the notebook in front of him. “It’s a good idea to keep them close… sometimes a simple flower can be better company than the people that we share this world with. At least they don’t taint your mind…”

He swallowed again, not really knowing why he was talking the way he was. He’d never taken an interest in flowers before but as it was the only conversation he had had in a while, it was sure better than nothing.
“You really do like them don’t you?” He asked, turning his head ever so slightly to look back at Duncan, his eyes narrowed questioningly. “I mean, it’s nothing bad… it’s just not many guys your age actually enjoy spending time around girly things such as flowers… May I ask what happened to your father?”

As soon as the words left his lips he wished he could take them back. Feeling his cheeks brighten again, he quickly dropped his gaze back to the table and mumbled an apology in his quietest voice. “Oh wow… I’m sorry… y-you don’t have to tell me anything… obviously. I-It’s not my business. I just figured your love for anything floral might be joined to your father… I-I’m sorry I said anything… y-you really don’t have to tell me.”

Duncan wasn't stunned at noticing that Asher was looking away from him, but it couldn't tell much else since he had no way of seeing what was going on. He could hear that the boy sounded nervous or embarassed in some way but made no question as he found it was his turn to listen. He gave a chuckle at hearing the boy's statement at flowers being better company than people.

"I can't help but agree with that. I'd take spending days making floral arrangements over any sort of interaction with people."

What can we say? He's brutally honest about what he thinks and stands for. He could still hear the nervousness of the other, sensing that the other was looking at him again as Asher started to speak of flowers. He couldn't help to chuckle again, the comment on flowers being girly nothing new to him. he stifled the laugh as the other looked to be trying to recover from what most saw as a sensitive question for most. Duncan had come to terms with his father's death, it was more how is mother treated him that he was bitter and rejected about.

"Well you've guessed well. And don't be sorry for your curiosity, I can understand it. My dad had died in a car crash when i was 14. He was the one to teach me a majority of what I know about plants. They were the only two things I could trust when i was younger, sometimes still the only things I can trust."

He looked distant for a moment, staring back at the wall as he was debating on a question for Asher. They still didn't have nearly enough to make much of a sculpture or any artwork so he had to consider this.

"Want to tell me what sort of music-"

He stopped talking to cover his ears at some loud unknown screech coming from a student's cell phone. Duncan's ears were highly sensitive to sound so the loud noise was quite painful for him. The students at fault just laughed after stopping the device but the teacher didn't find it as amusing as the rest of the students did. Duncan put his hands down on the table, even gripping it some as he just stared down at the surface for a moment. He was entirely confused now as the screech had thrown his balance in a sense. His ears were still ringing as he couldn't rely on his sense of hearing for a bit to do anything, meaning he was left to touch and smell and that wasn't much in school, it was too much of a giveaway for his lack of eyes. Though at the moment he just looked scared as if he couldn't see. He tried to cover it up though with a nervous laugh.

"Sorry about that, it's easy to startle me with sound. I was trying to ask what your favorite music was?"

Duncan was hoping that Asher wasn't going to catch on to his lack of eyes like this, during a moment of confusion while his hearing readjusted to normal sound levels.

It felt good to be able to laugh with someone rather than being laughed at; a feeling Asher had missed since moving to this school and being pushed to the bottom of the food chain. Metaphorically, obviously.
So far the people hadn’t been so welcoming. There was one person he had talked to but for some reason he hadn’t seen Alec around lately. Still, Duncan seemed nice enough too and worth getting to know. Besides, they didn’t really have a choice, did they? But then Asher couldn’t choose anyone else he’d rather do this project with anyway.

Listening to Duncan explain about his father’s death, Asher felt something tug on his heart strings. It always saddened him to hear about death as it always reminded him that he wasn’t alive; not technically anyway. He could never die, could he? He’d seen so many people come and go and out lived every one of them. He still wondered if his parents were still alive too; his real ones. Not the ones that dragged him away.
He sighed heavily and leant forward again, resting his head in his hands. He’d barely noticed the silence that fell between them until his attention was snapped back to the present by somebodies phone ringing. Asher rolled his eyes and like everyone else, looked over to the culprit with a small smirk on his face.
He’s gonna be in trouble now…

He watched; his smile growing as the tutor held her hand out for the phone once the devise had been muted. The boy gave her a look but didn’t object. There was only one thing that meant- he wouldn’t be seeing that again until the end of the week.
Glancing back to Duncan the smile vanished from his pale face as he took in the boy’s scared expression before noticing how he was gripping to the table. He raised an eyebrow before looking concerned but before he could ask if everything was ok, the boy gave a small laugh before roughly explaining his strange behaviour.
It still didn’t add up though.

Ash wasn’t particularly one to remain relaxed around loud noises but the way Duncan reacted? That just wasn’t… ‘normal’.
Still, if Duncan wasn’t going to make a fuss about it then neither was he; besides he’d done enough prying on touchy subjects so far.

Sighing, he lowered his gaze back to the boy’s hands before finally pushing his concern to the back of his mind to think about his music taste. He was happy he hadn’t been asked for his favourite band or genre because that would have meant an hour long lecture from the young vampire. He didn’t believe anyone had a favourite when it came to music. It was just too vast and every song he had heard held different memories. The only ones he struggled to remember were the ones from his life; the ones from when he still breathed. He was pretty sure his mother used to play him classic; mostly anything with haunting violins and cello’s. He had always found himself at peace when listening to that kind of stuff but it wasn’t normal for a boy his age to like that, was it?

“Well… I don’t have a favourite. Don’t laugh at me ok… but I like classic. I also like rock, jazz and j-pop. In fact, I’ll listen to anything that is put on. No matter what it is, there is always something beautiful to be found in a melody. It’s a form of art… as is dancing… which I often do a lot when I’m alone… but that can be our secret yeah?”

He grinned nervously before it quickly vanished again. Taking up his pencil again, he started sketching the outline of a rose on the top corner of his page before moving on to draw a tiny violin too; the boy’s behaviour still eating away at him.
“I-I have to ask… before we carry on… but are you OK?”

Duncan didn't remove his eyes from the table top as he was glad Asher wasn't questioning what was going on with him. His grip on the table loosened some as he just listened to asher speak about music. A faint smile came to his face at hearing that the other enjoyed classical, though he was still very much tense since he ears were ringing still. His hands had moved slowly to at least rest on the surface of the table, able to at least extend his senses some to anything set on the table. He couldn't pick out where everything was exactly, and that was still a bit frightening to him. He pretended that nothing was bothering him though as he spoke softly.

"There is no reason for me to laugh. I quite enjoy classical myself. It's the only music that honestly doesn't scare me. I have extremely sensitive hearing so there isn't too much of today's music i can tolerate with out...well it just gives me headaches."

He nearly gave way to how most music was extremely loud and disoriented him quite easily. at least with classical he could put a stringed orchestra on and he would be at peace. he looked to turn his head some towards Asher at the being asked if he were okay, but he didn't look directly at him as he knew if he did that it wouldn't end well as he'd more than likely look past him or no even close.

"I'm fine...Perfectly fine."

He had a tiny smile on his lips at this before the teacher chose to walk over. He never exactly liked this one due to how she treated him. All his teachers knew he was blind but were ordered to behave as if he did have sight since for the most part he could, his art teacher however, seemed to think that he needed to be babied a little. She had set a hand on his shoulder, making him jump some and recoil from the touch, his head having picked up and unfocused eyes unsure of where to look.

"I had a feeling that had gotten to you. Need me to take you to the nurse? I know you can't se-"

"I'm fine. There is nothing wrong with me."

His voice was raised some and he was gripping the table again, clearly upset that she had come over there to ask if he was okay and more than likely revealing to Asher that there was something very wrong with him. He hated people knowing, especially if they didn't catch onto it from the look of his eyes.

Although Asher was doing his best to smile and look unconcerned, truth was that he worried maybe a little too much about others around him. Right now, Duncan clearly looked stressed about something but Ash couldn’t place a finger on what it could be.
Even as the other boy spoke Asher was still questioning the odd behaviour and wondered if the kid always acted like this.

Forcing himself to push his concern to the back of his mind, he just caught the last of what Duncan was saying and quickly nodded his head to look as though he had been listening. If anyone knew what it was like to have sensitive hearing it was Asher. Music didn’t give him headaches though, in fact he thrived sitting alone in his room with his speakers on full on a regular occasion whilst surrounded by a mixed selection of CD’s. He could hear every single note and even go as far as tuning out one sound just to hear another more clearly. He hadn’t had a headache for quite a while though and wasn’t sure if held have been able to do this whilst he was still alive.
It didn’t explain why this kid had sensitive hearing though. As far as Asher could tell, the kid was just another normal human. Maybe he was ill or something? It would explain the weird behaviour a little at least.

Staring at Duncan, Asher found himself frowning at the kid’s obvious lie. The fact he couldn’t even make eye contact just made it all that more rude. Rolling his own eyes, Asher looked away again and decided that he wasn’t going to pry any further. If Duncan didn’t want to talk then that was perfectly fine by him.
His eyes drifted across the floor to see what everyone else was doing before they wondered back to Duncan and landed on the teacher who was now stood by Duncan’s side. How did she always manage to creep up like that? Asher liked to believe she was an evil demon sent from hell to ruin his life. His eyes grew wide as he gave out a small squeak and almost jumped backwards before quickly turning his attention to the papers still spread out in front of him. He could hear what was been said but knew not to look up if he didn’t want to be asked to mind his own business from the teacher from hell.

He kept his eyes on the table and noticed how Duncan clamed up again, his eyes now narrowing as he dared to steal a glance at the two. He noticed the teacher had pursed her lips as though trying not to argue before she simply nodded and wondered of to the table in front of them. She still kept a careful eye on Duncan though.
Making sure she wasn’t looking, Asher leant sideways some until his shoulder touched Duncan’s and quickly whispered, pausing a couple of times whenever he was shot that look before carrying on again.

“Bit over protective isn’t she! So… what’s going on? And don’t lie. You can’t expect to be all secretive and strange around me when we have to work together. It’s slightly… well, weird… ya know?” He bit his lip for a second before sighing and leaning back in to his chair. The expression was enough to see he was trying to be a smart aleck as he chewed on his lip ring and raised both his eyebrows at the boy. There was something definetly wrong with this one and Asher wasn’t prepared to co-operate until he had some kind of explanation.

Duncan kept his eyes seeming to follow the teacher, hating that she had even thought it smart to say something about his sight, or lack there of, when he was right next to another student. He sighed as he leaned back in his chair, his hearing finally starting to get back to normal in understanding where everything was. He had even shut his eyes for a moment, only to open his blue eyes at someone touchin his shoulder and leaning closer to him. He didn't like the closeness and move away once the boy was done talking. He had pursed his lips as he appeared to be debating on answering what was "wrong" with him. His eyes narrowe for a moment, senses all back together now before sighing and looking defeated.

"It's not an actual problem until moments like this. you see... I can't actually see with my eyes...I use my other senses instead, hence why its difficult for others to tell if I'm actually blind or not."

He was staring at Asher now, his expression getting a bit upset still.

"Only the school staff knows for the most part, so don't say a word about this to anyone. At all."

He would never admit to it but he was ashamed of his blindness, having seen it tear most of his life apart even if he had just sat there and did nothing.