[Peter was pretty much rushed along into this despite very loud and slightly desperate protests. No kids! He doesn't know how to handle kids! Bad at it! Bad at kids!]
[But here he is, stuck with Diana, in one of his worst nightmares. He's magicked up ear muffs because of all the shrieking. Because they're running wild and some of them have taken over the teacher's desk and chair, he has nowhere to sit, so to get away from sticky fingers and constant bids for his attention, he's climbed halfway up a wall to escape. He sits perched there, back to the wall, feet planted against it to hold him up, arms crossed, shoulders hunched, soundly ignoring the children gaping at him from below and all their questions. "How are you doing that?" "Do you have glue on your feet?" "Are you a bug?" "How come you're wearing ear muffs, are you cold?"]
[(He's ignoring them because he doesn't want to deal, not because he can't hear. He can still hear through the ear muffs. They just makes it a little less loud.)]
[Then Diana looks up at him, and ugh, now he has to interact.]
[He's so bad at this. Miles was an absolute delight to deal with, but he was older. And an amazing kid. And they're all so small. And loud. And sticky. Why are so many of them sticky??]
Thirty-eight.
[That's all he says.]
[And then, hoping it encourages Diana to handle most of this, he adds, brightly:]
I'd help more but I really think you've got this. You're doing so well.
the childrens (oh god)
[But here he is, stuck with Diana, in one of his worst nightmares. He's magicked up ear muffs because of all the shrieking. Because they're running wild and some of them have taken over the teacher's desk and chair, he has nowhere to sit, so to get away from sticky fingers and constant bids for his attention, he's climbed halfway up a wall to escape. He sits perched there, back to the wall, feet planted against it to hold him up, arms crossed, shoulders hunched, soundly ignoring the children gaping at him from below and all their questions. "How are you doing that?" "Do you have glue on your feet?" "Are you a bug?" "How come you're wearing ear muffs, are you cold?"]
[(He's ignoring them because he doesn't want to deal, not because he can't hear. He can still hear through the ear muffs. They just makes it a little less loud.)]
[Then Diana looks up at him, and ugh, now he has to interact.]
[He's so bad at this. Miles was an absolute delight to deal with, but he was older. And an amazing kid. And they're all so small. And loud. And sticky. Why are so many of them sticky??]
Thirty-eight.
[That's all he says.]
[And then, hoping it encourages Diana to handle most of this, he adds, brightly:]
I'd help more but I really think you've got this. You're doing so well.
[He gives her a thumbs up.]