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The weather is warming up, and it's been really nice. She's at the park to enjoy some of the fresh air while she does some homework, and she's even gone so far as to take off her sneakers and socks, toes curling and uncurling in the cool grass.

She's got a book in her lap, and a notebook at her side, which she uses to take notes in as she skims.

But, honestly, it's kind of boring. She's not even sure what it's about, at this point, and she has to write a report by the end of the week. With a sigh, Regan drops her head back, staring up at the sky. In her periphery, she sees movement, so she glances over — just to make sure it's not Richie about to prank her again, or something. She's still pulling glitter off her scalp and other places, and it's been weeks.

When she realizes it's Billy, she smiles a little. Things have gotten less tense with him, so it's actually kind of a pleasant surprise to see him there.

And it's a welcome distraction, besides.

She closes her book and sets it aside, then waves to get his attention.

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The nice part about the weather changing is that Billy no longer has to worry about freezing when he does his outdoor workouts. He's finishing a set of pull ups when Regan waves at him. He still isn't sure what to make of this teenager that's suddenly in his life, but Frank's taken a shining to her and Billy knows how shitty it can be to grow up in a group home. He can't begrudge her the chance to be out of it as often as she can.

Besides, Frank's a good dad, even if Billy has no interest in being one.

He towels off as he heads over to her bench. The one thing he has done is start taking signing classes.

"Hey," he signs with a fairly fluid motion. "What reading?"

She holds the cover up for him to see, then signs "Grapes of Wrath," with a grimace. "It's so boring." She sets it aside and gestures towards the little workout... playground thing. "That looks kind of cool," she notes, as casually as possible.

"Slow down," he requests with a wry little smile. "Still practicing."

But he can figure out most of what she said with the helpful gesture at the work out area. Billy nods a bit. "Yeah, I like the outdoor ones. Fresh air and all that. Frank still doing self defense stuff with you?"

"Yes, a couple times a week," she answers, and obligingly signs a bit slower. "It's working, too!" She doesn't remember if he knew about what happened with Richie, but she tells him, anyway. If she looks a little proud of herself, well. That's only because her training is paying off.

"Heard you socked a kid at Founder's Day." He has to spell out F-O-U-N-D-E-R-S and only looks vaguely frustrated about it. He grins when she confirms, relating the story.

"Good, he earned that. Don't let anyone give you shit you don't want to take."

He looked at her book. "You busy? Want to grab something to eat?"

She considers her homework, then shrugs. "I could eat," she answers. He seems frustrated that he's not on par with her level of signing, and she wants to reassure him, but from what she knows of him, she suspects that he just likes to be the best at anything he tries. Whether he actually aims to be better than her, she doesn't know, but he clearly wants to be better than he is.

Billy is under no illusion that he'll be as good or as fluent as Regan is, at least not any time soon. SHe's been doing this longer and depends on it more; as bad as it sounds, Billy has other options of communication that are more native to him, and it's easy to default to them when he's not thinking about it. Like learning an language, it takes time and exposure and practice.

If he can handle Russian and Farsi, he can handle ASL.

"What kind of food do you feel like?" he asked.

She hesitates, then shrugs, realizing she really doesn't know. "Back home there weren't a lot of options. I'm still getting used to all the choices here." She hopes he takes that as an opportunity to make an executive decision, otherwise they're gonna be at a standstill.

"Do you like uhm... milkshakes?" He gets a little creative with that last sign but he's pretty sure he gets his point across. "How about one of the diners?"

There's a couple of good greasy spoons in Darrow and Billy has been to all of them because Frank has been to all of them.

"Okay," she answers. It's been so long since she's had a milkshake: not since before she came to Darrow, and before the creatures. Regan is suddenly really glad she engaged with him today.

"Want me to carry anything?" he asks, staring at his hands a bit while he does it. He is determined; Regan's not wrong on the reasons or the cause for his consternation.

"How's school going?"

"I've got it," she assures. She has her bag, still, so she just piles everything in it, then hooks it on her shoulders. "It's alright. It's school. The novelty is sort of wearing off by now." She grins wryly as she says that, because, really, who gets excited about school?

She does. She's a nerd.

"Were you--" He pauses, trying to think of how to make the question work. "Were you home schooled before this?"

She talks about it like a novelty and Billy hasn't actually asked much about Regan's past before Frank started bringing her around. He knows she lives at the Home. That's all he needed.

"For awhile," she answers. He doesn't get the sign quite right, but she still understands his meaning. She isn't sure how she wants to explain her meaning, though, and she finds herself hesitating for an almost awkward amount of time. Then she says, "I used to go to a Deaf school. Then my parents homeschooled us before I got here."

There's more to it than that. So much more. But she isn't sure how much she wants to go into it — or if she even should, really.