Anthony nodded and took the book, looking at it curiously (but, alas, not understanding anything) as Elijah went to start a fire. Visibly relaxing again a bit as Elijah sat down beside him, Anthony looked at him in mild confusion as he spoke. He didn't understand all the fuss about....him not wearing gloves, but okay, he'll accept it. "Of course I wont," he said, flashing a brief smile at Elijah.

Elijah reflected the smile back but was clearly nervous. It became clear when he very slowly removed the gloves to show his pink hands covered in old scars. He kept his hands close at first, seeming to search Anthony for signs of disgust or dread before hesitantly reaching out to take the book. "A-are you a-alright?" He said quietly.

Anthony began to understand all the fuss as soon as Elijah took his gloves off. While it was a bit surprising at first, Anthony was not shocked or disgusted or whatever the fuck. This wasn't even up there on the list of the worst things he's seen in his entire life. But he could tell Elijah was actually bothered by this, so he decided to not actually speak out loud in that terribly apathetic tone. "Yeah," he nodded, keeping his voice a bit quiet as well as to not disturb the quiet athmosphere. "of course I am."

Elijah became clearly relieved and smiled. He leaned towards Anthony, careful in case he was more bothered than he let on, and held up the book. He gestured to the words and spoke them out in careful pronunciation trying to point out how the letters in the words made the sounds. "If you wish me to .. slow down. Don't hesitate to ask.Or if you have questions. I've never taught before. But I'm happy to try if you are happy to learn."

Anthony was glad to leave this slightly uncomfortable topic behind and go back to the more uncomfortable topic. Anthony leaned against Elijah, and listened and watched him teaching with such attentiveness that he didn't even think was possible of him. However bad he tried to understand, however, it just....didn't work out. Which was a bit frustrating. "Okay," he nodded as Elijah spoke again. All Anthony really hoped for and wanted was for Elijah to be patient enough to deal with him, really.

Elijah tried to be slow and show how the letters worked together though he worried it wasn't working. He looked at him and immediately had to turn back to the book as he was close. Way too close. He had to calm his thoughts. "if it isn't working, it's alright. We can always .. work from the beginning.. And.. t-teach you the letters. If you prefer?"

"I don't know? Maybe," Anthony shrugged again. "I'm just not very good at learning things in general." Which was somewhat true—Anthony definitely had way too short of an attention span and was way too impatient and easily frustrated to be able to learn things effectively. Not to say that he literally can't learn, but...it would take time. A lot of time. Anthony furrowed his brows for a moment in thought.

"It is alright. Learning to read is difficult for loads of people. We have plenty of time and I don't mind going slow." He wondered if a reward system would work."How about.. any time we meet a milestone. A.. step in the learning process.. you get one thing of your choosing? As long as it is within my power?"

Anthony felt...a bit embarrased, perhaps, at not being able to learn this fast (even though no human could learn that fast either, but whatever). Anthony buried his face in Elijah's shoulder to avoid having to look at him ever again, but that hope was short-lived as Elijah spoke again. So instead he just decided to rest his head on his shoulder. A compromise. "I don't know if that would work but you can try, I guess," Anthony said.

Elijah shook his head and laughed softly. He moved to slip his arm around and hug the man, wanting to comfort his worries about learning slowly. "We just started. It could take weeks or months before there's noticeable progress. But I'm happy to try, if it is ok. Please? don't think I want to make you feel bad.. I really don't. I want you happy and to feel proud of yourself."