Work Text:
It was a typical morning bus ride to school but, for whatever reason, everything seemed to be bothering Ashlyn more than usual.
The feeling of her clothes, the noise of the bus that filtered in even through the thick, noise-cancelling headphones, the bright sunlight seeping in through the window she stared out of- It was all just a little bit too much and the familiar, stinging feeling of overstimulation traveled through her synapses and left her tense and miserable.
Aiden picked up on this and was eager to "help", but Ben placed a firm hand on his shoulder to stop him. He knew that, despite Aiden's best intentions, the boy might overwhelm the ginger further and nobody wanted that.
'You have fidget toys in your backpack, right?' Ben signed. Aiden nodded and opened the sleeve of his backpack that was full of Rubix cubes and fidget spinners and other, similar items that he was permitted to use in class because of his ADHD diagnosis. Ben hummed and poked around before finding a fidget cube that he was sure Ashlyn would find use for.
The taller boy leaned forward and tapped Ash lightly on the shoulder. She flinched slightly at the sudden stimuli but relaxed when she turned back and found Ben with an apologetic smile, holding out a fidget cube. She realized then, with some embarrassment, that she had been lightly rocking back and forth for who knows how long.
'Thank you' she signed to him because the idea of speaking and hearing her own voice on top of everything else was just too much. He smiled and nodded as she accepted the fidget cube and began to, well, fidget with it, calming down ever so slightly as she did so.