There were multiple levels to each question she was asking, and that was on top of the sudden knowledge that he'd positioned himself right behind her, close enough to--

Teaching had never been this difficult. What was wrong with him?

Getting hold of himself, he cleared his throat.

"First of all, there's cutting yourself off and there's..." He frowned, trying to focus on this instead of how she smelled, still, of sunlight and sand. How was that even possible? "If I unfocus my eyes, I cannot see into the distance," he offered imperfectly, "but I am not blindfolded. Do you see?"