xp_logs | Artie and Topaz || Monday Afternoon

Artie and Topaz meet for a sign language lesson.

Artie bumped the door to the library open and knocked on the desk with one hand, coffees balanced in other other and sent an image of a cheerful waving person over to Topaz. Hi.

Topaz looked up from her book - she knew she couldn't learn ASL from a book but that didn't mean she couldn't do a little studying about it. "Hullo," she said with a smile, standing to help take the coffee burden off of him. "Thanks for this."

Artie shrugged and gestured 'it's nothing' and followed it up by signing "voice off, please." It was one of his rules, right from the start. "Come on."

Right. Topaz signed "Sorry," quickly - pretty much the first sign she'd really picked up. She could do a fair bit of the alphabet too, but knowing how to apologize was more important.

Artie rolled his eyes. "Stop saying sorry! Tell me about your day." He paused, giving her a moment to process. "Don't worry if you don't know the signs. Just try. And remember - facial expressions are important."

Topaz frowned for a moment, thinking. "I didn't do..." And already she stumped. She finger spelled "much," trying to remember to keep her expression light and open - which was, oddly, one of the harder parts. Facial expressions were important, and she knew her facial expression wasn't usually...friendly. "I sent in one last college application."

Artie nodded and then repeated what she'd said back, once fluidly and quickly and then again with pauses for her to stop and process and see the new signs.

Topaz moved her fingers lightly as if to copy what he was doing, though he went too fast the first time for her to really follow. She managed the second time, doing her best to identify them all.

Artie nodded and repeated it more slowly again before going over the new signs one at a time, fingerspelling the English for each as he went.

Topaz repeated the signs one more time before nodding once and signing, "I got it. Thank you."

Artie nodded and grinned, mouth closed because goddamn, you could have a freaky tongue all your life but some habits were hard to break, like being visibly a mutant in public and turned the conversation, asking a couple more questions before picking up a picture book and gave a second smile as he settled the copy of "Who Sank the Boat" on the table between them.

"It's storytime."

Topaz eyed the book warily but nodded all the same, reaching over to open the book and skimming the first sentence a few times and signing it slowly.

Artie nodded. "Good. Try for more facial expressions and be more visual." He repeated the page, describing the cow's ears moving, the boat sinking a little and bobbing back up. "Want to practice that for homework?"

Topaz nodded in return, signing, "Sounds good." Facial expression was definitely what she struggled with most. No surprise there.

He looked at Topaz carefully. She was still a beginner so she was probably getting tired by now, just from focussing. "Ready to stop? We can meet up again tomorrow, but it's going to need to be early - I have to be in the city at 10."

"Sure. I'll be up..." Topaz frowned for a minute before finger-spelling, "early. Whenever you're ready."

Artie gave a nod and corrected her, supplying the missing signs. "Great. I'll see you at 7:30 tomorrow morning. And your challenge is that you don't get to fingerspell anything that isn't a lexicalised sign. You don't know the sign? You find another way to communicate with me. Got it?" His smile was cheerful but dangerous.

A dry smile pulled at Topaz's lips as she signed back, "Yes sir."