rakuen | Twelfth Beat | Am I Better off this Way

Characters: Dave Strider and everyone
Format: Either or
This log is: open
Location: Somewhere in the grass with lots of space; accessible to both schools.
Summary: Dave finally decides that he's going to continue teaching ASL to everyone. Even without the presence of his bucktoothed best friend.
Warnings: Language and possibly a ridiculous amount of cute.

asl
in an hour
heres the location

The grassy area had a few books lying around. There was one opened to the alphabet and a few others were open to some simple, everyday words that were common in everyday use.

Dave was sitting near them, although he was busy flattening his sandwich. It's not like anyone was here yet. Honestly, this was probably a terrible idea. He wasn't cut out to be this people person who helped everyone learn with a smile. That was John's forte. But John wasn't here anymore. Hell, a lot of people weren't here anymore.

But...it was nice. Seeing everyone sign to him. Even if it was a simple hello or the bare minimal. it was nice to see people try to communicate to him. Hell, it looked like they still were trying. Why should he deny them the chance to learn?

Even if it made him nervous.

Because he wasn't used to it. Shit was too personal. This was too much. And it was impossible to read his face. He knew the basics for ASL. Facial expression was important. But he still kept to hiding behind the shades.

He pushed all those thoughts out of his head. Right. Teaching ASL. He can do that. He started eating his sandwich, waiting for people to arrive.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

<<'I don't know. Trying to sign that was really, really stupid though.'>> Seriously. Did he seriously sign friendophile?

<<'I don't really care if people didn't talk to me anyways. It just makes it easier when trying to find Weapons.'>> Dave is trying to be nonchalant, but it was probably obvious that he appreciated the people around him.

It was pretty much the same, Shion practiced the signs carefully repeating them and committing them to memory. It wasn't as easy as remembering something he had read and he was annoyed to find he had forgotten a couple of the signs by the end. He ran through them again trying to remember.

Yes that is a thing that seriously happened. 'Hey, I'm pretty sure I taught you to sign fuck by the age of seven.' She kinda laughs at that. She was the best teacher ever.

'I can see it on your face Dave. You're content with this situation. You want people to understand you. So you're teaching them how to communicate with you. It's nice to see lil' man.' Sis was very happy for Dave, she could never do something like this.

'I can't have you ending up like me. I'm no friend frankie over here.'

[She blushed a little. Nodding.]

In my universe, I'm the heir to the Crocker company. Oh, Dirk is actually branching out? That's actually a real surprise considering how hard it is to get ahold of him sometimes.

.... [She blanked out at Batterwitch.] John? Oh, I got this figured out. John would be my Poppop. Dirk has already tried to explain this to me- and Jade mentioned Jake being her grandson in our timeline. Which makes sense now!

[she takes a moment to read his answer then nods thoughtfully]

Have you taught this language before, at home?

Dave holds out a slip of paper to Shion. On it is a list of books that he could find in the library. He had already went through most of the books at the library related to ASL and chose whichever ones he found that were useful.

Shion would probably like these.

since you like books
i thought youd appreciate this

Oh right. Didn't she forget colors? That always got confusing and he always forgot. Like how Dirk can't remember the word water. These are seriously the dumbest things to forget. At least they didn't forget you can't breathe underwater.

how bout i teach you garden related words
youd like that right?

<<'You what?'>> Guess who forgot who taught him how to sign? One of his more frustrating memories to lose of course.

<<'I'm only teaching them because John wanted to teach them. Striders don't just back out of something they started. It's a pretty shitty thing to do.'>> Well, it kind of half started that way. John wanted everyone to learn, and Dave just agreed because it would be convenient.

<<'I'm used to not having that many friends. It was fine with who I had.'>> Although, it was partly just Dave being content with what he had.

well
were in the same room
its hard to not have to talk to me
ok that was a shitty lie
i cant talk
but i can spam his pda with an insistent amount of texts
so theres that

[Oh. Did he say something she forgot? God, this is annoying.]

yeah
i guess we all switched spots or something
you were probably his nanna than

[Thank god for canon updates.]

now try signing it back to me
you can look at the book if you forget
or i can correct you if its off

He's going to dream about the alphabet for days after this, he swears.

[She gets A, B, and C, then pauses and tries, but signs F instead of D.]

no
no one really cared to learn

[And he didn't exactly play friendly at school.]

Shion's face broke into the largest grin as he read down the list. Thank you he signed looking like a small child for a moment in his happiness.

"I'll have a look for them after we are done here."

'God dammit.' This was the most frustrating part of anything here at Rakuen. She hated to know Dave forgot that part of his childhood, the better parts.

'You miss him, don't you? You're right Dave, s'what I raised you like.' It is pretty convenient. Once you think about it.

'Now you have more than you thought you would ever have.'

I assumed you couldn't, since this is a sign language class. Glad to see I wasn't making a really awful assumption, I could have just made an ass out of myself.

[skdfhkjsdf say what.]

Golly, his Nanna? That sounds like an elderly ladies title. Please tell me I'm not deceased or something.

"Yes, please! Oh, I mean--" <<'Yes, Please!'>>

Since it's a sign language lesson, she assumes that she should be speaking in sign language.

God it's like Christmas came early for Shion or something. Holy shit.

its nothing
you were blabbering about how youd read all the books in the library
these ones will probably help the most
theres more books than those of course so you wont be running out of material anytime soon

He shrugged a bit. It's not like Dave actually read them all or anything. Shush.

He lets out a breathy chuckle.

just because i cant talk doesnt mean you arent allowed too
its faster if you say what youre having problems with instead of trying to sign it anyways

Dave starts signing words to Jade like 'flower' or 'tree' and other things like gardening equipment that he can recall off the top of his head.

<<'Naw. I'll see him in two years or something.'>> [Or sooner, depending on how Dream Bubbles go. But really, it was weird to know that you wouldn't be seeing or even be in contact with your best bro for three years. It was kind of sad.]

<<'I don't know how to deal with it.'>> [It was a little overwhelming.]

naw
youre fine
i can make stupid noises
but that doesnt really count as speaking

uhh
no i think youre dead
i cant remember if he said how or why
but
...
oh
i wonder if that would be weird to say
how do you feel about being prototyped with a harlequin and being a sprite?

jumping a little too soon
that was a f
youre missing your friends d and e
just try again

[He's surprisingly patient.]

That's F?

[She signs a b and c again, then fidgets, twirling her fingers before coming up with d.]

"Thank you!" He grinned again, he had been planning to go and have a look in the library, but he still wasn't used to how it worked and there were so many books and he got distracted a lot, having a list was a huge help. "I'll read them all."

[She kinda chuckles.

I'm sure the noises aren't stupid or anything, a noise is a noise either way!

[Wow w h a t the flying heck.]

I'm not really sure how I feel about that. That just sounds really really weird and I'm not sure how to deal with you even saying that.

[That would suck, she doesn't really want to think of something like that.]

'Step by step Lil' Man.'

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Twelfth Beat | Am I Better off this Way

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